Gracie

• Rated 4 stars

“Read this either in junior high or high school and vividly remember hating the ending. I understand why it's a classic and looking back on it now, the ending of course is only a beginning and jumping off point for a discussion about the nature of man (or woman in this instance) and to what lengths any one of us will go to save those we love...or let them perish and how we justify each choice.”

Gracie wrote this review 5 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) January 2012

Check out my review here: http://tinyurl.com/7qe37gf
”

Gracie wrote this review Wednesday, January 4, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2011

Homicide Detective, Thomas "Veck" DelVecchio, Jr. just transferred to the Caldwell Police Department and makes quite a splash and an impression his first week on the job when he loses his temper and punches out a paparazzi for disrespecting the dead at a crime scene. Though his fellow detectives support his action, some see him as a loose cannon and on the edge. They may very well be right since Veck has had doubt about his own sanitry for a long time. It comes with the territory when one is the son of a notorious serial killer on death row like he is.

Internal Affairs Detective, Sophie Reilly has a dark past of her own, but she won't allow it to keep her from doing her job when she is assigned to monitor Veck after an incident that leaves a suspected serial killer at death's door.

Jim Heron, The Savior, will do anything he has to to find out who his next assignment is, even sleep with evil incarnate in his nemesis, Devina. When he and his partners and fellow angels do discover their assignment in Veck, they understand that the stakes have been raised, and He has upped the ante considerably. Nothing has come easily to the three angels so far but as the contest moves forward, executing the plans of the Creator becomes even more difficult and more dangerous with Devina and her minions out and about. When Veck makes the cardinal mistake of falling for a fellow officer in Reilly, he puts not only himself in Devina's deadly crosshairs, but Reilly.

Jim refuses to back down from his duty and will do everything in his power to reach Veck and let him know he isn't walking alone, before it's too late. The safety of the entire human race and the world depends on Veck making the right decision at the quickly-approaching cross-road of his life, and Jim has to be there when he makes it.

Another fast-paced, engaging story in Ward's Fallen Angel series with multi-dimensional and sympathetic characters to drive the narrative to its suspensful and action-packed end. ”

Gracie wrote this review Wednesday, January 4, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) January 2012

Paul has known from a young age that he was different, but more specifically that he was gay. He is comfortable in his sexuality. It helps that his parents love and support him.

Paul goes to a unique high school that, for the most part, embraces diversity. Paul's circle of best friends are microcosims of the school's makeup, each boy and girl in his circle unique and different in their own way. What brings and keeps Paul's friends together is a respect for individuality and freedom.

Paul is on the rebound from Kyle. Kyle acts like he hates Paul until Paul meets Noah, a boy who could very well change Paul's life and everything he's always believed in. When Paul lets his sympathy and forgiving nature get the best of him with Kyle, not to mention his confusion about how things ended between him and Kyle, it threatens to tear apart the blossoming romance between Paul and Noah for good. Only Paul's support system in his friends and his belief in his feelings for Noah may save him from himself.

Like Will Grayson, Will Grayson, this book is an engaging and fast-paced read chock full of colorful, quirky, unique and sympathetic characters for whom the reader cheers and for whom the reader only wants the best.

Another well-written, emotional and entertaining story from Levithan. ”

Gracie wrote this review Sunday, January 1, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2011

Emmi has a subscription to a magazine that she no longer wants to receive and shoots off an e-mail to what she assumes is the company's e-mail address discontinue her subscription. She doesn't realize she's sent her missive to the wrong e-mail until Leo Leike contacts her to let her know that she sent her e-mail to him and not the magazine. What transpires between the pair starts off innocenlty enough, a dialogue between two people in cyberspace who have no intention meeting or, more importantly, falling in love.

Emmi is happily married. Leo is on the rebound from a woman who is all wrong for him but to whom he keeps returning like a bad habit.

Emmi's and Leo's dialogue gradually grows into much more than innocent chatting, taking on an intense and erotic life of its own as each begins to give into the safety of revealing secrets to a stranger in the virtual world. But now Emmi and Leo aren't such strangers anymore and the only thing left for them is to meet. Or is it?

Glattauer skillfully keeps the reader on the edge of her seat all the way until the last page wondering if Emmi and Leo will meet face to face. I just wish the ending provided a bigger payoff. I shouldn't have been disappointed in the ending. The title gives the nature of the story and the ending itself away. But despite this, I was disappointed. Aside from that, this was a riveting and evocative read that I for the most part enjoyed. ”

Gracie wrote this review Sunday, January 1, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2011

As a five-year-old, Holly Greer lost not only her mother to a terrible accident, but her father when, after her mother's funeral, her father dropped her off at her grandfather's farm and didn't return.

Holly grows up missing her father, waiting for him to return and hating him for leaving her. She finally resigns herself to life with her grandfather, and just as she's getting used to having him around and being around him, Holly's grandfather is diagnosed with a terminal illness. How he wants to handle his last days and what Holly wants becomes a serious bone of contention and colors Holly's approach to life with her loyal boyfriend Lyle.

With the loss of her grandfather, Holly escapes in alcohol, living up to the family legacy without really knowing what it is.

Her father Wylie, is dealing with is grief living as a drifter, traveling from one town to another and from one job to another, but never really going too far away from his and his wife's former home in North Carolina.

Holly becomes obsessed with finding her father and makes it her business to hunt him down, but what she discovers might not be what she think she's been wanting all these years.

