Review: Absolutely, Positively by Heather Webber

Title: Absolutely, Positively
Author: Heather Webber
Category: cozy mystery
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Page count: 320
Source: purchased by me
Star rating: 4 of 5

I’m a big fan of cozy mysteries, and Heather Webber is my favorite author of the bunch. Her books have great characters, plenty of snark, and spicy (but never smutty!) romance. They’re a fun, well-written escape.

Absolutely, Positively is the third in the Lucy Valentine series, about a woman with ESP who uses her powers to reunite lost loves. But there are always secrets and Lucy ends up solving crimes. She helps out the police department and has a hunky PI for a boyfriend, and her psychic skills are always used for more than just finding old flames.

In this latest installment, Lucy has two mysteries working at once, which is usually the case in Webber’s books. In one, she’s looking for a girl’s old love interest, but the guy has been in and out of jail and doesn’t at first seem to be on the up-and-up. And in the second, a dying old man has disappeared and his family fears the worst. The two cases end up intertwining and tying up neatly in the end.

The only real complaint I have with this book, as with Webber’s other books, is that there are so many characters that sometimes it’s hard to keep them all straight. But it’s a minor quibble and certainly not one to keep me from recommending them to friends. Heather Webber is one of my very favorite authors, and I can’t wait to see what Lucy gets up to next!

Tidbits: March 29, 2011

I really wanted to participate in the Top Ten Tuesday meme today, but the subject is “10 authors you think deserve more recognition,” and I seriously could not come up with 10 names. I came up with two. And even those two authors are successful in their respective genres. So I failed at this week’s, but hopefully will come up with something for next week’s prompt!

Check out these 25 amazing photos of Dutch flower fields. Wow! I like the saying “the earth smiles in flowers,” trite as it may be, and those photos prove it. God creates such beautiful things!

In light of the on-going controversy over Rob Bell, Christian Audio is offering a FREE download of John Piper’s Jesus: the Only Way to God for a short time. Get it!

I love this post from one of my favorite bloggers, Liz at Mabel’s House. Don’t Catch A Grenade, Tie My Shoes is so poignant and sweet, and the desire Liz writes about certainly does not stop when pregnancy ends!

And now for two bits of funny…

Watching TV with My Daddy from BooMama. Not that this is in any way accurate, or anything. *snort*

I think BooMama linked to this post titled Coveted Cadbury Cravings Karma from Supa Blogga Supreme Mama. I read that and laughed and laughed, and then laughed some more! I love me some Cadbury creme eggs, so YES! I get it!

Review: Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones

Title: Save the Date
Author: Jenny B. Jones
Category: Christian chick-lit/romance
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Page Count: 320
Source: ARC from the publisher, via netGalley (read on my Kindle)
Star rating: 5 of 5

In general, I have a bit of a problem with Christian fiction of the romance/chick-lit variety. I get tired of the wooden, stereotypical characters, the unrealistic holiness, and the too-good-to-be-true heartthrob. (And let’s not even get started on that other creature, Amish fiction. Ugh.) So I’ve vowed a hundred times that I’ll never read Christian romance/chick-lit again. Well, let’s just say I’m very glad I broke my own rule with this one.

I puffy cartoon hearts adored this book. I know, that doesn’t sound very professional or Book Reviewer-ish, but it’s true. Start to finish, every single word, I loved Save the Date.

Lucy has had some hard knocks in her life. She grew up poor, the only child of a house-cleaning single mom. She worked her way through college and has been on her own since her mother’s death. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and runs Saving Grace, a home for young women who have aged-out of the foster system but still aren’t quite ready to be out on their own. Her best-friends are a group of self-described science fiction nerds. Things seem to be going okay for Lucy. She’d been dating Matt, a reliable but boring accountant. Just when Lucy thought Matt would propose to her, he broke up with her and moved away.

Fast-forward and Saving Grace loses most of its funding. Lucy is lonely and worried about Saving Grace, wondering how she’s going to keep it all afloat. But then Alex Sinclair comes along. He’s an old classmate from Lucy’s childhood, a former NFL quarterback, and a congressional hopeful. He also happens to be irrevocably tied to the foundation that’s just cut Lucy’s funding.

