Review: Matthew (The Circle Eight) by Emma Lang

A man learns to hold what is his

It is a vast spread in the eastern wilds of the newly independent Republic of Texas, the ranch their parents fought for … and died for. To the eight Graham siblings, no matter how much hard work or hard love it takes, life is unthinkable without family…

In the wake of his parents’ murder, Matthew Graham must take the reins at the Circle Eight. He also needs to find a wife in just thirty days, or risk losing it all. Plain but practical, Hannah Foley seems the perfect bride for him . . . until after the wedding night.

Their marriage may make all the sense in the world, but neither one anticipates the jealousies that will result, the treacherous danger they’re walking into, or the wildfire of attraction that will sweep over them, changing their lives forever.

Matthew is the first book in The Circle Eight, a western historical romance series by Emma Lang. I love westerns, so how could I not read this book, plus I've never read anything by this author before and just had to try it.

Matthew Graham is the eldest of eight siblings. He's only twenty five years old when his parents are brutally murdered at their ranch and his youngest brother, 5 year old Benjamin, disappears. His six siblings range the ornery teenage Olivia,  to the sweet seven year old Catherine, and he's responsible for every single one of them as well as the ranch that his parents worked so hard to build up and maintain. The Circle Eight ranch is his family's future and with the help of his argumentative, frustrating and determined siblings he will do anything not to lose it.

Before his father was murdered, he applied for a land grant to enlarge his ranch but had yet to claim it. Matthew goes to claim the land, but once at the office he's told that his wife also has to sign the papers otherwise the grant becomes null and void. Matthew lies and says his wife.... Hannah... is back home. He is given a 30 day extension to bring his wife back to sign the papers. Backed against the wall, he has to find a wife named Hannah fast or lose his family's future.

Hannah lives with her granny at the local boarding house. She's considered a plain-looking spinster, kind of invisible, with a bit too much at the top and too much at the bottom to be considered attractive, at least that's the way she describes herself. She dreams of a family and a man who will love her, but knows that this is probably not part of her future, until she meets Matt over turnips at the grocer's and hope kindles in her heart.

What do I like about this book? I enjoyed quite a bit actually. The story as a whole and the premise for the series. As a western historical romance this story covers all the bases.There is the romance that remains the focal point with memorable secondary characters that contribute a great deal to the plot. There's are also a couple of outside conflicts: one with a villain that is solved by the end of the book, the other concerning the ranch and the land also resolved, and another conflict that stays unsolved and that will be recurring throughout the series.

The main characters in this romance are both likable, particularly the female protagonist and that's also a positive for me. I specifically liked that the heroine, Hannah discovers her inner strength and shows marked growth from beginning to end. She begins as a shy woman who seems to be afraid to show her true self to others, and grows into a woman who is not afraid to fight for herself or for those she loves. She gives of herself to others, but also knows that she deserves to be loved and respected. Now, the fact that she has her granny there to give her a push in the right direction when she wavers is a great addition to this story too. Heather's grandmother's input and advise is invaluable to her personal growth.

Matthew well... I love that although he married Hannah to claim the land and because she happened to have the right name, he was really attracted to her from the beginning and let her know. He couldn't keep his hands off Hannah even when he tried. I love how he gets lost whenever he kisses her, and frankly I think that Lang truly conveys the enthusiasm in a sexual relationship between a 25 and a 23 year old free to indulge in daily sexual bouts for the first time quite well! Lots of passion there.

The relationship between the siblings is quite important in this story. It was very well done. They all tease, argue, frustrate, and love each other just as siblings do. Healthy ones, anyway. The underlying understanding they have for each other even as they argue and complain, particularly with the eldest sister Olivia who's hostile to everyone, including herself, and winds up blaming everything on Hannah, is quite believable.

