Quick Review: Shoe Strings

Synopsis

After being hounded by her estranged father just as her boutique shoe business is taking off, Atlanta’s Angelita Barros heads for the mountains of North Carolina where she couldn’t be a bigger fish out of water. The cabin she rents is perfect, but one look at the owner’s son and Angelita’s in lust big time. She finds resisting the charming Jesse Bloodworth as difficult as maneuvering small town life in her custom made stilettos. 

Jesse has spent years rebuilding his relationship with his teenaged son and ex-wife after running out on them eleven years ago. But his dad’s not so quick to forgive and forget. The water under the bridge becomes mighty choppy when beautiful Angelita walks into their lives. 

Jesse’s ex, Kerri Ann, is a far cry from where she thought she’d be in life. Even before she got pregnant with Ty, things between her and Jesse had faltered, and there was only one person to blame: Bryce Jenson. Kerri Ann never expected her long-ago crush to settle back into Sequoyah Falls to practice law. Hell, no one did.

Bryce had his reasons for returning home and Kerri Ann was at the very top. They seem destined to remain just friends, until Angelita comes to town and stirs everything up.

As Angelita and Jesse embark on a relationship, her father’s demands become threats and she’s forced back to Atlanta. Jesse’s attempt to save her uncovers more of her past than he bargained for. Will Angelita’s prince charming come to her rescue or does Jesse’s love come with Shoe Strings attached?

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Review 

Angelita is shoe designer in a strange city. She is beautiful and successful. I read this book because I'm a big fan of Christy Hayes and this is a great read. This is a romantic easy read. It's funny, charming and can be consumed in one sitting.

Guilty Pleasures and a little more.

I was asked to review Fifty Shades of Grey by a friend of mine and at first I refused because there's no much to review. That was a year a go when the book was at its peak where reviews were flying around like headless horsemen in a gruesome battles. But I refused because there really isn't much to review. Every single person by now knows of Christian Grey, the charismatic billionaire with domineering tendencies. This is a highly addictive book about sex.

E.L James is not the worst author I've had the discomfort of reading but she isn't the best. Fifty Shades is often repetitive and busting to the seems with unnecessary nudity and sex.  I was put off by this, E.L James doesn't develop the love between Grey and Steel. Steel is a character feminists would burn on the cross or pelt with pebbles. Overall it was over exposed erotica that didn't live up to expectation. 

However having said all this, Fifty Shades had an influence on our perceptions of Erotica as a genre.I may not be the biggest fan of Fifty Shades but even I can appreciate that it is a genre that needs to be given more credit. When done right, sex can be an instrumental part of any book. It's a symbol of love and all that malarkey hence why we decided to dedicate a whole page on celebrating those wonderful books filled a little naughtiness. Enjoy (Guilty Pleasures) 

Must Read: The Humans

It's hardest to belong when you're closest to home . . .

One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world's greatest mathematical riddle. Then he disappears.

When he is found walking naked along the motorway, Professor Martin seems different. Besides the lack of clothes, he now finds normal life pointless. His loving wife and teenage son seem repulsive to him. In fact, he hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton. And he's a dog.

Can a bit of Debussy and Emily Dickinson keep him from murder? Can the species which invented cheap white wine and peanut butter sandwiches be all that bad? And what is the warm feeling he gets when he looks into his wife's eyes? Purchase

Kind of a Skipper

Have you ever a read a book that just doesn't get better? Do you give up and pick up another or do you keep going because there's no such thing as giving up on a book? Recently I've been trying and failing to read this one book that is well written and has some of the elements that should make a great read however I can't seem to get past the page 23. This book isn't getting any better, it is well written but lacks emotion and understanding.

Admittedly I'm a skipper, if a book is so awful, I skip chapters and hope for the best. This rarely happens but when it does, I doubt my love of books.So I'm not sure what to do, do I keep reading and hopefully the book might pick up or do I give because frankly life's too short. This isn't the first time I've been defeated by a book,  these are the top three books that I've read and wished I hadn't.

Firstly To The Lighthouse because at 13 years I struggled with the language and Virginia Woolf's style of writing. Second on my list is Fifty Shades of Grey because once I finished the series I felt like I had lost a couple of brain cells. And finally Moby Dick because "call me Ishmael" is the best part of this book.

Better Together

Synopsis

Jess is nearly 40 when she meets Dan Harris at a party. She is single, sorted, happy – with a great job and a buzzy social and sex-life. All of this is threatened when she falls deeply in love with Dan, who is only 23. 

Jess, being older, recognises this as the real, precious thing – but in his immaturity, Dan does not. Unable to cope with the stigma of being with an older woman, he eventually leaves her.  Ten years pass…

Jess, who is still gorgeous at 50, is married now, with a child of her own.They meet again. The years fall away.
This time, Dan understands – but is it too late?

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Indulgence: HIM

Sarah Miller hasn’t been home in seven years. She thought she could stay away forever. If it wasn’t for her big brother's wedding, that is. Part of her even feels silly for staying away this long. It's not like anyone even knew what happened. Well, except for him.

That guy. The one she compared all others to. The one who set the bar so high no other guy after him could even compete. The one who made her feel like anything was possible. The one she thought she would never be good enough for. The one she spent the last seven years trying to forget.
All she needs to do is make it through the next week without running into him.

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Perfect Summer Read: Summer Loving

Saskia Lucas is on yet another luxury summer holiday in an exotic location. This time it’s in the Algarve, in the south of Portugal.  She’s with Franklin, the man that she likes to refer to as her ‘provider’. Or as some might say, her Sugar Daddy. 

A wealthy businessman, and close on forty years older than her, Franklin and Saskia have little in common. Apart from a taste for the finer things in life.

Two years into the relationship, Saskia has expensive clothes, the latest handbags, lots of shoes, perfect blonde hair... and new boobs. 

Everything she ever wanted. Except for love. Unknown to Franklin, Saskia is still nursing a broken heart from a relationship she had when she was only nineteen with a surfer named Kirstan. 

And when Franklin abandons Saskia for a couple of days to play golf she decides to book some surfing lessons. But she is in for a shock.  One that will change her life forever. Will Saskia get her happily ever after and realise there may be more to life than money and shoes?  Or is loving sometimes just for the summer?

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