Meet Me at the Beach: A Review

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book blog, book review, Meet Me at the Beach, pedometer geek, Randall Sykes, review, romance, V.K. Sykes, Vanessa Kelly

An autographed copy of V.K. Sykes’ Meet Me at the Beach was the latest Shelf Awareness Book Buzz giveaway this pedometer geek read.  It’s a contemporary romance, and this is the extended review.

Meet Me at the Beach
By V.K. Sykes
Published by Forever, 2015
A division of the Hatchette Book Group
ISBN: 978-1-4555-5251-1

Meet Me at the Beach is written by V.K. Sykes, the husband and wife team of Randall Sykes and Vanessa Kelly, respectively. Previously, this pedometer geek read and enjoyed some of Vanessa Kelly’s historical romances, but this novel is categorized as a contemporary romance.

What this writing pair brings to romance tales is that there are distinct differences in the voices of the male and female characters. The narrative of the story goes back and forth between the perspectives of the two main characters of Lily Doyle and Aiden Flynn. When the story is being described through Lily’s eyes, thoughts, and feelings, it is obviously written from a woman’s perspective. So, too, is there a man’s perspective when it is Aiden’s thoughts, etc. being told. In particular, the language of each of these two characters sounds realistic for whichever one of them is speaking or (in particular) thinking.

Briefly, Aiden Flynn is a major league outfielder, who is returning home after being cut from his team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Ostensibly, he is home to deal with some family issues with his father Sean and brother Bram. When he left his island home of Seashell Bay years ago, he never looked back. His only regret: leaving Lily Doyle.

Following in her family’s footsteps, Lily Doyle is a lobster fisherman in this town off the coast of Maine. Unfortunately for her, she is working single-handed and barely getting by. The unspoiled community of Seashell Bay is comprised mainly of lobster fishermen including the Flynn family with whom her family has a long-standing feud. Adding to that feud is a possible land deal that will destroy the community’s livelihood.

Lily and Aiden have a history together despite their family feud. When he left, she was heartbroken. When he returns, all their history plus his vital role in the island controversy make for a spicy contemporary romance that is fraught with tension.

Overall, Meet Me at the Beach is a twist on the classic story of star-crossed lovers. Fortunately, this one is not a tragedy; it is a love story and an enjoyable one at that. This is the first of the Seashell Bay novel series, and its sequel, Summer at the Shore, has been recently published. This reader looks forward to reading that one as well.

Yes, like most novels, there are the usual What-the-tuck trends like Lily’s green eyes and hair being tucked behind an ear, but it is generally free of typos (always a positive!). Some of the erotic scenes are a bit graphic, and there is a smattering of profanity, but neither is pervasive. Mostly, it is about the slow building of  the couple’s relationship. One minor quibble for this reader was the title, which doesn’t seem to fit with the story-line, as there was only one brief scene with the couple on a beach. This reader suspects that the title has more to do with connecting the titles into a coherent group for the series.

Behold A Rainbow: A Review (or two)

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Behold a Rainbow, book review, Krisscross Press, novels, pedometer geek, Susan Brace Lovell, Susan Lovell, The Sandpiper, women's fiction

Several months ago, this pedometer geek reader was fortunate to receive a personalized autographed copy of Behold A Rainbow as a Shelf Awareness Book Buzz giveaway. Susan Lovell, the author, indicated that it was the second book, the first being The Sandpiper. Thus, while the review that follows is, for the most part, about Behold A Rainbow, both will be extensively reviewed here. Having tried to read the one without the other, there were enough veiled references from the first that only left this reader confused (and wanting to know the whole story).

Behold A Rainbow
By Susan Lovell
Published by KRisSCroSS Press, 2015
ISBN: 97800-9892874-1-8

Lovell’s The Sandpiper and Behold A Rainbow are two novels that are all about the lives of the three Cameron women: Ellie, Kate, and Jamie. One is an alcoholic; one is a perfectionist; one is a widowed single mother. In addition there is Nina Judd, who figures prominently in both novels as well.

Both of these novels are all about family relationships: that of mother-daughter, between siblings, and with extended family. They are also about secrets kept and secrets released, all in the name of love.

In The Sandpiper, sisters Kate and Jamie deal with issues stemming from their past which intrude into their present. Big sister Kate has protected her younger sister Jamie since birth. So much has gone on in their lives that Kate has become a perfectionist succeeding in all she attempts except for the one thing she desires most: to have a baby with her husband Peter, an orthopedic surgeon. Infertility plagues the pair, but no one knows; to the couple, particularly Kate, it is a shameful secret that must be kept a secret.

Jamie is the screw-up in the family. She is an alcoholic, albeit a recovering alcoholic and addict, who has recently returned home to care for her dying aunt. For her, it is truly ‘one day at a time’ as she spends some of each day at AA meetings with her sponsor Gloria. Added to her screw-up status, she is also pregnant and is looking for options, options that wouldn’t necessarily please her family; thus another secret.

