ENJOYABLE BUT LACKING EMOTION !!!
347657
I enjoyed this final installment except I felt it lacked genuine emotion amongst the characters.  J.K. didn't spend much time allowing them (and the reader)  to "feel" after important and extremely emotional events occurred.  I felt she rushed through those particular happenings and concentrated more on the battles.  I didn't have any time to mourn or celebrate, which would have made the book so much more satisfying!!

At times I got confused because so many names were being thrown around from the last book.  Reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is highly recommended  right before reading this final book so you're able to keep track of some of the newer characters.  If you haven't read any of the past books, you will be totally lost,  although I think most readers understand that.

Without giving too much away, I wished the final chapter had been more current and I felt like I'd missed so much of  what I'd been hoping to experience between the characters.
4059153
Story line was good but I thought less of the emotions of the lead characters would have been better.  We need to know the emotions they felt but not constantly throughout the book.
1122665
Higgins tends to write more realistic characters than your average romance novel, but please just write in a few therapy sessions!!!! Lucy is a widow who can't get past the death of her husband yet has been sleeping with her brother-in-law for years.  She also likes to visit her in-laws, where they indulge in little crying spells over dinner.  That SCREAMS emotionally unstable!!! And the neurotic sister who thinks her husband is going to die at any second definitely needed a few sessions with a psychiatrist.

That said, I actually liked the book.  I liked Ethan and Lucy despite their character flaws and I was rooting for them.  Of course, it is still a romance novel so love overcomes all in the end.  I don't think I'll re-read it over and over but I might keep it on the shelf in case my interest is sparked again.
1302523
I adored this book so much but it was missing something and giving away to much at one time. I didn't cry and I was really hoping for a good cry. Yes it was sad that he lost his wife and child, I am not that cold, but something was missing to add the feel of them dying. More detail to their death more about them something to make me miss them more. I know the story wasn't about  them but in a way it was. I also wanted more detail to Lizzie and Tristans relationship and if Tanner was going to play such a major part of the story he should have been it it more. I loved Emma and Faye. They were wonderful character. I wanted to give this book 5 stars but just couldn't due to these facts.
1762903
This was a good book, an entertaining book, but not a great one. I loved the HEA but honestly, Cedric and Allison both got on my nerves with their indecisiveness, inability to be honest with each other, and just general emotional immaturity. They acted like they were teenagers rather than two grown folks in their 30's! I found myself skipping large sections to get to Cedric's big secret. After we find out what it was, I felt like saying: Really?! This is what has you tied up in knots all these years?! I could understand him being upset when he was younger in his 20's but again, he should have matured past all that. So, I could only give the book 3 stars.
1325501
YEGOR by Esther E. Schmidt was highly entertaining!  The writing was engaging, the  characters were witty and vibrant and  the feisty banter  between Yegor and his virgin bride Ruby was so  lol funny at times  I nearly tinkled. And their  chemistry was scorching hot! Also thought the interaction with the close-knit Dudnik Circle  clan (especially Tarzan who was a RIOT) was hysterical.

But, to be honest,  I was a bit underwhelmed with the overall story. It lacked dramatic urgency and I never felt the connection between the MCs beyond the physical.

Also, based on the blurb, I was expecting a MUCH darker and grittier read  and I felt like I was missing key components of their backstory storyand Rubys  subsequent rescuebecause a lot of the juicy parts  to their story  already took place in the previous  book. So something definitely felt lost in translation for me since I did not read book 1.

But all in all a fun, saucy read!
628206
yup, I'm in the minority here...I didn't rate this too high.
Its starts off with a bang, though! I tell you, the author wasted no time getting things going!
I liked the story, I liked the characters, I liked the writing style. However, it was too short for me to really feel anything. I wasn't wrapped up in them. Was the attraction there? Sure...I guess. There were just a few things that just didn't do it for me.

