Review: First Comes Love

Title First Comes Love
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult, Romance, Chick-lit
Format Audio book
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Sisters, Meredith and Josie couldn't be more different. Josie is spontaneous, extroverted and goes after what she wants, Meredith is quiet, stoic and does what's best for everyone else but herself. When their brother dies in a car crash the two sisters deal with their grief differently and those differences drive them apart. Fifteen years later as they both are at a crossroads in their lives that tragedy will either drive them further apart or bring them closer together.

First Sentence
Time is a tricky thing, Daniel said to his mother when he was still very young.

And now I've finished all of Giffin's published books. After the last one, All We Ever Wanted, I wasn't so sure I wanted to ever read another one of her books but this one restored my faith in her storytelling abilities and reminded me why I love her books so much.

This one tells the story of two very different sisters. These characters were wonderfully flawed. There were things about each of them that drove me absolutely nuts and things I really loved too. Watching their all too relatable struggles puts you right in that understood and validated space. I love that about books.

I didn't expect to love this one as much as I did. It's probably my favorite of Giffin's books and I'm glad I didn't let that last one turn me off.

If you love stories about people and family struggles with flawed characters you can root for, you should read this one. I've been thinking about Joise and Meredith long after I closed the book. 

Review: All We Ever Wanted

Title All We Ever Wanted
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult Fiction Chick-lit
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
A photo snapped in a drunken state at a party and four lives are changed forever. Nina can't believe her son would risk his privileged life and recent acceptance in to Princeton but things aren't looking good. Tom Volpe is trying his best as a single father but when a promiscuous photo of his daughter Lyla goes viral he'll do anything to protect her.


First Sentence
It started out as a typical Saturday night.


I was so excited for a new book from Giffin and even more excited when my hold for it came in sooner than expected. Sadly, I'm like ninety percent positive this wasn't written by Giffin. Maybe I'm wrong but the writing was off and the story was all over the place.

It starts out introducing a pretty popular issue and I was thinking, "Um, OK. I guess Giffin is going to give us her thoughts on the #MeToo movement. Should be interesting since this isn't her normal thing" but then, no, it kind of lost steam and turned into her usual chick-lit.

I was so confused! It kept me reading but I'm not sure if that's because it had her usual addictiveness style or if I just wanted to know what the heck was going on. And the writing was all off! It was all tell no show and I don't recall her previous books being that bad.

In the end, all I can say was this book was one hot mess. It was all over the place and I had no idea if that's what the author was going for or if she wasn't sure what she was going for either.

Super disappointed.

Review: The Undomestic Goddess

Title The Undomestic Goddess
By Sophie Kinsella
Genre Romance Chick-lit
Format ebook
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Samantha has worked hard her whole life to get where she's at: A high powered attorney at the most prestigious law firm in London. When she makes a horrible mistake that costs her company fifty million pounds she flees in a blind panic. Suddenly in a small town she's never heard of she get mistaken for a housekeeper applicant and decides to go with it. It's the perfect place to hide. But Samantha know's nothing about cleaning or cooking and some things you can't hide from forever.

First Sentence
Would you consider yourself stressed?

Another book club book. I might have picked this one up on my own, though. Kinsella is a hit or miss with me. I find her books hard to put down or at least intriguing enough to keep me turning pages but I usually find them a little too long and tedious and quite a bit too silly to be believable.

This one started off great. It was unbelievable but I was laughing along and enjoying the ride. The story was fun and brings up a lot of fun topics of discussion; that will be nice since it's a book club pick, but the silliness started to get too silly and it just went on for too long.

My biggest issue with this one was the MC. I didn't like Samantha's wishy-washy attitude. She kept going back and forth on her decisions and I felt like that was a slap in the face to the point this books sort of tried to be making about women's equality etc.

However, I mostly enjoyed the ride and I liked the end message of the story. That bumped it up from it's tediousness to a three star read.

Review: The Bookshop on the Corner

Title The Bookshop on the Corner
By Jenny Colgan
Genre Adult chick-lit
Rating ⭐️⭐️


Synopsis
When she loses her job at the library, book lover and literary matchmaker Nina makes a crazy decision to buy a van, move to a small town in Scotland and sell books out of said van.


First Sentence
The Problem with good things that happen is that very often they disguise themselves as awful things.




I couldn't resist a book about books so when this one came up on Amazon as a daily deal I snatched it up. And that's the book's strongest attribute. It's about books. The author mentions dozens of books and talks about books so fondly you just know you could be friends with her.

