Beach Reader Reviews

by J.D. Robb

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is grudgingly going completely out of her element to help her best friend, Mavis, by acting as a birthing partner and throwing her a baby shower on top of that!  But before the party decorations go up, she has another case to solve involving the murder of a young couple who everyone appears to have loved.  Then to complicate it all, a girl, Tandy, from their birthing class -alone in the world and expecting to deliver within a few days - disappears into thin air.  Racing against the clock, Eve, her partner Peabody and the other regulars from the New York Police Department are joined once again by her millionaire husband Roarke in a desperate attempt to find Tandy, solve her double murder case, and be present in the delivery room when Mavis goes into labor.   This is a 2006 addition to the J.D. Robb’s continuing futuristic series involving Eve Dallas in the year 2060.

Before I say anything, I must admit to you all one of my deep, dark secrets.  I love Nora Roberts.  If her name is attached to a book, I will get that book and I will read it a minimum of three to four times before passing it on to the next person to read.  (For those of you who are not aware of it - J.D. Robb is the name that Nora Robers uses when writing her futuristic novels.)    Confession #2 - I usually hate books that are set in the future and try my best to avoid them at all costs.  In fact, even after I learned the Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb connection, I still avoided actually reading one of this series.  The only reason that I finally did was because I was on vacation and ran out of books to read and a J.D. Robb book was my only option.  By the time I finished it, I had decided that J.D. Robb was the exception to the rule for me when it came to futuristic fiction.  The year is written in to her books so casually that I usually even forget that they are in the future and just like her other books, Nora Roberts hooks me every time as Born in Death did as well.  If you’ve avoided J.D. Robb because of the futuristic aspect like I did, you should pick one up and give it a try because I think you will be pleasently surprised.

 By Johanna Lindsey

Set in the Regency period in London (and it’s outskirts at times), Johanna Lindsey tells us the story of Ophelia Reid.  It opens with Ophelia having just manipulated her fiance into breaking off their engagement and trying to get out of his home with her dignity in one piece.  However, after riding in her carriage for hours, she finds that her driver has been Raphael Locke, good friend to the man she just left and the heir to a dukedom.  To win a bet with his friend, Raphael, having solicited permission from Ophelia’s father and located a proper chaperone, has kidnapped her to his home near the border of Scotland.  All he has to do now is teach her how to become a kind-hearted lady instead of the spiteful beauty that everyone believes that she is.  Ophelia is bitter and wary towards people in general having spent her entire life suffering as a result of being so beautiful that people lie to her just to be near her.  She trusts no one and curses the magnificient looks that God bestowed her.  As they get to know one another, Raphael and Ophelia begin to grow closer…

If you feel the way that I did after reading a similar summary inside the booksleeve, you are thinking that, even for a romance, this plot sounds terribly far-fetched and ridiculous.  I took a chance on it though because it’s written by Johanna Lindsey who, though not always my favorite author, can generally be counted on to deliver an entertaining read.  The chance paid off.  As ridiculous as the plot sounds, the emotions of the characters come off as sincere and draws you into their story.  In fact the further the story goes, the better it gets as the emotions become more real and raw.  My only complaint is that I feel Johanna Lindsey could have cut out some of the beginning sections and spent more time on the happenings that occured at the very end of the novel - but I’ll stop here so as not to ruin it for anyone else.  Pick up a copy and be surprised. 

(P.S. Looking for a deal?  I got my copy of this one and the next one that I am reviewing from Borders on clearance just a couple weeks ago.  Hardcover copies for only $5.99 each!)

If I may, let me start off with an apology. I have badly neglected this blog and I apologize to all for doing soIt is a new year now, and I have given the Beach Reader a new look, a new web host, and I have made a new resolution to pay more attention and much more here. And in this spirit, I am following this post with not just one but two book reviews…read on!

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A couple of days before election day, an article was printed about what the odds really were of an individual actually casting a deciding vote. It reported the odds to be about 1 in 60 million for the average person. Why, I wondered, would they print this immediately before election day? It seemed almost to want to discourage Americans from showing up at the polls by telling them that it didn’t really matter whether or not they cast a ballot.