there were other issues other than just the sex going on, Josh was not out and Adam had some bad experiences with guys like Josh's friends that led him to be somewhat weary of them. I think overall, I did really like the characters and the idea but it was so short that things couldn't develop to where I felt a real emotional connection to them. It just wasn't enough for me. I would read more from this author because I did enjoy the writing style and storyline. If you're looking for a quick, hot, sweet but not very emotional read, this would be perfect.
2946163
This was a nice book.  The premise was interesting, and the themes of moving on after tragedy and discovering how you want to live life were presented well.  The principal characters were likeable and sufficiently developed that their actions seemed natural.
But it just seemed this was less of a story than it it could have been, that there could have been more exploration of what a just out of high school couple with a young child go through trying to make life work.  The reactions of the young couple's parents to the pregnancy were mystifying.  Harmony's parents seemed just evil -had they been that way all her life? Trey's parent's motivations were puzzling..  Although  there is some explanation, I'm not sure I got it - and I didn't understand why what they told Harmony would cause her to leave the love of her life and run off, even if she was worried that his profession was dangerous,  Nor did I completely buy a girl that age running off to Nantucket and living off her parent's credit card for a month with no contact with anyone,  Preston's finding her after all that time and not showing even the least little vexation that she hadn't contacted him.....I don't know.  It just seemd contrived.  Life is more ambiguous than this, I think.  How nice for her that he didn't really want to be a firefighter and she didn't really want to be a nurse so they could run the pub together and live HEA.
In short, I did enjoy reading this, but after I finished I felt let down.  I wanted Harmony to have more adult emotions , but then she wasn't really an adult.  I wanted the story to be a little grittier, to have more substance,  but my hat is off to anyone who can put together a good story and write it well enough to  keep me interested till the end.  This is an intense and emotional story, well written, and you won't regret reading it, I just think it could have been so much more.
167054
This is my first Cathy Maxwell book & I wasn't disppointed.  I do have mixed feelings about it though.  It was a very sweet, if somewhat heart-wrenching romance - which I almost always love (as long as it's not totally depressing).  However, most of the secondary characters were real jerks; Tony & Deborah were the only ones I could really enjoy & admire.  I had to raise my eyebrows a bit about how quickly the very moral, very responsible Deborah allowed herself to fall into bed with Tony - BUT given what her life had been for 27 yrs AND what the rest of it may turn out to be, I didn't fault her!  lol  (A girl HAS to have a little fun in life! lol)
The storyline did keep moving & didn't allow me to grow bored with them "looking into each others eyes & thinking this & that", which I never enjoy.  However, I was more than a bit disappointed that while Tony fully expected Deborah to understand that he had to act with honor, he didn't think that she had to. That really bothered me.  But, in the end, he did accept her decision gracefully & support her in it.  All in all, it was a very enjoyable, satifying love story.  CM did an excellent job of making me actually feel the love between the two.  I will be trying another CM book.
3411976
I did enjoy this book but did feel that it was missing something, what that something is I cant tell you. Ill be honest I couldn't write a book to save my life so admire all those that can and do. I just felt that maybe it was emotion that was missing, just not sure. The start had me very intrigued and then in the middle things started to pan out but by the end I felt it was rushed. Darcy & Elizabeth did act out of what we would think to be their normal character although I think that might be what was grabbing me, it was unlike what I had already read. I really think you need to try this book for yourself, as I said, I did enjoy it and read it in only a few days.
3826334
This is a very low-angst story, and since Im an angst adorer, it made this fall a little flat for me.  Jeff has a schmuck of an ex who has never put forth any real effort in the relationship, yet Jeff stayed with him for a ridiculous amount of time.  When he finally realizes the man is regularly cheating on him, he walks - right into the arms of his favorite patients great grandson, Cameron.  Cam is a quiet, unassuming type who adores the matriarch of the clan and is willing to bend over backward to make her happy.  His new mission?  Making Jeff happy, too.

The plot is very straightforward and mostly drama-less, almost to the point of boring.  The pacing is a bit slow, but both are made up for with the peripheral cast of characters, which are full bodied and really enrich what would otherwise be a fairly bland story.  The main characters fall for each other in a New York minute, which bothered me somewhat, but in the end, I have to admit that I was happy that they got their happy.

***ARC provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review. Read and reviewed by Cat from Alpha Book Club.***
3567045
Great read, but overall felt there wasn't a huge emotional connection to the protagonist.  I will try the 2nd book in the series...
3679548
The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a cute book with a strong moral center (as one would expect from a work of Amish Fiction).  Once Fisher found her writing groove, about 25% into the book, it became a very enjoyable read but the first 25% was so rushed and forced that it was hard to get back into it for a while.  Nothing in the novel (characters, plot, etc) was very deep so this ended up just being an easy read, with a lot of depressing moments, and with a happy ending.

