REVIEW: Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Title: Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Narrator: Davina Porter
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication Date: October 2006
Genre: Historical Romance / Time Travel Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....

My Thoughts: This is a reread for me and I loved it as much now as I did then. I fell far behind on the series and now with nine books in this series and the passage of time, I decided to start over to reacquaint myself with all of the characters and events before I proceeded further. I paired the reading of the massive book with the audio format narrated by Davina Porter which made the experience more enjoyable for me. I am also like many people that I now visualize Claire, Jamie and the other characters in my mind as the actors who portray them on the television series.

Approximately twenty years have passed since Claire returned to the present, literally barefoot and pregnant. Her child is grown and Claire has become a doctor in Boston. After Frank’s death, Claire has decided to bring her daughter to Scotland where she means to tell her the truth, all of it. This story centers on the events in Claire’s life when she and Jamie decide to try to stop the Jacobite Uprising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. This story follows them from Scotland to Paris and back to Scotland again as the date of the Battle of Culloden draws closer.

The author continues to amaze me with her attention to historical detail, creating an environment of both fictional and non-fictional characters while combining action, adventure, romance, humor and heartbreak together. Knowing what was going to happen didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story. The rich detail and research that goes into the story and the character development draws the reader into the story so completely, I began to question whether I still want to travel to Inverness to find and touch the stones as I did when I first began reading this series over thirty years ago.

My Final Verdict: Whether you choose to read this book, listen to it or both, this story will stay with you long after the last page is turned. I highly recommend this book and the rest of the series to readers of historical fiction, historical romance and time travel.

REVIEW: Swipe Right by Stephie Chapman

Title: Swipe Right
Author: Stephie Chapman
Narrator: Emma Carter
Publisher: Hera Books
Publication Date: May 2020
Genre: Chick-Lit / Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | Audible

Description: Love could be a click away... Or in the last place you expected.

When Fran meets Ollie, it’s eye roll at first sight. Who does he think he is – with his Ray-Bans, piss taking and artfully styled hair? Forced into working together at Viral Hive, the trendy media content agency, at first they butt heads, but soon realize that they could be BFFs. Fran’s happily settled with boyfriend Lucas, while Ollie is fully committed to girlfriend Lou.

But when Fran’s relationship crumbles, and Ollie sets off with Lou for a round-the-world trip, she decides to start an anonymous dating column, detailing all the perils of dating online – from the bloke who angrily demanded she share the bill when she refused his clumsy advances, to the one that ended their date by weeping into her cleavage – even if it seems that all the good (or even normal?) men are hiding. Maybe there aren’t plenty more fish in the sea?

But, on her dating journey of discovery, Fran’s about to learn that sometimes love can be where you least expect it… you just have to put down your phone.

My Thoughts: Swipe Right by new to me author Stephie Chapman was a fantastic story that leans heavily on two of my favorite story tropes, online dating and friendship to love. Fran and Ollie first meet when they are interviewing for the same job at a media content company. There’s chemistry, but they are in competition so nobody is more surprised than Fran when she is offered the job and learns that Ollie got the job too. This was my first clue that Fran and Ollie are two halves of one whole, their work mates refer to them as work spouses. Ollie and Fran are also in relationships with other people.

When Fran’s relationship implodes, she decides to start an online dating blog for work detailing all the good, bad and ugly of these dates, omitting names for privacy. This book quickly pulled me into the lives of Fran and Ollie. I loved seeing their friendship develop into more than just workplace camaraderie. Ollie is supportive of Fran’s online dating project but shows valid concern when some of the dates are less than pleasant. Fran tries to be supportive of Ollie’s relationship with the awful Lou but is struggling with her growing feelings for him.

When Ollie decides to leave his job at Viral Hive to go on a world tour with Lou, I think I was as heartbroken as Fran. Not only is she losing her work spouse but also the constructive interaction and collaboration they share on projects. In addition to Ollie and Fran, I also enjoyed meeting many of the supporting characters who bring a lot of charm and fun to the story. We spend so much of our lives at our jobs, it’s wonderful when you can work at a company that values your talent and input as well as working with people that you hit it off with and work effectively with as a team in support of one another.

