Two Audiobook Reviews - The Hudson Valley Series: Nuts (#1) and Cream of the Crop (#2) by Alice Clayton

So, because I am falling behind on reviews, I thought I would combine my reviews of these two books in this same series into one post.  Let me just say that I have a new author I'm a huge fan of.  Another reason I'm very excited to go to Apollycon 2017 in March!  Of course what first drew me to these books was the total suggestiveness of the covers, but in such a funny way, even if it was pretty much in your face.  Not to mention the titles, they totally crack me up.  I listened to the audiobooks of these, and now I just can't wait to hear what the third book will be, and I know there has to be a 3rd book, because there is one more friend! 

Book 1 Info:
Title:  Nuts  
Author:  Alice Clayton
Series:  Hudson Valley #1  
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 20th, 2015
Source:  Digital audiobook download from public library

The main character in the story is Roxie.  When we first meet Roxie, she is a personal chef to many rich people out in California, including a famous Hollywood married couple, that I believe are the characters in the author's Redhead series.  When she has a mishap with one of her snotty clients, and then said client puts in a bad word with all her other clients, except for the Hollywood couple, Roxie's whole personal chef business seems to be over.  Roxie's mother has asked her to come back home to a small town in upstate New York and run the family diner while her mother gets to go be a contestant on The Amazing Race.  Roxie does not want to do it, she is tired of bailing out her irresponsible hippie mother, but doesn't seem to have anything else she can do at this point.  So, she does go home to help her mother out.  Once in town she meets the new guy who runs a local farm, Leo Maxwell.  And from the first moment she meets him, her clumsiness causes the two to end up in very embarrassing positions as she knocks the two of them over.  But the sexual attraction is there, and while Roxie knows she doesn't want anything more than sex, as that is all she really wants since growing up dealing with her mother's many heartbreaks.  Plus, Roxie fully intends to go back to California when her time taking care of the diner for her mother is over.  Leo seems to agree, and be on board with it.  And let me tell you, once they get together, the sex is hot!  

Things I loved:  the author mentioning that Kansas City has the best BBQ, the innuendos, Roxie's fear of bees - bees are assholes, and that Roxie was in love with Almanzo from Little House on the Prairie (me too).  The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the narrator occasionally read in a way that seemed very slow, in parts that I was eager to move along through to get to more exciting parts.  

Book 2 info (only differences from above):
Title:  Cream of the Crop 
Series:  Hudson Valley #2  
Published:  July 12th, 2016
Source: Digital audiobook download from public library

This book has the main character Natalie, who is one of Roxie's best friends from book one.  Natalie's love interest is the dairy farmer from Roxie's hometown, Oscar.  She sees him every Saturday at the Farmer's Market in Union Square in NYC where she lives.   Now, Natalie is pretty confident in herself, and definitely can get a date whenever she wants.  But for some reason, whenever she gets around Oscar, she gets all tongue-tied and blushing.  What I love about Natalie is that she is a big girl, but owns it.  And actually that is part of what makes Oscar attracted to her as well.  In fact, the first time she is really able to talk to him, he tells her what he loved most about seeing her at the Farmer's Market every Saturday, was watching her "great, big ass" as she walked away.  When he first says this to her, you can imagine how it sounds, and how pissed she gets.  Natalie makes sure that she gets Roxie's hometown as an advertising client when it comes up, partly to be with her friend, and partly because of her attraction to Oscar, who is described in the first book as reminding Roxie of a Dothraki like in Game of Thrones.  Since I had just started watching GOT at the same time I was listening to these books, I pictured him like the main Dothraki guy.  While Natalie is a very independent city girl, Oscar is very much a quiet, small town guy.  He not only runs the Dairy Farm that Leo in Nuts is right next door to, he also coaches Little League football in town.  

Of course there will be problems.  While Natalie figures it will just be a "fun" relationship, as she's always been like Roxie in the anti-relationship group, feelings start to get involved.  And when Oscar wants her to move to his small town, and leave her life in NYC behind, or so it seems, Natalie's past rears its head and comes between them.  It's not just Natalie's past, but also Oscar's ex-wife.  And how he deals with her is really irritating in some parts.  But in others totally understandable.  

