Sugar Queen
Summary:
Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.
Review:
This is an older book on the shelf but with Sarah Addison Allen coming out with a new book in March I wanted to include this one for all of you that have not had the pleasure of reading one of her books. Sugar Queen is a sweet, mysterious and slightly magical story that draws you in. I was laughing, crying, and rooting for the main character while she was on her journey of self discovery. You will love this book! This is one you will find yourself wanting to curl up and read again.
Crazy School
Summary:
Madeline Dare has finally escaped rust-belt Syracuse, New York, for the lush BerkshireMountains in Massachusetts. After her husband's job offer falls through, Maddie signs on as a teacher at the SantangeloAcademy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers. Behind the academy's ornate gates, she discovers a disturbing realm where students and teachers alike must submit to the founder's bizarre therapeutic regimen. From day one, Maddie feels uneasy about smooth-talking Dr. Santangelo but when she questions his methods, she's appalled to find that her fellow teachers would rather turn on each other than stand up for themselves, much less protect the students in their care. A chilling event confirms Maddie's worst suspicions, then hints at an even darker secret history, one that twines through the academy's very heart. Cut off from the outside world, Maddie must join forces with a small band of the school's most violently rebellious students-kids whose troubled grip on reality may well prove to be her only chance of salvation.
Review:
First off I didn't know this was a sequal (the first book was A Field of Darkness)with a third (Invisible Boy) coming out March 30th. However, I was not confused by the plot or the characters. They seem to read like individual novels with the same main character, Madeline Dare. Cornelia Read developed her characters to perfection! I felt the disgust, frustration and anger that Madeline and the students felt for the Santangelo Academy. This book was dark, witty, slightly diturbing and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I liked The Crazy School enough to buy the first book and look forward to the next.
True Colors
Summary:
The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their father provided for them physically on Water's Edge, the ranch that had been in their family for three generations, each of them however, longed for their father's love.
Winona, the oldest, knew early on that she could never get it. An overweight dreamer and reader, she didn't exhibit the kinds of talents and strengths her father valued.
Vivi Anne, the youngest, had those things. And it was Vivi Anne who only ever saw a glimmer of their father's approval.
When Vivi Anne makes a fateful decision to follow her heart, rather than take the route of a dutiful daughter, events are set in motion that will test the love and loyalties of the Grey sisters.
With breathtaking pace and penetrating insight, Kristin Hannah's True Colors is a novel about sisters, vengeance, rivalry, betrayal—and ultimately, what it truly means to be a family.
Review:
True Colors was an amazing, compelling and emotional story about family, jealousy, envy, passion, pride and choices made, good and bad. Once you pick it up you will have a hard time putting it down. The characters are beautifully crafted and you can feel everything they are going through. Be prepared to have a box of kleenex next to you for this one because she pulls at your heartstrings and does not let go! Excellent read!
