Showing posts with label Harmony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harmony. Show all posts

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Minis: Jodi Thomas, Catherine Lundoff + Links


Happy Mother's Day!

This has been a busy week. For my third blogiversary I chose to highlight favorite authors that I have recommended throughout the last three years under different categories --  Historical Romance: Mary Balogh,  Fantasy: Elizabeth Bear, Contemporary Romance: Nora Roberts, Women's Fiction/Romance: Lisa Dale.

However, I didn't want to end the week without posting a couple of those mini impressions I love to feature once in a while. One book is by Jodi Thomas, another favorite author, and the other is by a "new-to-me" LGBTQ author. You all know how much I love discovering new authors and the LGBTQ sub-genre. Here they are:

Just Down the Road (Harmony# 4) by Jodi Thomas

Just Down the Road is the fourth installment in this small town romance series by Jodi Thomas. I'm loving it because Ms. Thomas has a knack for drawing characters with qualities that the reader can connect with easily. That applies to characters that take center stage, as well as to those that play secondary roles within any given book.

In this particular installment Jodi Thomas focuses on loses and finding love and hope. There is one very satisfying romance featuring a man who lost his love of life when he lost his wife to cancer, but unexpectedly finds new hope and a second chance at love through the love of an orphaned child and renewed passion when he falls for a woman who has lost her sense of self by trying to please others. Then there are other story lines, one highlighting a much loved young couple going through changes, loss and strife, now finally settling into some sort of understanding, and the other an older couple dealing with doubts and unexpected surprises.

In the meantime, secondary characters gain depth as Thomas highlights strengths, flaws and vulnerabilities. As a result when or if a time comes for these characters to take central stage they will be just as dear to the readers as they seem to be to their families and friends in Harmony. That's a kind of magic. The kind of magic that makes this quiet small town romance series a winner for me. (Contemporary Romance)Grade B+

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Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff

In Silver MoonCatherine Lundoff weaves a fantasy set in a small town where only a few women are called by magic to change into werewolves when menopausal symptoms flare up. This book's premise is what sold it to me.

The story's central character is a woman of a "certain age" going through multiple changes in her life, including menopause. At first glance it might seem as if equating those biological changes with the werewolf theme is dramatic, but in fact I found it to be both creative and on target. Change. Through the theme of change, Lundoff also focuses on other issues that affect women during this time in their lives. She adds insightful touches such as the "invisibility factor"* that women experience after they reach a "certain age," which ties in quite well with the issue of those same women being abandoned or dismissed by husbands or partners (like yesterday's news) for younger women.

I mentioned above that the story is about change, but in the end it's really about either fighting those changes or embracing them gracefully when the inevitable time comes. Lundoff serves this fantasy dish with a scoop of hope. While the main character in her story goes through that roller coaster, the other women show the final result: accepting change doesn't mean you have to give up love or sexuality, instead there is much to gain, lots to offer and still great things to come in the future.

I read Silver Moon from a female's perspective, but this book is categorized as a lesbian fantasy. As such, and if you read this book from a concrete or literal point of view, I would say that it is high on the fantasy/paranormal with lots of action, with amusing and insightful moments (at least they were amusing and insightful to me), and quite low on the romance. A quick, enjoyable read. (LGBT - Lesbian Fantasy)Grade B

*(If you don't know what the "invisibility factor" means, you haven't turned 50 yet. It's when people, this applies to men and women, stop seeing you as a "woman," and in fact you become almost, if not totally, invisible.) 

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Finally, I would like to provide you today with links to free downloads for short stories by two favorite authors:

Cheryl St. John - Harlequin Historical: In case you haven't read it yet, here's a link to Cheryl's website where you can download the prequel to the Irish Bride's Trilogy. The first book, The Wedding Journey by Cheryl St. John is available now. I have it in my TBR and hope to read and review it soon. :)

Alex Jeffers - LGBT Gay Fantasy: Additionally, there is also a free download available here for "Firooz and His Brother," a short story that will be included in Alex Jeffers' upcoming release You Will Meet A Stranger Far From Home: Wonder Stories. I read it and loved it... wonder story indeed.

Thank you all for coming by to celebrate this week with me!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Minis: The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas, War by Sebastian Junger

Here are two very different reads, one is very comforting as you can see by the title, the other is not. However, both are excellent books and have much to offer. As different as they are, one made me think of the other.

The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas

Harmony, Texas is a town full of great characters perfect for heartwarming stories and touching romances. In The Comforts of Home, Jodi Thomas reached an almost perfect balance for me in her telling of those stories and the creation/development of those romances. As in Harmony, there's more than one story being told, and the small community as a whole becomes part of that telling. Old friends return and new characters are introduced to provide freshness to this contemporary series.