Things I loved:  Natalie loves cheese just like me,  the fact that Oscar calls her "Pin-up", hot sex scenes, and more hilarious scenes and lines.  The part where she gets out of the car when she first runs into Oscar on his farm, and she just runs away.  OMG, I was dying laughing.  Her line about the first time she saw him:  "From the first moment I laid eyes on him, I was dying to lay thighs on him."  This author knows how to write funny dialogue, storylines, and the innuendos are hilarious as well.  However, the one thing I didn't like was some of the way Oscar dealt with things.  Honestly in book 1, I feel like Leo handled everything perfectly, even when the big conflict/surprise came up, the way he was with Roxie was perfect.  But the way that Oscar dealt with Natalie's issues in this one, well, it pissed me off.  And made him not as perfect for me as Leo had been.  But I still loved the story, and loved the two of them together.

As I mentioned before, I NEED to know when the third book is coming out. And I can't wait to hear what innuendo the title of it will be, something to do with hotels?  Not to mention I can't wait to see what they come up with for the cover of it.

If you haven't tried Alice Clayton yet, I'd totally recommend these hilarious, sexy, fun books! 

The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure

First thing I want to say is, although you probably won't notice this from the finished blog, because I have an injured hand, this may take me awhile to type up. However, I finished this book this morning and really want to share my thoughts on it, so I'm going to get it done. Please forgive any typos that I don't catch as I type with my wrapped up hand. Here goes.

I read an advanced readers copy for this. One I was very excited when I got it in the mail. I, too, am a fan of the Little House on the Prairie, however, unlike the author, my fascination comes from the tv show. I didn't start watching this till probably late middle school/early high school. I just remember watching it with my brother during the summer, so of course it was mostly reruns at that time. We loved the show, but really loved the campy way Michael Landon played Charles Ingall. As much as you hated Nellie Oleson, I loved when her character was on. So, by the time I really learned about the books, I was at an age where I was reading much more adult books, and when I tried to pick up the books, I felt like I was trying to read an elementary school level book. Hey, give me a break, I was reading VC Andrews books, as well as Stephen King books that I'd borrowed from my mom at this time. And of course, Sweet Valley High, as well as Amanda Quick books that I had borrowed from my stepmother. I wish I'd learned about the books at an earlier age, so that I too could feel the way about them that this author did.

In a way though, my tv fandom made me want to do the same thing she does in the book. I bought a book at the bookstore I work at when I saw it told about all the Little House locations to visit in the country. That was when I learned fascinating things about where they'd lived. I have visited the site in Missouri, although didn't have the money at the time for the tour.

Anyways, on with reviews for the book itself. This was a great story. I see so much of the author in myself. Being on a quest to learn all she can about something she loves, and being excited and thrilled at one moment, and disappointed and disillusioned the next. Hearing about all the places she visited reminded me of my plan to go visit them. At the time I got the book I had my Subaru Forrester, and I planned to pack what I needed in the car, along with the dog. I bought a book on pet friendly hotels, and I was going to take one of my summers off from teaching to drive around the country. I believe I decided I couldn't afford it at the time, so I never ended up making it. I think it is great that the author's boyfriend went along with her. What a great guy he sounds like!

I learned so much about the books as well as even some actual history from this book. And I'm inspired once again to make this trip one summer in the future. Okay, now there were some specific parts in the book that I had to mark the pages to come back and talk about.

Early on in the book she discusses that she found it interesting that not all girls wanted to be Laura, some liked Mary better, they were happy living a peaceful no surprise type like. And pointed out that this is often the oldest child (which I am) and this is how I kind of like my life. Now, halfway through the book I had to chuckle a bit as she called out Twilighters (which again, I am) when she talked about the end timers waiting for the collapse of civilization like us Twilighters waiting for the trailer of Breaking Dawn.

Another part I really laughed at was when she was talking to the two men who had brought two girls for the Laura lookalike contest in Walnut Grove, and one of them said he didn't like that Golden Girls had taken the time slot when he used to watch Little House on the Prairie. I agree with him, in that I also didn't care about an old ladies sex life.

Towards the end of the book she discusses going to the new Little House on the Prairie musical, which I got to see last summer! I loved seeing Melissa Gilbert, I only wish I'd had a chance to get her autograph or a picture taken with her. I'm such a celebrity geek! On the same page she mentions driving through the Twin Cities and all she knows about them is from Purple Rain. Again, I love this author's pop culture references! I knew about Chicago before I ever went but only from the movies Adventures in Babysitting and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

On a more somber note, at the end of the book she thinks about when Laura thought about how she finally realized she could be herself even without her family when they were gone. And the author thought about when she lost her mother and wondered if she could still be herself now. I've not lost anyone that close, but I've had the same feelings when losing grandfathers or uncles. Imagining family gatherings without them was hard. But when they happened, they went on, and it was okay.