The author does an amazing job of creating a story that flows smoothly and keeps the reader fully engaged with the characters and the events unfolding. I paired the reading of this book with the audiobook narrated by Emma Carter. Her performance enhanced my enjoyment of this book with the nuances into each character. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

My Final Verdict: Readers have so many choices when picking a book that might appeal to them. For me online dating and friendship to love are themes I am usually drawn to and this book lived up to my expectations. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy these themes too as well as fans of chick-lit, contemporary romance and stories that give them warm fuzzies and make them smile.

Thank you to the publisher, Hera Books, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

REVIEW: Love the Wine You're With by Kim Gruenenfelder

Title: Love the Wine You’re With
Author: Kim Gruenenfelder
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: June 2017
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN

Description: Three best friends decide to open a wine bar in Echo Park LA, where they encounter the trials and tribulations of dating, love, and life.

Jessie is finally about to realize her life-long goal of owning her own house, the first step to a wonderful marriage, kids, and life with her boyfriend of three years, Kevin; except after they find the perfect place, Kevin suddenly gets cold feet.

Nat is having a passionate affair with her gorgeous British boss Marc—unfortunately, he’s married. Now what?

Holly is an actress who still waits tables to pay the bills, and who is coping with the recent loss of her father. A particularly bad audition, where she snaps and tells off a big director, leads her to wonder what to do when you stop loving what you do. (And also what to do about her hot neighbor. Because, you know, hot neighbor.)

After each girl finishes a particularly awful workday, the three friends meet at their favorite wine bar, which has been sold by its owner for a huge profit and will close that night. In a moment of tipsy brazenness, Jessie suggests that the three of them open their own wine bar in the gentrifying Echo Park area of Los Angeles. An unapologetically girly place for good wine and good friends—which leads to a challenge for each woman: how do you fix a life that’s not actually broken, but needs an upgrade?

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this story! What’s not to love? Best friends open a wine bar and I get to tag along with them as they navigate the ups and downs of owning their own business and making it a success while trying to manage personal relationships. It felt a little overwhelming for me but Nat, Jessie and Holly have a wonderful friendship that drives their determination. I especially loved how these women find themselves on unexpected ground with their personal relationships and the direction it goes.

I loved all three of these women and how fearless they were. Nat realizes her relationship with her married boss is a dead end and watching her struggle with doing the right thing and doing what her heart wants was difficult. I admired her courage to step out of her comfort zone and starting her life completely anew. Jessie is a hopeless romantic and after dating Kevin for several years, it should be obvious that the next step is getting married, starting a family and buying a home. After they make an offer, Kevin backs out of the deal and gets transferred out of the country. I loved that Jessie isn’t willing to throw common sense out of the window and settle on her dreams. I thought Holly was bold and brash and completely adorable. She’s struggling to make it as an actress and is tired of auditioning for directors who treat her as a faceless void. She goes off a director who has his nose buried in his phone the entire duration of her audition and finds herself asking why she is torturing herself for a chance on a bit part television show or commercial.

All three of these women bring a wonderful energy to the story and I couldn’t decide on which one of them I related to the most. The author illustrates these women and their personalities so vividly that I found myself relating to all of them and could see myself wanting to hang out with them. The story drew me in very quickly and I found it hard to put the book down as I was anxious to know what would happen next.

My Final Verdict: This is a perfect choice for readers of women’s fiction. Love, laughter and tears all wrapped around friendship…and wine. I highly recommend this book to readers of women’s fiction and stories that will make them smile, laugh and cry. I also recommend this book be read with a crisp white or possibly a smooth red.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

REVIEW: Virgins by Diana Gabaldon

Title: Virgins (Outlander #0.5)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Narrator: Allan Scott-Douglas
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication Date: April 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Jamie Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend, Ian Murray. Both are nursing wounds, both have good reason to stay out of Scotland, and both are still virgins despite several opportunities to remedy that deplorable situation with ladies of easy virtue.