Did I have niggles and problems with the book? Well, yes. There's repetitiveness found throughout the story, particularly during the times when the main characters' inner dialogue or thoughts come into play. For example: Matthew's and Hannah's internal musings and/or reasoning as to why they can't allow themselves to love each other, particularly Matthew's. And when it comes to plot points that I thought were slightly off, I found the siblings' reactions to losing their baby brother Benjamin, including Matthew's, a bit unnatural in its lack of urgency, particularly because they are such a close-knit family.

Overall, however, Matthew by Emma Lang is a quick, enjoyable and solid western historical romance with a passionate and likable couple and memorable secondary characters. I am quite curious to find out how this series will turn out and look forward to the next book.

Category: Western Historical Romance
Series: The Circle Eight, Book 1
Publisher: Brava/February 1, 2012
Source: Kensington Publishing
Grade: B

Visit Emma Lang here.

Review: We the Animals by Justin Torres

We wanted more. We knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped our spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry. We wanted more volume, more riots. We turned up the knob on the TV until our ears ached with the shouts of angry men. We wanted more music on the radio; we wanted beats; we wanted rock. We wanted muscles on our skinny arms. We had bird bones, hollow and light, and we wanted more density, more weight. We were six snatching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more. "We Wanted More"

With his short, 128 page debut coming-of-age novel We the Animals, Justin Torres packs a powerful punch.  This is one of those little books that I had in my queue of electronics books to read last year, and didn't get to until December. Once finished, I was sorry I didn't get to it earlier.

Where do I begin? Do I summarize the story first? No. I'll begin by giving you my impressions of the book itself. There's such velocity and power in the narration that it's tough to put this short book down for even one minute. The characters in this story are so rich and vibrant that they jump off the pages and the reader can't help but want to go on to know how the story ends. Torres' sparse writing style, like negative space in a painting used to emphasize shade and color, is highly effective, as what is not said is just as powerful as what is written.

The story is about three little boys, three brothers who are basically raising themselves as their mother works the evening shift and sleeps during the day, while their Paps is in and out of their lives. Their father is Puerto Rican and their mother is white, and the relationship between these parents is volatile, unstable, sometimes loving, confusing and ultimately traumatizing. Their parents are originally from Brooklyn but they live in upstate New York where families like theirs are not the norm.

"This is your heritage," he said, as if from this dance we could know about his own childhood, about the flavor and grit of tenement buildings in Spanish Harlem, and project in Red Hook, and dance halls, and city parks, and about his own Paps, how he beat him, how he taught him to dance, as if we could hear Spanish in his movements, as if Puerto Rico was a man in a bathrobe, grabbing another beer from the fridge and raising it to drink, his head back, still dancing, still stepping and snapping perfectly in time. "Heritage"

The brothers grow up almost as a unit, with wants and needs that they scrimp and scrape to find on their own. There's a self-absorbing love within the family unit that keeps them in a fierce sort of protective vacuum for years. They grow up learning how to avoid their parents' battles, their father's belt, how to tiptoe while their mother sleeps during the day, making up their own games and getting into mischief as a unit. Torres effectively conveys joy, as well as the dysfunction in the boys' lives through their games, whether they are flying trash kites, smashing tomatoes or pretending to be "the magic of God."

As the story quickly moves along and the brothers grow in the midst of a chaotic household, physically and psychologically abused by self-absorbed parents, they begin to see beneath the surface of the fights and into the real dysfunction that permeates their family. The brothers' relationship begins to splinter ["When we were brothers..."], and although the two older brothers remain close, our young narrator feels more and more like an outsider, separate, alienated. As the story races to its climactic ending to uncover the reasons behind the boy's alienation, the story gains speed and by its conclusion the reader is left breathless and more than a little heartbroken.

The story is sectioned off into vignettes or short stories narrated in the first person point of view by the youngest brother. The narration is powerful, the sections are short and to the point with a sparse prose that makes We the Animals a quick, if powerful read. Is the book perfect? Of course not. There is a section at the end of the book where the point of view shifts to the third person, distancing the reader from the most poignant and heartbreaking moment in the story. Whether the author's purpose was to place that distance there or not, the abrupt change in perspective broke the spell I was under and interrupted the immediacy and urgency of that first point of view perspective that is so effectively used up to that particular point.

