Author Elizabeth Berg creates three more beloved characters 5 stars!

Arthur Moses is an eighty-five-year-old widower who fills his days caring for his cat Gordon, and with walks to the cemetery to have lunch with his dear departed wife Nola, who’s been gone six months.  He is a gentle, intuitive soul who acknowledges the dead in Nola’s cemetery neighborhood, accepting their value even in death.

One day he meets Maddy, a troubled teen who doesn’t fit in at school or home. Maddy has trouble with her widowed father, and with a boyfriend who has no respect for her. Arthur and Maddy forge an unlikely friendship that restores hope for both. Along the way, they add Arthur’s quirky neighbor, Lucille, who’s cooking will make your eyes tear up, it sounds so good.

The bond forged by the three of them makes this book one I hated to see end. People who loved of A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman or Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow will equally enjoy Arthur Truluv. 

I received this book from Net Galley.

Magical Prequel to Practical Magic. Alice Hoffman, 4.5 stars

The Rules of Magic
Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman has again spun a magical world within the familiar, weaving in history, geography and the mythology of the Craft.  Following siblings Jet, Franny and Vincent from their youth to old age as they deny and then embrace their unique gifts to navigate a world hostile to their magic. These three young witches, raised by parents who want to keep them safe, travel to see their Aunt Isabelle in their teens and everything changes.  It is here they learn of the family curse, that anyone they fall in love with will be ruined. 
 Falling in love isn’t as easy to prevent as each young witch hopes, and one by one they encounter their own weaknesses.  They learn that the rules they’ve grown up with are the opposite of how witches live, and learn that love and curses are out of their control.
Blended with lovely classic poetry, The Rules of Magic casts an unforgettable spell as it covers four generations of the Owens family dealing with a legacy that dates to the Salem witchcraft trials.  It is a spell from which we hate to awaken.

 I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

Merry and Bright, and easy and sweet Christmas romance. 5 stars

 

Merry and Bright

Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber has a gift for portraying regular people in a way that makes the reader understand that no one is really “regular.”  In this remake of a “you’ve got mail” kind of story, Merry Knight struggles to earn the money for her tuition as a temp while helping her mother, afflicted with MS, her brother Patrick, whose down syndrome seems more beautiful characterization than disability, and her overworked father make ends meet.  She’s working for Boeing, helping to get a final bid out to a customer before Christmas, and works overtime so often she has no time for a life of her own.

Feeling bad about that, her Mother and Patrick sign her up for an online dating site.  They upload a picture of the family dog as her profile, and soon she is chatting with a man who also uses his dog as his photo.

Merry doesn’t realize that the charming Jay is really her irritating boss, Jayson Bright.  The series of near misses and endearing communications, along with the interference of the trusting Patrick makes this a warm and funny Christmas story.  A perfect read for the busy holiday season where everyone wants to feel a little Merry and Bright and in love.  

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

The Best Kind of People, Zoe Whittall. three stars.

 

The Best Kind of People

Zoe Whittall

I admit to being a bit triggered the first time I tried to read this book about a beloved schoolteacher accused of molesting teen-aged girls, and the effect it has on his family.  But I gave it another shot, and frankly found it too quiet for the subject matter, and pretty much unbelievable. 

Things I had trouble believing:

-No bail, incarceration in prison for 8-9 months when the accused was a member of a founding family, a local hero and beloved teacher?  Because he was a flight risk? No.

-The length of time George was in prison gave his family time to shift from “hell no” to probably guilty. 

-That two books could be written and published after the arrest and before the accused went to trial.

-that a high school senior was basically set “free” …not attending classes, not accounting to anyone, and apparently had unlimited funds, but still got into Columbia.

-that no one sued anyone else civilly.

Despite the inability to suspend disbelief, the writing felt authentic.  I am not sure about choosing three different narrative points of view though, and the book didn’t impress me enough to want to read more.  To be fair, it is tough subject matter that requires facility with teenagers, the legal system, the gossip and publishing worlds, gay issues and the psychological effect all those things have on a “typical suburban (wealthy) family.” To the extent that the author took those risks is commendable.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

Catching up on book reviews: Any Dream Will Do, Debbie Macomber

Any Dream Will Do

Debbie Macomber

While I admit to being a fan of Romance, and most often anything Debbie Macomber writes, I didn’t love this book.  I didn’t care for the alternating point of view chapters, between Shay, the protagonist, and Drew, the love interest. Mostly because it felt like reading parts of their personal journal, and I want characters to interact more.  The number of times these two conversed, or more, was very limited.  The result was a set of cardboard characters who only did the right thing or the wrong things.  Characters, like people, need to have depth for me to feel invested in them.  There was ample opportunity for this, but that wouldn’t serve what felt like the simplistic happily ever after that we knew was coming. 

I’m especially disappointed with the way the author handled Shay’s family… while she was willing to give up her dreams, job, and reputation for her brother, by stealing money for him and going to prison, he seemed to have no feelings for her at all.  Shay befriends a couple of homeless people along the way, but we get very little of their story as well. Why not let Shay have conversations with these people?  The story is merely told, not experienced.

I’ve been a long time Macomber reader and while I was disappointed with this book, I don’t think it will keep me from reading her next one. I know her writing well enough to know she could have done better.

I accepted this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.