Tag: romance

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Christmas Dress

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Courtney Cole

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

One Dress. Two Women. The Magic of the Holiday Season.

When hopeful fashionista Meg Julliard must return to her hometown of Chicago to manage her late father’s apartment building, she thinks her dreams of making it in the fashion business are over. Add in her father’s eclectic roster of tenants who all need Meg’s attention (ASAP!), a host of building related disasters, and a handsome handyman she keeps embarrassing herself in front of, and this has all the makings for the worst Christmas she’s ever had.

Ellie Wade, one of the building’s longtime residents, is also not feeling the Christmas Joy this year. She is preparing to move into a nursing home (reluctantly), and is in the process of sorting through her belongings to downsize. Every corner of her apartment holds memories, some good, some bad. But there’s one dress she hesitates to pack up as it represents both the best and worst night of her life.

Ellie and Meg strike up an unlikely friendship and the story of Ellie’s dress comes out. Ellie gifts the gorgeous dress to Meg, hoping that it will bring her more luck, on the condition that she wear it to the building’s Christmas party.

The dress magically fits, and while it eventually leads to the best night of Meg’s life, it also acts as inspiration for Meg to follow a life-long dream of her own, a dream that will help save the crumbling Parkview West, and restore it to its former glory, and keep it as a safe home for all of the current tenants.

The dress and the magic of the holiday season helps both Meg and Ellie find their own happy endings. 

This book was like a Hallmark Christmas movie wrapped up in a book. It has a girl who’s life is at a crossroads, a handsome boy with a past, a snarky best friend and an older woman full of wisdom. 

I loved every bit of this book. After losing her Dad, Meg Julliard moves into the old, dilapidated apartment full of senior citizen formerly owned by her Dad. The building needs an overhaul and of course, money is in short supply. She meets Ellie, one the residents, who gives her an old dress full of magic. A little magic plus a stubborn “concierge” and a hot handyman who likes to donate his talents and time to anything Meg needs makes for a perfect Christmas romance. 

One of the first things I loved about this book is the romance is just that – romance. Not sex. I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion but I don’t need a bunch of sex or steamy scenes in order to make a book romantic for me. Innuendo goes a long way for those of us more old-fashioned readers. 

Every single character right down to the cat was interesting. I loved each one of them! I loved their stories and how they created a family atmosphere within the building. Each one had their own stories and what I really loved was how the author touched on each story without allowing the story to lag and become inundated with details. 

The main character, Meg, sorta comes of age in this story. But so does the building. As Meg grows and grieves and remakes herself, the building undergoes the same, revealing some life saving history that actually probably exists in many of the older Chicago buildings downtown. 

It’s true there were some cheesy moments and, like any good Hallmark movie, it’s totally predictable but there were some nice surprises along the way. All in all, this was very enjoyable. A very nice Christmas read for the upcoming season. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Strangers on Montagu Street

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

by Karen White

Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton is still restoring her Charleston house and doesn’t expect to have a new houseguest, a teen girl named Nola. But the girl didn’t come alone, and the spirits that accompanied Nola don’t seem willing to leave…( nicked from Goodreads)

I have four words to say about the ghostly aspect of this book. 

Dollhouses creep me out. 

They creep me out more than empty rocking chairs, more than creepy old dolls, more than clowns and even more than those shaggy old monkeys with cymbals attached to their hands that play for no reason at all. 

*shudders*

From the moment Nola, Jack’s estranged daughter, laid eyes on the dollhouse in Jack’s mom’s antique shop, I knew I was in for several nights sleeping with the lights on. As usual, Karen White gives us a super scary ghost story (complete with a ghost dog!) while weaving it into a more gentle one involving Nola’s recently deceased mother. 

We get a gift in this book – we get to go a little deeper in the characters. Up to now, we’ve only seen the talented, smug, sexy side of Jack who would love nothing more than to have Melanie put her trust issues behind her and give him a second glance. This book introduces us to the parental side of Jack – the Jack who stumbles and bumbles his way through attempting to parent a teenager (a teenager, no less! Karen’s not easy on this guy at all!). There’s a lovely side of Melanie we get to see also. 

Nola is a refreshing, funny, witty, sarcastic teenager who’s hanging on to life by a thread. I fell completely in love with her. As a mom of girls (both adults now), I wanted nothing more than to reach into the book, grab Nola and hug her under all the bad things in her life disappeared. I felt her distrust,  her every disappointment but most of all, I felt her complete love for her mother. I hoped the relationship between her and Melanie would give the latter some insight into her relationship with her mother but that inched along as the story progressed. 

What I did like to see if for once, we got to see Melanie lay down a bit of her OCD-ness and search inside for some real wisdom in dealing with Nola. Nola, unable to live peacefully with her dad, moves in for some much needed perspective and space while she heals. And yet, while Melanie is so capable of being so wise where Nola is concerned, I’m still left wondering why she fails to apply any wisdom to her own life. 

Still on rocky ground with her daughter, Ginnette makes a reappearance as does Melanie’s dad. There’s a super sweet reconnecting of these two characters in a “love never dies” type of way. It’s warm and heartfelt, even though I find myself wanting to kick Melanie’s dad for STILL failing to acknowledge the abilities of his ex-wife and daughter. 

Melanie finding out she’s pregnant is just rewards for trying so hard to retain any control over her rapidly fraying life. There’s nothing like a baby to shake one up and make one realize that little is within our control. 

