Retelling

Persuading Her by Keena Richins – Review

December 1, 2018 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

About the Book

At nineteen, Rick Wentworth found the love of his life. Or so he thought.

Dumped because he wasn’t good enough for her high-and-mighty family, Rick left, swearing he’d never return. Eight years later, he’s an Acquisition Manager for the prestigious Pemberley Estates Corporation, traveling the world and loving his life. Then he accidentally runs into his old love and feelings he thought were long gone come rushing back. But he’s determined to resist. She dumped him once; he won’t let her the chance to do it again, no matter how badly his heart wants to be hers.

“Persuading Her” is a stand-alone, clean/sweet, second-chance romance with a guaranteed happily ever after, plus with some other Austen characters sprinkled in. It tells the tale completely from Rick’s side. Check out the companion novel for Anne’s side.

Amazon // Goodreads

Monstrous Beauty by Carol E. Keen – Review

August 23, 2018 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Once in a while, I run across a book I’m not quite sure what to do with. There are so many great books out there that a book that leaves me in the “eh” zone after reading it is a bit of an anomaly.

In My Opinion…

A Beauty and the Beast/Cinderella mashup that was a mixed bag of good and bad for me.

While there are a couple of topics ripe for exploration, the author fails to develop them, which in turn causes the story to lack some much-needed depth. I can acknowledge that a lower novella word count probably played into this decision, but I would have preferred some other scenes get cut out instead. Plus the ending had me scratching my head a little bit. The author gives a broad overview of what happened but leaves the details to the readers’ imaginations. This case of telling rather than showing occurs a few times during this story.

The Orphan’s Wish by Melanie Dickerson – Book Review & Giveaway

July 1, 2018 by Suzie Waltner 3 Comments

I am repeatedly impressed by Melanie Dickerson’s ability to take a well-known and well-loved fairy tale and create something unique while retaining elements of the familiar. And while she’s doing that, she also weaves elements and characters of her previous stories into the new one!

In My Opinion…

The Orphan’s Wish is a retelling of Aladdin. While you will find an orphan boy determined to make his mark on the world and to gain wealth in an attempt to become worthy of the girl he loves, there are no magic lamps or wish-granting genies.

Aladdin and Lady Kirstyn become fast friends in childhood. They grow up sharing everything. But an orphan is not good enough for a duke’s daughter—even one with a heart wide open to spending her life caring for those less fortunate than her.