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No Comments Surprising Myself
Normally I wouldn’t dream of tackling a book review after 9 at night–on a weeknight, no less!–but since I can’t get in the shower–my three older kids aren’t home from their youth activity yet, and they’re going to need to shower as soon as they’re back–I decided to give it a go. Look at me, being productive! Over the course of my day I have:
- Driven my oldest to school, since the kids’ car got left there yesterday
- Blanched, cored, and frozen 3 quarts of garden tomatoes
- Done two loads of laundry
- Exercised
- Driven BACK to the school to bring my oldest the car keys
- Picked up my youngest
- Read my scriptures
- Fixed dinner and cleaned up the kitchen
- Made pumpkin chocolate chip bread for breakfast tomorrow
- Ran to Sam’s, since we were out of eggs
- Deleted two recipe emails
- Finished Jenn McKinlay’s Love at First Book
That last item, of course, is what brings us together tonight. (Bonus points if you caught that oblique film reference.) Love at First Book is the companion novel/sequel to Summer Reading, which I enjoyed; it isn’t set in Martha’s Vineyard, true, but Ireland isn’t exactly a letdown. And while the plot–girl travels to Ireland to be an assistant to her favorite author and falls in love with her welcoming Irish village AND her bookstore-owning son–is certainly predictable, that’s pretty much unavoidable with romance (to some degree at least) and not necessarily a bad thing. McKinlay does spend more time than necessary reiterating her hero’s amazing sexiness–everyone has flaws, and it’s a bit silly to have a romance lead of either gender be so ridiculously perfect–but the dynamic between the main characters is enjoyable. Em’s mother as a plot line is a noticeable loose end (she just kind of disappears), but her relationship with Siobhan has all the feels, and that plot line is handled beautifully. There are flaws, certainly–McKinlay’s sex scenes are a weakness, and I can’t help feeling like her writing isn’t always worthy of her books’ heart–but the last hour and a half of the audio book had me completely (there were tears). If you’re looking for a booklover’s romance (or perhaps, romantic booklovers’ fiction?), Love at First Book is a solid choice.
Now, cross your fingers that I can get my showering kiddos to bed quickly so I can hop in!