Fools Rush In (Weddings by Bella, Book 1) by Janice Thompson

The Book:

Bella has taken over her family wedding business and is determined to give it her best. Her very first wedding arrangement is a boot scoot’n country wedding and she is a nervous wreck. When looking for someone to play the music she meets DJ. DJ not only agrees to act as the deejay for the wedding but his brother Bubba will help with the food as well.

Is her first themed wedding going to be a success? Is she also going to be paving the way for her own wedding and finding her dream man this time?

The View:

I downloaded this free e-book on my Kindle and took quite a few days to finish it because of my schedules. I read the first few chapters real quick and came back to it only after a couple of days. What surprised me is that I remembered every detail of what I had read earlier and did not even have to brush up my memory. I think I would attribute this to the comical presentation.

The story was hilarious and well presented. Quite a few scenes in the book made me laugh out loud and I even read a few chapters again (I rarely do this!). The book focussed quite a bit on the characters in the Rossi family and their daily life. This would have been a tad bit boring if it had not been for the uniqueness of each of them. I also liked that quite a few Italian slangs / phrases were thrown across the book. It got us so much more closer to the big family of the Rossi’s – almost like you lived with them and were a part of their craziness.

The characters were all so like-able. Bella in particular is someone I would love to see again. Obviously DJ is perfect and the romance they share is cute.

Fools Rush in is a great book with just the right mixture of romance, comedy, family fun and religion. How often do you see all these aspects blended perfectly in a book? I have not read something like this for a while and I would recommend it for a relaxed day. Rated a 4 on 5.

I particularly liked this sentence in the book and thought I should share it.

Life is fill of curious coincidences. I call them bada-bing, bada-boom moments.

Some more challenges!

So here are just a few more that I have decided to participate this year.

I think I am going crazy with the number of participation but they keep me motivated and help in meeting some fantastic bloggers out there. So why not!

So here I go.. That makes it a total of 8 challenges so far and something tells me that I am not done with them as yet!

You can click on the images to take them to my challenges page!

The Postcard Killers by James Patterson & Liza Marklund

The Book:

Random murders of young newly married couples have been reported throughout Europe. The murderers have been dubbed “The Postcard killers” as they send a postcard to a local reporter. One such lucky reporter happens to be Dessie Larsson. While she is pondering on why she was the chosen one she meets Jacob Kannon, an NYPD detective. Jacob lost his daughter Kimmy to these gruesome murderers and hence his passion to find them is personal.

What are the murderers trying to convey through these deaths? Will Jacob and Dessie be able to solve the clues and find the culprits? Is there something more brewing between the both of them than just the common passion to find the murderers.. You need to read to find out more.

The View:

I picked up “The Postcard Killers” only because I felt I dint finish any book for ages and I know for sure that a James Patterson would be the quickest read that I can set my hands on. I have been juggling between too many books recently, there is one on my kindle, another that I am listening to on my iPod and the Laura Lippman hardcopy that I am reading. Obviously that means that I have not finished a single book for the past two weeks … once this realization dawned on me I went searching for a James Patterson. I would have chosen “Dont Blink” but Julie from Reading without Restraint only rated it a 3 and I knew it could wait.

The story gave me a sense of Déjà vu. The minute I read about the positioning of the bodies I knew it must be an attempt to mimic an artwork. I am still trying to figure out if I have read a similar thriller elsewhere but my memory fails me (again!). So that sums up my experience with the story. I did not find it new or exciting and in spite of the twists pertaining to the art group, incest and numerous copy cat murderers I did not enjoy the book.

The characters did nothing great as well. Jacob was not memorable to say the least and all I can remember about him was that he is an American who dint take a bath. Dessie did a better job at solving the murders than the cops did. She was actually the smart one who helped carry the story forward.

The Postcard Killers was a drag. The beginning of the book was much better than the end where poor attempts were made to catch the murderers. I did not enjoy this book and I was disappointed with the story and the way it was told. Rated a 2 on 5.

PS: Sorry, if I gave up a little too much about the book (very unlike me!) but I had too for this one.

The Friday 56 – Week 13

This is another fun meme.

I used to participate in this last year and am thrilled to be back. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s voice.

The rules as stated are:
* Grab a book, any book.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find any sentence that grabs you.
* Post it.
* Link it here.

The book closest to me now is “Haunting Jasmine” by Anjali Banerjee. I am half way through this book and so far it has been a great read. I love the author’s writing style and her intense sense of reality.

My friday 56 is here:

“He’s annoying. I’ve seen him twice since I arrived … and both times, he asked me out.”
Her eyes twinkle. “Why not ride the wave, go with the flow. Isn’t that what people say?”

The 5th Horseman by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

The Book:

Just when you expect patients to get back home healthy they suddenly die. Yuki’s mother Keiko is also admitted to the same fatal San Francisco Municipal hospital where she mysteriously meets with the same fate. Lindsay along with the women’s’ murder club decide to investigate these untimely deaths and take it upon themselves to discover the reason behind these ‘accidents’.

Are these deaths really just accidents or is there a serial killer on the prowl in the hospital?

The View:

I read this book sometime early January but never got to review it then. Obviously I read it in the midst of too much chaos and took almost a week to finish it. This timeline would be a record (a terrible one) since I finish the author’s books in a day or two (in the worst of cases). I have to mention that in better days I would have read it in a day or even lesser.

The book is fast paced with a gripping, fun and yet disappointing plot. There were a few twists to keep you going but most of them were anticipated. There were two different cases – one involving mysterious deaths in a hospital and another involving the gruesome death of beautiful call girls. The book would have done better if the focus was on either one of the cases as it would have assured us a better quality mystery. Also apparent was the missing motive behind the case which left me searching for answers even after I completed the book.

The Women’s murder club is definitely an exciting series. If you have read the books in the order they were published you would connect to the women and feel for them like I do. They are smart, go-getters with a common passion. Yuki is relatively new and the sudden demise of her charming and lovable mother did not make me feel for her like it would do with the other characters.

5th Horseman sadly did not bring anything new to the table. If you are James Patterson fan go ahead and read this one as you will definitely enjoy it, but if you are looking for one of his best works this is not it. A predictable read and hence this just gets a 3 on 5.