AFTER YOU by Jojo Moyes

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

A quick BOOK BIRTHDAY shout out to author John Herrick as his latest release Mona Lisas and Little White Lies hits bookstore and virtual shelves today.  (Woot woot!)  If you don't have it on your radar, I highly suggest you change that status in a hurry because it was REALLY good, just as his others works have been, but I digress...

Today, we're continuing our exploration of the Louisa Clark trilogy by author Jojo Moyes available via Penguin Books.  Now, it's a commonly known affliction with trilogies...the second book is a connector and often times fails to shine as brightly as its predecessor, or its follower.  Did that happen here?  Um, well, you know...there's sort of more to my opinion than a simple yes or no, so let's get this show on the road as we catch up with Louisa Clark post Will in book two... 

After You

by

Jojo Moyes

9780525426592

Pamela Dorman Books

About the book...

You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.” 
How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

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First reaction...

Oh, Louisa. You're not who you found yourself to be with Will, and yet you don't seem to have figured out a new version of yourself. ...I'm worried and a little heart broken.

Final thoughts...

Reflecting back on the story after turning the final page, I can appreciate it more than when I first started, but that's about as far as I get.  I suppose I didn't feel as secure in Lou's world when she truly lost sight of herself, not to mention the fact that the teenage interloper and instant reminder of Will was so much more than a handful I quite literally wanted to put her out on her rump!  By book's end, I'd made a sort of peace with her, as with so many characters her story actually runs deeper than the shaken snow globe version she presents, though I wouldn't go quite as far as to say I was fond of her.  I accepted Sam for the person he was and respected his openness with Louisa, though I was a bit concerned (while still touched!) by his ability to just let her go.

All in all, a lovely bridge between our initial meeting and the grand finale, but still it rates lesser on my totem pole of book love.  I missed her brilliant nature.  I missed her personality.  I missed her being her without a care nor a second guess...and that loss felt too personal...which actually speaks to the author's ability to draw us into her worlds (nice job!).

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About the author...

Jojo Moyes is a British novelist.

Moyes studied at Royal Holloway, University of London. She won a bursary financed by The Independent newspaper to study journalism at City University and subsequently worked for The Independent for 10 years. In 2001 she became a full time novelist.

Moyes' novel Foreign Fruit won the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) Romantic Novel of the Year in 2004.

SITE  |  TWITTER

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Special thanks to me, myself, and I for the review copy as I repurchased this as one of the titles for the rebuild of my personal library.  Same said title is available now via Penguin Books, so feel free to scoot out to your local bookshop, box store, or click over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today!  Stay tuned for more fun with Louisa Clark as we explore the third and final installment VERY SOON!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!



Walking in a Winter Wonderland: Paris for One by Jojo Moyes

Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're stepping between the pages of  short story collection from an author whose name we've come to know.  It came to my attention thanks to Jessica over at Penguin Random House and though I've not read this author's work before, I was most anxious to...more on that later.  For now, allow me to introduce today's featured selection...

Paris for One & Other Stories

by

Jojo Moyes

9780735221079

Pamela Dorman Books

About the book...

Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She’s never even been on a romantic weekend away—to anywhere—before. Traveling abroad isn’t really her thing. But when Nell’s boyfriend fails to show up for their mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone—including herself—wrong.  Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life? Funny, charming, and irresistible, Paris for One is quintessential Jojo Moyes—as are the other stories that round out the collection.

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I'm not normally one for short story collections, but this one really spoke to me...after all, it's penned by the mind behind the book, Me Before You, and though it still sits on my wish list for a future read (hey, Santa!), I thoroughly enjoyed the film, hence my desire to indulge in this author's work.  If this book is anywhere near an accurate sampling, I gotta say, I'm now TWICE as eager to read it.  But let's get back to this one, shall we?

What begins as 'Paris for One', turns into a love affair with the written word.  This collection of short stories captures each starring woman at a crossroads of sorts in her life.  Whether on the cusp of discovering her inner diva thanks in part to a scene-stealing pair of heels ('Crocodile Shoes'), realizing how lucky she is with her sometimes humdrum yet steady relationship ('Thirteen Days with John C'), reminiscing on what might have been ('A Bird in the Hand'), or reevaluating her priorities amidst the holiday rush ('The Christmas List'), each moment of time captured, each woman's story shared, leads us on an emotional journey, for better or worse. In the space of a few pages (in some cases), the author managed to make me care about characters not easily forgotten and spun stories that while short were still complete.  

Though they were all enjoyable in their own right, my favorite among them would be the title tale.  It is the longest of them (go figure), but also the most magnificent.  I felt for Nell as she ventured forth through a city made for lovers not singles.  She was braver than she imagined she could be and by putting her faith in her instincts and her heart, had an adventure to last a lifetime (and might quite literally!).  I could see the Parisian world brought to life before her eyes as she explored on foot and then arm in arm with...someone you'll have to read about.  ^-^ Even her best gals back home were a jolly group!  They had her back without question (didn't they Pete? *glares*) and when they saw a spade, they called it one...with a good kick in the pants!  That ending though...what a heart zinger.

