50 Books 2013 challenge – November update

The last couple of months I’ve been quite slack at reading, but have got back into it now, so only 1 to go to hit my 50 books challenge for this year.  Just one month of not reading a full book really makes a difference.

Here’s a few of the books I’ve read during October and November.

The Castaways – Elin Hilderbrand

Eight close knit couples living in Nantucket, then one couple are killed when their boat capsizes.  Everything is thrown out of kilter for the families remaining.  Secrets emerge, relationships change, and everyone wonders how life will go on.

This book got me back into reading again.  It was a fairly quick read, had me wondering who was having relationships with whom, and what were the secrets people were hiding.  It’s not the best, but not the worst I’ve read.

The Bookstore – Deborah Meyler

I found this book a bit strange.  Generally I enjoy reading stories that involve books, but this just seemed to drag on.  The lead female character really annoyed me – with a rubbish man at the start, splits with him, gets pregnant, gets back with him, doesn’t, has a connection with one of the men she works with in the book store.  This is someone who’s meant to be intelligent and focused on having a scholarship to a good university in the US.  Madness.

I really didn’t connect to the characters, although the good guy seemed ok.  A bit wet, but nice enough.  There seemed to be too many characters and I really had to think about who was who in the shop.

Definitely not one of my best free ebook choices.

He loves me not (Lily’s Story) – Christine Kersey

Another book which really wound me up.  Again, a supposed intelligent (but naive) young woman getting caught up ridiculously quickly with a violent and dangerous man, despite warnings.

This is part of a set (hopefully there’s no more than 2 in the series), but I won’t be reading to see how Lily ended up in the next stage of her life.

A Perfect Fit – Heather Tullis

Classic Mills & Boon (I’m presuming it was one), and one of a series again.  This is the first book in the Di Carlo sisters series.  6 sisters brought together by their father’s will, with some of them having not known of each others existence.  The plot takes them through the usual journey of being brought together, having to work together, meeting men, making friends, seeing work results and generally ending on a high.

If you like Mills & Boon for quick reads and obvious plots, then this book does the job.  I rarely locate other books in M&B series, but would quite happily read on if they dropped in my lap!

Finding Emma – Steena Holmes

As a parent, your worst nightmare would be to lose a child, and this is what happened to Megan and her family.  I was drawn to this book because of the name (hey, I used to have Laura Ashley ‘Emma’ curtain and bedding in my childhood bedroom!), but the story was fairly interesting.  Had I not had N, I’d have probably been less interested.

There’s also interplay and emotional pulls between the 2 parents, their remaining children, friends and colleagues.  But we also see life from the other side – where does Emma end up and who with?

It doesn’t fully explain why it really happened and how it could have happened, but this is explained in the next book ‘Emma’s Secret’ which I’m currently reading.

For a free or cheap book, it’s definitely worth checking out.