It was campy Hardy Boys, you know what's waiting for you with the sickly boy, it's a virgin boy fantasy, the protagonist is a Stu. All things you could say this is.
It was lovely read. Sweeps you up in nostalgia, and that sweet emotional minefield of youth, and makes no apologies.
It is what it is, and it's perfect at it.
Extra note: The guy that narrated the audio, I think it was the same from Christine and The Sun Dog? Awesome. Spot on performance.
Start to finish, this was a huge entertainment. From the vengeful start to the amusingly ridiculous encounters with Monroe, plus the whole cast of secondary characters, all colorful in their own way, all of it was made to get laughs and smiles out of me.
I'd forgotten about this author, and the way she mixes humor into the embarrassing. It feels like reading a fictional "This looser is you, and that's OK, you can laugh at yourself and proceed being awesome".
Spirit-lifting Free Friday Read.
The foremost impression I'm left with, since I have the last part very present, is this literary symmetry: Anna takes about sixty pages to come in, by train, and leaves the book sixty pages from the end, also by train (yes, I know, some dark humor).
Next, also with the end very present, this sense that in the end, Levin and Ana essential difference is that when doubt harasses them, Levin goes back to what feels natural to him and trudges on, and Anna gives into despair.
For all that it's name comes from the woman, larger than life in the outside, and deeply uncertain on the inside, it was Levin the vehicle for most of the author treatise on... well, everything: agrarian reform, women's education, religion, politics, war, ideologies... At first I was interested. Passing the middle point, I just wanted the author to get on with it. I've gone over this many times: I have little patience for authors trying to educate or reform me through fiction.
While the Levin/Kitty side of the novel carries the most heart-warming bits, it's also choke-full of opinions, so whenever we got to it, instead of feeling like I was resting from Anna's turbulence, I started to feel dread at the amount of pages Tolstoy was about to bore me with his "insight". I totally get why the movies gloss so much over this side of the equation.
And it is some type of equation, or coin. I wonder if the author was trying to make Anna into a personification of reason, given the stab he takes at it in relation with faith in the end, with Levin as this second, him being unable to properly express himself, but finding peace with his own being at the end; Anna all poise, yet false, forever uncertain inside, speech coming out pleasant while thoughts looped and spun in place without answer. Also, passion vs. love. And romantic feeling against filial.
As for characters (beyond the two protagonist, because, you know, so mired into the theme), they were all so damned well fleshed out:
Vronsky with his honorable selfishness: I know it sounds like a contradiction, but the guy truly does not realize the damage he does, and in his own way, he follows a code of conduct strictly. It's horrifying.
Karenin... *sigh* Anna calls him a robot. At first, it looks like she's just over-reacting to her new feelings, ascribing the worst to her obstacle. It turns out she is over-reacting, but she's also somewhat right. The guy is a wonder of self-discipline, in his life and even where his feelings and though process is concerned. The way he twist and rearranges facts and ideas to suit himself is a thing to read. While writing this, I also wonder if his influence wasn't arresting much of Anna's internal disorder, if she didn't loose what little was keeping her peace when she left him, or if it was the other way around: a wild mare kept in tight reign, that suddenly tasted freedom and galloped non-stop into the abyss, with Vronsky spurring her.
Kitty with her innocence; Vronsky breaks her heart, but after some false steps, she comes on the other side just as sweet, and wiser.
Dolly and her big heart. Stiva forever on the rope by the miracle of his social nature. Sanctimonious Lidia. Betsy, so liberal but in the end unwilling to forsake society's constraints. Sergey and his empty rhetoric. Nikolay and his nihilism. Varenka.
I guess there was much more in all those many pages than proselytism. You can disregard this whole paragraph, I'm claiming that Levin ruined me, but really? Last night I went to sleep, and kept wondering: how much of these explorations impulse change? Much of what is discussed in dialogues here feels like sides talking to hear themselves, not to seek understanding, and I was left thinking about social change, and whether writing heralds it, or just meanders over what society has already started to accept or war upon. I noticed many of the topics expounded on came and passed, discarded by history, yet things that are barely touched upon, like womens rights and education became an issue not long after that endures. What I'm trying to say, and I'm treading on deeply personal and weird territory here, is that I started to doubt how much social commentary in literature looks forward, and how much it's just a belly-gazing soap box for the author.
So, *wheoo!*, that's a looong commentary on a loooong book, and I'm still unsure what I'll rate it. No, I do know. It's really good, and as a character study is great, but I don't think it perfect because, for me, if you are going to fill a novel with ideology, it has to age well, and it has to engage even on those bits. So 4 stars.
I never read the steamier version of this title. However, when I heard Melissa Foster’s alter ego would release the cleaner version I was intrigued and jumped at the chance to read a copy.
What the story is about.
Kurt Remington is a best-selling thriller author, who takes his writing seriously. This dedication led to him living a reclusive life. His family was eager to see him move beyond the world he created in his books and embrace what real life had to offer. Currently, that was not on his list of things to do, however, when Leanna Bray literally swam into his life, he would come to realise that there is someone more captivating than the characters in his fictional world.
Leanna Bray’s focus is on getting her jam-making business off the ground and bring organisation to her life. As such, a relationship is not on her list of priorities. However, when Kurt came to her rescue, she may need to reorganise her list if only she can maintain some order in her life.
My Perspective
The story
Read, Write, Love was classified as a clean read and this was true to some extent. The author alluded to intimate encounters between the main characters, but there were no graphic descriptions. In addition, the language was clean, which I found refreshing.
There is no mistaking that this is the work of Melissa Foster, which is evident by the writing style. The story was sweet and emotional. This book is evidence that the author can write not only steamy romances but also ones where the bedroom door is closed. The story was engaging and perfectly paced, with fun, sweet and emotional moments.
The Characters
One of the things I associate with the author is good character development. I have never had a problem connecting with any of her characters and this was no different.
Kurt is a man that thrives on order in every aspect of his life. He is a perfect gentleman. What I enjoyed most about him were his patience and kindness. He was not keen on being disturbed, when in his writing zone, but the fact he willingly came out of the zone to rescue Leann and her dog demonstrated his caring nature. Leann is a free spirit, who is disorganised in every aspect of their lives. She takes each day has it comes and does not follow a specific plan. Kurt and Leanna were as different as night is from the day, but in spite of the differences, they made a great couple. They complemented each other well.
Kurt learnt the importance of having a balanced life while Leann discovered the importance of being organised especially in her business life.
The romance.
Their summer romance was sweet, passionate and flirty. This was not a love at first sight scenario. Their connection was established from their initial meeting, but their romance developed throughout the summer. I enjoyed how they related to each other throughout the story.
Recommendation:
If you are looking for a clean, but passionate romance story, if you want a story that has depth and filled with emotion then look no further. Read, Write, Love at Seaside has it all.
A waste of good paper to print this crap.
The funny story is in the link of this Christian jerk giving his own book 5 stars review while many other readers give it one star.
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