Sunday 25 May 2014

Nashville Sweetheart by Rachel Hauck: a book review

I review for BookLook Bloggers
In this intriguing romance set in Nashville, Aubrey James has been a country music star for a decade. She had performed on stage since she was a small child, but rocketed to fame after her parents, who had pioneered gospel music, were killed. A private person, Aubrey is forced to enter the public eye after a former close friend and associate betrays her. Yet the reporter interviewing her for the country music magazine 'Inside NashVegas' digs up someone from her past she would rather forget. As her world seems to collapse around her (Aubrey breaks off her engagement to a rich businessman and fights with her label over the sort of music she wants to produce), Aubrey finds herself falling in love with the reporter and at the same time rediscovers her faith in God.

I love Rachel Hauck's books and take every opportunity to read her writing and have, in fact, read this book twice (I obtained it free of charge from Booksneeze in exchange for an unbiased review). Yet I found the language difficult. Not only is much of it written in the first person, but also the points of view change as each of the two main characters speak in turn. This is not a writing style I enjoy and I found it distracting. Nevertheless, I was drawn into the story and started caring about the characters.  By halfway through the book I had become involved and found that I really did want to know the ending.

I'm not sure I'd read another book in the Nashville series, but can recommend Rachel Hauck as a writer.

An April Bride: book review

I review for BookLook Bloggers

It is a month before the wedding and Stella Carson's childhood sweetheart is returning home to marry her. But Marshall Henderson has suffered a head wound while serving his country in the military. He has post traumatic stress disorder and a faulty memory: he doesn't remember Stella and he doesn't remember that they have planned to marry.

When her childhood dreams seem doomed, Stella hangs on with determination as Marshall commits to going through with the wedding in the hope that his memory will return. He knows he does love Stella, but he can't remember. While wedding preparations are finalised, Stella gently and lovingly nurses their relationship as they rediscover their shared past and, in doing so, each other.

This is a gentle, typically sweet American, girl meets boy story, in a romantically old-fashioned setting near the Mississippi river in Louisisana. Stella's family are affluent, the house and gardens elegant, dress and furnishings quietly fashionable... all is picture perfect. The storyline of lost memory regained is intriguing and Lenora Worth does indeed manage to draw the reader in with her carefully crafted writing, holding attention to the inevitably satisfactory ending.

However, I found it all too sugary sweet for my taste. Yes, there were elements of suspense designed to make the reader wonder whether Marshall would ever regain his health and love for Stella, but the ending was inevitable. I have enjoyed the 'Year of Weddings' series, which I obtain free of charge from Booklook Bloggers (formerly Booksneeze), but I found this one the most disappointing so far. Since the story dragged a little, in my opinion it would have worked better as a short story. Sorry, but this was not a keeper!