Loved some parts.  Did not like other parts
591352
As a victim of reading way too many parenting books, I loved this book.  I actually have stopped reading parenting books, parenting magazines, etc.  But decided I'd make an exception for this book.

It's a great antidote for the current paranoid parenting that has overtaken us poor mothers.  I love the chapters on television, nutrition, preserving memories, etc.

On the other hand, I think the book is somewhat hypocritical.  She puts down other parenting advisors for pushing their views on others.  Yet she is very pushy about her own views.  There's this tone of relax, relax.  Don't worry what they say.  Feeding your child oreos is not such a big deal.  Not filling out your child's baby book is not such a big deal.  Don't worry about your child watching lots of TV.  Oh, but do make sure you sit down and have dinners with your family!!  Why?  Just as Lucky Charms for breakfast won't ruin your child's dinner neither will eating dinner at different times ruin a family.

The author also seems very anti-attachment parenting.  And yes I do think us AP parents deserve some kicks in the butt.  We have pushed our beliefs on others at times.  I think we do deserve some of the blame for this mother-guilt that is going around (although mainsteam parents also push their beliefs on AP parents and cause guilt/anxiety).  But she insults AP practices and I don't think that is neccessary.  As long as your family is relatively relaxed and happy, I see nothing wrong with health-food diets, long term breastfeeding, and co-sleeping.  By attacking/insulting these practices, I think she alienates a large audience.

In her short paragraph about breastfeeding, she says that every mother needs to try breastfeeding, but doesn't thnk they need to continue to the full year.  She makes one of the common jibes about kids stopping befor they are old enough to walk around and ask for it.  Why does every mother need to try to breastfeed?  If her children can eat sugar-cereals for breakfast and that's okay for her family.  Can't it be okay for a mother to not breastfeed and just use formula the whole time?  Maybe she has good reasons not to try.  Why pressure her?  Why give her that guilt?  What happened to promoting Momfidence?  And I breastfed my child very long-term.  Why should I be ridiculed for that?  Our family made that choice and we're happy with it.  It worked for us!!  I have no regrets.  But I don't think every family needs to do what we did.

I think every family should realize that the choices they make are not as big a deal as all these parenting "gurus" make it out to be.  In the scheme of things, whether you never breastfeed or breastfeed for 5 years is not a big deal.  Whether you child sleeps in a crib or in bed with you is trivial.  All the anxiety we get about making these choices probably causes more damage to the child's psyche than the actual choice.

I thought "Monfidence" would help put an end to the parenting wars that are going on....but I don't think it does.  I think the book is not very different from other parenting books.  Just one very opinonated person pushing her parenting beliefs on others.
194467
I liked part of the plot, the part about the naive girl getting taken in by the modeling scheme, but there were other parts I didn't like.  Her father's part of the plot was bad, as was he as a character.  Speaking of characters, I did have a little trouble keeping the Greeks of Beaubien straight.  Gus and Jill were the best however.
4933330
I received a copy of this book from eBook Discovery for an honest review. It was an okay book. There was lots of inner dialogue by both characters and very little outside of them. We are told lots of emotions and connections happen, but don't get to see it happen. There was one scene in particular I didn't like the timetable of, even had to go back and reread it. Parts of it worked out but I still feel like someone missed a shift. I prefer more dialogue and scenes with action (not necessarily action action, just where we get to see what's going on rather than a sentence or two that said xyz happened and now we're onto the next thought cycle). It was sweet, but I'm glad it was free.
1343672
Mixed feelings. While I did enjoy the book some parts of the book was a little boring and had me skimming pages.
3014235
I really liked this book but there were two things that bothered me.  One was that there were a few word spelling issues and second that Cassandra' s denial of her feelings for Logan were really ridiculous, overly drawn out and blown out of proportion.  If not for these items it could have been a 5 star rating.
73910
I loved all the parts with Quay, even though Blay not being up front with Quinn about his break-up with Saxon was a little irritating.  I liked Layla, and I loved the scene with her and Xcor.  However, I get a little frustrated with all the side stories.  Too many characters, and sorry but I really could care less about some of them.  Can't wait for The King!!!
3862111
I enjoyed this book, but parts of it made me want to scream at one or both of the characters.  It starts out as an act/game/play and ends up somewhere else.  Each person had an agenda but didn't communicate very well to help each other out in some spots.  When love becomes real and neither want to admit it, things get hectic and feelings get hurt.  Just like in life communication and feelings can disrupt a good day.  In the end they both wanted the same thing but were afraid to give in.  Great strength of characters and plot.
4643198
I really did enjoy parts of this book- enough to make me say it was pretty good and give it three stars. Parts of it were so cute and funny and I loved Lucas in his boyish, rakish moods. I like the Western theme to the story (I am a huge fan of Lindsey's "A Heart So Wild" which I highly recommend)!