To conclude, this is one short story collection you don't want to miss.  There's a little something for everyone that will warm the heart and tickle the funny bone, while bringing you bookish joy with each turn of the page.  Recommended read for Women's Fiction and Contemporary Romance fans as a good clean read with heart!

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About the author...

Photo by Stine Heilmann

Jojo Moyes is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of After You, Me Before You, One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, The Last Letter from Your Lover, Silver Bay, and The Ship of Brides. She lives with her husband and three children in Essex, England.

FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER

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Special thanks to Jessica at Penguin Random House for the copy for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now, so be sure to stop by your favorite retailer to snag your copy today!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today's post is sneaking in like a teenager late for curfew, or a midnight snacker to a kitchen.  Why?  Because...well, because I don't always have all the time I WISH I did to read and review the things that capture my attention, but by golly, I WILL get to them all eventually.  Consider today an eventually...seeing as I actually finished reading this one at the beginning of the month.  *whistles*  Sorry fair readers, I've kept it to myself for too long, but just think!  Now you've got something to keep your Fall reads rolling while still touching on the joys of the Summer gone bye.  You're welcome.  ^-^  Now, let's get down to business...

The title garnering our late night interest today is a work of Fiction that reminds me of the children's tale about a city mouse and a country mouse.  In this case, it's one leading lady taken out of the city and shoved into the country...yes, I said shoved.  You see, there's a story behind that (good thing too since we're talking about a novel, right? *smirk*) but she does a much better job of telling it than I, so let's get to it, shall we?  Today's book of choice is...

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

by

Louise Miller

9781101981207

Pamela Dorman Books

About the book...

When Olivia Rawlings—pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club—sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of—the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts.

Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uberenthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired—to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.

With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy  comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought.

But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee—or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected—it could be even better.

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Olivia Rawlings...top notch baker, canine companion (loved Salty!), fabulous friend...but with very bad decision making skills in the love department.  I loved her, but I didn't envy the choices she had to make at times.  Grant it, the sticky situations were her own doing (for the most part), but she didn't aim for hardship when she started out.  I mean, who does, right?  She always had the best intentions in mind, usually of those around her versus her own, but as much heart as she lead with, she inflicted pain on herself at times that simply didn't need to be.  The unavailable boyfriends (yes, plural), the quick escapes to another state when things got too heated (yes, plural again), the harboring of secrets that should have been shared (yeah...you know what I'm going to type here)...all things that could have been avoided in one way or another, but then again...a life lived in fear of making mistakes is not really a life lived, now is it?

Aside from our leading lady Livvy, we've other memorable characters to consider starting with one, Martin McCracken.  In truth, he was a gem, and just the sort of distraction of the heart Livvy needed, whether she knew it or not.  Although you'll want to throw the towel in on him at one point (or AT HIM), I beg you to reconsider; it'll be worth it...trust me. Next on our list is Hannah, otherwise known as the always-does-right best friend of our leading lady.  She's not snooty or high-and-mighty, but she does have a certain air about her she likes to keep, and it does not include becoming town gossip.  Read into that what you may.  Last but certainly not least, we've Margaret Hurley.  She's a rather complex woman.  Owner of Livvy's new place of employment, the Sugar Maple Inn (doesn't that sound darling!), she doesn't come off as someone that anyone would consider sweet in the least...but, she's another one of those characters with a story of how she became the person she is and, well frankly, it'd be hard not to turn inward and reject the world to some degree, especially when some parts of it are so in-your-face all the time.  You'll have to read it to discover her secrets but believe you me, you will sympathize and then marvel at how things turn out in the end.

In the end, the story was tasty as the desserts featured.  Our leading lady may have had a bad turn of events several times over, but she managed just fine, turning the proverbial lemons into lemonade, or in this case, apples into pie.  Word to the wise, you will crave pie during and after this story.  Speaking of which, I could go for a slice of cherry pie right about now...*yum*...

Recommended read for Women's Fiction and Romance fans alike.  Filled with heartache, obstacles, and love, it's the perfect read to curl up with this season as we enjoy all that Autumn has to offer.

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About the author...

Photo: © Nina Subin

Louise Miller is a pastry chef who lives and works in Boston, MA. She received a scholarship to attend GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator program, a yearlong workshop for novelists. She is an art school dropout, an amateur flower gardener, an old-time banjo player, an obsessive moviegoer, and a champion of old dogs. The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living is her debut novel.

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Special thanks to Jessica at Viking/Penguin Books for the copy for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now via Pamela Dorman Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!