Romance Novel Roundup: Fenske, Mallery, & Crusie

Reviewed by Ambrea

I’ve been on a romance novel kick recently.  In between book club picks, like The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Their Eyes Were Watching God, I’ve been sifting through several different romance authors and delving into terribly, wonderfully sappy romantic stories.

I’ll be honest:  I haven’t always loved romance novels; in fact, I used to dislike them because they seemed boring and oh-so-frustratingly predictable.  It was always boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl break up, before boy and girl finally make up and get married.  But, more recently, I’ve found a few authors I love who create novels that can be fun, zany, endearing and, yes, entirely unpredictable.

In Making Waves by Tawna Fenske, we meet Juli who is in the Caribbean to distribute the ashes of her uncle (who may or may not have been a mob boss).  She’s incredibly intelligent—she can memorize a car manual in ten minutes, give or take—and she’s always ready for an adventure; however, she never expects to stumble across a dysfunctional pirate crew run by Alex, a disgruntled ex-employee ready to rip off his unscrupulous boss.

Making Waves is a delightfully funny and unexpectedly witty gem.  Juli is absolutely adorable—wildly enthusiastic, smart and imaginative—and her relationship with Alex is hilarious.  The banter between Alex and the so-called “pirate crew” is equally funny, and I often found myself laughing out loud as their adventure got under way and they encountered one problem after another.  It’s a romance that is odd, off-beat, and even a little weird, but I absolutely adored it.

As the tagline on the front states:  Normal may be nice, but weird is wonderful.

Falling for Gracie, book two in the “Los Lobos” series by Susan Mallery, tells the story of Gracie Landon and her return to her hometown of Los Lobos, California.  When Gracie was fourteen, she fell in love with Riley—eighteen, rebellious, and unspeakably handsome—and did everything in her power to get him to notice her.  But after spending the rest of her childhood in Iowa, Gracie has grown up and wants nothing to do with Riley, until one misadventure brings her face-to-face with her former crush and they find themselves drawn together, despite their ignominious history.

Although Mallery’s novel falls a little more on the predictable side, I found Falling for Gracie to be a humorous and charming little romance.  While in Los Lobos, Gracie must live down her history as the crazy girl who stalked Riley and became a town legend, and Riley, of course, is trying to wrap his head around the notion that Gracie is no longer the girl he knew—throw in a little sabotage, and you’ve got a story that’s both funny and sweet.

Overall, it was a good novel with a sweet ending that gave me all the warm fuzzies.

Faking It by Jennifer Crusie is a delightfully funny novel about Matilda Goodnight, her dysfunctional family, and Davy, the crook who finds himself getting wrapped up in the Goodnight family drama—you know, after he accidentally runs into Matilda, while he’s trying to recoup his lost money from his crazy ex, Clea.  Not the best way to start off a relationship, but, regardless, they find themselves drawn to each other as they try to outwit Clea, suspicious art collectors, and a possible hit man.

I’ve read several books by Jennifer Crusie, and I’ve found that each novel is more delightful than the last.  Crusie has a gift for creating zany characters and putting them in even more wacky situations—and the Goodnight family (plus Davy) is about as kooky as you can get.  The whole story is a wild ride from beginning to end, and I enjoyed every minute.

I highly recommend Faking It—or any novel by Jennifer Crusie—if you’re looking for an off-kilter romance with plenty of spunk.

Nevermore: Goats, Dragons, Across Open Ground, Ike's Bluff, and Now That It's You

Reported by Ambrea

One of our Nevermore readers decided to pick up something different to share this week by selecting The Dairy Goat Handbook:  For Backyard, Homestead, and Small Farm by Ann Starbard.  It's a comprehensive guidebook about selecting and raising goat breeds, maintaining a healthy herd, and using dairy goat products, like milk and cheese.  Our reader picked Starbard’s book up on a whim, spying it on a display shelf, and she said she just couldn’t resist.  She enjoyed reading The Dairy Goat Handbook and, more importantly, she liked learning something new.  “If you’re into vicarious farming, as I am, this is a very good book,” she told her fellow Nevermore members, and she highly recommended it to others with an interest in homesteading or simply like goats.

Nevermore also looked at The Kingdom of the Golden Dragon by Isabel Allende.  Although Allende has appeared a number of times, it was the first time her young readers’ series was introduced to Nevermore.  In The Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, Alexander Cold and his best friend, Nadia, are reunited in a new adventure that takes them to the highest reaches of the Himalayas and a forbidden kingdom protected by the fabled Golden Dragon.  Our reader enjoyed reading Allende’s novel.  While it reflects the younger age of its audience, she said it has a very good story and she thought the author did a wonderful job of making the setting come to life.  It was even better than the first book, City of the Beasts, she enthused.

Next, Nevermore looked at Across Open Ground by Heather Parkinson, a fascinating epic about Walter Pascoe, a sheep herder in Idaho, and Trina Ivy, a beautiful young trapper, as they struggle to give root to their growing affection—and survive the First World War.  Our reader said she was “so glad I go to read this book.”  Beautifully written and breathtakingly eloquent, Across Open Ground was immediately labeled as a fantastic book.  She said it reminded her of the Red Badge of Courage, threaded with moments of beauty and tragedy that gave the story impact and presence.  A magnificent and searing story about war and love and, ultimately, the fragility of human life, Across Open Ground received some very high marks and a great recommendation from our reader.

Skipping to the tail end of the Second World War and veering right into the 1950s, Nevermore took a look at Ike’s Bluff:  President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World by Evan Thomas.  After assuming the presidency in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower set about ending the Korean War by whatever means necessary—or so he lead the American public to believe.  A detailed and in-depth biography portraying foreign relations of the United States during the presidency of Eisenhower, Ike’s Bluff proved to be an intriguing book for our reader.  He said the writing was excellent, and he added that the author did a wonderful job of shedding new light on his subject.   Overall, he rated it highly, saying it was a “very good book.”

Last, Nevermore looked at a lovely comedic romance by Tawna Fenske.  In Now That It’s You, Meg Delaney decides that, after two years of radio silence, it’s time to let bygones be bygones with her cheating ex-fiancé, Matt Midland, and she hopes to make amends for leaving him at the altar.  But when Matt unexpectedly passes away, Meg is left with the lingering debt of their still-broken engagement sans closure—and suddenly Kyle, Matt’s younger brother, is back in her life, leaving her wondering about what could have been.  Our reader really enjoyed reading Fenske’s latest novel, calling it a wonderfully hilarious depiction of both romantic and familial relationships.  She said she enjoyed the humor, the sweetness, and even the awkward moments; however, she noted she was hooked after discovering the group of LARPers (Live Action Role-Players) dressed in fantasy gear in the second chapter.