Weiner, Jennifer: In Her Shoes

ISBN: 0743418204

From the Publisher

Meet Rose Feller, a thirty-year-old high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She has an exercise regime she's going to start next week, and she dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses, gaze into her eyes, and tell her she's beautiful. She also dreams of getting her fantastically screwed-up, semi-employed little sister to straighten up and fly right.

Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old and drop-dead gorgeous. Although her big-screen stardom hasn't progressed past her left hip's appearance in a Will Smith video, Maggie dreams of fame and fortune -- and of getting her big sister on a skin-care regimen.

These two women, who claim to have nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, DNA, and the same size feet, are about to learn that they're more alike than they'd ever imagined. Along the way, they'll encounter a diverse cast of characters -- from a stepmother who's into recreational Botox to a disdainful pug with no name. They'll borrow shoes and clothes and boyfriends, and eventually make peace with their most intimate enemies -- each other.

Hmm... nothing like a publishers blurb to give away a lot of the book. ::sigh:: Anyway.

I picked this one up from the library mainly because it was written by Jennifer Weiner. I'm not sure that I would have, otherwise. Sadly, I didn't connect with this one as well as her other works. Maybe I didn't like the characters, or that she didn't give as strong of a voice to her characters, I don't know. It certainly wasn't bad to read, it just wasn't as good.

Truthfully, I liked Simon, and I liked one of Ella's friends. I couldn't get my head around Cameron Diaz playing Maggie in the movie (I haven't seen it, but it just didn't seem to jive with me), and I kept bringing up her face. I mean, I'm sure she did a great job of the part, but in my head... ::shrugs:: I don't know.

This is a great book to borrow from the library, if you're looking for a book about sisters. I'm not sure that I would buy it, though.

St. John, Kelley: Good Girls Don't

ISBN: 0446617202

From Publishers Weekly

As frothy as a milkshake but not nearly as satisfying, St. John's debut romance, set in contemporary Atlanta, pairs three beautiful women with three gorgeous, sensitive and well-endowed men. The book gets off to a promising start, depicting an amusing conversation between Colette Campbell and her sister, sex-toy designer Amy, about (what else?) sex toys. But with so many relationships, there's room for little more than character sketches: the good guy who still loves his high school squeeze and vows to be a little bad to win her heart; the wild girl turned businesswoman who rediscovers her naughty side with said good guy; the woman who just needs the right man to make her rethink her sex-toys-are-a-girl's-only-friend motto. Everyone is earnest and looking for love, and none has too much emotional baggage to impede their perfect unions. It's no wonder that St. John's attempts at penning racy, gossipy exchanges à la Sex and the City so often fall flat. While her book contains steamy sex scenes aplenty, it lacks the multidimensional characters and conflicts that made the HBO series so popular.

From Booklist

Colette Campbell is a professional liar. Her company, My Alibi, is used by everyone from cheating spouses to AWOL employees. Now Colette has reached a low point: Jeff, her perfectly physiqued--albeit lousy lover--boyfriend, has gotten engaged to another woman. Then Amy, Colette's sex-toy-creator sister, offers Colette's alibi services to Erika, who is going away for the weekend with a biker. Unfortunately, Erika's uncle and guardian is Bill Brannon, Colette's best and virtually only friend in high school. Colette feels terrible about lying to Bill, especially since they've begun to explore a more romantic relationship. If she tells him about Erika's deception, Colette will damage her relationship with her sister. If Bill finds out that Colette has been hiding this secret from him, their chance at finding true love is gone. St. John does a good job of getting inside Colette's head and sharing her dilemma, and the novel's fast-paced, sexy, and witty conversations will please fans of Sex and the City.

I have to say, I really enjoy Kelley St. John's writing, even in this cookie-cutter book. She may have a formula (girl meets guy, they fall in love, they are separated by some misunderstanding, they end up together in the end), but it is readable - great and fantastic mind-fluff that one just needs every now and then.

