The Wedding Garden...

Book: The Wedding Garden

Author: Linda Goodnight

Pages: 214

Summary: Years ago, Sloan Hawkins ran out of Redemption, and away from his first love, Annie Markham. Now he's back to care for his ailing aunt and her beloved garden. But he's in for a big surprise: Annie's son is his.

Thoughts: I have about a million Love Inspired books. My church librarian passes ALL that she gets on to me, and I've bought a few of my own. I now have about a million to be read. But, they're not all that thought provoking, compared to longer/more in depth novels. Sometimes that's a good thing, but other times I want a little more to chew on. I am determined to get them read though, so I've decided to alternate Love Inspired books with "real" novels...I should probably throw some of the novellas in there too. Because some good old fluff is needed after an exciting suspense novel or a real tear-jerker. About The Wedding Garden...I thought it was good, especially for a "light" read. It did have some depth, and I liked the characters. Not extraordinary, but delightfully ordinary.

Favorite things: There was a really unexpected twist! I was NOT expecting suspense in this one!

Least favorite: I felt like Delaney, Annie's daughter with her ex-husband, was ignored. I know Justin, Sloan's son, was kind of in the spotlight, but I would've liked more moments with Delaney.

The Cover Story: The cover is the reason I caved and bought yet another Love Inspired book (for 50 cents at a yard sale, so I don't feel so bad) that I didn't really need. I've learned to be very very selective about them...if it's about best friends falling in love, I want to read it. Otherwise, there has to be something special about it that piques my interest. For The Wedding Garden, it was the cover. I LOVE the house. It's beautiful! Gosh, if that's all it takes to get me to buy it, maybe I should be even more selective...:)

My favorite quote: Don't have one. The good(?) thing about the Love Inspired books is, I can read them really quickly. That can be good, but I also like to savor a really excellent book. I think that's probably why no particular quote stuck out...I sped by it!

Casting Call: I didn't/don't really have anyone in mind this time.

Alabama...

Book: Alabama

Author: Kay Cornelius

Pages: 478

Summary: (front cover) 'Southern charm reigns in four inspiring novellas.'

Thoughts: I am not really a big fan of novellas. I prefer full stories, or, even better, a nice long series. I feel that novellas don't allow enough time to tell the story naturally or with enough depth. I will, however, be reading a lot of novellas in the near(ish) future, because I won a TON of them and I want to give them a chance. I just hope they're worth it. Alabama was not. I have been trying to finish this book for a long time now, but it failed to capture my interest every time I picked it up. I really wanted to finish, just to "finish what I started", so I pressed on. It was almost painful! I started the first 3 stories, but did not reach the end of any of them. The fourth, Mary's Choice, was the only one I was really interested in, because of the unique aspect of Mary being a less than perfect figured woman. I liked the idea of a "real" woman finding love. Unfortunately, it was a let down. I skimmed through quite a bit of the story. I was not at all interested in the "back story" of the city's development. I thought it was a little creepy that one of Mary's potential suitors was her distant cousin. I don't care if it's a "southern" thing - I am from the south, and I was grossed out. I also found it annoying that every other person had the same name. Three Veronica's and two Sally's in a tiny little town? Sure, it's plausible, but in a novella, naming all the minor characters the same name is just confusing.

Favorite things: The end. I know that's awful, but I was just glad that I had finally finished it.

Least favorite: It was such a disappointment.

The Cover Story: The cover is not bad by any means, but I don't love it. I think it's because my lack of interest in the story didn't "allow" me to imagine something so lovely in the fictional town.

My favorite quote: If there was one I liked in there, I probably skimmed over it. :P

Casting Call:

*NEW PICS COMING SOON*

Mary Oliver/Melissa McCarthy Todd Walker/Barry Watson Jason Abbott/Ethan Hawke

I kind of hate saying that I imagined Melissa McCarthy the whole time, 'cause I think Melissa is

gorgeous/adorable and I wish I had a better character/story to cast her in. I chose Ethan Hawke,

or this picture of him anyway, for the scraggly hair. That trait is something Mary noticed repeatedly

about Jason in Alabama. I pictured him with a fuller face, but I guess this is close enough. Barry

Watson is basically how I pictured Todd, but I didn't have a really distinct picture in mind. I couldn't

find anyone perfect for Walter Chance, but I think this picture of Zachary Quinto captures his personality. :)

Oh my. Sadly, I cannot recommend this book at all.

Excuses, excuses...

We are in the process of moving, and most of my books (5 boxes and counting, thank you very much) are already in the new place. Yeah, that's what I'll go with for my reason for not reviewing, or reading at all, in a ridiculously long time. I know there's maybe 1 person who actually reads this blog (if that's not true, let me know you're out there, please!!) but I still feel bad about it. So, because I don't have a book read and ready to be reviewed, here are a few things on my mind:

- I am hungry. My mom and I have been on the Daniel fast, and I'm a week in. I have eaten mostly nuts, strawberries and bananas. It's delicious, but I kind of want a hamburger.

- I wish I could review fanfiction on this blog. I write some too, but I've been reading a lot lately for some reason. Maybe because all of my books are at my other house. Okay, okay. That's not entirely true...I was already distracted by the fanfiction before I temporarily parted with my books. Yes, I know, that is slightly pathetic and I am such a nerd, but I love it. Bones and LO:CI are my faves. I love it when the characters do what I want. :)

- Osama bin Laden is dead!

On one hand, I think it's about time. People slept a little more peacefully last night. On one hand, I too am very, very relieved.

On both hands, (does that make sense?) I am SO grateful to the men and women who have given so much for our country to be free.

But on the other hand, I can't decide how I feel about it. Rather, I can't decide how I feel about the celebration of it. We were just talking last night about how God loves EVERYONE the exact same way. As much as we hate to believe it, that includes Osama bin Laden. Jesus died to save Osama bin Laden. It's mind blowing, but it's true. As much as I'd like to think that he would be the exception, he was not. God is grieved that he will spend eternity in hell. As humans, we say "Good riddance! He had it coming!" But ya know what? If it weren't for Jesus, we'd all have it coming.