A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev

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After witnessing his wife's brutal murder, Dr. Nikhil Joshi runs away, as far away as he can go, becoming a cruise ship doctor.  He prescribes antacids during the day and gets blackout drunk at night, anything to stop himself from thinking of Jen.  But a woman confronts him on board, berates him for letting Jen's killers get away, and tells him he has to help her.  Because she has Jen's heart and she won't rest until justice is served.

 

I LOVE Sonali Dev.  I just love her.  This book was a magical whirlwind of action, adventure, love, romance, women's fiction and more.  Nik and Jen were so real and so wonderful, you couldn't help but root for them.  The pacing was excellent.  I never found a dull moment or a time where I could put the book away and leave it.  I was racing to the finish, desperate to find out the answer to the mystery, to find out if they would end up together, to find out how it all wrapped up.  *sigh* I'm just disappointed I have to wait for another.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

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Romance novels are a guilty pleasure of mine.   I have very high standards for my romance novels, though.  I think probably because the first one I ever read was Pride and Prejudice.  There’s very little that can compete with the tale of Darcy and Elizabeth.  I remember when I found the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries on VHS in my public library during my college years.  I watched the three half hour tapes that I could check out and raced back down to the library to return them and check out three more.  So imagine my surprise, delight, and trepidation on learning of Curtis Sittenfeld’s modern retelling of my favorite romance novel.


That all being said, Eligible is fantastic.  It takes what is a very period story and updates it in a suitable fashion.  Nothing really feels forced about the update (besides Fitzwilliam remaining Darcy’s first name); Liz is a modern woman with normal problems and quirky sisters. If one wasn’t familiar with the original inspiration (God forbid), Eligible would just seem like a contemporary romance novel.  Sittenfeld’s writing is masterful as Eligible reads just as deliciously as Austen’s own, similarly peppered with wonderful witticisms.  The magic is there and reading Eligible was like getting a bear hug from a great friend you haven’t seen in years. 

My digital copy courtesy of Edelweiss and Random House.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

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Sara fears that she has made a mistake.  A BIG mistake.  Everything was supposed to be straight forward.  She was supposed to fly into the United States, take a Greyhound to Hope, Iowa, and get picked up by Amy, her Iowan pen pal, for a two month reading and relaxing vacation.  Only Amy didn't show up.  Nobody showed up to pick her up.  Luckily for Amy, the townspeople of Hope are generous and offer her a ride to Broken Wheel (in spite of their own misgivings).  When she arrives, she learns that Amy is dead.  She is sad and resigned to heading back to Sweden, but the residents of Broken Wheel have another plan in mind.  

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a fun, light read.  Katarina Bivald creates a realistic portrait of small town life with Broken Wheel, highlighting the odd residents, the town loyalty in the face of a slow demise, and the intensely gossipy nature of a small, relatively closed-off community.  Bivald does well developing her female characters - especially Sara and Caroline.  I felt like I got a good picture of Tom, but the rest of the men were lost in my mind, and I frequently found myself reading a name and having to pause and think, "John...which one is John again?"  The plot is quaint and reminiscent of The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey, as mentioned in the blurb.  I love the premise and Sara's journey.  I did have a few reservations about one of the subplots (I think you'll know which one I mean when you read it), not because of its content; I'm just not sure it adds to the plot in a real meaningful way.  I really would have liked to see more development of Sara and Tom's relationship rather than this.  I have already passed on my ARC to another librarian and will definitely be adding this to our collection.  I can think of a dozen ladies who would be delighted by it.

Much thanks to Sourcebooks for the ARC!