My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Girl On Legare Street

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

by Karen White

Melanie Middleton, top real estate agent in Charleston, SC has another mystery to solve. Ghosts have been residing for quite a while at her grandmother’s home on Legare Street and this time, it will take Melanie pairing up with someone she’d rather never see again – her mother – in order to help bring peace to the old, historic home. Jack Trenholm, her partner-in-crime from the last book joins her in this adventure and stands at the go-between between Melanie and her mother as ghosts wreak havoc once again in Melanie’s otherwise organized life. 

I have to say, I was pretty excited to read this one. There was a bit of a build up in the previous book, The House on Tradd Street, alluding to the fact that Melanie and her family had unfinished business at her grandmother’s house. Melanie’s mother comes back into her life bringing not only reinforcements on the psychic front but also some answers for Melanie as to why she left in the first place. 

What I loved about this book was, of course, the ghost story! Once again, there is a masterfully written history behind the ghost stories and there’s a couple of them to follow in this book. Karen White starts us off with strings that seem disconnected one from another and yet somehow, manages to pull them all into a beautiful macrame of a conclusion where everyone finds peace. I totally fell in love with Wilhelm and how much his character protected all the Prioleau women – literally for decades! His heartbreaking story of losing his love, Catherine, and how he came to haunt and protect the Legare house had tears running down my face. 

A new character and family member, Rebecca, was introduced as a cousin who also shared a gift of sorts, although her gift comes in dreams. I had a hard time deciding if I liked her or not. I couldn’t tell if she was working for or against Melanie. In the end, I concluded that she’s that one family member that every family has and wishes they hadn’t. 

I was disappointed in the non-growth of the main character, Melanie. By the end of book two, she is still a whiny, self-absorbed, over-reactive Melanie who hates a house she’s been given. While you can see a little more healing between her and her father, she seems to completely discount her mother’s explanation as to why she had to leave her – which was to save Melanie’s life. There’s not even a little give there and that bothered me. For someone approaching 40 years old, I would expect a little more maturity and reasoning and sense and honestly, I didn’t get any of that by the end of the book. 

And her treatment of Jack, who’s done nothing but try to help her and be there for her baffles me. 

Yet still, the ghost story was wonderfully done. The imagery was fabulous. The characters, outside of Melanie, are rich and beautiful and leap off the page. Karen White makes me want to go to Charleston, South Carolina, get a couple of donuts and a coffee at Ruby’s and have a good ol’ gab with these folks.

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The House on Tradd Street

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

by Karen White

Melanie Middleton, Real Estate extraordinaire to Charleston, South Carolina, has her life turned upside down when she inherits an old, historical home from one of her clients. She also inherits a family of ghosts, a dog and housekeeper and, in a way, a writer by the name of Jack Trenholm. As Melanie reluctantly works to restore the old home to its former glory, the ghost work to tear her life apart resulting in a total upheaval of everything Melanie holds dear and forcing her to confront a few ghosts of her own. 

This book was recommended to me three times before I finally picked it up. I had been looking for a good ghost story with a good history behind why the ghosts haunted. I definitely got that and more in this book. My first Karen White story ever, I was surprised not to have crossed paths with this story earlier on in my hunt for good paranormal literature. This book felt more like three books in one as Ms. White intricately weaves a trifecta of romance, paranormal and mystery all into one story that doesn’t get boring. 

First, the ghost story truly is magnificent. I thought I had most of it figured out however, Ms. White managed to surprise me at the end. The history behind it was well-thought out and really well written. There’s even a bit of a treasure hunt. I felt the cold in the air whenever the ghosts were around and a chill went down my spine also every time Melanie’s phone rang. The ghost’s voices were chilling and creepy and on more than one occasion, I wanted to cry out, “TURN THE LIGHT ON!” Melanie’s ability to communicate with them was really cool although I felt her hesitation and her desire to wish them away slightly annoying. I mean, it’s not like she was new to hearing them. The paranormal part of this book was super fun for me to read and yes, I slept with the lights on as I was reading it. 

Themes of abandonment and addiction plague the heroine of the story. Melanie is a sugar-obsessed work-a-holic who dives into donuts and overly sweet lattes like her father dives into whiskey. I found it odd that she so easily shrugs off her own addiction as being part of her DNA while her father pays the price of her continual disappointment in him, despite his efforts to sober up. Honestly, by the end of the story, Melanie was so whiny, hyper-sensitive and so selfish that I found myself more interested in whether or not her dad was getting better than I was in Melanie’s forgiveness of him. I failed to see strength in her which I thought odd for all she endured. Honestly, Jack and the ghost of Louisa were really the ones who seemed to save the day.

Jack Trenholm comes onto the scene with an agenda of his own and again, I’m not too sure why Melanie has so much animosity towards him. I get that she has trust issues but they seem to be inconsistent, especially considering Jack’s laid-back character. Yet, he adds a bit of fun and puts Melanie in her place on more than one occasion. Melanie’s friend Sophie is the same way. What a sunshiny-type girl! I love this character! Sophie is smart, witty and comfortable in her own skin – a pole opposite of Melanie in every way. She also adds a layer of fun and intelligence to the story.

My only disappointment was that it took me a few times to get past the serious amount of detail in this book. If you don’t know anything about victorian style decor, some of the language will be lost on you. I found myself wanting to “kick the horse” as it were to get to the good stuff. Of course, as the main character was renovating an old house, I could see the reason for all the detail. Truly, some serious research went into this book. But it did make it a slow-starter for me. 

Recommendation – If you like romance, ghost stories and mystery all in one package, I would recommend this book to you. Just remember to be patient at the beginning. :) 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: