Julie's Review: Your Perfect Life

Author: Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
Series: None
Publication Date: June 30, 2014
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Pages: 304
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  contemporary fiction, chick-lit
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Fun summertime (or anytime) read to share with your friends
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Summary: Two childhood best friends wake up the morning after their twentieth high school reunion to discover that they’ve switched bodies in this hilarious and heartwarming debut by two childhood best friends.With “a delicious, page-turning premise, and sweet and surprising insights” (New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster), Your Perfect Life perfectly illustrates that old adage: Sometimes, you have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to see what’s in her heart. Best friends since childhood, Casey and Rachel couldn’t lead more different lives. While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty apartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an “oops” baby, two fiery teenagers, and a husband who barely seems the man she fell in love with two decades before. After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, Casey and Rachel throw back shots to get the night back on track. Instead, they get a life-changing hangover. Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities. Rachel is forced to face the broadcasting dreams she gave up when she got pregnant in college, and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to face the real reason why she’s alone. And they soon discover that they don’t know themselves—or their best friend—nearly as well as they thought they did. ~powells.com

Review: Your Perfect Life is quintessential chick-lit and that's just fine. I thoroughly enjoyed the premise and even their reference to Freaky Friday within the novel. Gotta pay homage to those that have come before you. Each character has their flaws, which makes this an even better read because we all know no one is perfect.

Rachel and Casey have been BFFs since high school but their relationship has been a little rocky lately due to the pressures of their lives. Plus their lives couldn't be more different. Casey has a high powered job delivering the latest in celebrity news/gossip and Rachel is a frenzied mother of 3 who barely has time to shower let alone get a blow out done on her hair.

Things aren't always what they seem on the other side once each other is living the others life. What might seem glamorous is lonely and what might seem perfect is far from it. There is definitely some silliness in the novel but there are also some serious subject matters that are highlighted as well. While the authors don't dig deep into them, they don't skirt around them either.

I always say that things might look perfect from your point of view but that is rarely the case when the doors are shut. Plus as much as you might "want" someone else's life, someone else "wants" yours.


I enjoyed the fact that not only did switching bodies get them back on track in their lives but it got them back on track with their friendship. We all know life is busy but it's important to take the time to connect with the people we care about.

If you are looking for a fun read over the holiday day weekend, this is it. I also recommend passing it around to friends or purchasing it for them as a fun summer read.

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Julie's Review: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Series: None
Publication Date: July 7, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 320
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: Great concept, but fell flat
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Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, comes a hilarious, heart-wrenching take on love, marriage, and magic phones. Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That its been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply;but that almost seems beside the point now. Maybe that was always beside the point. Two days before they're supposed to visit Neals family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she cant go. Shes a TV writer, and somethings come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her—Neal is always a little upset with Georgie—but she doesn't expect to him to pack up the kids and go without her. When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if shes finally done it. If shes ruined everything. That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. Its not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like shes been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts. Is that what shes supposed to do? Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened? ~powells.com

 Review: I have now experienced my first Rainbow Rowell novel and why I was disappointed, I won't give up on her yet. I'm willing to give her another chance. Landline was a great concept, can you save your current marriage by speaking to your husband in the past? Unfortunately, it fell flat in execution.

Both of these characters were unlikable. Now, I can read books where the main character is less than stellar but I have to be able to identify with them in some way. I just found Georgie to be unbearable. I found her whiny and self-centered. She didn't know what she wanted. Did she want a successful TV career or did she want to make her husband happy? And really what could make Neal happy?!

Neal was a wet blanket. I don't think he was going to be happy no matter what Georgie did to change. He never had a clue what he wanted in life. He was going with the flow when Georgie started to pursue him. Did he really want her or was Georgie so persistent that he gave in?

I found their relationship to revolve around Neal's moods. What Neal in a good mood? Was he in a bad one? Why was he always so foul with Georgie? Wasn't it her job that let him stay at home? Why is he so resentful?

By the time, I was at the end of the novel I knew the outcome. I knew that Ms. Rowell would take the easy way out. Now, I'm not saying marriage is easy, I'm just saying it was a great way to wrap up the book.

