Review: The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan

Book Title/Author: The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
Publisher/Year Published: April 2012, Self Published by Courtney Milan
Where I got it: Barnes and Noble Nook store
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary:via Goodreads

She will not give up…

Three months ago, governess Serena Barton was let go from her position. Unable to find new work, she’s demanding compensation from the man who got her sacked: a petty, selfish, swinish duke. But it’s not the duke she fears. It’s his merciless man of business—the man known as the Wolf of Clermont. The formidable former pugilist has a black reputation for handling all the duke’s dirty business, and when the duke turns her case over to him, she doesn’t stand a chance. But she can’t stop trying—not with her entire future at stake.

He cannot give in…

Hugo Marshall is a man of ruthless ambition—a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner’s son to the right hand man of a duke. When his employer orders him to get rid of the pestering governess by fair means or foul, it’s just another day at the office. Unfortunately, fair means don’t work on Serena, and as he comes to know her, he discovers that he can’t bear to use foul ones. But everything he has worked for depends upon seeing her gone. He’ll have to choose between the life that he needs, and the woman he is coming to love…

I loved this. Best 99 cents spent ever.

The Story
The Governess Affair is about two non-noble (yay!) people. Serena was a governess cast out because of her unchaste behavior. Hugo is the duke's "man" who is trying to solve all his money problems so that Hugo can get some money of his own. They run into each other when Serena refuses to leave the front of the Duke's house until he owns up to his behavior. Oh yeah, he raped her and got her with child. Serena is confused and doesn't think it was forced because she didn't scream. Happy story, right?

Well Hugo is charged with getting rid of her and he slowly learns the facts to what happens. As that happens he also learns what a joy Serena is and they fall in love.

This is a novella at about 250 ish pages (says my nook) but never once did I feel rushed or think that I was getting cheated. This story was brilliant in the way that it handled what was going on. This book is to set up Milan's new series as we can see through the epilogue. I thought it did well on it's own.

I am torn on if I wish we saw more of them. An additional 50 pages may have been good to flesh out the ending with Hugo especially, but overall, unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't mind the length that it was.

The Characters
Let's look at Serena. She was never defined by the fact that she was raped. She took it as something that happened to her, and she needed to move on for the sake of her child. And I loved it. Her character was super well rounded and strong.

Hugo was smart, witty and ambitious. He was also super well-rounded. He knew what was happening between them and tried to come to terms with that while keeping his main goal (being the riches coal miners son in all of England) in sight.

The Romance
More love here. You see, it is be very hard to deal with the rape aspect in romance novels. You want it to be serious enough but have the woman be able to move past it enough to be with the man she loves. I think Milan does excellent here. The sexy times scene is probably one of my favorites ever. I don't want to say any more because I want you to go spend 99 cents and read this!

The Execution
For a novella and for a full length novel, I adored this. There were some things that maybe could have been fleshed out more for a full length novel, but I really didn't mind. I bought their romance in the time it occurred in because of how they communicated with each other. There is one letter writing scene that I just adored.

The Overview
I don't know what more that I can say except add me to the mass of people who adored this book. I need a new word besides adored but it's true. It will be an excellent 99 cents spent if you buy this. Milan's writing is brilliant and she give it her all even though this is a novella. I can't wait for the series this sets up :)

Review: The Harlot by Saskia Walker

Book Title/Author: The Harlot by Saskia Walker
Publisher/Year Published:May 2011 by Harlequin Spice
Where I got it: The library as an eBook
Rating: 2/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

It is a Dark Era, one when a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins…

Forced to watch her mother burned at the stake and separated from her siblings in the aftermath, Jessie Taskill is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. Until one night when she's accused by a rival, and Jessie finds herself behind prison walls with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.

In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. But toying with Gregor’s lust for her is enjoyable, and she agrees to be his pawn while secretly intending to use him just as he is using her.

The Harlot, an erotic romance centered around sex and a revenge scheme, to me was just okay. The first few chapters are rather jarring and you are pretty much thrown into sex. Seriously, one moment you are reading a story about a slightly raucous bar scene and then bare asses are up in the air! I am not jittery about the eroticism of this book (nor bare asses in the air in context I guess ha), but for the first 100 pages or so it was a book of erotic encounters held together with a loose narrative. It wasn't until really half the book was over that we saw any forward plot movement with the revenge thing.