I will highly recommend this book when it is published, and like Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim, it will be a staff rec at the bookstore where I work.

Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros

I have to say, this is one of the first chick lit books I have read in a long time that I was dog earing the pages that had things I wanted to talk about when I blogged. The first one I'd literally laughed out loud over and over as I was reading it. I don't think I've ever read a book by Teresa Medeiros before. I seem to only remember her books in the romance section. And believe it or not, I usually don't read those books, preferring my chick lit from the straight fiction section at our store. I am now intrigued enough to read more of her books.

I decided to read this book because it was told in mostly all tweets, you know, like on the social network Twitter. And I was hooked right away.

This is the story of an author who had a bestselling, critically acclaimed first novel, and it trying, but stuck on her 2nd novel. So her agent suggests getting on Twitter like many authors are these days. (Authors on Twitter are my favorite people to follow!) When she first joins, she is immediately tweeted by an English professor on sabbatical. It's fun reading as they get to know each other and flirt (I must find the "tweeting" name for flirting) through Twitter. I understand the flirting part, did a bit of that myself in the past, not that it turned out well for me, but still, it was fun at the time.

Anyway, I didn't see the twist towards the end coming. So I will say you won't be able to expect what is coming, but it is a good twist. And now, onto the things I had to bookmark.

First, as I myself follow Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, I love that one of her tweets was about her. Right after that, she learns about hashtags, and they do one on How2Lose Followers. And I love that they point out insulting any president as being a way to lose followers, as I've unfollowed certain celebs that I didn't want to hear their political rhetoric anymore. I also love that the main character is a fan of Sean Astin, who is one of my childhood crushes!! Even after his turn as a hobbit.

In chapter 5 she is on the treadmill and talks about how she prefers to walk outside, which is also me. I love to walk outside, I could walk all day outside if I had the time. She thinks Heathcliff is a misogynistic asshole, as do I. She talks about Edward Cullen and being Team Jacob. (I'm Team Switzerland myself.) She talks about Stephen King's It, one of my favorite books ever, also the one that made me scared of clowns. She's a Spike woman as opposed to Angel, me too. I LOVED all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer bits. Like her cat is named Buffy the Mouse Slayer. Later on she talks about a New Kids on the Block lunchbox. I love NKOTB.

Later on in the book she starts thinking in Tweets. I do that too. The problem is that by the time I can then get to my twitter, I forget the really creative things I had to say.

So that's just a bit of the things in the book that I enjoyed, but the whole thing was good and I highly recommend it.

Last thought. I'm debating, a lot of bloggers rate the books. 4 out of 5 stars, etc. I have so much trouble rating. I have to really hate something to give it a 1, and usually if I hate something that much I won't finish reading it. So, I end up with lots of 3's and 4's. So, I might start rating, but we'll see.

Confessions of a Praire Bitch by Alison Arngrim

Like many others my age, I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie in syndication reruns during the summer when I was younger. Nellie Oleson was the character you loved to hate, but you just loved the episodes when she was in it. This is the biography of the actress, Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie. It started out of course with her life before anything to do with the show. It was so neat to read about her parents and what characters they were. It was sad to read about the sexual abuse she endured from her older brother.

Then we get into the time on the show. I had heard that Michael Landon wasn't quite the "perfect" guy he played on the show of course, not that he was a horrible guy or anything according to Arngrim. To hear he was really kind of a short man, and that he was a practical joker, was just so interesting. I enjoyed reading about the friendship between Arngrim and Melissa Gilbert who I just recently saw perform as Ma in the Broadway show Little House on the Prairie at Starlight theater here in Kansas City. I was intrigued to read that Melissa Sue Anderson wasn't quite as friendly and nice as her goody goody character of Laura's older sister Mary on the show. In fact, if she has a biography, I'd be interested in reading it to hear her side of the story.

I do remember when the man who played Percival, Nellie's husband on the show, passed away from AIDS. I remember how active Arngrim had become in AIDS work at that time. But that's not all. When she talks about how there was actually a law that gave incest a break, I was shocked! Amazing to me that anyone ever thought that was okay. The organization was called Protect, and it started basically with one man fighting one state's law from his car with his cell phone. Arngrim became the face and spokesperson for continuing this work in the state of California. And she got this horrible thing overturned. If you're interested in helping this group out, you can go to http://www.protect.org/.