I loved the idea of our MC buying a huge van she can barely drive and turning it into a bookshop. I also loved that she moved to a small little town where everyone knows everybody.

But that's about as much as there is to love in this one. You'd expect some pretty big issues to come up when starting a business but for Nina it just unfolded beautifully. There was no conflict getting in her way. She even moves to a town full of people that love to read...like all of them. I find that a little hard to swallow. I'd love if everyone loved to read as much as me. I think we'd all get along better if we had that one thing in common but most people I know don't like to read and never do. Sad but true. So the idea that everyone from shop owners to frazzled mothers to farm workers all love to read was a bit hard to swallow.

Maybe I took this one too seriously. Maybe it was supposed to be a low conflict story written to make you smile and escape your own complicated life but it felt a bit patronizing.

My biggest issue, however, was that for the first 50% of the book I thought it was self published. It FELT self published. Finally I looked it up and discovered that HarperCollins published it. I sat there shocked. It didn't feel like this book went through a mainstream publishing house at all.

And don't get me started on the "romance". Just don't.

Oh well. I did appreciate that the author obviously loved books and it came through loud and clear in her book.

Should you read it
Sadly, I think you won't be missing much if you skip it.

Review: Baby Proof

Title Baby Proof
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult Chick Lit
Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis
Claudia has never wanted children. It just isn't in her future, but finding a man who agrees? Not so easy. When Claudia meets Ben he's her perfect match for a million reasons including his desire for a childless marriage. But when one of them suddenly changes their mind years into the marriage will their love survive?

First Sentence
I never wanted to be a mother.





Emily Giffin's books are so addicting. They're really quite silly for books that deal with serious issues and I often find her characters doing unrealistic things but I can't help myself.

Baby Proof was just as addicting as her other books. I read it in two sittings. It was a hard book to read for me because of personal reasons. (If you know what I mean) However, I still gulped it up.

My absolute favorite thing about this book was the relationship between Claudia and her sisters. I loved how they all had completely different desires and lives but stayed close and just loved each other. I wish I was as close to my sisters as Claudia was to hers. I also loved her friendship with Jess. The relationships in the book was what kept me reading.

The actions that were taken so brashly by main characters were a bit unbelievable to me. I guess if it hadn't happened that way there wouldn't have been much of a story but I still found it completely unrealistic.

I liked the ending too. It was wrapped up quite nicely but minus the bow. So it wasn't too neat.

Should you read it? 
I'd recommend this one over some of her others for sure.

Review: The One and Only

Title The One & Only
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult Contemporary Chick lit
Rating ⭐⭐

Synopsis
Shea Rigsby has always been a Walker fan. Fan of the town she grew up in and fan of the college football team. Her whole life has centered around the football and her best friend's dad the coach of her beloved team. Despite her comfortable life, Shea soon realizes it's not going anywhere. She's in a rut. When a new job and a new relationship blossom it looks as though things couldn't be better but Shea's heart longs for something different. Something that might ruffle too many feathers. Can she have the life she truly wants or will a small town's watchful eye keep her away from what she wants most?

First Sentence
I should have been thinking about God.

I'm a sucker for Emily Giffin's books. They're so overly dramatic and kind of silly but I can't help it, I love them. I decided to give this one a go even though the subject matter was football. Like... a lot. Seriously. I expected some football talk but wow! It was almost not about anything else. It was so bad I almost gave up.

That and Shea's passive attitude really annoyed me. I knew where things were heading the moment the book started and I really didn't want the ending it was leading too.

So many times I almost put the book down...but I didn't. I probably should have. I didn't end up hating the book but it really wasn't worth my time. It wasn't just the football talk either. There was some possible rape stuff that got covered up that I didn't approve of and I really hated the love interest. It just didn't work for me.

***Spoilery***
It wasn't the age thing that bugged be but the fact that she worshiped this man. I'm not sure she really ever loved him. I think she loved the idea of him.
***End of Spoiler***

Usually her books are so readable. It's one of the reason's I love them so much. Even if you're not totally in love with her story you just can't put it down. This one didn't even have that going for it and I felt like I had to force my way through it. I guess my like for the author is why I'm giving it two stars. Otherwise it would be a one star for sure.

Should you read it?
No. Go ahead and read her others. They're worth a read but not this one. Just no.