**SLIGHT SPOILER** My problems with the book is that I really didn't like the "twist" at the end. I went back and read certain parts of the novel to be clear on what had happened. For example, the part when Slade steps on the cat in the middle of the night and finds Sharisse in "his" bed. When she calls him Lucas he "slowly shakes his head" and grins at her. Honestly, the twist makes all of those parts a little creepy. How about when Slade brings Sharisse to find Lucas and his friend Billy says he was too upset to stay behind.... and Sharisse has to wander into the darkness to find Lucas... What did he do, like run around the mountain to intercept on the other side? OK, here's the worst one: how about Lucas, getting jealous with himself, ignores the heroine for FIVE days because she was attracted to his brother? If you haven't read the book, I guess this doesn't make sense. But trust me, it makes for an interesting read, to say the least.

There's something bipolar or bizarre about the hero's behavior that didn't sit well with me. I understand what the author was trying to do, and I've seen the idea work really cute in other stories. It had a kinda Viola in Twelfth Night feel to it, (a famous character who becomes her twin)... I mean, I love character disguises usually! But this story pushed it in a strange way that sorta threw me. I was like, really?!!

If you cute out Lucas' other half, or if you made him more in control of his other half, I would say this book is amazing. I really, really liked certain parts.

Hey, and whatever happened to Leon? I was waiting for that to finish up and nothing happened with it. He doesn't want to fight a crazy man and that's it? (See, Lucas IS kinda crazy. HA!!)

This book could have actually been longer and filled out more and I think it would have turned into a really good story. But for now, it's a cute romance that makes for a fun read and definitely deserves three stars.
2485627
I really loved the first section of this book.  The other two did not seem to relate to me or to be beneficial to the time I put into them.
3302394
I wanted to give this book a higher rating but there were many aspects that kept me from doing so one of which I will get to later.  The book starts off great!  I loved the setting, a small town in Australia, and the fact that Anna runs the families pie shop which is right across the street from her dads auto shop.  I also loved Ana, Sammy (her adorable 6 year old brother) and I even liked her dad, Bob but I think her best friend Holly may have been my favorite character in the book.  She was a hot mess!  I wasn't always a fan of Elijah though.  I started off really liking him but it went downhill for me.

First you have Ana who is 19 years old.  She had to grow up too fast when her mom past away and in order to keep on her mother's dream alive she runs the family diner/pie shop.  Her dad remarried when she was 13 and they had Sammy.  She's now basically raising Sammy who is incredibly cute, has a severe lisp and loves Ana more than anyone else in the world.  Ana hasn't had it easy and it's not just because of her job and her family.  Living in a small town it only takes one huge lie from the town hero that everyone believes walks on water to start the rumor that she sleeps with anyone and everyone.  Now everyone thinks she's a slut when in fact she is a virgin.  Only her best friend Holly knows the truth.

In comes Elijah...  The new mechanic at her dads shop.  He rolls into town on an old motorcycle, tatted up everywhere and all kinds of sexy but he comes with a bad past and loads of secrets.  Like I said I really liked him at the beginning and the chemistry between him and Ana was great at first.  The interactions between him and Sammy were funny throughout the book but it was after we found out what he was running from when it all started going south for me.

Negatives:
I don't want to say anything to spoil it so I will only tell you that there are a number of things that happen that are disturbing but it's the things that Elijah says to Ana after they happen (mainly after what Scott does to her) that turned me off.  Don't get me wrong, Scott (the small town hero) deserved a lot worse than what he got in my opinion but it's the things that Elijah says to Ana on numerous occasions after that.  You don't say the things that he says to her time and time again after what she went through.  You just don't...  I did love the writing style though and the concept of the story was good.  I hope that there will be another story for Holly, because I would really like to how everything turns out for her.
697350
Things I loved about Shadow of Night:

- Diana and Matthew. I love them together and apart. Thats the best kind of couple. They are both strong characters but when you put them together, they are a POWER couple.
- Location, location, location. I enjoyed all the different locations that Diana and Matthew travel too. Each place was chalked full of history and new characters, and new problems.
- Historical people. I liked how the use of real people from the 1590 were actual characters in the book. Such as, Christopher Marlowe, Elizabeth I,  Edward Kelly, and Henry Percy. Reading this book makes me wish I would have paid more attention in my history and humanity classes, oh and that alchemy class I took in college, which was not as exciting as this book series.