The sex was pretty steamy, and other adjectives for erotic that I can't think of right now. Although from a story telling perspective, some of it was completely unnecessary and somewhat random. I haven't read too many erotic romances, and the ones I have were dismal, so I don't have much to go by if this is the norm or just so for this book.

The story could have been better if the characters were more developed outside of the sex or how the sex affected them. I know this is erotic romance, but I still expect more than what this gave me. It was like they had one other character trait outside of being horny (Jessie: witch; Gregor: revenge-driven).

That said though, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't purple prosey or entirely lacking a plot. And a lot of the sensual scenes made sense in the context of the plot. And you know, I finished the book. That says a lot right there. Toward the end I skimmed a bit, but I honest to goodness finished the book. So many times these days I have been giving myself an out of the DNF for books I just couldn't stand. But I read this one, which means something.

Overall, it was okay. Readable, steamy, but okay.

Review: Unveiled by Courtney Milan

Book Title/Author: Unveiled by Courtney Milan
Publisher/Year Published: Feb 2011 by Harlequin Books
Where I got it: The library's eBook collection
Rating: 3/5 stars
Challenges:Reading Romances Challenge - February Entry for "embracing couple cover"

Summary:via Goodreads

Ash Turner has waited a lifetime to seek revenge on the man who ruined his family--and now the time for justice has arrived. At Parford Manor, he intends to take his place as the rightful heir to the dukedom and settle an old score with the current duke once and for all. But instead he finds himself drawn to a tempting beauty who has the power to undo all his dreams of vengeance....

Lady Margaret knows she should despise the man who's stolen her fortune and her father's legacy--the man she's been ordered to spy on in the guise of a nurse. Yet the more she learns about the new duke, the less she can resist his smoldering appeal. Soon Margaret and Ash find themselves torn between old loyalties--and the tantalizing promise of passion....

Margaret is hiding out as a non-convincing nurse while trying to spy on the potential new heir, Ash. Ash knows from the start he is going to hit that. Margaret does a great job of saying "No" and Ash is okay with taking it slow.

The premise is really interesting to me. Brothers bastardized by their fathers deception by the cast-away distant relative. Distant relative and bastardized sister start to fall in love. Sister is torn between loyalties.

While the romance itself was pretty interesting, I really wanted to know how they were going to resolve this issue. So I guess a good plot line too me a little out of the romance.

But Ash and Margaret are very well rounded characters. Each has flaws, but not overwhelmingly so. Each has positives, but they aren't shoved down our throats. I extrememly liked, going back to that plot thing, that the main obstacle was not them falling in love. It was overcoming betrayal.

But, this book is a conundrum to me. I can't find anything about it that I particularly disliked, but I can't find anything about it that sent me over the moon. I think that it is the epitimy of a "just good" book. It wouldn't be the first I'd recommend, but I would recommend it.

It was solidly fine. I am definitely continuing on with this series.

Review: The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long

Book Title/Author: The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long
Publisher/Year Published: January 2008 by Avon Books
Where I got it: an eBook from the library
Rating: 3/5 stars
Challenges: February entry in my To Be Read Pile Challenge

Summary:via Goodreads

Scandal has rocked the city of London. Colin Eversea, a handsome, reckless unapologetic rogue is sentenced to hang for murder and, inconveniently for him, the only witness to the crime disappears. Then again, throughout history, the Everseas have always managed to cheat fate in style: Colin is snatched from the gallows by a beautiful, clever mercenary.

Cool-headed, daring Madeleine Greenway is immune to Colin's vaunted charm. Her mission is not to rescue Colin but to kidnap him, and to be paid handsomely for it. But when it becomes clear that whoever wants Colin alive wants Madeline dead, the two become uneasy allies in a deadly race for truth. Together, they'll face great danger--and a passion neither can resist.

Historically, the thing about me and historical romances* is that I find an author I love and read the crap out of all the books I can find by them until I can find no more. More recently though, meaning the past few years, though I read the new books put out by my favorite authors, I find my self branching out and trying different things.

I've been wanting to read Julie Anne Long for a while. I don't know why I didn't; it just never panned out. I think the catalysis was buying one of her books from the Border's sales, but it was the 5th in the series.

