A few Quick Reviews

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler

Spicy, fun and anecdotal, the comedienne intermingles biography with humours vignettes and her own brand of eccentric, frenetic wisdom in this somewhat disjointed by thoroughly amusing read.

I read it on the plane back from Boston. It's lively, but kind of all over the place.






A Cliche Christmas by Nicole Deese
Adorable, spirited, snarky and sweet: A Cliche Christmas is perfect fare for those of you who, like me, love to fall into the endless supply of Hallmark and Lifetime seasonal movies. What happens when the script writer for a dozen of these cheesy cliche movies: complete with staged kisses and last minute holiday miracles, is confronted with a Christmas that looks straight out of the Snow Globed worlds she constructs? Georgia may be able to turn a Christmas trick on a dime with her words, but her heart has never been in it. Unfortunately, Lenox needs her: her Nan, a dish named Weston from her past and a town with a sick little girl who needs a revival of spirit. The faith elements are light, the dialogue is cute and snappy and the setting is perfect. At times sarcastic and subversive and always living up to the playful irony of its title, A Cliche Christmas is egg nogged bliss. A lesser writer may not have been able to pull of a sly wink, instead opting for purely saccharine fare; but Deese is a good wordsmith and expert craftsperson. This story put me in the holiday mood...and then some.




Brentwood's Ward by Michelle Griep

Michelle Griep excels at painting a well-rounded Regency world complete with rakes, mystery, wit and deceptive charm. Brentwood is a dishy rake of a hero, complete with a sardonic edge and a protective manner; whereas his lady fair is of equal footing and provides a nice counterpart to rapier wit and a marriage of minds. I have often wondered why the CBA didn't produce more regencies with a Bow Street Runner flare and the tidbits about the runners, early detection and suspense were an added dash to this perfectly-crafted romance. Griep not only excels at offering an acute verisimilitude of London society, she also paints it through conversation and the vernacular is completely believable. This is a smart and sassy suspenseful read that kept me wanting more and kept the reading light on way too late into the night.

Shades of Surrender by Lynne Gentry

Brilliant. Full of life, love and colour I find it hard to believe that an author can pack such a punch in such a short allotment of words. Part fairytale and parable and chockful of glorious attributes to Divine Design, not to mention symbolism aplenty, I was whisked into an ancient world to revel in its smells and taste its dust, to experience its flits of colour and fall hard for a man and a woman destined to be together. I really am marvelling at Gentry's wordsmithery in this. She does a lot with very little. She dives right in and develops characters and a well-realized setting and I was sorry when it was over.