Ellie, as their mother, has had her own issues over the years. Losing the love of her life when Kate was very young as well as being pregnant with Jamie at the time has made her life difficult. Yet her adoption by the resilient English teacher, Nina Judd, has given her and her daughters stability. Forging a new family of sorts, the two women have a friendship that transcends DNA. Nina becomes a guardian angel, an aunt, a sister, and a sounding board for them all.

In the end, choices and events plague all four of these women, but together, with love, they can accomplish just about anything.

Picking up five years after its predecessor, Behold A Rainbow continues the story of the Cameron women (and the people in their lives). Ellie, Kate, and Jamie still have problems. (Hey, it’s life…and life is not always rosy.) Some are ongoing problems while others are new.

Jamie is still dealing with her recovery, but now has become an addiction counselor in her own right. She is also the single mother of a precocious daughter, Nina, who calls herself Minka.

Kate and Pete still are dealing with infertility issues. While each new IVF treatment brings hope, there is always the looming reality that a pregnancy won’t occur. And if pregnancy doesn’t produce a baby, what next for the couple.

Ellie has finally had some financial easing, but dealing with a diagnosis of breast cancer brings to the forefront how fragile happiness can be. Still, each of these women of Spring Port, Michigan (on the coast of Lake Michigan) looks for the rainbow after the rain. They remain optimistic, feeling the influence of Nina, despite all that life throws at them.

Poignant and heartwarming, both books are women’s fiction. Each made this reader smile, weep, and root for all of the characters, especially Jamie, Kate, Ellie, and Nina. The stories are a realistic look about overcoming the various stumbling blocks of life as well as celebrating the victories, both small and large, that occur along the way.

While it would be possible to read the second novel without having read the first, it would be more difficult to understand. The author reminds the reader by referencing past events, but it would not be nearly as satisfying as reading them both, and in the order written. Overall, these two are worth reading, and either or both would also make great choices for a women’s book club.

It should be noted that there were some small editing issues (missed quotation marks, missed periods, misspellings), but nothing that caused a difficulty in understanding the story.

By the way, to this reader’s recollection, there were no green-eyed characters or other obvious What-the-tuck trends except for, perhaps, Ellie tucking her grand-daughter’s hair behind her hair.

Full disclosure:
Although given a copy of the novel Behold a Rainbow, that in no way affected this review; in fact, in order to read The Sandpiper, this reader purchased a Kindle copy through Amazon.

Seduced by Innocence: A Review

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book review, Karpove Kinrade, paranormal romance, pedometer geek, Seduced by Innocence

The latest Goodreads giveaway ARC, Seduced by Innocence, this pedometer geek read was written by the husband and wife team of Kimberly Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov. Writing under Karpov Kinrade (or in some versions Alex Lux–as it has recently changed, but I digress), this is the first in The Seduced Saga, a paranormal romance series. Here’s the extended review.

Seduced by Innocence
By Karpov Kinrade
Published by Daring Books, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-939559-35-7

This is the first of three books that make up this paranormal romance. This one is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and it is told through the perspective of three characters: Rose, Derek, and Blake, a young man in love with Rose. Rose and Derek are featured as the star-crossed lovers. Rose is a witch, the daughter of the leader of her coven; Derek is a shape-shifting Druid. Like the aforementioned play, unbeknownst to them, there is some sort of feud between their families.

It becomes an all-out war when Derek’s younger brother, Dean, is destroyed by the powerful touch of Rose. Despite the fact that this event happened as a protective response to his attack on her mother, Rose is still shaken as she fears the power of her touch, the power to destroy, the power to kill.

Just as Rose is shaken, so too is Derek. After several years away, because of the attack, he regretfully returns home, back to his family’s fold. Yet, there is a continued streak of independence in him, and he returns to his old job as a martial arts trainer rather than go into the family business.

There he meets Rose and her friend Ocean. After the attack on their coven, both young women wish to learn how to defend themselves. When they meet, however, there is an instant connection between Rose and Derek that can’t be denied.

Going against her mother’s wishes, Rose agrees to see Derek again. With Ocean’s help, they secretly meet. While their love may be innocent, the behind-the-scenes machinations of her (and his) family and friends is anything but, and this could be their downfall.

Like all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, there is strong emotion and betrayals throughout the tale. Each chapter title is based on from a quote from the play, which is fully attributed.

Although the story can stand on its own, there is a cliff-hanger ending that begs to complete the story of the young lovers, leaving this reader wondering what next for these lovers and their respective families.

A few typos and misused words can be found in the text, but overall, for those who enjoy paranormal romances, they should be able to overlook them. A teaser chapter of the next book in the series, Seduced by Pain, was included. If the author remains true to the pattern set in Seduced by Innocence, from the chapter title and its quote, this one will be based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream.

Perhaps this reader needs to brush up on her Shakespeare.