Not Another Nicholas Sparks Adaptation

I apologize to Nicholas Spark fans profusely for in the incoming rant. I'm a big fan of his books (so of them), however the film adaptations of his books leave much to be desired. Apart from The Notebook all other film adaptation have failed to impress.

Many authors dream of the moment when your book is adapted into film. Nicholas Sparks has had the fortune of having more than five of books being adapted to the big screen. However not of the adaptations have been great.


I barely managed to sit through Dear John.  With Channing Tatum playing an insipid soldier and Amanda Seyfield was as bad as a snail imitating a leopard. Miley Cyrus in The last song was even worse than Amanda Seyfield. Her teenage dramatics wear thin, her love interest bordering on the ridiculous.

His books are getting turned into these unimpressive, insipid, melodramatic drivel that he should not be proud of. The latest one Safe Haven staring Josh Duhamel (better known as Fergie's husband) and Julian Hough (I'm not sure who she is exactly). I was left with a distinct feeling of disappointment.

I do enjoy meaningless drivel at time but surely it's not right to leave the cinema with a painful migraine.

Film adaptation can irritate book fans from the Help which disappointed to The Last King of Scotland which was too historically inaccurate   I would rather watch Movie 43, a grotesque vulgar movie that promises racism and sexism than put myself through another awful Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Watching the last one gave me palpitations, I'm not sure if i can go through it anymore.

Quick Review: The Corporate Wife

Synopsis

Why does she keep wishing she'd said YES?

Erin Reynolds is already the perfect corporate secretary and personal assistant, so when her boss, Slater Livingstone, suggests they make their arrangement permanent through a marriage of convenience, the idea seems perfectly sensible -- to him. Erin, on the other hand, thinks his offer is ludicrous... but the moment she turns him down, she can think of nothing but Slater.

Review

The Corporate Wife surpassed my expectations. I expected an overly exaggerated story with very little characterization. I think it was the synopsis that didn't say much or the book cover that said too much, this book looked as interesting as a leaf in field.  I honestly didn't think much of this book when I started reading it. This book cover adds nothing to the book. The writing is great, the title of the book is okay but the book cover stinks.

 This book was surprisingly good. Leigh Michaels creates characters that have personality and life. Being that this is essentially Mills and Boon, the whole book could have verged on the ridiculous but Micheals understands romance. She understands her audience who want romance without the sweet and sickly feeling.  Erin could have been a cardboard character but she is intelligent and graceful. Slater could have been pompous megalomaniac but he's sweet and charming. This is classic Mills and Boon without too much cheese and with the right amount of romance. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer. Great Read, Better Author. This is a must read. The only Mills and Boon I can say deserves the price-tag. Great Read. Happy Reader.

Review: Picture Imperfect

Synopsis


Chloe Dixon is a struggling artist in her early thirties.  She’s lived with her boyfriend Mark for almost two years and things seem to be going smoothly. Then one day Mark unexpectedly announces that he’s going on holiday to Greece for a week with an old friend – and a couple of girls. 

And suddenly the Picture is far from Perfect.  Mark insists the holiday will be quite innocent.  And Chloe trusts him. But can any woman really trust her boyfriend cavorting around a Greek island with another woman?  And is she being unreasonable to think that this might not be a very nice thing to do to your girlfriend?  As Chloe completes her latest canvas, she starts to wonder if this is the moment to take Mark out of the picture completely? 

Review

What would you do if your boyfriend of two years decided to a take a holiday with his mates and couple of girls? Remember YOU ARE NOT INVITED. 

This might not seem like much of dilemma but  it could potential ruin a relationship. Its always the simple questions that break up relationships, not the socks in the living room or the ever present ex girlfriend but the simple dilemmas that leave you gasping for air wanting out of a long term relationship. 

Don't be deceived by the pretty pink cover. This isn't your typical ChickLit (Thank God). Chick Lit is inundated with hopeless heroins obsessed with shoes and shopping and tedious boys. Nicola Yeager's Picture Imperfect is in part a book about a woman trying to map out her life in the Art world but also a book about relationships and what happens when two years down the line the relationship turns stale. 

Who do you listen to when faced with such a dilemma  your overbearing mother, the know it best friend, the kooky but randy boss? Who knows best? And are you making a mountain out of a moor hill? These were the questions Chloe was asking herself. 

We meet Chloe at her lowest , broke and unhappy living with her boyfriend of two years. This is a modern tale on relationships. Nicola Yeager is an intelligent author in that she managers to stay true to the characters, without the typical ending as in the author meets the hero and set off into the cozy sunset with her perfect man. I was happy with book doesn't end with a fairy-tale.  

I was so bawled over by how good this book was.  I wished it was a full length novel. Chloe is a fantastic character, she's real, intelligent and unlike other ChickLit characters, she has a brain. This book isn't filled with nonsensical dribble about nothings, It is intelligent and well thought out.   I look forward to reading Nicole's books in future. She surprised me more has any other author has in a very long time. 

Always You

Released On 6 June
Synopsis

A warm and highly emotive Irish writer who deals with issues that affect real women.

It’s 1992 and Sarah is in love with Cahal, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. As they plan to graduate from university, all seems set for their happily ever after…

Fast forward to 2012 and something’s gone wrong. Cahal is out of the picture and Sarah is divorced from Ian by whom she’s had two children. What happened? 

As Cahal walks back into Sarah’s life, can they overcome past decisions and surrounding prejudice and make it work a second time around?

HBL: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns)

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Synopsis
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” 
 
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
 
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

A Grown-up Kind of Pretty

Synopsis
Every fifteen years, trouble comes after the Slocumb women. Now, as their youngest turns fifteen, a whole new kind of commotion is chasing all three generations. Mosey's desperate to know who used their yard as a make-shift cemetery, and why. 

The oldest, forty-five year old Ginny, fights to protect Mosey from the truth, a fight that could cost Ginny the love of her life. Between them is Liza, silenced by a stroke, with the answers trapped inside her.

 To survive Liza's secrets and Mosey's insistent adventures, Ginny must learn to trust the love that braids the strands of their past--and stop at nothing to defend their future.

Must Read: Always On The Run

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Synopsis

My sister is marrying my ex-boyfriend.
When is an acceptable time to start day-drinking?

Jamie has tried for years to be in complete control of her life. She has to-do lists, calendars and plans to keep her life running smoothly. The thing is, life isn’t quite going along with her agenda: she was fired from her job as a charter bus driver (for something that was SO not her fault), her ex-boyfriend just popped the question to her older and perfect sister, and her eccentric great aunt keeps fixing her up with stuck-up rich boys. For all the plans she makes, Jamie may come to realize it’s the moments in life that she never saw coming that are the ones to write down.