One thing to know about me. I cannot stand being "spoiled" for a book (or movie or TV show). If it is a series, I must read it in order.

So now that I had this book with the inciting cover and rave reviews in my possession, I couldn't do anything with it until I read the 4 previous books.

This is where we start our review.

The Perils of Pleasure is the first book in Long's Pennyroyal Green series. The series definitely starts off on a high note with Colin, the literally almost hung innocent murderer, and Madeline, the woman hired to save him.

I can't say that I have ever read a historical romance novel where the hero and heroine are pretty much on the run the entire novel. Yay! Unique plots! After the explosive beginning with the almost-hanging, they spend the rest of the novel trying to uncover what actually did happen, while of course falling for each other.

I loved Colin and Madeline. Unique, true to character throughout, growth and change. Love it! The scenes between the two of them were well crafted as well. The one sex scene was wonderfully sensual and fit well with these two.

I think why I didn't give this more stars was while I liked the story, sometimes it was a little jarringly written. We mostly followed Madeline and Colin, but then would be abruptly transported for a paragraph or so to some side character from Colin's large family's mind. Or Colin's large family's enemies large family.

I can see why this is a series.

I dont know if the feeling of being bounced around a bit was just me, but it pulled me out of the main story between Colin and Madeline. I see why some of it was necessary because of how the plot progressed, but still. The ending gave me the same, strange feeling too.

Despite all of this it was a satisfying story, I completely enjoyed the uniqueness of the plot though it failed a bit on the execution, and I will continue on with the series.

*Ha! A pun! I love puns!

Review: Heiress Without A Cause by Sara Ramsey

Book Title/Author:Heiress Without A Cause by Sara Ramsey
Publisher/Year Published: January 2012 by Spencerhill Associates Ltd
Where I got it: NetGalley in trade for an honest review
Rating: 3/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romance January Challenge

Summary:via Goodreads

One title to change his life…

A disgraced son with a dark reputation, William “Ferguson” Avenel is content to live in exile – until his father dies in the scandal of the Season. With rumors of insanity swirling around them, his sisters desperately need a chaperone. Ferguson thinks he’s found the most proper woman in England – and he won’t ruin her, even if he secretly desires the passionate woman trapped beneath a spinster’s cap.

One chance to break the rules…

Lady Madeleine Vaillant can’t face her blighted future without making one glorious memory for herself. In disguise, on a London stage, she finds all the adoration she never felt from the ton. But when she’s nearly recognized, she will do anything to hide her identity – even setting up her actress persona as Ferguson’s mistress. She’ll take the pleasure he offers, but Madeleine won’t lose her heart in the bargain.

One season to fall in love…

Every stolen kiss could lead to discovery, and Ferguson’s old enemies are determined to ruin them both. But as their dangerous passion ignites their hearts and threatens their futures, how can an heiress who dreams of freedom deny the duke who demands her love?

Browsing through NetGalley one day, I stumbled upon a very pretty cover (as you can see) and an equally intriguing summary. And the story I have to say lives up to that summary.

Madeline is a spinster almost ready to live her life alone, but not until she has one last hurrah. In her case, it is acting in a stage play of Hamlet. Ferguson is a misunderstood rake who desires nothing to do with being a duke and longs to return to Scotland. Both of the leads have strong and weak qualities to them, which is great in developing well rounded characters. I didn't love either of them, but I didn't hate them either, and I particularly enjoyed certain aspects of each. That is probably one of the more vauge statements that I have written. Let me see if I can extrapolate.

Let's take Madeline. She is courageous enough to step out of her shell and take a risk, but also overly cautious about love due to some issues from her past. At the same time, some of those issues almost come across as a bit petty. So that is why I don't really hate her, but I can't love her either.

I think what I enjoyed about them the most was their passion for each other. The romance/steamy scenes between the two of them was awesome. I really enjoyed all of that. True story, I had to turn the little overhead air fan on while reading on the airplane I was so flushed from reading the love scenes.

The story was particularly engaging and unique with the whole acting/mistress aspect. That is really where to story focuses. The weak parts have to come in the beginning. The first chapter was extremely hard for me to read because I kept getting confused. There was a serious backstory dump at the introduction of each new character, and since chapter one is where you meet most of the new characters, I was lost despite my slower reading speed. But once I sorted it all out getting into the story came easier. My next issue came at the end though. It seemed a bit anti-climactic and the happily ever after was just ... there. I didn't feel like too much conflict resolution had happened and it was all of a sudden okay. I don't know, this may be a little nit-picky.

