And On To Book Reviews...

Now that the OC in me has finally found the blog layout that works, I guess it's freakin' high time for me to start book-reviewing soon. Hmm. I think I just can't do it now--weekdays are the pits! But I promise that come the weekend, I'm gonna post something even if it's going to be just a single book review. We're gonna have to start somewhere.

Sigh. Feels wonderful to be home. :)

The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

After thirty years, Wilson Lewis is forced to face a painful truth. His wife, Jane, has fallen out of love with him, and it is entirely his fault.

Despite the shining example of his in-laws, Noah and Allie Calhoun (originally recounted in The Notebook), and their fifty-year love affair, Wilson is unable to express his true feelings. He has spent too little time at home and too much at the office. Now his daughter is about to marry, and his wife is thinking about leaving him. But if Wilson is sure of anything, it's this: His love for Jane has grown over the years, and he will do anything he can to save their marriage. With the memories of Noah and Allie's inspiring life together as his guide, he vows to find a way to make his wife fall in love with him...all over again.


I wasn't even done with the prologue of this book yet but the waterworks was well underway. Don't blame it on my overactive tear glands. (Well, maybe.) It has everything to do with this being written by the Nicholas Sparks.

I know that NS novels are topnotch and you won't regret ever reading a single one of them. I've read A Walk to Remember and The Notebook well before both were made into and movies; and, I fell in love with the stories and the characters in each. NS is prolly one of the rare authors out there who can leave you the feeling of being immersed in love even without a happy ending (e.g. A Walk...). And we're not just talking about romantic love. It's all about the kind of love that feeds the soul.

That's probably why I've avoided his books no matter how much I want to read them. For me, reading has always been a form of escape away from the harsh realities of life. But when you read an NS, you read nothing but the truths in life. His stories aren't written with the thought of having what the hero and the heroine can do to a plot but instead, it's the other way around. His stories make his characters.

I have always been curious about this book when I learned that it was a sequel to The Notebook. When given the chance to read it, I took it. Although whether it was because of curiosity, I wouldn't know. Maybe I just needed an NS fix.

So far, in all the three NS novels that I've read, I think this book examined the heart and went deeper into the soul more than the others--although that doesn't make the other books any less poignant. I've read book after book about second chances and this is the best yet. In other books, fate always brought the two lovers back together again. Here, Wilson not only wanted to have the a second chance with his wife but he worked hard and gladly to have it. It had nothing to do with fate. Wilson made his second chance happen. I don't think a lot of people could go deep into their selves to manage doing the turnaround that he Wilson did. I hope the time will come that I will be able to if need be.

As for Noah, I liked the ending in the movie better to be honest--of him and Allie dying together. But whoever has read their book know otherwise. One of the best parts in this book was when he said that it wasn't his children believing he had gone delusional that saddened him. It was because he was acting like himself and they couldn't even see it--that he was still the same Noah. It was painful to imagine Noah alone in the end. He had always had Allie even when she was sick. And right before I closed this book, I somehow believed that maybe, he was never alone. Skeptics might say it's foolish but I believe what he believed in.

And that's why I avoid NS novels. By the time I finish one, it leaves me with more feelings of the lack in myself and in my life. And that's why I love finishing reading NS novels. Because every time I do, it leaves me with more hope for myself and what I can still do with my life. And it's a great feeling.

Final verdict: 9/10. Great read, must have.

Gentle Warrior by Julie Garwood

In feudal England, Elizabeth Montwright barely escaped the massacre that destroyed her family and exiled her from her ancestral castle. Bent on revenge, disguised as a peasant, she rode again through the fortress gates...to seek aid from Geoffrey Berkley, the powerful baron who had routed the murderers.

He heard her pleas, resisted her demands, and vowed to seduce his beautiful subject. Yet as Elizabeth fought the warrior's caresses, love flamed for this gallant man who must soon champion her cause...and capture her spirited heart!


I have read all of JG's historical romances, most of them I did ten years ago--including this one. But that doesn't mean I have all her titles. Most of her stuff I borrowed from friends or from book clubs that I used to be a member of. So when I came across this book, memories of romance-reading-filled high school all came rushing back. Hmm, those were good times.

I know I've read this book before but it never quite left its mark unlike some of JG's other earlier stuff. So rereading this actually felt like reading it anew and I liked it enough--not overly much but it did warrant an instant reread once I was through with it.