We the Animals by Justin Torres is a unique coming-of-age story that will leave you breathless with its content and speed. This is a heartbreakingly memorable story and one I highly recommend.

Category: Literary Fiction/LGBT
Publisher/Released: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/August 30, 2011 - Kindle Ed.
Grade: B+

Visit Justin Torres here.

Poetry: Konstantinos P. Kavafis

I’ve Looked So Much....

I’ve looked on beauty so much
that my vision overflows with it.

The body’s lines. Red lips. Sensual limbs.
Hair as though stolen from Greek statues,
always lovely, even uncombed,
and falling slightly over pale foreheads.
Figures of love, as my poetry desired them
.... in the nights when I was young,
encountered secretly in those nights.

by Konstantinos P. Kavafis (1917)


Translated from the original Greek by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

Mini: His Secret Past by Ellen Hartman

This is one of two books I picked up and read immediately after last month's TBR Challenge. I'm posting my mini-impressions of the book and links to a few full reviews for you at the bottom of my post.

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This Harlequin Super Romance (2008) turned out to be a great read. The fact that it's set in New Jersey just made it that much more fun for me! Mason Star is an ex-rock star who has been living out of the limelight for a long time. He has bad memories of that time and secrets he won't reveal to anyone. Since leaving that life, he has poured his soul into the Mulligan's community center and into making sure he's a good father to his son Christian.

Anna Walsh is well-known for making documentaries, and she wants to make one about Mason Star the rock star, specifically about an incident that affected Anna's own life. Mason doesn't talk about his past to anyone, but Mulligan's is in danger and to save it he makes a deal with Anna that might come at a high personal price. 

This romance was so very well developed for such a short read. Hartman's protagonists get to know each other and work on their internal issues, as well the external conflicts presented by the author as the romance moves along.

Anna and Mason's attraction is believable, as is the ending. I like the way the happy ending for this couple turns out to be realistic. The father/son relationship between Mason and Christian is just as important to this story as Anna and Mason's, at least it was to me. The focus of the story is shared, but this doesn't take away from the overall story, on the contrary, in my opinion the development of that relationship enhanced the story and the romance. A great read! Grade B+

For full, complete reviews visit:
Phyl's Quilt & Books
The Good, The Bad and The Unread 
Dear Author

Review: Sweet Stuff by Donna Kauffman

Riley Brown never imagined she would find her bliss on Georgia's quiet Sugarberry Island after years of Chicago's city life. With a new career and fantastic new friends, she's got it all - except for eligible men. But a gig staging a renovated beach house delivers a delicious treat - six feet of blue-eyed, gorgeous writer as delectable and Southern as pecan pie. Quinn Brannigan has come to Sugarberry to finish his latest novel in peace, and suddenly Riley has a taste for the bad boy author that no amount of mocha latte buttercream or lemon mousse will satisfy...

Riley's friends are rooting for her to give in to her cravings and spice up her life, but it's Quinn who needs to learn that life's menu just might include love, in all its decadent, irresistible flavours...

Okay now, doesn't everything about this book look and sound over-the-top sweet? The title: Sweet Stuff. Cover: Baby blue background, featuring light pink and frothy white cupcakes. The setting: Sugarberry Island, Georgia. Well, let me assure you that although Donna Kauffman uses sugar and cupcake baking to set up this series, the story itself is not so sweet that it will give you a toothache. Although you might gain a couple of pounds just by reading the cupcake recipes printed at the back of the book! Yum!

"Later she would blame the whole thing on the cupcakes."

