Silver Screen Kisses: An Echo Ridge Anth...

Silver Screen Kisses is another anthology set in Echo Ridge, New York. This go around, the gals decided to do a romantic comedy movie theme. Each story is loosely based on one of their favorites, but don't worry, there are plenty of surprises.

You’ve Got Email by Heather Tullis

Brett is such a sweetie! I don’t know if I’ve ever watched the movie You’ve Got Mail, but I enjoyed this story between two people who have developed a relationship online. They’ve been attracted to each other in real life too, but always stayed apart out of shyness, or something. Anyway, I really liked how Brett handled the situation when the time came to meet and everything fell apart. Wise man!

The Princess Bride of Riodan by Rachelle J Christensen

Another swoon worthy story. Elise is so cute and quirky with her non-stop talking. She’s honest to a fault and in the end that’s what saves her heart. Wes is the island god who steals her heart without even trying. I loved the characters and how they fit into the classic royal falls in love with commoner, feels betrayed by something, but all is right in the end trope. I loved that Christensen had them go watch Roman Holiday. That movie does not end well for the romantic of heart! It makes the bumbles and worries all the more pertinent to Elise’s situation.

My Best Man’s Wedding by Cami Checketts

Ah, finally we get Jessica and Gentry’s story. They’ve been around since the beginning of the Echo Ridge collections, and I was even happier to see they were meant for each other. Jessica’s best friend is getting married after a 2 week engagement and she’s determined to save him from it. For herself. Gentry sees his chance to get as close as possible to the woman who stole his heart, and hopefully convince her they belong together. I love Jessica’s confusion as the story progresses. Being a “change is hard” kind of person myself, I understand how someone can hold onto an idea for years with no basis in it being real or right. The end and the scramble to right everything is my absolute favorite part of the story.

While You Were Skiing by Lucy McConnell

Okay, While You Were Sleeping is one of my favorite Rom Coms. I loved the way McConnell twisted this one around a bit. Mia is sweet and loving, Ryder every bit as swoon worthy as she thinks. I loved how she referred to him as her Black Dimond man and all that implied. Both have good hearts and they just needed a chance to get together. Two rambunctious boys are just the ticket they need. Favorite part? Leaning. :) Whoo!

Getting lost in Echo Ridge was a great way to spend my weekend! I give the entire collection a 4.5 and clean rating.

1-5 scale and what it means:

1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad

2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing

3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive

3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love

4: Solid mind candy / worth reading

4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read

5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:

Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen"

PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door

PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door.

R--swearing (can be related to sex), feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot

You'll see that I didn't rate this book, however, I love it dearly. This is book two in the MAGIC WAKES series. It begins to answer many of the questions left unanswered at the end of the first book and leads us to the next stage in Talia's evolution. 

It was perhaps the hardest book I've written yet, and you can expect it to move a tiny bit slower than book one. We delve deeper into Talia's world, as well as get to know another one in her universe. I should warn you though, this one ends on a cliffhanger!

Poor Emily! She breaks one rule--Don't get involved--and everything falls to pieces. Soon she's letting her ability to see into people, who they really are inside, allow her to fall in love. That's another rule down the drain--no boys!

Derek is still a mystery, but he's a good guy inside. We just don't know yet what kind of horrors from his past put him on the street. It's just too bad that one kiss is enough to send Emily forward in time again. 

In fact, since the beginning of the series I believe Emily has lived maybe a week, but we've had at least a year and a half normal time pass. If she doesn't get things under control soon he'll be way too old for her. 

This installment has some twist and turns, the last chapter especially is quite the ride. It seems those who experimented on her are about to catch up. She's also started hearing the voice of her mother. There are so many questions I can't wait to find the answers to. The least of which is--Will poor Emily get to stay in one place for an entire day, much less a week?

Loved the story progression, the only down side is still the occasional language. 

I paid for this book and so was a bit more invested in reading all of it. If I'd grabbed it for free I would have stopped reading around page two because of the strong language. Although I understand the gang members really would use this kind of language, I don't care to read it. 

However, as I said, I paid money for it and kept reading. Other than the language, the story is compelling and well written. Emily is a strong character. She's learned to survive in her crazy and unpredictable world. She's got her list of rules and her post jump checklist. It's all very logical, and then she goes total teenager and starts breaking her own rules. :)

I enjoyed the fact that she doesn't exactly know how she does what she does. Just that "they" changed her. The time jumping makes sense too. She can only jump forward, can't control it (yet), and the jumps seem to correlate to the amount of energy (or adrenaline) expended right before. Everything is explained in a way that makes sense.

All in all I give this 4 stars.

I've started several books in the last two months and not finished them. It wasn't necessarily because they were bad, I just set several deadlines for my own writing. If the book didn't suck me in I easily slipped back into my own world. 

It's been quite a while since I read the first book in this series--Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I enjoyed that book, but it took a while for me to settle into the writing and world. That could be why I waited so long to read the next book. I was afraid of picking up another book I wouldn't feel the need to finish.

However, I was easily back in Rigg's world from page one. The story picked up right where we left off and the action and tension didn't stop. Now that I've finished, I can barely wait until the third book comes out in September. I'm also starting to feel like Rigg's skill in world building and the ability to make me care for the characters is right up there with JK Rowling, but in his own peculiar way. 

Jacob's peculiar skills are growing, as are his feelings for Emma. For the first time, he's living an adventure, doing something extraordinary. Somehow our little band of peculiar's have managed to make it to the mainland and stay alive. 

I loved the twists and turns, the choices, the consequences, the moments when the least likely one gets to be hero. The whole time they're wandering London I kept wondering, where's Jacob's grandfather? They never meet up with him in this book, but the writer in me keeps waiting for it. I mean, we are moving through time loops that should overlap with an earlier version of his grandfather's life.

All in all, I loved the writing, loved the path the story is taking and I can't wait to see where we go next. I give the second book in the series a solid 5.

My rating scale for book reviews

1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad

2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing

3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive

3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love

4: Solid mind candy / worth reading

4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read

5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure