Catching up on Reviews: The House in Grosvenor Square

Title: The House In Grosvenor Square
Author: Linore Rose Burkard
Genre: Regency, Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction
Pub Date: April 2009, Harvest House Publishers
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased from Books-a-Million

Synopsis (from the back of the book)

As Ariana Forsythe plans her wedding to Philip Mornay, she must adjust to the realization that she is soon to become the wife of an extremely wealthy man. She wonders if it’s wrong to rejoice that her future husband is rich. But she promises herself to use her new position to do what she can to aid the numerous street waifs she sees all too often in London.

During a tour of her future home—the house in Grosvenor Square—Ariana makes plans to redecorate according to her tastes. But when Philip arrives home later, he is informed that an expensive silver candlestick and a miniature portrait of George III have gone missing. Moreover, each time Ariana visits the house, accompanied by a friend or relation, another item disappears.

When Ariana suffers an abduction attempt by two villains, and other mysterious goings-on are unexplained, Mr. Mornay must unravel the  mystery of who is after Ariana and why.  He knows he has to prevent any harm from befalling his future bride, even if it means he must keep her under lock and key in his own house!

My Thoughts

Well, you might know by now that I seem to have mixed luck with my Christian Fiction reads.  This, unfortunately, was not one of my luckier picks, it seems.  I was pretty excited about the idea of a Regency Inspirational book, but this is a far cry from my beloved Georgette Heyer's Regency England.  (And I'm sorry, I know it's probably blasphemy in the world of books and literature, but I will take Heyer over Austen any day of the week.)

I did not realize when reading this book that it was actually the sequel to another book, Before the Season Ends.  I don't believe that my opinion of this book would have changed any even if I had read the first book, though.  I had several issues with this story when you get right down to it.  I thought the characters were flat.  Oh, I suppose Ariana was fleshed out pretty well, but Philip Mornay was such a bore.  The supporting cast wasn't much better.  I felt like I didn't even know who Mrs. Bentley was -- I never knew what to expect with her.  Peter O'Brien... I hardly even know what to say about him.  I suppose I can see where there may be a sequel involving him and Ariana's younger sister, but you won't catch me reading it.

The synopsis would also lead you to believe that you will find mystery and intrigue inside this book, but we basically know from the beginning who is behind the plots against Ariana, both in Philip Mornay's home and with respect to the kidnappings.  What's the fun in that?  I like to be able to speculate about what is going on and see if my guess is right when the evil-doers are finally unmasked.

Really, I found the whole book to be a snooze-fest.  By and large, there were few sparks for me as far as the romance was concerned -- perhaps once or twice I got momentarily excited by Ariana and Philip's relationship, only to have those feelings fall flat soon after.  By the time I was about a third of the way through I found myself skimming more than actually reading every page.  I'd say the Christianity piece is preachier than what I like to read, but it wasn't THAT big of a turn-off in that respect.  I guess I just had a harder time envisioning it within the Regency world than I thought I would.  But when you get down to it, I had bigger problems with the story, the characters, and the mystery, or lack thereof.

My rating:

Review: The Manning Brides

Title: The Manning Brides (Marriage of Inconvenience & Stand-In Wife)
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Pub Date: Originally 1992, this edition 2008, MIRA
Mass market, 475 pages

Synopsis

Rich Manning and Jamie Warren have always been friends--and nothing but friends. However, that changes when she asks him to father the child she so desperately wants. Rich agrees--if she'll marry him. Because he thinks their Marriage of Inconvenience could become a real marriage instead.

Paul Manning, a grieving widower with three small children, turns to Leah Baker for help and comfort. When that comfort begins to grow into something else, Paul discovers that he wants more than a Stand-In Wife.

My Thoughts

I had never read a Debbie Macomber novel before this set of books, which I happened across our local independent bookstore several weeks ago. I decided I wanted to start a light read last night and, well, that's pretty much exactly what I got and so I'm writing just one review for both stories. I've read a few romance novels, and I actually have to say I appreciate the fact that Macomber does not go into graphic detail when it comes to sex, though there are certainly enough innuendos.

