Truth and Consequences - KouriArashi

An enjoyable well-written fanfic. No sex.

5 out of 5 (exceptional)

Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Well dawn you have got another excellent book out there

Meeting with these four girls there is always going to be backstabbing and someone always thinking there the better person and arguments galore

But with the friendship between amber and Emily really not resolved and Brooke finding it hard to live without Jackson.

And summer well she is in this bubble with Oliver but they are so stressed out and snapping each other that sometimes you need a breakaway. when things start to get on a rocky road especially when you get the surprise of your life and you have to do the decent thing and tell your current partner a difficult secret that you have been keeping for him ie Oliver.

The 2nd book had a lot of emotional things in the characters are amazing that dawn has wrote about.

I am not giving anything away as you will have to discover for yourself what happens in this book but I will say this Friendship is always there weather you are arguing or hugging or supporting that friend.

I am giving this book 5/5

Jill Mansell books are hit or miss with me. I needed some good reads this weekend and just read books til I fell asleep. This was the only sample by Mansell that actually intrigued me, so I ended up buying this. Per usual there is a cast of characters, some misunderstandings, and a HEA for all the people involved. The only reason why I didn't give this five stars is that I thought the reaction of one of the characters to another character butting in on her business was not what we have been shown the whole book. If she had a bad reaction to the things that he went and got nosy about, that would have felt more real to me.

"The Unexpected Consequences of Love" has photographer Sophie doing what she can to build up her business in Cornwall. Due to events that happened years ago, Sophie has sworn off all men, Her best friend Tula, ends up getting fired and moves to Cornwall to work as well. Tula has a crush on the local hotel owner's grandson (Josh) but he only has eyes for Sophie. Too bad Tula doesn't like the local writer's grandson (Riley) who only has eyes for her. Josh's grandmother and grandfather (Dot and Lawrence) are divorced though both wish that they could go back and do things differently. So that sets up things between all of the major characters in this one.

I have to say that I loved Sophie a lot. We find out why she has sworn off men. Though she is curious/intrigued by Josh, there's a reason why she is rightfully gun-shy about becoming involved with anyone.

Tula was a bit of a mess, but also lovable. She wants a romantic happily ever after and believes that Josh is the one that will give it to her. Even though he practically puts up smoke signals to let her know that he's not into her at all. Tula's father ran off when she was young and her mother kept getting involved with men who were allergic to work. Due to Riley not having a real job, Tula is staying far away from him even though she acknowledges how attractive he is.

Josh bugged me. Due to Sophie turning him down repeatedly, he is determined to figure out why she won't go out with him. He snoops and involves himself with her past all so she will go out with him. Sorry, I am still annoyed by this whole thing. Due to how Mansell characterized Sophie in this book, I had a hard time with this whole thing without her being really upset by it. And this is all due to a guy not hearing the word "no". Instead he is determined he is going to "fix" her or her past so that he can finally get with her. Ugh. 

Riley was very cute and I loved the reveal about him.

Dot and Lawrence were adorable. I don't know what I would have done in Dot's shoes, she has a rightful reason to be upset with Lawrence. When she starts dating someone else, I was of two minds about it while reading. A very good resolution occurs with these two, but then they kind of just disappear for the last portion of the book.

The writing was very good. I liked all of the interactions between characters. The flow worked too.

The ending didn't feel very realistic and was kind of abrupt. I wish we had gotten a chance to look at everyone months down the road or something. 

'Tea or Consequences' is a fun mystery with a side of romance and I really enjoyed this one. Set in the city of Toronto...you guessed it!!! CANADA!!!! Ok, that's my squee, I'll try and keep my inner geek under control from here.

Riley works for a temp agency as an executive assistant. He loves the challenge of what he does and the newness of working for someone different all the time and he's really good at what he does. So good that his latest position working for Gabrielle the cosmetics queen of Gautier Cosmetics lets him know that in no uncertain terms she wanted to keep him as her PA. 

Everything's going really well for Riley...right up until his boss turns up dead and his high school crush turns up as one of the lead investigators on the case...Riley's well ordered life is suddenly thrown into chaos as he and Tad work together to figure out who wanted Gabrielle dead because there's no shortage of suspects with this case. 

I liked the character of Riley. To say the least he's someone who's organized and efficient. You can't be a good PA much less a good temp PA and not have those qualities nailed down but I think what I love the most about this character is that he's representative of so many people who have found what they want to do in life and are doing it because it makes them happy and their lives are fulfilled not because they're meeting everyone else's expectations but they're meeting they're own and doing what makes them feel happy, successful and fulfilled.

Tad was a little harder to get a grasp on because for most of the story it wasn't clear whether or not Tad remembered who Riley was. Tad was also frustrating because of his reluctance to be in a relationship with Riley, not because he didn't want to be with Riley...in fact it more like the opposite Tad definitely wants to be with Riley but for him it's a conflict of interest in regards to his job and at the same time it also felt like he was using Riley to get information that he wouldn't have otherwise had access to for his case. The bottom line is that Tad may be trying hard to do what's right it's not without a price to both his and Riley's happiness.

As much as I enjoyed this story I do have to admit that it required a big suspension of belief when it came to some of what happened in this story. I'm not going to go into the details but let's just say in regards to the police procedures...it's FICTION!!! And this one really was built on that premise. In general this was a really entertaining story and I think a lot of that was due to the fact that the author didn't try to adhere to police procedures and it allowed them to use Riley in a more active role for the mystery part of the story and I mean more active as in...I'm not sure how the police would have solved this without him. This also facilitated Riley and Tad's relationship progressing as well.

The romance in this one was definitely a secondary factor in this story but at the same time it never got lost from the story...it just took a bit of a back seat at times but the connection was always maintained allowing the romance and the mystery to transition back and forth in terms of priority.

Darcy Stark was the narrator for this story and while he's not a new narrator...he's a new to me narrator and one that I think I need to check out a little more because based on this audio book, he's a narrator that I'm going to enjoy. His voices were unique, expressive and consistent. He added depth to the characters and the story making for a very enjoyable listening experience and story.

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An audio book of 'Tea or Consequences' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Presently she sank into an armchair before the fire, and tried to visualize the effects of her own action. She was principally conscious of a certain amazement, that a step which seemed likely to have such far-reaching consequences should have been so largely the result of sudden impulse. She had not thought the night before of breaking off her engagement. It had all happened very quickly in a few minutes, when the sense of tension which had hung round her intercourse with Noel had suddenly seemed to reach an unbearable pitch, so that something had snapped. Was this how Important Things happened to one through life?

Consequences is one of the little-known gems that I discovered through the Persephone Books catalogue. It was published in 1919 and seems to mirror some of the author's own experiences as the book's main character "brought up according to strict late Victorian precepts, but failing to ensnare a husband, entered a convent in Belgium".

It would be inappropriate to speculate about how much of Delafield was reflected in the main character of Consequences, Alex(andra) Clare, but the descriptions of the confinement and limitations instilled in Alex by her family and social environment read like a very personal account. It is the personal voice that kept me glued to pages of this book because, lets face it, the plot was not riveting

.

None of the characters were likeable, and even Alex was of the sort that I felt sorry for but at the same time wanted to tell to get a grip - only to realise that she was trying her best but had not been raised to ever think for herself or do anything for herself, so how could she have any chance to make do or behave or think like an independent woman?

It was such a depressing story, and yet, it was strangely gripping. 

If this has been based - even in part - on Delafield's own life and circumstances I am curious to find out more about her and how she created the life for herself that Alex so despaired over.