Let me offer you another perspective. America is founded on the right to vote. If the majority of Americans decide that they vote doesn’t really matter anyway and no longer vote, our very foundation collapses. Our system only works if people vote. Regardless whether or not my vote is a “deciding” vote in an election, it is important. And our collective vote is the deciding factor in all elections.

The way we communicate information is almost more important than the information that we communicate. Had the story I read provided the individual statistic alongside what the impact of a collective group of voters impact, the story would have been a positive article that may have led even more to their polling place today. Instead, as I heard one of my acquaintances remark, it worked to reinforce the argument that most of us I am sure have heard many times…”Look, my vote didn’t matter anyway so why bother?”

One of the most thrilling aspects of this years election is the excitement that it generated in so many Americans that has already this morning resulted in huge voter turnouts. If you haven’t gone out yet, stop reading and GO VOTE!

by Stephen White

Dr. Alan Gregory (a frequent character of Stephen White’s) becomes embroiled in the drama of a returning patient of years ago. Gibbs Storey is seeing Dr. Gregory to help her to cope with and report her husband to the police. Per Gibbs, Sterling Storey is a serial killer. This book takes you through the first accusation made to Dr. Gregory by Gibbs all the way through to the final confrontation between killer and police.

Not my favorite book by Stephen White. It has several smaller stories occuring throughout the novel that in reality are far more interesting than the primary plot. It seems to just meander through things with little attention paid to the promise that the cover makes: “A fast, scary read…” Although none of Stephen White’s books are as fast-paced as I would like, this one took me a while to get through because it just didn’t hold my attention.

Reccomendation? If you want to read Stephen White on the beach - choose a different one.

This was written to contribute to another blog that I write for but I wanted to share with all of you. Enjoy!

This morning I went to work full of excitement about the November elections and with a newfound respect for Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain. Before, I go any further though, let me make a small personal disclaimer here - I am not one who closely follows politics or has any in-depth perspectives on them. I am just too busy to spend time any more time than I do immersing myself in that kind of sticky web. I do know what I support and who the candidates are that I believe in and want to see in the White House.

Now back to my original point. This morning I awoke to the same election that I have been for the past several months. But by the time that I was walking out the door to go to work, everything had changed. Who would win this years presidential election was never a slam dunk as to who would win, at least according to the polls that I have seen (and truthfully after the Bush/Gore debacle, I am scared to even speculate), but it was sure to go down in history as a great moment in the Democratic party’s and America’s history no matter who won because of Barak Obama’s nomination.

I concede that perhaps my judgement has been clouded by George W.’s term in office but nothing that McCain has done seems to have really been effective in terms of doing anything to slow Obama’s momentum. Until this morning that is. From what I have heard, I was not the only one who had never even contemplated the strategy that McCain employed with his announcement of his Vice Presidential choice, Governor Sarah Palin. This seems to be the first brilliant move that he has made so far, choosing a woman for his running mate. Now not only does he have a shot at all of those voters disgruntled by having no Hilary on the ticket but he has also altered the history books that many had already written. The election will now be great history for both parties regardless of who wins and America will have taken another giant step forward in the fight for equality. In hindsight, we all should have guessed this as a possible strategy because it seems so obvious. If Barak had selected Hilary, it would not have mattered so much but his selection of another male, makes this an almost obvious strategy for McCain to use. And while I was hoping in my heart of hearts to see the “dream ticket” of Hilary and Obama (yes, in that order), after Obama’s announcement I took a moment to scan through the Yahoo! news article. One of the first things that it mentioned was about Biden’s extensive foreign policy experience, and I grudgingly admitted at that point that Obama had made a smart selection. The only argument that the Republican’s have made that Obama really has no rebuttal for was his lack of experience in foreign policy and now he has the ammunition to fight back. Hats off to both candidates on their VP strategies.

