Giants Of The Frost by Kim Wilkins

I found this book a few years ago in a box of old books my sister was giving away, for some reason I picked it up and brought it home with me. It wasn't until a few months ago that I picked it up and read it and I have tried to review it many times since starting my blog and I have to say, it is extremely hard to review. To give an honest review about this book would force me to give away a crucial plot. This book really needs to be reviewed so I will try and do my best not to spoil it for you. If you feel that you can not read a book when you know the ending then maybe you shouldn't read on, just go and get the book and read it yourself.
Twenty seven year old Victoria Scott suddenly finds herself on a way to a remote weather station off the coast of Norway, starting a new job in a strange country is an adventure itself. Strange occurrences start happening upon her arrival and suddenly her world has slipped away into a world well known from ancient folk lore... introducing.... Vikings. Yep, they are all there, Odin, Thor and Loki. I really don't know how to word this review, so I will do my best to sum it up in Chris words.
This book starts out being about a normal girl who is searching for her place in life, she ends up in a beautiful but strange and haunting land, suddenly a man named Vidar appears and the story really starts from his arrival. I really cant tell you much more about the story line without completely spoiling it for you but let me say this. I really enjoyed this book, at times it was frustrating and at times it was sad, I was happily putting two and two together and my head was skipping ahead to the happy ending but come last page and the book flew across the room bouncing off the wall and narrowly missing poor husbands head. I cried with rage and sadness for half an hour after reading this. I was devastated with the ending, I understood it but did I like it or agree with it, NO.
So if you can handle reading a book with a great storyline but not so great ending then you should give this one a read, if you are into Vikings and the old Norse Lore then this is a must read, I was excitedly explaining characters in the book to my Swedish friend only to have her fill me in on the histories behind each character, it was amazing. One thing that the author has done brilliantly was combine the two worlds together, it is done in such a brilliant way that on stormy days you might just wonder...
6/10

The Inn at Boonsboro Trilogy by Nora Roberts

Three great women....who happen to be best friends.... Three hunky men who happen to be brothers.... another beautiful small town in America.... Three books that made me happy and wasn't I just the happiest little camper when my friend bought me the first book, I knew from the very first page that I would love it, my friend had written a really lovely message on page one that stumped me, you could say that in our brilliant friendship I have enough ridiculous emotions for the two of us and then some ha-ha so it was extremely heart warming to open this book and see her lovely message! So with that happiness in my head I started reading and boy did I love this story, you don't really need to know more than the first two lines above, three women who are friends, three men who are brothers and this is a romantic book lovers dream. It has all the romance without being over the top and wow do they have a story line, I have to admit the first book has a pretty serious storyline that at times left me gobsmacked which surprised me and made me like the book even more. Nora Roberts is renowned for her brilliant writing so I don't need to mention anything about her style. She is a great writer who knows her stuff. Out of the three books I liked the first one a lot, I liked the second one and I loved the third one, so in all I really liked this trilogy and I would highly recommend it.
8/10

 

 

 

Sally by Freya North

I had previously read Secrets by Freya North and really liked it, so I got a little book happy and bought a load of her books a few weeks ago. Well I finished Sally and what can I say, I didn't like it, I had a headache from the first page to the last. It has the makings of a great book, and I still really like Freya North, she has this funny streak that I really do like, her characters are great but and there is a pretty big but... I couldn't stand her style of writing in this book. It changes from first, second and third person all within one page. At times it is impossible to follow the story because you cant keep track of who is talking, one minute she is having a conversation with him, the next the conversation switches into her head and then suddenly it has flipped to his character having a conversation with her only to jump right back into his head and then, and yes there is a then, suddenly its the author talking and telling the story from an outside point of view, now this might be OK chapter to chapter but when these switches happen all on the one page it is a huge mind bender and impossible to keep track. I actually couldn't wait to finish this book. I'm sad to say that I wouldn't recommend this book and recently had a conversation with a friend who also said she found the constant switching of narrators too hard to enjoy. Sadly this book is a bottom shelf for me.
2/10

Thankful

By now you may have noticed that I don't like to give away too much of the story, If I start jotting down the story line I will most likely reveal too much and people wont need or want to read the book so I do try and write these reviews more from my opinion and feeling about the book. I'm sure if you have read my reviews you have gathered that I'm more of a romance happy book girl, this is true and I don't feel the need to deny it, I don't like reading books with heavy sad scary or devastating story lines, that's what the news is for, so when I open the pages of a book I will happily admit that I want to go somewhere that I know will have a happy ending. So if you are looking for fancy literary quotes and big intelligent words this blog probably isn't for you, I don't feel the need or want to waste my time saying something I don't want to be saying.

On another note, I love reading, we now know this, its one of my favourite things to do, sometimes I admit to preferring the company of the characters in the books to some characters in my real life but that's what I love so much about reading, the feeling of being somewhere else for a time, so if you have any suggestions for books I should look out for I would love to hear them so please do let me know, my list of books to read can never be high enough and just because there are two piles that are now taller than me there is always room to start another pile.

It takes a lot of courage for an extremely self conscious person to come out and do something like this, to put their thoughts and opinions out there for the world to read. So I would like to say thank you for reading my blog and an even bigger thank you for all the kind words and support I have been receiving, people are very kind and I truly appreciate it.

Christine

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

What can I say? This book is beautiful, not only is it written beautifully but the story and its characters are just beautiful. Once again the story takes place in a southern town that just makes you want to pack your life up and move there. Sarah Addison Allen is a brilliant writer, all her books have a beautiful theme throughout them, you can easily recognise Sarah from the first page, its just a feeling of warmth. Simply put the story is about a woman named Willa Jackson who of course has a family with a past and with pasts there are usually secrets, bring in socialites, a grand house and of course a delightful hunk named Colin and this is a definite warm place with the sun on your face kind of book. If you haven't read any of Sarah Addison Allen's books then please do, yes there are underlying currents of romance in most of her books but they aren't sappy or cheesy, instead you will be wrapped up in a beautiful town with strange yet lovely folk and taken on a wonderful journey.
7/10

Highland Fling by Katie Fford

Again, Scotland and men in kilts. This book was coming home with me no matter what. I found this book for $4 in a supermarket, yes, a supermarket. But when Scotland and Kilts wrapped up in the pages of a romance book jump out at me it was always a given that it would be coming home with me. OK so this book is a read in a day kind of book, its tiny but its lovely, it has a really funny story line and even though the character spends the majority of her time freezing cold and slightly miserable you won't feel cold and miserable reading it, instead you will feel a fresh breeze and a great cup of tea kind of warm. I really liked this book, it is a good read for those in between days.
Jenny Porter is an online secretary, she looks after businesses for people and when she gets sent to Scotland to look into a failing business all sorts of funny things start to intrude on her very organised life. With a boring misery of a partner back in England its really lovely when chaos starts to intrude on Jenny's well ordered life....and that's all I'm really going to say about the story.
Its lovely, its a nice funny book and not one you will think about long after the last page has closed but if you are looking for an in between book and a quick read this is a goodie.
5/10