The book opens with the story of Carrie and Solomon, two sweet young kids who want nothing more than to spend their lives together away from the Amish farms but everything changes when Carrie's father passes away.  Suddenly Carrie and Solomon are forced to reconsider their lives and what they want for their futures.  I enjoyed this little trip into the back story of Carrie Weaver but where the book struggled was in getting her from Solomon to Abel.  So much happens (over a year!) and the story just rushes through it all.  Reader's aren't really given the opportunity to get to know Solomon, Eli, Daniel, etc before their lives all take different roads.  Time just passes far too quickly and it feels like weeks or months pass by with every paragraph.  It was just too much, too fast, and thus the book struggled to hook me as a reader.

After Abel entered the story the pace slowed down, Fisher wrote from a more emotional place, and the story felt like it found it's purpose.  There is a line in the book that, talking about Abel, says he's able to fix anything and then lists, "an engine, a ..., a ..., people, ..." and I found myself thinking, "and this book."  Without his character the book just fell completely flat.

I wish it was possible to rate / review a book in two different parts.  The first half of this book was a lackluster depressing mess but the second half was actually pretty good.  Overall, I have to simply settle for it being average.

Review by Ashley LaMar @ Closed the Cover
3642381
Thoughtful and enjoyable, so I gave it a 4-star rating. It probably is more of a 3.75 because the characters are my favorite part and not favorite part. My biggest complaint is I felt the level of intensity was low for every character interaction. I'm going to split the blame between writing, acting, and direction.  When something truly fantastic or horrifying occurs, normal people react at that level. I wanted the movie to hit that crescendo, however, it didn't quite make it. Kind of like this review, which does not go into specifics. (I'm sure someone else wrote a plot summary.) So, don't take it too seriously and have a good time with it.

PS
It has adult themes, teen love, sexual situations, and insinuated sex, but no nudity and no F-Bombs( 99%sure).
3290327
I was curious to see what other viewers thought of this. While loving historical pieces, I am also guilty of liking silly romance novels. This fits into what pleases me on days that I don't want to think too deeply...

The plot was entertaining if not terribly engaging. Although I really disliked the rape scene and the end. The end was rushed and choppy....it seemed to all occur in a few days or weeks. The rape scene - who ever wants to see that? Nonetheless, it just did not seem to fit. It was harsh. I mean, I know Henry must have been angry that suddenly his country was being turned upside down by the whims of a vixen he had fallen for, but why the abrupt turn of passions? It was just a bit over the top and probably just done to show the differences between the relationship with the sisters.....

Someone previously had mentioned that Mary and Henry's conversations in the movie seemed inadequate and unfulfilling....I think that for the time it was appropriate. The king was looking for a pretty face to entertain him and Mary was an easily swayed girl looking for love. A few words and glances were all that were needed for someone to be convinced they were in love then (perhaps now?)

Overall I enjoyed the film. Overdramatic and intense sometimes sure, but mostly a nice, easy watch for those who wish to fill their heads with romance :)
2667228
Good story but not quite the excitement that I expected . Left me with a warm fuzzy feeling but I was hoping for more action .
4365260
I found this book incredibly easy to read, it was quick, easy and had a good plot with well rounded characters. However, at times I felt I was reading a fan fiction, and found some of the exchanges between Avery and Hadley to be extremely cliched, sometimes bordering on banal. Despite this, while reading I did feel like like the narrator (Hadley) was given a very realistic teenage voice

Spoilers:

I felt that Hadley's flashbacks of the accident were sometimes quite repetitive. Although I understand that flashbacks were necessary to show how she had been affected, a few times the exact same description of the accident was used, almost like a copy and paste had been used.

I found Jenny's character to be somewhat annoying, especially in the exchange between her and Hadley post funeral. I didn't feel it was realistic that she would have got into the car and immediately chastised Hadley at her own parents funeral. That said, her character develops into a somewhat likeable person after Hadley had lived with her for a while.

I also feel that perhaps Andrew should have had a bigger role in the story, after all Hadley did live with him too! I'd have liked to see more of his relationship with Hadley, and also with Avery.

Avery's character was a favourite from his first mention. It's not common to have an alternative individual as a romantic lead in any book, and it was refreshing to see. I feel that his relationship with Hadley developed very quickly, but in a teenage relationship so filled with dramas that's not impossible.

Overall I really did enjoy this book, but at times felt it was for a younger audience. However, I understand that that may be because I'm used to slightly more mature content. I would recommend this book to people between the ages of perhaps 14 and 17 depending on maturity.

DISCLAIMER: This review features a book that was gifted to me to review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by the author or publisher.

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