I’m going to be posting two reviews in one post today just because I can. ^.^
Miss Tavistock’s Mistake by Linore Rose Burkard
Regency romance fiction
My rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
Young Miss Tavistock is promised in marriage to Captain Rempeare by the wish of her dearly departed papa. But the captain’s been at sea for a decade. When she finally meets him, tempestuous sparks fly, and she impulsively adopts a daring false identity. Going by “Lady X,” she vows never to marry such an infuriating man.
Captain Gabriel Rempeare is prepared to fulfill his duty and marry Miss Tavistock—if only he can clap eyes on her. One circumstance or another keeps them apart, though he cannot seem to avoid the beautiful, maddening, Lady X. When fate throws them together in London, Miss Tavistock discovers the real nature of the captain, and regrets her subterfuge. But can such a noble man forgive deceit? Or has her mistake already cost her everything?
My Thoughts:
This book takes place primarily in London, England 1811, and tells the story and mishaps of a Miss Feodora Margaret Tavistock. The beginning was a bit slow, but the pace did pick up a bit more towards the middle. The ruse Miss Tavistock goes through to disguise herself from Captain Rempeare was amusing at first, though I admit that I found the lie to continue much too long. There were entertaining parts of the story, and the setting/time felt realistic, but Miss Tavistock was definitely very immature in my opinion, and sometimes her desire to continue the lie, and her behavior as a whole wore on me.I liked the Captain very well – he was very kind and understanding. Miss Tavistock’s companion, Mrs. Filbert was also a very good character.Just because I couldn’t really connect to Miss Tavistock and her story doesn’t mean that others won’t. This book might become a favorite of many, especially those who like light-hearted, sometimes silly, regency stories. I am glad to have had the chance to try it. :)
This book was provided courtesy of the author/publisher, through Interviews & Reviews.
“The Foolish Things” by Rebekah Tyne McKamie
Contemporary fiction
My rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
Sharon Mehlmann’s obesity, emotional weakness, and pessimism have caused her close-knit family to rearrange their lives to encourage her. But with Self-Doubt relentlessly persecuting them all, Sharon and her family may ultimately succumb to their weaknesses – leaving plenty of opportunity for God’s glory.
“…For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:10
My Thoughts:
No matter how much I do or don’t enjoy a book, I always love trying new authors. I deeply appreciate the work, heart, and effort they put into their novels.
I personally had a hard time getting into this book and feeling any depth of attachment to it. While the blurb given on the back of the book doesn’t disclose much at all, the story itself seemed like it was a strong concept. And perhaps if it was told a different way, I might have been more engaged. But it is told through the perspective of Self-Doubt, which states itself as being neither a demon or a spirit but a tool. I understand that we need to be weak so that God can be strong, but how the story was told felt kind of creepy, more like from a demon’s perspective and that really threw me off, to be honest. There would be a couple times where I’d forget it was written this way, but then it would end a sentence in something like “And that’s where I came in.” etc. I just don’t think that the story’s concept was best displayed through this vehicle of perspective.
By the back cover blurb, I also assumed it would be primarily about Sharon. However, the story gravitates more so towards her friend, LD/Georgie and her brother Sean, who had an odd start to a relationship but got where they needed to be in the end. Sharon’s story came more towards the end, and I liked parts of it, but I struggled with how much it was stressed that she was SO overweight and morbidly obese, and then they name a number – in my opinion, when talking about weight problems, numbers shouldn’t be mentioned because every body type is different and the number on a scale can read the same for two people but show totally different. We understood from words alone how she struggled with her weight, but to name a number felt overdone. As someone who has struggled with weight myself, I’ve had to realize that the scale tells a different story for each person and what may be overweight for someone might be considered healthy on another body type.
In conclusion, it was an interesting read, just not personally a hit for me.
This book was provided courtesy of the author/publisher through Interviews & Reviews.
Gods Peculiar Treasure Rae 