If you are a fan of Ms. Rowell, I can pretty much tell you (even though I haven't read her other books) that this one falls short of all of her accolades. Maybe re-reading one of her favorites would be a better use of your reading time.






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Julie's Review: A Better World

Author: Marcus Sakey
Series: Brilliance Saga #2
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 390
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Dystopian, Science Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: Much love for this series that is out of my normal genres
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Summary: The brilliants changed everything. Since 1980, 1% of the world has been born with gifts we’d only dreamed of. The ability to sense a person’s most intimate secrets, or predict the stock market, or move virtually unseen. For thirty years the world has struggled with a growing divide between the exceptional...and the rest of us. Now a terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities. Supermarket shelves stand empty. 911 calls go unanswered. Fanatics are burning people alive. Nick Cooper has always fought to make the world better for his children. As both a brilliant and an advisor to the president of the United States, he’s against everything the terrorists represent. But as America slides toward a devastating civil war, Cooper is forced to play a game he dares not lose—because his opponents have their own vision of a better world. And to reach it, they’re willing to burn this one down. ~amazon.com

Review: Some people are power hungry and will do anything to ensure that they way they see things comes to fruition. Unfortunately in A Better World, these people work in influential positions. We continue with the story presented in the first book Brilliance and a lot of the players are the same with some new ones. Nick Cooper is the hero of the series. He's a brilliant who used to work for DAR before it was dismantled. Out of work or on leave, he is approached by the new President of the United States to serve in an advisory category.

While this is just as action filled as the first one, it is not without a lot of thinking. I often paused to think about what was being said and what that said about humanity. What does is say about us that we are willing to go to war, to fight because people have extraordinary abilities and some don't? It says to me that we will find something to disagree with, something to not like about someone and focus on the differences, instead of the similarities.

Mr. Sakey has intricately woven a story that is plausible if not totally probable. The characters are relatable and you root for them. You want Nick to succeed. You want him to be the hero he is desperate to be. Not only to his kids but for the rest of the citizens of the U.S. You want him to figure out the pieces of the puzzle and to put it all together in time.

What I love about this series is that it could happen. It's not so futuristic that you don't believe it. It is also very scary. It is scary how far people are willing to go to show how right they are. How they are power hungry. How they can't see straight because of their own mission. It is worry-some.

If you haven't picked up Marcus Sakey's Brilliance Saga, then you are missing out. These books have something for everyone. Believe me, these are not my usual reads and I can't wait for the next one to come out.


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Julie's Review: The Catch

Author: Taylor Stevens
Series: Michael Munroe #4
Publication Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Pages: 368
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Thriller
Rating: 3.75/5
Bottom Line: Not my favorite of the series but still a solid thriller.
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Summary: Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and information hunter, has a reputation for getting things done—often dangerous and not quite legal things. The adrenaline-fueled work has left her with blood on her hands and a soul stained with guilt. Having borne the burden of one death too many, Munroe has fled to Djibouti, Africa. There, where her only responsibility is greasing the wheels of commerce for a small maritime security company, she finds stillness—until her boss pressures her to join his team as an armed transit guard on a ship bound for Kenya. Days into the voyage, Munroe discovers the security contract is merely cover for a gunrunning operation of which she wants no part. The ship is invaded off the Somali coast and in a moment of impulse while fighting her way out, she drags the unconscious captain with her. But nothing about the hijacking is what it seems. The pirates were never after the ship; they’d come for the captain. In chasing him, they make their one mistake: targeting Munroe raises the killer’s instinct she’s tried so hard to bury. Wounded and on the run, Vanessa Michael Munroe will use the life of her catch as bait and bartering chip to manipulate every player with a stake in the ship’s outcome, and find a way to wash her conscience clean. ~amazon.com

Review: I always highly anticipate the new Michael Munroe book, so when I found out I could get The Catch early, I jumped on the chance. While I enjoyed Michael's newest journey, it wasn't my favorite of the series. I understand why Michael left the U.S. and needed this respite to figure out what she wanted. I think I just don't like her as a lone wolf. I know she can take care of herself but we all need backup and people to trust.