A heartfelt and well-written drama about a family's dysfunction and how each member handles the diversity that life throws at him or her, especially when the diversity is in the form of lies told by the ones they trust the most. ”

Gracie wrote this review Sunday, January 1, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2011

A unique and interesting premise, a story about a couple in love and the trials they face living together, told in the confines of dictionary format.

Some colorful and memorable metaphors and narrative make this not too bad a way to spend an hour or two. ”

Gracie wrote this review Sunday, January 1, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) December 2011

Bruno Ranieri's childhood was no picnic. With his mother murdered by a violent boyfriend, Bruno is taken in and raised by his uncle Tony and his grandmother, Zia Rosa. But the nightmares, both literal and figurative, don't stop there. Bruno is kidnapped at twelve and once again his uncle Tony comes to his rescue.

Now, however, one of the only steadying and solid forces in his life is dead, leaving Bruno to take care of the family business, working at the all-night diner his uncle owned while also running his half of a lucrative tech toy business, all on his own. His Zia Rosa has abandoned him for the more fruitful endeavor of lavishing her grandmotherly attentions on the latest McCloud spawn and his adoptive brother Kev is off in New Zealand with his new lady love, Eddie.

The nightmares from Bruno's childhood have returned, lately keeping him up and robbing him of what little sleep he can get. To make matters worse, a mysterious and beautiful woman in one Lily Parr turns up on his doorstep, manipulating her way into his life and his heart before revealing that she is on the run for her life from cruel and determined assassins who have murdered her father. The worst thing in all of Lily's conspiracy theories, however, is that she believes what happened to her father and is happening to her, is somehow connected to what happened to Bruno's mother almost twenty years ago. It is at this point when Lily loses Bruno, or she would if he weren't so turned on by her, and irrevocably involved to the point where he would do anything to protect her from the danger--real or imgained--dogging her.

This was an intense, wild rollercoaster ride with lots of complicated twists and turns, McKenna's trademark, erotic and sizzling romance, snappy dialogue, edge-of-your-seat suspense, seemingly unbeatable and all-powerful bad guys, with fun and constant appearances of readers' favorite characters from past McCloud brothers' books. If you're a fan of the McCloud series, then this book will not disappoint.

I think Alex Aaro's backstory is ripe for its own book so I can't wait to see if he gets the treatment, or maybe even driven and determined homocide detective Petrie. Looking forward to either deal!”

Gracie wrote this review Saturday, December 10, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) November 2011

Marissa Rogers and Julia Ferrar are the best and unlikeliest of friends. Marissa has a mother who thinks she's too fat and Julia comes from a well-off household with doting parents. While Marissa is perfectly happy being behind-the-scenes and a peacekeeper, beautiful and charasimatic Julia enjoys the spotlight and being the center of attention. Marissa has dreams of becoming the editor-in-chief of a big-time New York magazine and Julia wants to be a ballerina. As the years pass, each woman achieves a measures of peripheral success in her chosen field, but nothing can threaten the bond between them until a tragic automobile accident leaves Julia brain damaged, that is.

As Julia's personality undergoes drastic changes, Marissa falls into her usual role of nurturer and caretaker, but with some differences. Marissa is a different person now than she was as a teen, one who knows her friend's faults and weaknesses as well as her strengths. She is no longer willing to lie down and let Julia run the show or ruin her life again bringing up a past love that Marissa would rather forget, especially now that she is safely ensconced in a relationship with a loving and wonderful man she can count on and call her own.

This was a funny and sensitive story about the power of forgiveness and the ties that bind us all, but especially those ties between friends. ”

Gracie wrote this review Saturday, December 10, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) November 2011

Growing up in Brooklyn with their self-absorbed mother who all but ignored them unless she needed them to do something for her or likewise run an errand, sisters Lulu and Merry didn't have what anyone would call an ideal childhood. Things, however, take a drastic turn for the tragic after their mother throws their father out and refuses to let him return under any circumstances. Except that he does return one day, drunk and demanding to speak to the girls' mother. Giving in to paternal pressure, young Lulu let's him into the house against her mother's instructions. Before the day is over, Lulu's mother will be dead and her sister Merry seriously injured by her father's hand.

With their father now behind bars for murder, the girls must rely on the kindness of blood and strangers for shelter. Except after the murder, Lulu and Merry's remaining relatives are either too old and too sick to take them in, or unwilling to harbor the murderer's daughters, treating them like lepers and as if murder is catching.

Lulu and Merry wind up going to a group home where they grow up in the worst conditions with the threat of violence greeting them around every corner. Things get minimally better when they are taken into foster care by a kind worker at the home, but the girls are nowhere near out of the woods yet. The dye has been cast and the emotional scars are on their souls to stay, the questions of whether they can forgive, not only their father, but themselves, yet to be answered.

Lulu and Merry handle the trauma in their own ways. Driven and intense Lulu becomes a successful doctor and refuses to have anything at all to do with her father. Merry turns to meaningless sex and alcohol to deal and against all Lulu's wishes stays in contact with and visits her father faithfully throughout the decades. To Lulu, the man is dead and not any of her sister's arguments to the contrary can change that.

This was a powerful and sensitively drawn family drama of healing and redemption, dealing with the worst betrayal and breach of trust that a parent can commit against a child, and showing the resiliency of the human spirit even when all hope seems to be lost.

A well-written, evocative and thought-provoking debut!”

Gracie wrote this review Saturday, December 10, 2011. ( reply | permalink )