Overall, I enjoyed it and that is what matters. I definitely enjoyed it enough to pick up the next one when it comes out. Who would I recommend this to? If you are historical romance reader looking for something that is different than the norm, check it out. Once your through the first chapter, its a good read :)

Scandal of the Year - Laura Lee Guhrke

Book Title/Author:Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke
Publisher/Year Published: January 25th 2011 by Harper Collins
Where I got it: I received a review copy from netGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: A to Z Male Name: A, A to Z Female Name: J, A to Z Book Title: S

Summary: via Laura Lee Guhrke's website

From their very first meeting, Julia knew that Aidan Carr, the oh-so-proper Duke of Trathen, had a bit of the devil in him, a devil who secretly yearned for what he could not have, a devil who harbored a desire for her. So when she needed to be caught in a compromising situation, Aidan was the answer to her prayers.

Aidan is supposed to be looking for a bride, yet his scandalous liaison with Julia is all he can think about. Hot, erotic memories of kissing her skin, falling into her bed, pulling her naked body on top of his own continue to torment and tempt him. What is it about this brazen seductress that he finds so hard to resist? And how can he stop himself from falling into her bed a second time?


The second book in the Abandoned at the Altar series, Scandal of the Year lets us follow the tale of my two favorite people from the first book, Julia and Aiden. I didn't really like the first book all that much, but was still excited to read this. The two characters were already interesting and I was curious on how they would be developed further.

I read this book in a day, yet I needed the extra days to really digest everything. It was engaging to see how the story unfolded. It wasn't in a linear fashion, but instead we were told the relevant facts in the beginning (in the summary even) and then as we watched the characters develop and grow, we were shown things that happened prior providing an interesting juxtaposition between past and present. Outside of that, the story was just interesting!

I really enjoyed where Guhrke took these characters. She didn't change who they were in the first book as so often happens when secondary characters get books of their own, but just expanded what we already knew. The growth and arc Julia and Aiden experienced individually and as a couple worked. It wasn't too little or too much. It just worked.

I really think that if I had to sum up the book in a sentence, it would be "It just worked."

Though you may notice that it only has for stars. I can hear, "But wait! If it just worked, why only four stars?" There were some moments that I thought were a little long during the flashbacks. Also, the last book was summarized in thought about 4 times (as well as at least one other previous Gurhke book) and this just rubbed me the wrong way. It was a little too strange for me to hear one character summarize another book in dialogue with the person who supposedly lived it.

But overall it still 'just worked.'

A Grimm Challenge: Hansel and Gretel

Grimm Story Hansel and Gretel
Tales Read10 from the Barnes and Nobel classic eBook edition

So. Hansel and Gretel is one of Grimm's tales that most of us are familiar with, and surprisingly what I already knew was very similar to what I read. The evil step-mother wants to get rid of the kids so they lead them into the forest, trail of bread crumbs, candy house, witch... the whole shebang. It was actually quite cute that the two siblings loved each other so much to look out for one another.

The only thing that I can think of that was different was after they killed the witch by pushing her in the oven, her house was full of stack of pearls. So the took all they could carry, went back to their dad, the step mother now dead, and had money problems no longer. That made me laugh.

I love the sibling loyalty in this tale. And also picturing a candy house is always interesting.

Storming the Castle by Eloisa James

Book Title/Author: Storming the Castle by Eloisa James
Publisher/Year Published: 2010 by Harper Collins
Where I got it: I downloaded it for my Nook
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: n/a

Summary: via Goodreads What Miss Phillipa Damson needs is a good, old fashioned knight in shining armor. What she has is a fiancé she never wanted and a compelling urge to run away. But if she manages to escape, will she find her happily ever after?

I love Eloisa James' stories. I like being up to date on what she is writing, hence I follow her witty remarks on facebook and twitter. This is how I learned about this companion short story to A Kiss at Midnight, Storming the Castle.