On the other hand, maybe she needed this respite to understand what it is she wants and needs. Maybe she needed to see that it's OK to rely on other people and not just herself. She has survived the past 6 months by disguising herself as a man, which she does easily, and working with a small, maybe not so legit, security company. It's obvious that the owner, Leo, can't stand him but his wife, Amber, does find her useful.
So when the chance comes to be an armed guard aboard a ship to Kenya, she jumps on it. Little does she know that this decision will have her gunning for her life and those life of the innocent crew aboard the ship.

While I enjoyed the story, I did get lost a couple of times in the details of putting together this rescue effort. I have no doubt that the pirating that happens off the coast of Somalia is financed illegally for profit, but I got lost in the maze of the underworld.

While I would love to see another book in the series, I am totally OK with the ending of this novel. It gives me hope that Michael might finally be able to have some peace.

If you haven't read any of the Michael Munroe series, I highly recommend them.


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Julie's Review: The Rosie Project

Author: Graeme Simsion
Series: Don Pittman #1
Publication Date:October 1, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
#of Hours: 7 hours, 32 minutes
Narrator: Dan O'Grady
Obtained: purchased via Audible
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Sweet journey about a man with Asperger's learning to be social
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Summary: Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a "wonderful" husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical - most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver. Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent - and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie - and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper. The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges. ~amazon.com

Review: The Rosie Project is a sweet story about a man who in the search for a wife, finds an unexpected candidate and journey. It is about unexpected outcomes for someone who needs to have order in his life. Don Tillman is an interesting narrator for his journey because he's afflicted with Asperger's. It is fascinating how Don goes about changing his life without really making an effort until the very end because he understands what it means to change.

The Rosie Project is a group effort, with a cast of characters that is both heartwarming and funny. I adored Rosie. I loved her personality, her ability to understand Don and to appreciate him for who he was. He definitely had his quirks but no more or less than us without Asperger's. Rosie held her own with him and by doing that allowed him to see who he wanted to be. It allowed him to get out of his pigeon hole and experience life. While the story begins as a project to find a wife, morphs into the Father/Rosie project, it really becomes the Don metamorphosis.

If you are looking for a heartwarming, funny and lovely story for your summer vacation, then look no further than The Rosie Project. I listened to it and Dan O'Grady was a fantastic narrator.


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Jenn's Review: City of Lost Souls

Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's
Pages: 535
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  YA Paranormal
Rating: 5
Bottom Line: Maddeningly, frustratingly good...
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Blurb:  The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Review:  There was no way I could leave things the way they ended in City of Fallen Angels.  I knew that would be the case before I started it.  This was hard to read; not because it was bad but because things have to get worse before they can get better, and oh, do they get worse!

For the two people out there (okay, maybe there's three) who don't like this series, the reason is usually Jace ~ his arrogance and narcissism.  But Jace isn't that guy; it's all a cover for his vulnerability ~or it was until now. Now it is hard to be around this Jace.  Actually, it's excruciating.  It is harder still to see Clary throw caution to the wind and run after him.  It is totally reckless and could have gone horribly awry.  The scenes between them are agonizing, because they are written so well and they are so very wrong.  It's brutal.

It was disheartening to see Alec loose sight of things.  He has always been the stable one, but love has turned him upside down.  I couldn't help thinking that if he talked things through with Isabelle, or even just said things aloud to himself, he'd hear what he was saying...  As devastating as it is to see Jace and Clary spinning out of control, at least I expected that.  This is worse.  I expected the plummet off the cliff, but this was loosing the tether.

The one bright spot is that Isabelle is finally starting to find her way.  I was unsure that there was anything that could crack that exterior.  It was nice to see some vulnerability from her, romantically.

The novel has more closure than I expected, on many levels.  So while I didn't read this immediately because I thought I wouldn't have been able to handle the wait for the last book, I found that I probably could have survived the wait.  Don't get me wrong the final chapter was chillingly foreboding.  But now that I have the opportunity to forge ahead, I'm not sure that I'm ready for it to be over.  There is a big battle coming and I know that not everyone can survive it... but I also know that I can't leave things where they are either... so City of Heavenly Fire, here I come...

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