Showing posts with label lisa plumley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lisa plumley. Show all posts

Saturday, 17 December 2011

Shelf Candy Saturday (8)


Shelf Candy Saturday is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews where each Saturday bloggers defy the saying "never judge a book by its cover" and showcase one that really catches their eye. Covers play a huge role in the books I choose so it's great to have the opportunity to showcase the pretties :)

My shelf candy for this week is Home for the Holidays by Lisa Plumley.

Jet set stylist Rachel loves her job and her life. But the good times come to a halt when Rachel learns that her best client has been sleeping with her boyfriend--a perk that's definitely not included in her services! Impulsively, Rachel gets her revenge--thanks to a hideous designer mashup of an awards show ensemble--but her satisfaction comes at too high a cost. Blackballed from the glamorous life forever, she heads home to the last place she ever thought she'd return, her snowy, tiny, totally UNsophisticated Midwestern home town. A Christmas fling might be just the thing to put the jingle back in her bells...


This cover is gorgeous and super cute! Not only does it have snow and snowflakes, it's sparkly as well. The sparkles aren't really clear on pictures but in person the book has a layer of glitter over the snowflakes, hearts, title and the tree scene at the very bottom. In addition to snow, I'm a sucker for anything sparkly so sparkly snow is brilliant for me.

I also love the cartoon look to the cover, especially as it's a lot more tempting than some of the standard photo-based cheesy covers that appear on contemporary romances. The cute snow couple and floating hearts let you know this is a romance, but without looking like something I'd feel uncomfortable buying in a store.

The contemporary pastel colours chosen give the book a modern feel which I really appreciate, and I love the flash of hot pink on the snowwoman's scarf and beret (not to mention the fact that there is a female snowperson in a hat and beret! Yay for snow equality lol!).
So what's your shelf candy this week?

Monday, 17 October 2011

My Favorite Witch by Lisa Plumley

Title: My Favorite Witch
Author: Lisa Plumley
Publisher: Kensington
ISBN: 978-1420105681
Pages: 384
Series: Stand Alone
Type: Adult Paranormal Romance
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Dayna Sterling ran away from her hometown as soon as she could and has been carving out a normal human life for herself as a research assistant in Phoenix, Arizona. But Dayna isn't human...she's a witch and half-warlock tracer T.J. McAllister has been dispatched to bring her home to Covenhaven. Dayna is about to cusp and come into her full powers which makes her a danger to those around her so T.J. is supposed to bring her in for manditory training. Dayna has other plans, and she's going to turn T.J.'s world upside down.

This is one of those books that has been sitting around waiting to be read for quite a while so I can't really remember what stood out to me to make me buy it. It is set in the three weeks before Halloween so it is a very seasonal read at the moment. I did enjoy the book, but I felt like there was something missing and the storyline was disappointingly predictable.

The book's strength and weakness lies in the world and storylines developed within. The author has done a great job in creating a world where witches, warlocks and patayans live alongside unknowing humans and I loved how there is an InterAllied Bureau who run the magical world. That said the races aren't developed beyond the absolute basics which means the book never fully lives up to its potential which is a shame as I would have loved to see the patayan angle explained more, especially given the secondary storyline where T.J. is looking for a special witch called the juweel who will prevent a fast-approaching species based war.

Dayna is a great spunky lead which works well against T.J.'s more brooding nature. Their romance is the standard romance novel type but there is an undercurrent of self-acceptance which adds an unusual dimension to the story while strengthening the narrative. I loved T.J.'s anti-witch human partner Deuce as he helps ground the story, and Garmin quickly fills the role of annoying paper-pushing jerk.

All in all, this was a fun read and I'll probably read more by this author.

Plot: 6/10
Characters: 6/10
Ending: 8/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 34/50        
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