Save this for beach reading
582429
Whoosh...and that's the end? The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club was an entertaining read, but there was a lot of monologue that wasn't really relevant, and by the time the book ended - rather abruptly - I was ready for it to done.
4232984
Chick lit.  Ok for afternoon at the beach.  Predictable plotting and character.  By
1246390
This book is a good beach read. Not too complicated, characters are kind of hastily drawn. OK for reading in the airport while waiting for your flight.
4876003
*Spoiler alert* My kindle first pick for June 2018.

First, the good. It's an easy breezy read. Perfect for the beach or a lazy rainy afternoon. It definitely doesn't require too much thought. And the plot was compelling enough to keep me flipping pages until the end. I definitely didn't hate it.

The bad. The biggest thing for me is that so much time was spent vilifying Andrew, the husband. When he turned out to be the good guy I wasn't overly excited about seeing the two of them back together. I understand that the author wanted to keep us guessing, but the husband was a grade A jerk. Are they really going to live happily ever after with their baby and their mansion after all of his previous bad behavior? It seems so implausible. We just skated right over three years of borderline abuse right to happily ever after.

There was also a big plot hole where Andrew stated that Meredith and her best friend had a falling out "months ago" and he had forgotten her existence. But we never hear about that from our narrator. Did it really happen? Did Andrew have an affair with her and not want her telling anyone? Was it a figment of his imagination and indicative of his lack of attention to his wife's life? What's the point of saying it if you're just going to leave it dangling out there?

Then there is the fact that all the characters feel very one-dimensional. Flat. We know that they have a lot of money. They're beautiful. They like good food, clothes, shoes, and cars. But who are they? What really makes them tick? I think that the author tries, but then she gets lost in shoe descriptions.

But for all of my criticism, I do hope it's constructive. It's not a bad book. It has the makings of a great book - at least a great beach read! But right now it's just better if you don't look too closely. Read and enjoy, but don't think about it too much.
2766749
A good book you are looking for a fun read that goes quickly.  The plot is a good one and is suspenseful but the characters seem a little too unrealistic and almost cartoonish.  I recommend it for a beach vacation read.
2710669
If you enjoy harlequin romances this book will be great for you. Though mystery was promised, it could have been written by a middle school child. So sorry to say that it's no more than beach reading after a drink or two.
3738610
I borrowed this book to read on a beach vacation, but even as a beach book it fell short, and I hurried to finish it so I could get to something more interesting.

Like other reviewers, I thought the romance was rushed and unrealistic.  It was formed in haste, as were many of the protagonist's relationships with other characters.  Although I like chick-lit and suspense/mystery novels (ones that have some heft, anyway), I did not enjoy this much and felt that the author, too, did not identify with her main character (Emily).  Emily's character seemed a mere plot device to "modernize" the novel and flesh out the main story taking place during the early 1940s (the war, however, was not mentioned even in passing).

I did like the back story (although I kept forgetting who Esther was) and thought there was great potential to have the island itself be a character in the novel, but the setting did not come to life and the prose (peppered with adverbs) was flabby. I agree with those who found the book too fluffy and sweet.

I will give another book by this author a go, as long as I can find it in the library.

P.S.  I hate that Amazon now seems to publish only the 5-star reviews up front.  They used to balance out the 4 and 5-star reviews with a couple of 2 and 3-star ones, but perhaps that does not sell enough books.
12986
This was a good beach read book. The world is interesting and the "Graces" concept was nice. The writing and the characterization were fairly well done. There are a ton of really positive reviews on this book so I'll just write about the two problems I had with it.

Problem one: the plot was really choppy. The book is divided into three sections and the plot is divided into three sections as well. The confrontation with the evil bad guy that the story was (kind of) building towards fizzled. It was anticlamactic. It was over in one sentence. Then another 20% (I was reading on my Kindle)at least of the book went about wrapping things up. All in all, not a horrible problem for a book. If you can suspend belief and accept that Katsa's Grace allows her to do ANYTHING that she wants to do then you'll be able to enjoy the plot.

Problem two was a bigger issue for me: In the beginning of the book Katsa says that she will never marry or have children. She gives as her reason the thoughts that she doesn't feel at all maternal towards babies or kids and she doesn't want to give control of her life to some man. At the time she says this she has never been in love and can be excused for feeling so childishly. As the book progresses she falls in love and one would expect her to change her views. Instead, her love becomes her lover and they both say that they are ok with never marrying. Why? Katsa says because she doesn't need to cling to him like a barnacle to make sure that he always remains hers and never falls in love with someone else.

Now, either Katsa and Po are not truly in love and are only in lustful infatuation with each other, or the author is not married and has no idea of what love really is. (Wild generalization on my part, I know. There could be countless other reasons for the author moving this way with the plot. Those were the only two that came to my mind.) Anyone who can say that the commitment of marriage is about forcing the other person to stay with you, doesn't understand love. Marriage is about promising the person you love that YOU will be faithful. That you are making a choice that is not based solely on emotion. That you realize that your emotions will change; some days you will fight, some days you will drive each other crazy, some days you will not want to even talk to each other, but that ring on your finger means that you have chosen to work through things and love that person no matter what. Marriage is about selfless love. Love without commitment is selfish.

Now, don't even get me started on children. I am more willing to understand people who say they don't want kids, but again, it's a selfish statement. Not everyone is blessed with children, but children ARE a blessing and as a parent I can only look with pity on people who are missing out becasue they are too scared to give up their "freedom."
1418853
Not a bad book - read it at the beach, and it was perfect for that. The story drug quite a bit in the middle, then seemed to wrap up kinda quickly. If you are going on vacation and need something interesting but mindless, this is for you
1243307
ok story, she is Janet's relative.  Light story,  great beach read if you don't want to look to "studious" fairly quick read so if you take it to the beach and plan on more than a few hours best to bring another book.  But it will make you laugh, I did enjoy it.
1242926
It was a light read with short chapters that made the story fly by.  It would be a great beach read.
1268764
While I generally enjoyed reading The Beach, what I realize in hindsight is that he chose to jam too much time and feeling into such a short passage.

I would have liked to explore Kao San road a bit more.  I would have liked to have known what it was like for the dreamers on The Beach when they were relaxed and dreaming, and not running from their own, often falsely created, paranoia.

I give this book three stars, and suggest you check it out in your free time, but whether you check it out or not, life will go on.

RR
134550
I like the premise. Who doesn't find the idea of traveling to another country and finding the man/woman of your dreams?  I really think most contemporary romances don't seem to have new or inventive plots. So, really, the effectiveness of a love story is the connection you feel with the characters. I have to say that I expected this to be just a quick, shallow beach read, but there was definitely more to it. Lately I prefer these kind of books that have some realism but don't leave you devastated like that book One Day.  I also read and really liked A Week at the Beach and didn't realize these were both by the same author til just now.

Lastly, I'm not sure why the book is titled (A Romantic Comedy).  I really did not find the book comedic though I enjoyed reading it.
4908180
Started out great, then sort of lost its speed.  Better as a summer beach read.
3305382
It wasn't bad and it wasn't outstanding. I true beach read. Having been a former magazine editor (actually Editorial Director over 10 National titles) the parts about magazines, deadlines, etc. ---not reality at all, which was annoying to me. That is probably the reason I gave it 3 stars. But it was fiction and the setting was interesting.
2585471
This books was an easy read.  Great scenery details but the story needed more development and more realism.  It was very predictable and some parts unbelieveable.  I found myseld distracted trying to figure out how the Laird was able to bulk up while spending so much time chained up!  If your watching your pennies wait for this one to drop in price (currently 6.99).  OK for a beach read.
3355357
Multi narrator confusion ...fair character development...probably an OK beach read assuming you have a glass of white wine in hand.