This book did not feel like a short story to me. Nothing felt rushed; things were fleshed out beautifully to the point that after I finished I felt the same euphoric feeling I get after I finish a full length novel with characters I love. Phillipa and Wick are to die for. She knows what she wants and takes a huge risk to go out and seek her own path in life. Wick is as charming as ever, bringing the character that I loved so much back from A Kiss at Midnight.

If you want a quick little novella about two adorable characters, this is your story. It was so nice to have it in line with me during the holidays. In fact, I am pretty sure I finished it in line at Wal*Mart.

This book is available on eBook only, but it was worth my $2.00

A Grimm Challenge: Loyalty

I am at work right now and I left my nook and home, so I can’t remember the specific ones that I read but I’ll give you a review of what I can remember. I remember reading one about Faithful John, who gave his everything to protect his king and was rewarded with being turned to stone from a curse. The King realized he screwed up and agreed to sacrifice his kids to bring John back. It worked and the kids ended up not dying either.

As I read these, I try and figure out what lesson they were trying to teach kids. What is the message? I’m guessing that this one was a story of loyalty. Loyalty will be rewarded no matter how long you have to wait. A decent message.

Another loyalty was one where a girl accidentally turned her 9 brothers into crows. If she didn’t talk or laugh for 7 years, they would be restored. She got married and her evil mother in law painted her out to be some sort of freak to her husband and convinced him to kill her. Just when she was about to die, the 7 years were up and a happily ever after was achieved. Alright, family (*cough* loyalty) is important.

The Man Who Could Not Shiver (or something to that extent) was kind of creepy. He spent his whole life trying to learn how to shiver. He kept offering people money to teach him how and all these creepy things kept happening to him. But he just didn’t understand and thus was not scared. As for me, the idea of a burning corpse hanging from a rope on a tree is burning into my brain.

I can’t remember for sure how it ended, but I think it was love that made him learn how to shiver, which, if true, provokes a rolled-eyed reaction.

There is one more that I can vaguely remember. It was about old animals leaving their lives where they were about to be killed or replaced. They wanted to start a band, and ended up in a house living out their life in happy peace. What I get upon great reflection is be kind to your elders. Or that singing animals are awesome. Not sure which.

So far I’ve been disappointed in the creepiness of Grimm’s tales. I've heard that they are the creepy to define all creepy tales. They are similar to any Greek myths (like the one where the live children are in the wolves belly alive and whole and they cut it open and replace it with rocks), but where are the kids who dance until their feet bleed? Maybe coming up… I still have 500 more pages to go.

B&N Classics

For this task you need to read a book off the Barnes and Noble classic list. Classics

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
first published 1914
Notes: I received this ebook free from Barnes and Noble classic summer downloads
Rating: 4/5

Just a warning before we begin. I go a little into detail about the relationship between Eliza and Henry which includes commentary about what happens after. If you have not seen the play and want to be surprised, be warned.

When I was in high school, I tried out for Pygmalion. I didn't get any part and in my anguish did not go see the show. I had heard that My Fair Lady was based on this play, but I've never seen that. I've read the myth about Pygmalion, but honestly didn't make the connection until I was reading the footnotes. So suffice it to say all I knew about Pygmalion's Eliza and Henry I learned from Family Guy.

So with practically a clean slate I dove in and I must say I rather enjoyed myself. I've always liked the quotes I've seen by Shaw floating around the internet, but never made the connection to the playwright.

It was interesting, surprisingly funny and quite entertaining. I could see in my head some of the cues onstage and how well they would work. I enjoyed Eliza and Henry's interactions the most, and was honestly quite confused by the ending. I clicked next page and there was no more play, but a nice essay by Shaw about what happened after. Toward the end there is quite a conversation between Higgins and Eliza which to me it dripped with sexual tension, but that was just my romance novel reader brain apparently. Because that is not how it ended. It was really interesting reading Shaw talking about why he chose to end the play the way he did going against what the mainstream public would want. Apparently, he added this afterword because everyone kept asking, but why can't they be together?

There have been times, wikipedia told me, that certain directors have changed the ending to suit the happiness of the audience, but I understand where Shaw is coming from. The play he wrote is a jab and society. Its a comedic satire, not a love story. There is no need for a happily ever after, because this is supposed to be real life. It's interesting also because the myth of Pygmalion has the sculptor living happily ever after with his creation, so he even deviated from the source material.