The story begins and ends with the cupcakes, after all this is the second book in the Cupcake Club Romance series. Riley Brown stages homes for a living and as the story opens she is working on a cottage for the local Sugarberry realtor, "Scary Ruth," when she spies a treadmill and decides to give it a try. Mistake! Riley is very clumsy, so it's not surprising when it all goes wrong. It's her fault for getting on the darn machine, but somehow blames it all on the cupcakes of course. Just as she thinks she's going to be found dead from a heart attack on a runaway treadmill, gorgeous writer Quinn Brannigan makes an entrance and her little escapade ends up in a hilarious disaster.

Quinn Brannigan writes thrillers with a touch of romance (yes, he does!). Years ago Quinn's grandparents were residents of Sugarberry Island, and he spent many a summer with them. After many years away, he has returned to the island for quiet time to finish his book and make a decision about his career. On his first day there, he meets the clumsy, voluptuous Riley Brown and proceeds to lose his concentration. I love that scene when they first meet, her clumsiness followed by his helpless attraction to her and how it all ends with such sexual tension between Riley and Quinn.

Unfortunately, all that heat is somewhat diffused for a while as these two work out their issues. Riley has trust issues after having been dumped by a long-term fiance two years before and still hasn't gotten over it, and Quinn seems to be waiting for a relationship like the one his grandparents had and so far hasn't found it. Riley is hot, but Quinn is at Sugarberry to concentrate on his work and doesn't need the distraction. Hmm... that doesn't really work for him for long.

While these two are working out their issues separately, Riley's crew of friends either blatantly interfere by approaching Quinn, or encourage Riley to proceed with a relationship. Kauffman works this relationship well by having the couple meet a few times while they're working on their attraction and building up the tension, but each time they meet it's all sizzle and burn between the two.

Quinn and Riley don't jump each other right off the bat, as a matter of fact they don't even kiss for quite a while even though they're panting to do so. They don't dance around their attraction either, instead they talk about it and make decisions about weather it's a good thing to take their attraction to another level or not. During this section of the story the characters carried out long conversations as intimate scenes were about to happen, at other times inner dialogues interrupted the flow of those same scenes. I couldn't help but find this a bit distracting and it slowed the read down a bit for me. However, Kauffman develops the relationship, and once these two decide to go for it, it's fireworks. Quinn turns out to be not only hot, but a sweet, wonderful man. Riley on the other hand works on her troubling issues and personal insecurities all the way to the end.

The story is set in the South and the food is one of the aspects of the story that gives it that southern flavor, otherwise the atmosphere is that of a seaside town. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that Riley's temporary home is a boat in an island. Riley has an adorable, if huge, dog called Brutus that has his own personality and plays a great role.

There are some interesting secondary characters and some memorable ones, I liked all of them. I didn't read the first book of the series, Sugar Rush, but I don't feel as if I missed much by not doing so. This story is pretty much self contained, although those characters make appearances as secondary characters in Sweet Stuff and contribute to this romance. Lani, the owner of the Lani's Cakes by the Cup bakery where everyone meets for their weekly baking club and the crew are all part of the story. I particularly loved Ms. Alva, an older lady who turns out to be an interfering, matchmaking hoot.

Overall, Sweet Stuff is an enjoyable, solid contemporary romance with a likable couple, sprinkled with some humor, great friends as secondary characters, more conflict than expected and yes... some sweetness too.

Category Romance: Contemporary Romance
Series: Cupcake Club Romance
Publisher/Release Date: Brava / February 2012
Source: Kensington Publishing
Grade: B

Visit Donna Kauffman here.

Series:
Sugar Rush, Book #1
Sweet Stuff, Book #2
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NOTE: Donna Kauffman features two cupcake recipes at the back of the book: Reverse Caramel Apple Cupcakes by Donna Kauffman, and the other is the recipe that won the Original Cupcake Recipe contest, Sweet Peach Tea Cupcakes by Stephanie Gamverona (Winner from South Korea). For all types of cupcake recipes visit Cakes by the Cup.