What happens next seems implausible but is completely believable in the hands of Jenny B. Jones and her gift for storytelling. And I’m not going to tell you what that something is, because the book is so good you should read it yourself. It’s often laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly sweet and endearing, and more than just a little romantic.

What I love the most about Jones’ writing is her characters. She has quite a knack for creating fully-formed folks you think you could know. I want to be friends with Lucy. I want her to be real! And call me crazy, but I had a hard time not picturing Eli Manning as Alex. I mean, come on.

Hotty Toddy!

Save the Date strikes that perfect balance between secular and Christian romance/chick-lit. It’s not profane as some secular offerings are, and it’s not at all sickly-sweet as some Christian ones are. It’s instead a delightful read full of delightful characters from an author whose other books I’ll now seek out and gobble up.

Photo Friday 02

I’m so ready to plant stuff, I could scream. I’ve got big plans for vegetables, and a few pretty flowers. But it’s still too early, and I know that if I were to put something in the ground today, we’d have a frost tomorrow! So I’ll wait until right around the projected time for our last frost, which is April 7. Until then, we’ve been gathering up and cleaning all our supplies, so they’re at the ready on the back porch. The waiting is the hardest part!

Sweet Tree Yogurt: Yummeh!

My fellas and I have been to Sweet Tree Yogurt no fewer than four times in the last couple weeks.  My book club friends introduced me to it, and I was an instant fan. I mean, just look at this.

De. Lish. My friend who runs Eat Jackson asked me to go review their granola and write a little blog about it. Uh, gladly. You don’t have to ask me twice, dude. So go check it out! My first stint at guest blogging! Woo!

be still my heart

Sometimes the prettiest flowers in the yard are weeds.

Especially when they’re picked for you by the sweetest boy on the block.

Y’all have a happy, springy, sunshiney day.

Top 10 Tuesday

Each week, The Broke and the Bookish hosts a Top 10 Tuesday meme.

This week’s prompt is Top 10 Bookish Pet Peeves. Away we go!

1. Stickers that aren’t easy to peel off books.

2. Small trade paperbacks – they’re hard to hold when lying down!

3. Unrealistic dialogue, like starting a sentence with “Sure…”

4. Stupid parents!

5. What I like to call “relentlessly liberal” characters. I would do cartwheels for a YA book where the main character is a non-stereotypical conservative. Imagine that!

6. Too much attention paid to describing a character’s clothes. If it doesn’t move the story along, who cares?

7. Book after book where the teenager’s parents are divorced. Are happy parents just boring?

8. Three words: Amish Christian fiction.

9. Trilogies that should’ve been stand-alone books (I’m lookin’ at you, Hunger Games).

10. On the other hand, fabulous stand-alones that you wish would go on forever!

Photo Friday 01

All credit for this idea goes to my friend, Sarah, who does a photo post every Friday, or when she remembers! Her Photo Friday category is here.

This is my first time ever growing tulips. One has already grown up gloriously!
This is the “Queen of Night” variety. It’s so purple it’s almost black!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Tidbits: March 17, 2011

I’m away on a little trip with my favorite little boy. We’re headed to New Orleans with my mom, and hopefully I’ll be back with some cute photos!

Here are my Tidbits for the week!

My Kindle is very happy with these free downloads from Desiring God. Check out that list, wow! And every month, ChristianAudio has a free download, which is making my iPod happy. Through the month of March, get R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God.

Imogen Heap has the kind of talent I can barely even begin to fathom. For her next album, she’s releasing one song every three months over the next three years. She’s taking submissions of sounds, words, and photos from fans, to make the venture a collaborative process. I love her music, and her talent, and her connection to her fans. Check it out here.

These vintage computer ads are completely hilarious. I don’t remember any of the ads from my childhood, but I do remember a lot of the products. (HT: BooMama)

And finally, on a more serious note, imagine what it would be like to receive the Gospel for the first time. The Kimyal tribe in Indonesia experienced that, and it was all caught on film. Watch this and remind yourself of what a tremendous blessing the Word of God is. And, if you’re like me, you’ll feel convicted about how often you take it for granted. It’s 10 minutes long and worth every second.

