On the Island - Tracey Garvis Graves

My good friend and fellow blogger Steph at KitchenKM isn't a huge fan of reading fiction, so when she recommended the book On the Island I was immediately intrigued knowing her recommendation wouldn't have come easily.  The premise does sound a tad salacious, as if The Blue Lagoon was mixed with The Mary Kay Letourneau Story.  30 year old teacher Anna Emerson is going for the summer to tutor TJ Callahan in the Maldives, where his family is vacationing.  TJ is 16 years old and recently in remission from Hodgkin's lymphoma.  The two travel together to the island, and what should be an uneventful trip turns into and unplanned struggle for survival when the pilot has a heart attack the two are stranded and forced to survive on a remote island.  This story of survival and what appears to be a taboo romance is handled with heart and grace.  Anna is not a cougar looking for her prey, but a woman who was looking for a change in her life and ends up with more than she bargained for when she must rely on the very student she came to tutor.  TJ is a teenage boy who has had to grow up fast because of his cancer, and then again when thrown into this survival situation he must face adulthood and his growing feelings for his teacher.  These two people only have each other, and bond while facing dangers in their struggle to live and survive.  The romance is handled over the course of time, and I think that is what softens any taboo or salaciousness of the age difference and student/teacher rolls.  The relationship is not fully realized or consummated until TJ is nearly 19.  This romance isn't a quick island romp, but built out of adversity and life and death struggles that shape the bond and eventual love for each other that develops between Anna and TJ.  This is a fast paced read that kept me turning pages and explores the deepening of a relationship over the course of time between characters that felt honest to me.  I am glad to say my initial expectations were wrong, and I enjoyed this wonderful romance.

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum) - Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is the sassy and feisty heroine in a series of Janet Evanovich novels following her adventures misadventures as a bond enforcement agent, or bounty hunter.  Recently having lost her job as a lingerie buyer, this plucky Jersey Girl must figure out how to come up with some cash, and turns to her dad's cousin for work as a bounty hunter.  Clearly not well-suited to this dangerous work, she somehow has a keen instinct to know when she should dig deeper into a mystery surrounding an FTA, i.e. Failure to Appear.   Her first assignment is Joe Morelli, a vice cop seemingly turned killer who grew up in her neighborhood.  The two have a colorful history and clearly strained feelings exist, but she must do all she can to get her man.  With some help from Ricardo Carlos Manoso, otherwise known as Ranger, bounty hunter extraordinaire and mystery figure of male danger she lands herself in some rather dangerous situations along the way to getting to the bottom of things.

This series, which has a nineteenth book coming out, is funny, sexy, and lively.  Stephanie is a regular girl who takes a job as a bounty hunter out of need, and lands in deep water time and time again.  I have now read 6 books in the series and have enjoyed each of them.  They have funny characters, like Lula a former prostitute who ends up going along with Stephanie on some of her FTA missions as the series progresses.  Grandma Mazur is Stephanie's funeral loving grandma, who seems as trouble prone as Stephanie.   Even "Big Blue", a tank of a Buick Roadmaster that Stephanie endures driving after she continually loses cars fires, bombs, and garbage trucks becomes kind of iconic in her world.

The back and forth flirtations/relationships she has with Morelli and Ranger are endearing, because what girl wouldn't love having two sexy guys in their life.  Watching her figure out her feelings as she goes after FTAs is amusing, because both men must continually keep her out of the trouble she seems to draw to her.  She isn't a damsel-in-distress, but she is definitely a girl who attracts trouble, and the two men in her life have to endure a lo.

I find myself going back to this series for enjoyable, light reads, with a bit of adventure and romance mixed in.  Stephanie isn't perfect, and that is what I love most.  She goes in, does her thing, and somehow manages to make it out in the end.  Her no holds barred approach is always amusing.  I plan to continue reading the series and see what trouble our fearless bounty hunter finds herself in next.  

K

Divergent - Veronica Roth

Much as Suzanne Collins did in her Hunger Games Trilogy, Veronica Roth in Divergent begins painting a disturbing and startling vision of the future.  In the dystopian Chicago of the future society, for better or worse, has broken into five factions that regard a particular virtue as important and the key to a better future.  Abnegation the Selfless, Dauntless the Fearless/Brave, Erudite the Knowledgeable, Candor the Honest, and Amity the Peaceful.  Beatrice Prior is 16 and about to come of age in this society as the Choosing Ceremony is about to take place, and she must make a choice that will forever change her.  Growing up in Abnegation has never felt right to Beatrice, and a hard choice confronts the young woman as cracks in what is supposed to be a seamless societal structure begin to show.  Her journey is a fast paced, exciting, and gripping as she confronts the choice she ultimately makes.  Beatrice is a strong female narrator, painted in true strokes despite the dystopian premise of the story.  Growing up, making choices, no matter what are universal themes.  The themes about society as a whole and what virtues, frailties, and power surrounds are equally intriguing.  A very different world from The Hunger Games, but no less imaginative, and for Young Adult fiction I find it to be equally thought-provoking.  Well written stories take the reader in and raise questions, make us laugh, make us cry, make us cheer, and Veronica Roth has created a well-written novel.  I am eagerly anticipating the second book in this trilogy!


K

11/22/63 - Stephen King

Having never read a Stephen King book, it was with some trepidation I began reading 11/22/63 for my bookclub.  I was surprised that I ended up enjoyed the book.  It is not the usual King "Horror," but about a time traveler and a real historical event.  The event is the watershed moment, November 22, 1963, the day President John Kennedy was assassinated.  It is a lengthy book, something I have heard repeatedly about King's writing, but not a badly written story at all.  The book focuses on time traveling teacher Jake Epping and his journey as he attempts to change the obdurate past.  It weaves in the historical figures Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife, with the fictional people Jake meets along the way.  The more outrageous time travel element is about the only discernible supernatural or paranormal device more expected of King, but at it's core remains a character book and a book about choices.  The story about a regular man, an extraordinary opportunity, and the consequences for himself and those around him of taking or not taking that opportunity.  And as historical fiction, and being a history lover myself, the notion of a journey to the past, and the implications of altering the past, or the butterfly effect, did intrigue me despite my being unfamiliar with King's writing.  Engaging storytelling, and an interesting premise, helped me navigate King's lengthy writing style.  Overall, I found it an enjoyable read, good for King fans as well as King newcomers.

K

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

This was such a fun book. I loved the supernatural element mixed in with this engaging story centered around a mysterious text that winds up in the heroine's hands. Honestly, the book continually kept my interest and kept me turning pages. The romance that developed was sexy and sweet, a perfect blend. I really loved the Matthew character, he was just something else. The second book of the trilogy comes out in July, and I can't wait to read it, and can't recommend this book enough.

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

COMING SOON!