christianreader | Kiwiria's May Madness

Rosie's Travelling Tea Shop - Rebecca Raisin, 3.5/5, 384 pages
A 3.5 star review, and I had a beast of a time figuring out whether to round up or round down for Goodreads. The things I like were really, really good; the things I didn't made me roll my eyes so hard. However, at the end of the day I was more charmed by the characters than annoyed by the twee, so 4 stars it is.

With that preamble out of the way...

A sweet, albeit very stereotypical chick-lit. After Rosie's husband leaves her for a younger model, she drunkenly purchases a fuchsia pink van, and decides to leave everything behind to travel the UK, following festivals and selling tea and scones along the way. It sounded absolutely adorable, and fortunately it (mostly) delivered. I really grew to care for the characters, and if it came across as just a tad too twee at times - well, that's part of the charm, isn't it?

Yes, mostly. Like I said, the good parts were really, really good. Charming scenery, insta-friends on the road, lots of descriptions of yummy food and heaps of literary references from the mobile bookstore driving new best friend. I was utterly charmed! Unfortunately there were also cliches aplenty, and Rosie at times came across a bit too much like a socially inept Bridget Jones (thus the multiple eye rolls). The ending came a bit too sudden and with too much of a deus ex machina and there were certain loose threads left hanging a bit too obviously - although that last thing could be explained if there's a sequel in the works.

But despite all that, I still found myself returning to the book at every chance I got, and I'd definitely be interested in reading more of Rebecca Raisin's work.

Her Pretend Billionaire Boyfriend - Bree Livingston, 4.5/5, 169 pages
This came up as a free-for-Kindle book earlier this month. I almost didn't pick it up because the cover looks so trashy, but I read the blurb, discovered it featured a cruise (I'm a sucker for any book taking place on a cruise!!) and figured I'd give it a chance. I am SO glad I did. It turned out to be an absolutely adorable book with characters I actually really came to love. Sure, it's unrealistic as anything, but I don't always need realism in my books, as long as it stays true to its own universe.

The cruise aspect wasn't used as much as I'd hoped, but it did serve as a nice backdrop. Mostly, what made this book (other than the interactions between Tristan and Belle - so cute!) was the fact that there was actual growth of character involved. I'd feared a "doormat saved by love" story, but it turned into more of a "doormat discovers she's worth loving and acts accordingly" story - which just hits all the rights buttons for me!

I also appreciated the fact that it was a clean romance (even labeled as such by the series name - "Clean Billionaire Romance"!). Not that I mind a bit of erotica, but it was refreshing to have a couple who didn't just jump into bed at the first available chance.

I don't always read romance novels, but when I do, I like them to be this adorable :-D

The Passage - Justin Cronin*, 4/5, Audiobook ~36hrs
"Read" it as an audiobook this time, which didn't quite do it justice. At 36hrs it was just too long. I was surprised by how MUCH I had forgotten of it. I remembered most of the first half, but after they left the colony I almost felt like I was reading it for the first time again. I liked Peter and Michael a lot more than it sounds like I did on my first read-through, and enjoyed Sarah's diary entries. But despite the open ending it still feels very self-contained (an oxymoron, I know), and I don't actually know that it really needs a sequel after all. I'm still going to give it a try though.

The Doomsday Book - Connie Willis*, 4/5, Audiobook ~26hrs
I'd forgotten how SLOW this book is. That's not to say it's boring, because it really isn't, but there's a LOT of pages committed to setting the atmosphere rather than moving the plot along. So if character-driven books aren't your thing, you might find this a bit too long for your liking. I still really liked it though, but it did take some getting used to... especially as I listened to the audio version this time around.

Book of the Month: One of the Harry Potter fanfics - Oh God, Not Again. Impossible to put down!
Biggest Disappointment: None.