There isn't much that I can say about the book other than what I've said, or what the others above have said. I did like it, and it's an excellent borrow-from-the-library-and-read-on-the-beach type book. Definitely worth the time investment, although probably not worth the monetary value.

Weiner, Jennifer: Good in Bed

ISBN: 0743418174

From the Publisher:

For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She''s even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.

But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.

I have to say that while I love Ms. Weiner's writing, this book impressed me a lot. It is well written, well formulated, well plotted, and well rounded book. There was nothing that this book lacked.

I seem to recall that Good In Bed was recommended to me by a good friend, and after I had time to look at the book and digest it, I found there were some interestingly striking personality similarities between Cannie and my friend. It was interesting to read it and think that the words coming out of Cannie's mouth could totally be coming out of my friend's mouth instead.

I won't go into the premise of the book - you can get that by looking at the first section of this review. I will say that it was fantastic. That it is a great read, and that you won't be disappointed.

Davidson, MaryJanice: Sleeping with the Fishes

ISBN: 0515142220

From the Publisher:

Fred is not your ordinary mermaid. She's not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is blue. While volunteering at the New England Aquarium, Fred learns that there are weird levels of toxins in the local seawater. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her merperson ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again.

As far as MJD goes, this is probably one of my favorite books by her to date. It's witty, fast paced, and not quite as annoying as Betsy. I found the characters to be generally amusing and interesting (Jonas being my favorite character).

The ending seemed to indicate a second book (at least), so I'll definitely pick that one up when it comes out.

I'd recommend this book to most women who want a romance with a little bit of humour and a little bit of "different". It was a pretty good read!

Carey, Jacqueline: Kushiel's Scion

ISBN: 044661002X

From the Publisher:

Imriel de la Courcel's birth parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phedre and the warrior-priest Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood; third in line for the throne in a land that revels in art, beauty and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies---and there are many who would see the young prince dead. Some despise him out of hatred for his mother, Melisande, who nearly destroyed the entire realm in her quest for power. Others because they fear he has inherited his mother's irresistible allure---and her dangerous gifts. As he comes of age, plagued by unwanted desires, Imriel shares their fears. When a simple act of friendship traps Imriel in a besieged city where the infamous Melisande is worshiped as a goddess and where a dead man leads an army, the Prince must face his greatest test: to find his true self.

Kushiel's Scion is the fourth book in Jacqueline Carey's Terre d'Ange. The preceeding titles are: Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar. All there of these are told from Phedre's (Imriel's adopted mother) point of view, so this book is a bit different, as it's told from Imriel's view.

I have to say, I appreciated the change of pace, between Avatar and Scion. The three previous books were getting darker and darker, coming to a very dramatic head in Avatar. I felt quite emotionally wretched for a few days after reading that one, so it was nice to leave Scion feeling quite good about it.

I won't go into the details, as I don't want to ruin it. I really enjoyed seeing the old cast of characters, even from a slightly different view point. While you can't start with this book, you'll definitely not need to re-read Avatar to understand it. Carey does an excellent job of filling in the back-story without re-telling the story.

I loved Imriel's voice, his internal wars, and his desire to be good. It's not often that you have a character with this much baggage, and this much emotion to be written so well.

There is far less sex, and it is far less graphic than the other three books. There is definitely sex in it, and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who hasn't reached their majority, but it just seems... less... than the other three books - which is fine. I had no desire to read about Imriel's conquests, per se.

I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait to read the next one (Kushiel's Justice), which is due out in June. Yay!

[NOTE: I have to say that I quite enjoy the art on this series. Seriously, though? I felt a little choked that they used Phedre again for the cover of Scion. She's really not in the book, not hardly at all, as Imriel spends the majority of the book overseas. While her tattoo is kind of the "logo" of the series, it would have been nice to work it into the cover in an alternate way, rather than displaying her back, with a shadowed man in the background (I assume that's Imriel). I'm pleased to see that Justice has moved away from the tattoo, and while it's still an absolutely beautiful cover, it seems to indicate that the story is moving away from Phedre, as it should.]