Highlighted in this third book is Ronelle, the ultra shy, almost invisible Harmony postal worker, and Marty Winslow, an ex-skier going through a tough and dark period of adjustment after an accident that left him in a wheelchair. Theirs is a beautiful growing relationship that signals a rebirth for both Ronelle and Marty, where they begin to see each other strictly as a man and a woman. I thoroughly enjoyed them. Then of course there are Reagan and Noel, who is back in Harmony. These two young people are growing up and it's a wonder to see how far Reagan has come since that first introduction. And of course one of my favorite characters, Tyler is also back playing the knight in shining armor and hoping to finally talk his Kate into a happy ending. Ohhh, and I loved Denver's yearning and love for Clare and his hopes for more than just the secretive explosive affair they've been conducting for over a year.

Of course I hoped for more of an ending to some of these wonderful stories, and felt lucky that there's a happy ending to two of them. The fourth book of the series, Just Down The Road is releasing in 2012, and I'll be waiting for it impatiently. I need to know what happens to the wonderful people of Harmony. Grade A- (Berkley, November 1, 2011-Kindle Edition)

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War by Sebastian Junger

Sebastian Junger's prose and writing style in War was gripping enough to basically haul me into reading this book in one sitting. His focus is on the brutal experience of soldiers/grunts, and the bond created while in combat. How not only their training, but that bond keeps them fighting and going back into danger, and how the excitement of combat effects their lives there and later on. All are thoroughly examined while Junger follows a single platoon from Battle Company through a harrowing and brutal 15-month tour in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley (2007-2008).

Mr. Junger is surprisingly and refreshingly apolitical in his approach to the story as are the soldiers. Well documented are the battles and patrols, the men's deprivations, loyalty, grief, love, edginess, tension, as well as the excitement and highs from combat and the boredom that sets in throughout their time in the Valley. The soldiers become individuals to the reader, and after a while I wanted to put faces to the names. Of course I had to watch Restrepo, the 2010 Sundance Film Festival award winning documentary by Sebastian Junger and the late Tim Hetherington to do just that. It helped watching the documentary after reading the book.

My one problem with the book itself is in the way it's organized, it doesn't flow well at times and at others it becomes repetitive. Particularly when Junger is using sections of his research about combat soldiers to make his point. Regardless, War is a fascinating read as the reader gets a journalist's perspective on the soldier/grunt's daily experience of combat, and much, much more. Grade B+ (Twelve, April 23, 2010-Kindle Edition)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Review: Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas

Sixteen-year-old runaway Reagan has always wanted a place to belong. She's never had a real home of her own, but perhaps she could borrow someone else's. Under an assumed name and identity, she moves to Harmony, Texas, but keeps her distance from the welcoming townsfolk. Until prairie fires threaten Harmony-and Reagan learns the true meaning of family, friends, and home.
This was a good small-town yarn. Thomas does a good job of setting up the atmosphere in the town and the suspense. But what really makes the book are the characters and their relationships.

First there's Reagan, a sixteen-year-old runaway who took care of Ms. Beverly Truman at the Shady Rest Home and in the process fell in love with the town of Harmony and its people through conversations, letters and newspaper articles. After Ms. Beverly passes away, she decides that Harmony is going to be her home and the dwindling Trumans her family. She assumes a false identity and goes to live with Ms. Beverly's cantankerous brother, Jeremiah Truman.

Then we have Hank Matheson and Alex McAllen the Fire Chief and the Sheriff. These two have been friends since childhood, but have a relationship fraught with guilt and hostility. Every Saturday night, while off duty, Alex winds up dead drunk at the local bar. The only person who can and will come to take control of her is Hank. She goes with Hank, but resents the heck out of him. The main motivation behind Alex's actions is guilt over her brother's death, just as a long-time attraction and love are behind Hank's.

And then, we have the undertaker Tyler. His is the quiet story of a lonely man who doesn't seem to relate well to people around him and finds himself relating to a woman on the internet. He doesn't think of himself as having real friends, just customers and their families. His virtual romance is sweet and gives him a great personal boost. The rest of the town is there as a supporting cast and ties up the story.

Out of these three main stories, there were more, the one I enjoyed the most was Reagan and Jeremiah’s. I loved the way young Reagan and the older Jeremiah slowly built up a trusting and heartwarming relationship and become family. Reagan also befriends young Noah, and through him understanding the meaning of friendship and trusting is further reinforced for this young runaway.

Hank and Alex’s relationship has a satisfying end, but it’s a frustrating journey there. Alex feels responsible for her brother’s death, yet in the process of guilt tripping and self-punishment, she also severely punishes Hank. Although I understood Alex’s grief, I saw her actions toward Hank as unfair and senseless and as a result couldn’t sympathize with her.

Tyler’s story was quiet and a bit innocuous, yet I loved the way he rose from the background to become the hero of the piece. I just wish there had been more for him at the end.

In conclusion, Welcome to Harmony, introduces some great characters. The suspense story with the fires set in the town is well done and I enjoyed it. I loved the small-town feel to story and the large cast of secondary characters. Having said that, Reagan's past is still a mystery by the end of this book and Tyler’s situation is left unresolved. So even with all the enjoyable parts, you know there's more to come by the end. This is a quick contemporary read and a good start to this series. I already have the next installment, Somewhere Along the Way, and hope to read it soon.

Category: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harmony, Book 1
Publisher/Released: Berkley-June 1, 2010
Grade: B-

Visit Jodi Thomas here.