In the end, I have wonder if I'm just not a good candidate for romance novels--at least not those that are like these two books. The story lines just felt so unrealistic and ridiculous--especially the way the couples were acting. I found myself rolling my eyes often, and I'm not sure that I have ever been more frustrated with characters than I was when it came to Rich & Jamie and Paul & Leah. How they could not have a clue as to what the other person was feeling, not know what they themselves were feeling and ultimately say some absolutely stupid things to each other was beyond me. Maybe I just can't relate, but I just can't envision real people acting like these silly couples. The timing of the development of the relationships also felt odd--things happened much too quickly and, to me, the various family members did not react to certain events the way I think most people would. Actually, I felt that both stories--but especially Stand-In Wife--focused so much on the couples and hardly at all on other characters (friends & family) that the stories just felt even less real.

I realize that romance novels are very much an escapist read, but I need more substance to really appreciate a story like either of these and to truly "escape." Macomber's writing is easy to read and follow, and I could at least enjoy the fact that the books both ended "happily ever after." But I think that lately I've been reading so many books that are deeper, more emotionally gripping, and better written, and I was simply unable to appreciate this title in the manner it had been intended.

My rating:

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Mystery Mondays: Review: Where Are You Now?

Welcome to another week of Mystery Mondays! I have another review today, then I'm also going to post a question for discussion later on. But now for the review...


Title: Where Are You Now?
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Pub. Date: 2008, Simon & Schuster
Hardover, 289 pages
Book Source: BJ's Wholesale

Synopsis

It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles MacKenzie Jr. ("Mack") went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs up. Even the death of his father, a corporate lawyer, in the tragedy of 9/11 does not bring him home or break the pattern of his calls.

Mack's sister, Carolyn, is now twenty-six, a law school graduate, and has just finished her clerkship for a civil court judge in Manhattan. She has endured two family tragedies, yet she realizes that she will never be able to have closure and get on with her life until she finds her brother. She resolves to discover what happened to Mack and why he has found it necessary to hide from them. So this year when Mack makes his annual Mother's Day call, Carolyn interrupts to announce her intention to track him down, no matter what it takes. The next morning after Mass, her uncle, Monsignor Devon MacKenzie, receives a scrawled message left in the collection basket: "Uncle Devon, tell Carolyn she must not look for me."

Mack's cryptic warning does nothing to deter his sister from taking up the search, despite the angry reaction of her mother, Olivia, and the polite disapprovalof Elliott Wallace, Carolyn's honorary uncle, who is clearly in love with Olivia.

Carolyn's pursuit of the truth about Mack's disappearance swiftly plunges her into a world of unexpected danger and unanswered questions. What is the secret that Gus and Lil Kramer, the superintendents of the building in which Mack was living, have to hide? What do Mack's old roommates, the charismatic club owner Nick DeMarco and the cold and wealthy real estate tycoon Bruce Galbraith, know about Mack's disappearance? Is Nick connected to the disappearance of Leesey Andrews, who had last been seen in his trendy club? Can the police possibly believe that Mack is not only alive, but a serial killer, a shadowy predator of young women? Was Mack also guilty of the brutal murder of his drama teacher and the theft of his taped sessions with her?

Carolyn's passionate search for the truth about her brother — and for her brother himself — leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret he cannot allow her to reveal.

My Thoughts

First off, let me say that there are many reasons why I like Mary Higgins Clark. For one thing, her books are generally very easy to read, with short chapters--as you read, each one tends to change over to a different part of the storyline, keeping the plot moving. Clark is also usually pretty good at making you suspect multiple people but leaving small clues that can only lead to the culprit--these are often subtle and can easily be glossed over. I've actually tried to pay closer attention to everything she writes now--once in awhile I'm successful at figuring out who commited the crime, but more often than not I end up shocked. Something else I like? The fact that her stories are generally pretty clean--minimal foul language and no gratuitous sex.

All that being said, this book just didn't quite do it for me. Suprisingly, there were several things that bothered me about this story (and I think it's because I'm starting to read things from a more critical point of view). The main character, Carolyn, seriously annoyed me. She really had no business trying to solve this mystery on her own and made things a lot worse because of her involvement. The other thing that bugged me, is while I suspected one of the characters as being an accomplice (and it ended up being true), there was no part of me that guessed the real reason why. This time I don't think Clark was as good at dropping her clues as she usually is. Normally I'll find myself thinking, "oh yeah!" when I read how everything was wrapped up, but this time I just thought, "huh???" There were some good side stories, but the character development was off and ultimately I was pretty disappointed when I finished, so I can't really say that I recommend it. (Rather disappointing for a Mystery Monday review, if I do say so myself.)

My rating:
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