Things I didn't love about Shadow of Night:

- New characters and a lack of old characters. I missed the original cast of characters. While there occasional chapters from the point of view of characters from the first book, I missed the bunch. There were so many new characters, that will not be in book three, that it almost felt like a step in a different direction, but then I guess time walking will do that too you.
- I hated how Diana was treated in 1590. I know it was just the times, and Diana was EXTREMELY well educated (I mean is was from 2009) but the men from 1590 were pompous and egotistical. At times they were so incredibly rude to Diana I wanted to scream. I wanted her to whip out magic and just put them in her place, but she never did. Sigh.
- More history than magic. Ok so, if you are not a history buff, this book was a little bit tedious at times. It seemed like it took forever for Diana to start using her magic. And so I got a little stir crazy. Just when I thought something magical was going to happen, it didnt.
1260877
I'm a bit torn on this book.  There were parts that I really liked and parts that I didn't care for.

Unfortunately, one of the parts that I didn't care for was the main character. She was very unlikable - antagonistic, secretive and fanatical.  She's a demon hunter you absolutely believes every demon is evil incarnate and deserving of death, and refuses to change her opinion for quite a while after being presented with evidence otherwise.  There's also the fact that she got her partner killed at the beginning of the book by hiding a serious medical issue from everyone.

The rest of the book is intriguing - the demon world is interesting, with most of them inclined by personality or nature toward some level of evil, but many of them keeping that under control by various means.  I liked the doctor and his brothers.

I liked the good parts of the book enough, and given that hopefully the bad parts (the main character) won't have much screen time in the next book to give book two a shot.
135466
I liked most of the aspects of this book.  The town is cute, a la Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold or Robyn Carr's stories.  The lead characters were appealing and had unique back stories.  And there was plenty of steam.  What I didn't like was how the resolution involved the heroine changing completely from what she wanted for herself.  I understand that she experienced some growth, and also that Mason's greatness justified some sacrifices on her part, but I don't like seeing one partner uproot everything while the other makes no compromises.  I also didn't like how Lauren came into town and strong-armed Adrienne to do something she didn't want to do, and then used that decision to talk her down in front of Mason.  Seemed pretty disingenuous.
4202971
Idk why but I liked the first part much better. I'm not really big on this book, although it wasn't a absolutely horrible book, (because I've read worse) the book just doesn't do it for me, for some reason. I really can't put my finger on it though. I think the book just aggravated me. The characters and how the guys talk lol, I know that might be weird but honestly it did bother me. Some of the sh*t they said sounds like something a female would say. When I'm reading a book by an author writing about the opposite sex I don't want for it to be apparent. I like to think I'm really reading the dialogue from a man, not a women trying to write how men speak & vice versa. I know it's gonna be another part, (it said so at the end) but I don't think I'm interested enough to see what happens next. I will however check out other books by the author, because like I stated it's not a horrible book.
4706385
This book started off great for me.  I liked Lori's character in the sense that she had survived a horrible attack and has been able to slowly work through it.  After meeting Garrett, who helps her work through more of her attack, she seems like a genuinely good woman.  The relationship between Lori and Garrett was sweet and hot all at the same time.  However, when Eli entered the mix, things got a little confusing.

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy some love triangles because it always adds spice and drama into the mix.  I had no problem with the love triangle between Lori, Garrett, and Eli.  All of it had me submerged into the story.  However, around 60% of the story is when everything fell flat for me.  All the circumstances that happened after that point had me so confused and angry.  I was mad at the plot, I was mad at the attitude that Lori had, and I was just mad in general that love had switched sides so easily.  I don't want to go into more detail because I don't want to give away the whole story.

I would say that the first 60% of this story would get 4 stars from me.  I really liked that part.  But the second part really lowered my love for the book and characters.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer MC~
4964702
You know it is a regency romance.  I did like some parts of this.  But the premise that she slept with her future husband and then he just left is kind of out there.  Also that she would not tell anyone especially her father.  I didn't find that very believable.  I also didn't like Salt's sister in law.  Diana, She was a crazy loon and someone should have stopped her sooner.  They did not do a very good job of protecting there children from her which is ridiculous.  But it has some interesting story lines and of course Salt is a strong man but a soft heart eventually.  Just the way any regency romance should be.
3972558
I like that this book was written in Ky's and Cassia's point of view, but that was also why I didn't like other parts of it.