Must Love Otters by Eliza Gordon

Publisher: West 26th Street Press

Publish Date: October 25, 2013

Format: Kobo ereader

Pages: -

ISBN: 978 1630640101

Hollie Porter is the chairwoman of Generation Disillusioned: at twenty-five years old, she’s saddled with a job she hates, a boyfriend who’s all wrong for her, and a vexing inability to say no.  She’s already near her breaking point, so when one caller too many kicks the bucket during Hollie’s 911 shift, she cashes in the Sweethearts’ Spa & Stay gift certificate from her dad and heads to Revelation Cove, British Columbia.  Once caveat: she’s going solo.  Any sweethearts will have to be found on site.

Hollie hopes to find her beloved otters in the wilds of the Great White North, but instead she’s providing comic relief for staff and guests alike.  Even Concierge Ryan, a former NHL star with bad knees and broken dreams, can’t stop her from stumbling from one (mis)adventure to another.  Just when Hollie starts to think that a change of venue doesn't mean a change in circumstances, the island works its charm and she starts to think she might have found the rejuvenation she so desperately desires.  But then an uninvited guest crashes the party, forcing her to step out of the discomfort zone where she dwells and saves the day… and maybe even herself in the process.

My Thoughts

I thought this book was freaking hilarious and it must be made into a movie immediately!  I absolutely loved Hollie and the misfortunes she got herself into...everything she did I felt like I was reading about myself.  I would be that girl stuck in a rowboat with no oars in a rainstorm.  I'm just unlucky, what can I say.  I bought this book solely based on the title...who doesn't love otters!?  They have to be the cutest animal there is.  Oh and Ryan, how can you not instantly fall in love and root for him?

Written by the husband and wife duo team of Eliza Gordon, I thought it was witty, sharp and very original.  I can't wait to read more from this dynamic team.  I laughed and cried then laughed some more...it was that good!

I highly recommend Must Love Otters to anyone who loves a feel-good romantic comedy that you don't want to end. 

My Rating: «««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Son of Rosemary by Ira Levin

Publisher: Dutton Books
Publish Date: September 1, 1997
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0525943747

Son of Rosemary opens at the dawn of the new millennium – a time when human hope is shadowed by growing fear and uncertainty, and the world is in greatest need of a saviour.  It is here – against a glittering backdrop of New York City in 1999 – that Rosemary is reunited with her son.  It is also here that the battle between good and evil will play out on a global scale – a struggle that will have frightening, far-reaching consequences, not only for Rosemary and her son but for all humanity. 

My Thoughts

Well this book wasn't near what Rosemary's Baby was, so much that I didn't finish it.  I tried, I really really did!  I struggled for weeks and only got 80 pages read before I finally gave up and returned it to the library.  After, I read some reviews about it because I was still interested in the outcome.  Goodreads reviewer didn't have anything good to say about it and a number of people seemed angry about the ending of this sequel because it ruined the first book.  Now I wish I had read the last 5 pages (as suggested by numerous reviewer) before I had returned it, as that seems to be where it all unraveled.  Since I didn't finish this book I can not give it an honest review.

My Rating: 0 Stars (Did Not Finish)

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Publisher: Random House

Publish Date: 1967

Pages: 245

Format: Hardcover (2003 Stephen King Edition)

ISBN: 978-0965723176

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents.  Neighbours Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary’s reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband takes a special shine to them.  Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare.  As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavet’s circle is not what it seems. 

My Thoughts

First things first, this was my first classic horror novel and I wasn't going to review it but I can't get it out of my head!  There are so many things about this book that are still lingering with me and it's been a week since I finished it.  So much that I had to go out and pick up the sequel, Son of Rosemary.

The story line does develop somewhat slowly, but Levins'  masterful writing style develops characters that keep your attention and you want to keep reading.  Instead of building a huge amount of suspense it slowly unfolds into a deliciously creepy and a great fast read.  Although I never found the novel to be scary it has a very dark plot.  No spoilers...read it for yourself.  If you don't want to read it, watch the movie.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow
Published Date: June 18, 2013
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0062255655

Sussex, England.  A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral.  Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother.  He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back.  And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road.  Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways.  The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy.   And Lettie – magical, comforting, wise beyond her years – promised to protect him, no matter what.

My Thoughts 

All I really have to say about this book is huh? I just didn't "get it" and not really even sure what to say about it.  I read the whole book, but what I actually absorbed...

I'm sure it was "haunting" and "magical" to those who enjoy Gaiman's work, this is the first novel (or rather novella) I have read of his and I'm not certain if I will read anymore.  Maybe the genre just isn't for me.  I found myself very lost during the magic parts of the story.

My Rating: «

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.