This month we read two books. Officially our book was A Man to Trust by Carrie Turansky. She asked to come to our meeting to do a book talk. It's not really our kind of book but since we are associated with the book store we can't say no, so we read it. Then we unofficially picked Engaged in Sin by Sharon Page.
Carrie did a good talk on the Christian Fiction genre and even gave out prizes. Free stuff is always a big plus with me! We got cute retro romance cover notebooks and I won a free book. I don't have it near me now so I can't remember what I won, but it looked like it could be a really great story.
A Man to Trust by Carrie Turansky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I kind of feel this book would have been a 2.5 but I rounded it up.
Characters - I liked the characters but I just didn't have a great connection with them. I feel like Adrie dragged her feet a bit much and that Ross should have pushed harder. (1/2 Star)
Plot - The story was good, I really enjoyed reading this book. However, I would have liked a little less of Adrie dragging her feet towards the relationship and maybe more back story about her missionary parents and her life there. More back story on both of them would have been great. (1/2) Star
Setting/Accuracy - As far as I know this was all accurate. I know from the book talk with Carrie Turansky she did her research into the town and the area. The only thing that got me is how they would leave their business to be run but random people and that they randomly help out. To me that's not realistic, with all the labor laws and insurance issues out there, you're not leaving a friend to watch your store. (1/2 Star)
Genre - I'm not big on Christian Fiction. This was a book club pick for our group, but I did enjoy it and I will say it was right on track with other Christian Fiction books I've read. What I did like was how Carrie didn't force the religion at you. Quite a few of the books in this genre I've read seem to force their beliefs down your throat and here I didn't find that. Even though to me the praying before every decision is a bit much, I didn't think it went too far in this book. (1 Star)
That extra something - There really wasn't anything that was extra special for me. (0 Stars)
Engaged in Sin by Sharon Page
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was our independent pick for our book club pick for March. This scored 3 1/2 stars but I rounded it down because I feel the story just dragged on a bit too much.
Characters - I really liked Anne and Devon. She's been dealt a hard hand in life but she hasn't let it get her down and she's determined in all that she does (though at times I wanted to smack her and tell her to back down on the stubbornness). Devon has also been dealt a hard hand, he went off to war and was blinded, he doesn't want to face the world now and has locked himself away. Together they work, Anne helps Devon out of his funk and Devon shows Anne that she doesn't have to be strong all the time. (1 Star)
Plot - Another reviewer mentioned this story suffers from the kitchen sink syndrome. There was just too much going on with this story. The first half or so of this book was great. But as soon as they return to London it's like every other plot device she could through in got added. Did we need all that stuff with the dead friend's son or the numerous times Anne runs off, or the last 60 or so pages? It just felt like way too much going on.(1/2 Star)
Setting/Accuracy - Everything was going good in this department until we hit the sex swing. That just threw me for a loop. I don't know the history behind them and they very well could of been around then but it just didn't work for me (1/2 Star)
Genre - It worked as a Regency era historical. The only complaint I had was about the decision of two ladies running off to London with no protection, but it wasn't completely unheard of or unthinkable. (1 Star)
That extra something - This started out with that little something special. Anne was a prostitute and Devon was blind. That's right was, he got his sight back. I think the story still would have been great if he stayed blind and didn't have those kitchen sink elements in it! (1/2 Star)
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Carrie did a good talk on the Christian Fiction genre and even gave out prizes. Free stuff is always a big plus with me! We got cute retro romance cover notebooks and I won a free book. I don't have it near me now so I can't remember what I won, but it looked like it could be a really great story.
A Man to Trust by Carrie TuranskyMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I kind of feel this book would have been a 2.5 but I rounded it up.
Characters - I liked the characters but I just didn't have a great connection with them. I feel like Adrie dragged her feet a bit much and that Ross should have pushed harder. (1/2 Star)
Plot - The story was good, I really enjoyed reading this book. However, I would have liked a little less of Adrie dragging her feet towards the relationship and maybe more back story about her missionary parents and her life there. More back story on both of them would have been great. (1/2) Star
Setting/Accuracy - As far as I know this was all accurate. I know from the book talk with Carrie Turansky she did her research into the town and the area. The only thing that got me is how they would leave their business to be run but random people and that they randomly help out. To me that's not realistic, with all the labor laws and insurance issues out there, you're not leaving a friend to watch your store. (1/2 Star)
Genre - I'm not big on Christian Fiction. This was a book club pick for our group, but I did enjoy it and I will say it was right on track with other Christian Fiction books I've read. What I did like was how Carrie didn't force the religion at you. Quite a few of the books in this genre I've read seem to force their beliefs down your throat and here I didn't find that. Even though to me the praying before every decision is a bit much, I didn't think it went too far in this book. (1 Star)
That extra something - There really wasn't anything that was extra special for me. (0 Stars)
Engaged in Sin by Sharon PageMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was our independent pick for our book club pick for March. This scored 3 1/2 stars but I rounded it down because I feel the story just dragged on a bit too much.
Characters - I really liked Anne and Devon. She's been dealt a hard hand in life but she hasn't let it get her down and she's determined in all that she does (though at times I wanted to smack her and tell her to back down on the stubbornness). Devon has also been dealt a hard hand, he went off to war and was blinded, he doesn't want to face the world now and has locked himself away. Together they work, Anne helps Devon out of his funk and Devon shows Anne that she doesn't have to be strong all the time. (1 Star)
Plot - Another reviewer mentioned this story suffers from the kitchen sink syndrome. There was just too much going on with this story. The first half or so of this book was great. But as soon as they return to London it's like every other plot device she could through in got added. Did we need all that stuff with the dead friend's son or the numerous times Anne runs off, or the last 60 or so pages? It just felt like way too much going on.(1/2 Star)
Setting/Accuracy - Everything was going good in this department until we hit the sex swing. That just threw me for a loop. I don't know the history behind them and they very well could of been around then but it just didn't work for me (1/2 Star)
Genre - It worked as a Regency era historical. The only complaint I had was about the decision of two ladies running off to London with no protection, but it wasn't completely unheard of or unthinkable. (1 Star)
That extra something - This started out with that little something special. Anne was a prostitute and Devon was blind. That's right was, he got his sight back. I think the story still would have been great if he stayed blind and didn't have those kitchen sink elements in it! (1/2 Star)
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