Review: The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

Title: The Lipstick Laws
Author: Amy Holder
Category: YA
Publisher: Graphia
Page count: 240
Source: ARC from the publisher, via netGalley
Star rating: 2 of 5

Note: This book has a publication date of April 4, 2011

It’s sophomore year at Penford High School in Rochester, NY, and April Bowers is lonely. Her best friend, Haley, has moved out of town, and April, who has never been popular in her large high school, now feels completely alone. The only person who seems to give her any attention is Delvin McGerk, who she thinks is “stalkeriffic” and the king of all losers. It’s not looking good for April.

Enter Britney Taylor, fellow sophomore, and self-ordained queen of the popular kids. Despite only being in 10th grade, she manages to thinks she has the level of popularity usually reserved for seniors. She has a small group of sycophantic girlfriends who follow her around like lap dogs, and she’s got boys drooling over her body. Britney seems to have it all, so April is confused and flattered when Britney and her friends welcome her to their lunch table.

What follows in the first half of the book is the common ugly duckling story. April, who’s cast in the role of the ugly duckling but isn’t actually ugly at all, gets made over by Britney the puppet master. Britney is the queen of back-handed compliments and never fails to let her feelings be known, no matter how hurtful the insult may be. April’s clothes and hair are changed, and she’s backed into the corner when it comes to signing the Lipstick Oath, a list of seven rules she must agree to follow in order to be friends with Britney and the girls.

There are expected insults, hi-jinks and hurt feelings, and at a ridiculous party in a field, it all changes when somebody calls the cops and April gets blamed. She’s immediately out of the group, and Britney sets out to destroy April’s reputation. (What reputation? April was unknown before Britney came around, and the girls have puffed-up senses of superiority, so how would anybody realize April had changed anyway?)

The first half of the story is interesting and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. The second half, however, tumbles out in a rush, all telling and no showing. It’s a breathless read of “this happened, and then this happened, and then OMG this happened!” It’s like a bad Disney Channel or ABC Family movie which spends the first half setting up the plot nicely, and the second half desperately trying to cram it all in with a nice little lesson in the last five minutes.

April takes revenge on Britney by gathering up other girls who broke the Lipstick Oath. They call themselves the Lipstick Lawbreakers, and they plot and scheme to ruin Britney’s life. One of their tricks, involving fake love letters and a showdown on the football field, is far beyond anything a high-schooler would ever do, and the other is not funny and could be deadly for Britney.

Some of the book’s major plot problems include:

• The character of Brandon is interesting, if not a little gross. He disappears. Why?
• Delvin is clueless but sweet and obviously a catch for a nice girl, and then turns into a “total hottie,” which is all the girls seem to care about. But April still treats him like trash. And we’re supposed to root for her? April and her friends are completely shallow and care nothing about a guy’s intelligence, manners, kindness, or how he treats his mama. If he’s a hottie, he’s in. Gross.
• Totally implausible things, like laughing hysterically or jumping around excitedly for “five minutes straight,” or three people saying exactly the same sentence at exactly the same time. There’s willing suspension of disbelief when you read a fluffy YA novel, and then there’s just bad writing and editing that make you roll your eyes.

Et cetera.

The overarching problem with this book is that it’s hard to like a book at all when the main character is so wholly awful and unlikable. There is nothing redeeming about April, and her new-found mean girl status is reversed and wrapped up nicely with a bow in the end. But it’s completely unbelievable. I didn’t root for her for a moment in the whole book. She is everything you wanted to avoid while growing up, and everything you don’t want your children to be now.

I’ve read several reviews saying this is great for young teenagers, but I don’t know how a parent, teacher, or librarian could recommend impressionable young girls (possibly dealing with their own mean girls) read about people who are so mean and awful that the reader is left feeling let-down and miserable by the end of the story. A feel-good ego boost this is not.