I have a divided opinion about the hero though. I think it was really kinda cool that he married the heroine of his own free will--because he really wanted to. (Not that our heroine knew that.) But so many of our medieval heroes always get told or commanded to marry the heroine that this book gave a different take. But then...I didn't like the fact that Geoffrey actually thought of it as training a wife--always telling Elizabeth what she could and couldn't do. It got pretty tiresome but I had to consider that he was from the Dark Ages. Huh! What did they know.

And I liked Elizabeth Montwright a great deal. I think she was a really, really strong character. To have one's family die is bad enough but she actually saw how her family was murdered and butchered like animals. Surviving the aftermath of such a nightmare even demanded for more strength and courage for one to want to continue living--and she delivered.

One thing that really disappointed me though was that one of the villains in the story, Elizabeth's uncle Belwain, never really got punished. And I just have a feeling that he could cause trouble for the family after this story was concluded.

But never let it be said that I did not enjoy this. Granted, it's nowhere near my most fave JG historical but it still smacked of the trademark JG style that keeps you turning the pages like the Energizer bunny. Not to mention that the chemistry between Geoffrey and Elizabeth was spectacular. Hmm, come to think of it--I wanna reread the book again after I'm done with blogging for today.

Final verdict: 7.5/10. Good read.

The Wedding Night Of An English Rogue by Jillian Hunter

Lord Heath Boscastle’s attraction for Julia Hepworth begins with a bang. She shoots him at a hunting party–accidentally, of course. Though the shot grazes his shoulder, her beauty pierces his heart. Sparks fly soon after when they find themselves dangerously close to a compromising position. Too inexperienced to understand such overwhelming emotions, Heath and Julia part ways.

Now, years later, Heath is a high-ranking intelligence officer, asked to protect his commander’s fiancée, Julia, while he chases down an elusive spy. Heath quickly regrets his promise when he meets Julia again–and their mutual desire still burns hotter than ever. Of course he will protect her. There is danger in the air. And Heath would never think of betraying his friend, until he learns that Julia herself has been betrayed. Suddenly seduction Boscastle style is the name of the game. Yet Julia has a trick or two up her own sleeve–and is determined to be a player, and not a mere pawn, in his wicked game.


Pressure is finally getting to me if it took me nearly a week to finish this book plus a few more days to post a review of it. Was that it? Or didn't the story impress me much for me not to at least try to lose some sleep just to finish the entire thing? I had extremely enjoyed the only other JH book that I've read that I might have been too excited to read this--and then there were actually some points when I was reading this book that I though maybe, just maybe, JH was a fluke.

But then I did get to the very last page and after breathing a sigh of relief, I realized that this book was actually a good one. Prolly not as good as the other book, which was the first book of this trilogy. But I found that I quite enjoyed our hero Heath Boscastle.

He was quite the mysterious brother when he appeared in his older brother Grayson's book. And now I know why. I loved it that he worked around the miscommunication that lost him Julia and that when he finally had a chance to see her again, he risked everything including honor and friendship just to have her again. Julia Hepworth was one of those heroines that we could never call "a sweet little thing." She was more aptly described at one point in the book as an Amazon and I had to smile about that. Yes, our Julia had spirit.

Fate has a funny way of intervening in our lives. It was Fate that brought our hero and heroine back together just when they thought that they would never have the chance to finish what had started between them when they were younger. Julia was already engaged to a good friend of Heath's at this time. I guess it was too convenient that Russell turned out to be an a-hole though. It would have been a nicer touch to really "wrong" him and that would have made a more complicated plot. I love it that way. But at least Heath didn't use that to his advantage to win Julia over again. Now that was a truly gentlemanly move.

This book did have the JH trademark of witty banter that made me like her other book so much. The caricature of a naked Heath making the rounds of London was a high point. And the fact that it was Julia herself who drew it did not help any. LOL! That was a good one. And although this was a light romance novel, the fact that there was a murderer in the lose that was bent on having his revenge on Russell and Heath added some color to the story, enough to give me a chill thinking how many times the monster got close to Julia. That was one sicko.

I might not have enjoyed this book as much as I wanted to--too high of an expectation?--but I still remain a fan of JH and look forward to finding the second book in this trilogy. Or any of her other books.

Final verdict: 7/10. Good read.


The Boscastle Trilogy
The Seduction of an English Rogue
The Affair of an English Lord
The Wedding Night of an English Rogue