Review: Wedding Night

Title Wedding Night
By Sophie Kinsella
Genre Chick lit
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
When Lottie's long time boyfriend fails to propose to her she breaks it off. Heartbroken she jumps into a relationship with an ex boyfriend. They decide to elope and rush off to Greece where they first met for a honeymoon of a lifetime.
Lottie's sister Fliss has seen her sister do some drastic, crazy things after a breakup but nothing as serious as marrying a man she hardly knows. Determined to stop Lottie from making a horrible decision and regretting it forever, Fliss will stop at nothing to save her sister.

First Sentence
I've bought him and engagement ring.

After reading and loving Finding Audrey Sophie's YA book, I knew I wanted to read more by her. To my knowledge, her other books are all adult books that I would classify as chick lit. When this one came up as a Kindle Daily Deal. I snatched it up and began to read; needing something light and fluffy. Light and fluffy is exactly what I got. This story was so ridiculously crazy and fun. The banter between the characters was great and the crazy situations had me smiling and snickering. Despite being on the lighter side, this book was littered with words I didn't know the meaning of. Thank goodness I read it on my Kindle app so I could click on each word as it came up and look up the meaning with ease. Since I love learning new words, I found this fun.

So why did I only give it two stars? Well, because it got a little too ridiculous. It's kind of like that episode of SpongeBob (yeah, I'm going there) where SpongeBob rips his pants and after getting a few laughs just can't let it go. He keeps trying to drag out the humor until people are just plain sick of it. That's how I felt here. It just got so ridiculous that the humor started to go sour and by the last 50 or so pages I just wanted it to end!

So, sadly, while I'm not writing off Kinsella's other books, I was rather disappointed. I guess I expected more.

Should you read it?
If no amount of shenanigans irritate you and you want light and fluffy then, yes, go ahead and give this one a go.

Review: Heart of the Matter

Title Heart of The Matter
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult Chick Lit
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Tessa and Valerie live very different lives. Tessa is a stay at home mom married to a handsome surgeon. Her day's are filled with bustling kids off to school, cleaning the house and keeping up with the other mom's in the neighborhood. Valerie is a single mother who's worked for everything she's got. Raising her son and trying not to be so closed off to the world are her biggest priorities. When a horrible accident brings these two woman together, their lives will never be the same.


First Sentence 
When ever I hear of someone else's tragedy, I do not dwell on the accident or diagnosis, or even the initial shock waves or aftermath of grief. 

• With all the stress and craziness going on in my life right now, I needed another of Giffin's addicting, distracting stories. Giffin delivered again. She has a way of writing that just sucks you right in. 
• As unputdownable as this book was it had a much heavier subject matter that was just downright painful to read. 
• It brings up a really great question, though, amidst all it's heaviness and while I was not as in love with this one, I will say it worked as a great distraction at the end of the day. 
• The more of Giffin's books I read, the more I hesitate to label her books as Chick Lit. They all have some serious subject matter. This one in particular, as I mentioned. 
• So...yeah, it was a great distraction and great to have a book I couldn't wait to get back to but it was a hard, hard book to read.

Should you read it?

I'd definitely recommend Giffin's books but maybe don't start with this on

Review: Love The One You're With

Title Love The One You're With
By Emily Giffin
Genre Adult Chick Lit
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis 
Ellen, is a perfectly blissful newlywed. Her life with Andy is everything she dreamed of. Or is it? When an old flame suddenly comes back into the picture, Ellen can't help but wonder what might have been.

First Sentence
It happened exactly one hundred days after I married Andy, almost to the minute of our half-past-three-o' clock ceremony.

• I'm just going to go ahead and admit it. I do enjoy the occasion chick lit. Especially Giffin's work. She spins one hell of a romantic dramedy. There's something so irresistibly addictive about her books. 
• I'm a sucker for stories where one's choices in life are questioned. As long as they make the right decision, that is. I bought this book years ago under the impression from the title that Ellen would come to her senses and stay with her loving husband.  But when I finally read it,  Giffin had me at the edge of my seat. I was flipping pages like crazy wondering what on earth was going to happen. It became wholly unpredictable. 
• As I mentioned, I was having a hard time putting this one down. All I wanted to do was read it and when I wasn't I was thinking about it and wanting to get back to it. It's been years, people, YEARS since a book has done that to me. 
• Does it being a chick lit book make me feel a bit sheepish about how addicted I was to it? Nope! I've got SOOOO much stress going on in my life right now that a light, fluffy read with a underlying moral was just what I needed. I may or may not have shed a few tears at the end...and I may or may not be picking up another book by Giffin for my next read. 

Should You Read It?
Even people who say they hate chick lit say they enjoy Giffin's books so, yes, I'd recommend it.