The theme for February was A Love Story.
I was actually able to finish TWO books this month for this theme. Crazy, I know!
Both of the books I ended up reading were about a woman who discovered that her husband (in one) and fiance (in the other) had cheated on her and how she coped with the discovery and then moved on to find true love. Both books were fun, easy reads, and I enjoyed them both - though I did enjoy the 2nd one a little more.
They both contained love (obviously) and humor. Both are filled with lots of interesting secondary characters and fun situations.
My 1st book was Confetti Confidential: They Do, I Don't by Susan Murphy.
I thought there was a bit too much men-bashing in the first half of the book, and there wasn't enough romance throughout. It's easy to relate to Viv, and she did find herself in some crazy predicaments, but I thought the love/romance could have been a bit more developed.
My rating: 3 of 5 starsI received a free copy of this book from Net Galley. Genevieve "Viv" is a wedding celebrant whose marriage of 19 years crumbles when she discovers he's had an affair and a gambling problem. She immediately kicks him to the curb, and clings to her best friend, Tom, and her 3 sisters. She becomes disillusioned about love and marriage, but decides to follow-through on the 10 weddings that were already on her schedule.
This book was filled with lots of interesting characters! And Viv gets into a lot of uncomfortably, funny situations. I loved the interaction of Viv and her sisters, and meeting the brides/grooms of the weddings she was officiating added a lot of fun to the book.
Each of her sisters supported in her their own unique ways. These five women have to support each other through more than just Viv's break-up, and they do it with lots of laughter and support. Makes you wish you were a part of such a close sisterhood.
Peter, Viv's husband, tries desperately to get back together with her. He makes some changes in his life and is a pretty regular character in the book. And then there is Tom, her very best friend. He leaves for London, shortly after the break-up, which Viv doesn't take too well. She misses her best friend quite a bit - especially when he doesn't reply to her emails and phone calls.
Fearing that she's lost him, too, she also meets/dates a couple of other men in book. With everything else going on, she suddenly has several men wooing her, including Tom, who has professed his love to her via email.
I'm not sure which of the men I wanted her to end up with, if any, but I was a little disappointed in the ending.
I found that this was a light, fun read, but the thing I liked best about it was that the author is from South Australia. As an American, there were a few phrases that I had to get from context, which I found endearing and made me enjoy the book even more. :)
My 2nd book was Lucky Charm by Marie Astor.
I actually bought this book a couple of years ago, but never ended up reading it until now. Even though, the protagonist in this book also got her heart broken, the focus was much more on her finding love than bashing men. It was brimming with romance, especially the chapters that found her in Paris.
My rating: 4 of 5 starsAnnabelle is happily planning her wedding to Jeremy, but feels like they may have fallen into a rut. She makes a couple of attempts to spice things up, but her worst fears come true when she stumbles upon Jeremy kissing his agent. She immediately kicks him out of the small studio they share in New York City.
She clings her to her best friend, Lilly. Meanwhile, Lilly has fallen in love with a Parisian. She still finds time to comfort Annabelle and encourage her to get her life back after the devastation of getting her heart broken.
Lilly is a fashion designer who has an upcoming fashion contest in Paris. She somehow convinces Annabelle to join her for a few weeks in Paris, but first, they happened upon a fortune teller one evening a month or so prior to their Paris trip. The fortune teller got a lot of things spot on about both Lilly and Annabelle and gave Annabelle a beautiful necklace with a heart charm on it. Said it was a lucky charm and would bring her love.
Annabelle had been very skeptical of the fortune teller, but quickly embraced the talisman and immediately started wearing all the time. Love was a little rocky at first with the charm, but it lived up to its lucky nature once she arrived in Paris.
She fell for Etienne hard after their first date! And he for her. It was fun to follow along on their adventures in the most romantic city in the world. Of course, he was handsome, muscled, and very wealthy (drives a Porsche)!
Their romance was fast and all-encompassing. And the love scenes were very well-written without being graphic. Just enough to make you really feel the love that was blossoming between the two of them.
This books isn't entirely all about the love and romance. There are plenty of other interesting plot twists and turns and characters.
In her professional life, Annabelle works in a boutique advertising agency writing ad copy. She finds it unfulfilling and longs to devote more time to her writing - something that she'd put on hold while her finance, Jeremy, had worked on his first book. It was fun to meet a couple of her clients at the agency as well as her boss and the other women in her office.
This was definitely a fun, quick read with a perfect ending!
Do you have a favorite love story?
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I can't wait to check out these other love stories that were read in February.