I don't know how I feel about changing the ending to suit the coffers. Part of me says "If you don't like it, write your own play!" but the other part of me says "Gotta do what's best for business." I am not really curious to see how My Fair Lady ends but I would tend to be more lenient about this seeing as it is an adaptation of the play.

So in conclusion, this really is a great play. I really enjoyed it and would love to see it onstage at some point.

A Grimm Challenge: The Frog Prince

I have decided to start reading my way though the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Since there are quite a few, according to my nook 607 pages worth, I decided to do a small write up of each, or every couple, as I go through them.

The first one on the list is the story of The Frog Prince. I’ve heard of this tale. Girl goes to a fountain, meets a talking frog, kisses him, he turns into a handsome prince and they live happily ever after the end.

Well not quite.

In the original, we have a beautiful youngest daughter of the king playing with her golden ball. It falls in the fountain and she promises the talking frog that if he gets it for her, she will be his friend and let him live/be with her in the castle. Agreement occurs, but after she’s got her golden ball back she completely reneges and runs away.

The frog hobbles his way up to the castle and demands his fee. The daughter is like, “Ew gross! Frog cooties!”. The king intercedes and is all like “Dude, you made a promise. Stop being a brat.” She begrudgingly keeps her promise until she gets so pissed off at how ugly the thing is that she throws him against the wall.

She throws him against the wall! And this causes him to turn into a prince!

What kind of promotion of violence is this? What I get from the heroine in this story is make false promises and violence will lead to awesome rewards.

According to the footnote, the story is supposed to represent the scared virgin afraid of a man’s beastly desires, and then after the fear is gone it is replaced with happiness, because sex is not that bad. I guess I could see this, but taken at face value and not reading into it so much, the lesson I get is being a bitch will result in great rewards.

Maybe next time someone is annoying me I’ll throw them into the wall and get a prince in return.

The Name Game: Book A

Let's Play The Name Game
A. For the first half of the task, read any book you like of at least 100 pages.
AND
B. For the second half of the task read another book (of at least 100 pages) whose author’s first or last name, is the same as the last name of the author of the book you read for the first half of the task.

Well, I've finished the first half of this challenge, and decided to do the review for that book:

Book Title/Author: Promise Me Tonight by Sara Lindsey
Publisher/Year Published: 2010 by Signet
Where I got it: Another... interesting cover. It called to me when looking for an eBook to read that fit a challenge.
Rating: 2/5 stars

This book is about a girl, Isabella Weston, who falls in love with her neighbor, James (who is best friends with her older brother), at an early age. She knows she will marry him and stops at nothing to get the outcome she desires. James, a emphatic bachelor, though stunned by the beauty she has turned out to be, is unmoved by her machinations. Hijinks ensue.

There were times when reading this book that I literally laughed out loud. Sadly, these times did not outweigh the times I was sighing in exasperation.

The character's are not bad. In fact, their dialog was occasionally some of the wittiest that I have read in this genre in a while. They have potential, but they fit too well into types that I could read anywhere and written better.

It's the author's first novel, so I may give her another chance once she has had some time to polish things up, but right now it was just not engaging, boring and repetitive. I sometimes had problems understanding why characters acted the way they did and why what they ended up doing was even an option in the first place. It proved to be more frustrating than enjoyable.

It didn't help that my eBook was somehow missing most of chapter 21 but at that point I had given up the redemption of this book.

Too much misunderstanding, not enough sexual tension. But there were times when I laughed at loud.

Maybe in a couple of years I'll give some of the other Weston siblings a chance.

S.U.M.M.E.R

For this task read a book written by an author whose initials are found in the word Summer. (Initials must be sequential i.e. SU, UM, MM, ME, ER, and RS not SM).

Book Title/Author: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Publisher/Year Published: 2009 by Wendy Lamb Books
Where I got it: library eBook on my nook
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is an interesting book about a young girl living in the seventies. It's really about her relationship with people in her life. There is also a time-travel side path that is interesting. I think reading this book as a third grader (right after I read A Wrinkle In Time) I would have loved this. Reading it now, I thought it was a good book, but definitely not geared for a genera adult audience. My favorite parts were the preparation for the 20,000 Pyramid; it made me want to watch the classic game shows on The Game Show Network.