But Jamie's love life becomes infinitely more complicated - and dangerous - when fate brings the young men into the service of Dr. Hasdi, a Jewish gentleman who hires them to escort two priceless treasures to Paris. One is an old Torah; the other is the doctor's beautiful daughter, Rebekah, destined for an arranged marriage. Both Jamie and Ian are instantly drawn to the bride-to-be - but they might be more cautious if they had any idea who they're truly dealing with.

My Thoughts: I was already a fan of this series but was happy to see this short story that features Jamie and Ian long before Claire arrives on the scene. They are in France serving as soldiers for a mercenary group tasked with delivering a woman to Paris for an arranged marriage. As a fan of this series would expect, where Jamie Fraser is concerned, things usually do not go according to plan and Jamie’s ability to improvise and his talent for quick thinking serve him well in this story too.

This story also highlights the events surrounding the death of Jamie’s father and Jamie’s cruel treatment at the hands of Black Jack Randall, which reminded me all over again how much I loathe that man.

This story contains hard to witness scenes that this author illustrates brilliantly as well as the tongue in cheek humor displayed throughout this series. The narration was expertly performed by Allan Scott-Douglas with the beautiful brogue as well as accurate pronunciations of Gaelic words and phrases that I would absolutely butcher were I to say them.

My Final Verdict: This story is a prequel to the events of the rest of the series and is not required to enjoy the series, but fans of the series will still enjoy the reunion of Jamie and his dear friend, Ian and the adventure they find themselves on.

REVIEW: The Passengers by John Marrs

Title: The Passengers (Dark Future #2)
Author: John Marrs
Narrator: Clare Corbett, Roy McMillan, Tom Bateman, Shaheen Khan, Kristin Atherton, Patience Tomlinson
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: August 2019
Genre: Thriller
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: You're riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then, a mysterious voice tells you, "You are going to die."

Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man.

From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?...And who should we kill first?"

My Thoughts: Well, thank you John Marrs. Reading this book has clinched it for me. I will not be utilizing driverless vehicles now or in the future. This story was terrifying and riveting and also accurately describes the mindset of society in that we are glued to our electronic devices watching this horrific scene play out, being pulled in and unable to look away.

I honestly don’t know what disturbed me more…that eight vehicles could be hacked and the passengers inside are helpless to save themselves from certain death. Or…the government uses our personal information stored all over the cyber world to decide who is more valuable and worth saving should we find ourselves in a life threatening vehicle accident. Eight people all from different backgrounds, educations and lifestyles all make the decision to get into a driverless car one morning only to find their futures are now in the hands of a faceless voice telling them that they will be likely be dead in two and a half hours. I could only imagine the horror the passengers felt when they realized that they had no control over the vehicle, their phones did not work so they couldn’t call for help and the windows of the vehicles became opaque so people outside the car couldn’t see inside the vehicles.

John Marrs sets up this story brilliantly and expertly weaves a tale that draws in the reader as assuredly as the general public watching these events play out on social media. I couldn’t look away and as horrifying as the events are that play out, I had to know more. Who is behind this? Why are they doing this? Who will survive? The hacker is a master of manipulation and before I knew it, I started forming judgments and opinions on the passengers with the information I was being fed just like the characters in this story. This is fiction, right?

The story stands brilliantly on its own but I added audio narration and it only enhanced my enjoyment of the story. Six narrators expertly performing these characters added more depth and emotion to the story, which is amazing because when something is already fantastic, there isn’t much one can do to make it better. In addition, once the horror of the driverless cars is over, the story doesn’t end there. Finding out who is behind it all and why practically knocked me over with shock and surprise. I certainly hope this author gets plenty of quality sleep at night because he definitely needs it to keep his brain active with such riveting, intriguing and exciting stories.

My Final Verdict: I have to read everything this author writes. You should too. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy twisty and suspenseful thrillers. The kinds of stories that you don’t want to put down, the kinds of stories that knock you off your feet in shock and surprise. The kinds of stories that will leave you breathless in anticipation of what is coming up on the next page.