I am suddenly feeling a renewed excitement for this election and for the future.

Tami Hoag

Megan O’Malley is the first female field agent in the history of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and her first post is in the small town of Deer Lake.  Her welcome committee consists of several disgruntled males, a good-looking chief of police, and the kidnapping the eight year old son of one of the towns most beloved figures - Dr. Hannah Garrison.  Megan, along with Chief Mitch Holt, star in this suspense novel and take us along on their search for Josh Garrison and through their own emotional upheavals caused by his disappearance.

So let me start by saying that I am really not a regular Tami Hoag reader.  In fact I can bring to mind only 4 of her books that I have read and, if I remember correctly, I really enjoyed 2 of them and wasn’t too sure on the other 2.  Sometimes her books just take too many (I think) unnecessary turns and it ends up losing my interest.  However, since it is near impossible for me to not complete a book, I muck through to the end.  Happily, Night Sins is not one of those books.  The pace is pretty consistent and I was guessing pretty close to the end about who the kidnapper was.  Although she threw us some diversionary suspects, I did not ever quite believe in them.  She ends this novel with the promise of a follow up that features the trial of the kidnapper and I have to admit, mixed feelings aside, I am looking forward to the day that I get my hands on a copy of that book.  Of the four Tami Hoag’s that I have read this one had to be my favorite.

by Catherine Coulter

Emmy winning soap star, Mary Lisa Beverly, is the victim of what appears to be a targeted hit and run accident a few blocks from her home in Malibu, California.  To escape, Mary Lisa flees home and is forced to come to terms with her antagonistic mother, the older sister who married her fiancé behind her back, and the local sheriff who threw her in a jail cell during her last visit.  Her arrival home in Malibu fares little better as she is again victimized by her unknown assailant and stalked by the paparazzi.  Joined by her friends Lou Lou and Elizabeth, the detective in charge of her case, Daniel, and an unexpected visitor from home, Mary Lisa sets out determined to bring her attacker to justice and return her life to normal.

Born To Be Wild is not what I generally expect out of Catherine Coulter, who I usually enjoy.  I read her during her romance days and followed her move to romantic suspense with glee.  But here, her characters lack the intensity and the thoughtfulness that her characters normally display.  Despite this, I have to admit that Mary Lisa and her friends share a light-heartedness and a friendliness that charms the reader.  I can’t help but like them.  Like the characters, the story itself is much less intense than usual.  But again, once I was able to let go of what I expected out of a Catherine Coulter novel, it didn’t bother me at all and I flipped through the chapters quite easily.

I am the Beach Reader.  I love to read everything from cereal boxes to novels.  I spend hours on the computer researching anything and everything.  I hate to be idle so reading is my answer.  If I am sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, I read every poster on the wall.  I have a ton of blogs on my cell phone as well as television.  I never watch the TV.  I am always reading and always have been for as long as I can remember.

Having said all that, let me know state that I am in no way a literary snob.  I feel no shame in admitting that I like romance novels and other popular fiction.  I don’t care if it is a classic or brand-spanking new, if I’m interested in it, I’ll read it.  I shop for books at library sales and garage sales.  I accumulate so many books that every few months, my husband forces me to clean some out to donate to the local library.  That is a heartwrenching process for me, I promise you.  I cannot bear to see a book thrown in the trash because I think that it should be shared.  Even if you have no desire to look at it, someone, somewhere does.

This site is dedicated to the love of books and my personal reviews of anything and everything that I read.  If you are a literary snob then you will want to leave about now.  Most my books are like me, beach readers.  Some romance, some mystery or suspense, some pop fiction, some non-fiction, some research texts.  Whatever catches my eye.  And, quite likely, it won’t be the newest one on the shelf.  Most of these books will be suited for relaxing on the couch, or the beach, rather than for use as your next intellectual discussion.

I want to share my love of books and learning with all of you.  And if any of you wish to share your faves with me, then let me know.  Or if you have a book that you would like me to review, send it on!  I look forward to the future!