Arngrim has a humorous voice in her biography and it was a quick read that I wanted to pick it up and read during commercials so I got through it quickly once I had some time to read. It is also my current book recommendation at Barnes and Noble, we just need to get a few more ordered in. I was excited to hear last night that my last book rec, Gone by Michael Grant had been a huge seller. Not sure if that's because of me or not, although I do know one friend I teach with had purchased it because of me, it's still cool to hear.

Now not sure what to read next. I want to check out the Passage by Justin Cronin, but I feel like I should go ahead and read my classic, Les Miserables. But then, not sure if my brain is ready for it. Maybe I'll pick up another fun read till I go into the store again to check out The Passage.

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I kind of dreaded picking up this book. Which is weird. I did like Wicked, but it was kind of a weird book. And so I figured Son of a Witch might be hard to read. But once I picked it up and started reading, it was easy enough to get into and a good enough read. Now I do have to say that as usual, Gregory Maguire is always a bit out there, past where I prefer, but it was an okay sequel to the book before. But now I'm at a quandary. While it was good, I'm not sure if I want to go on and read the next book, I think it's A Lion Among Men. We have the hardcover at the bookstore on the bargain tables for like $5.98, so I probably should go ahead and get it at that deal. But here's what I wonder. As many books as I have to read, should I waste time feeling like I have to finish a series just because I've started it? If I only find it mediocre in entertainment. I mean, yes, once I picked Son of a Witch up, I was involved and interested in it. But it wasn't a book that I thought about picking up and when I could read it again. To me, that doesn't make it a "great" book. In a similar situation, I've been an L.J. Smith fan since I was in high school with the Secret Circle series. I read the first 4 Vampire Diaries books, and enjoyed them, but then when 2 new ones came out, I thought they were horrible, and have decided I'm done with that series. But the Wicked series is so popular, I kind of feel like I should read them all.

Oh well. I'm currently re-reading Eclipse to get ready for the movie coming out next Tuesday at midnight. Now that's a book that I keep thinking about reading instead of blogging about a book I finished or watching the tv shows I've DVRed. :-)

Next on the list is a book by the girl who played Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie television show.

Book Review 40: Mary Ingalls On Her Own by Elizabeth Kimmel Willard

Reading Little House on the Prairie books takes me back to younger days. Not as young as you might think though. I didn't read the books when I was a little girl. To me, the tv show is what I think of. In high school, I remember being home during the summer with my brother and watching the show on tv every morning. My brother and I loved Nellie and all the town folk. And we made fun of Pa's idiosyncracies and Laura's brothers that showed up towards the end of the series. It was just a part of my summers with my brother. I think that we probably watched when I was younger, middle school even, because for some reason I remember when we'd play with my Barbies, we'd drive them out in their cars in front of the tv and pretend they were at the drive-in movies, and I seem to remember watching Little House on the Prairie one time. Now, I tried reading the books after I'd discovered the show, but the books are always just so simple. When you were reading at the age of 3, like I was, they were just too babyish for me. I'd like to go back now, now that I can appreciate them for what they are and that I know more of the whole "history" of Laura Ingalls Wilder. But that will wait till when I have some extra time. Whenever that happens.

This book is about Mary when she goes off to the college for the blind in Iowa. It's short, and sweet, and of course different from the tv show. At the end it goes into what they know is real for the book, and other details about Mary's life. I'm guessing I need to read some more historical books on this as what I saw on the tv show I know is not all reality. For instance it doesn't talk about Mary ever getting married, yet on the show she did. I figured they did change a lot of the story on the show, but didn't know that they changed that much. Oh well. Live and learn. It just intrigues me to read more.

Next book I'm starting today is The Bronze Pen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Not sure if I've read any books by this author, I'm familiar with them because we have them at the store I work at. Some of the titles sound familiar, but can't remember for sure if I read them.

Oh yeah, only 10 more books to go! Then November, National Novel Writing Month, not to mention re-reading New Moon and the rest of the Twilight series to get ready for the new movie!! After which I intend to go through and read the whole rest of the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Book Review 39: The Magic Half by Annie Barrows

Cute little book. Miri is the main character, and she is the middle child between twin boys and twin girls. And she has always felt a little bit left out. Sure, it's cool to be part of a family with two sets of twins, but when all the fawning is over the twins, and not you, that gets old fast. The twins also have built in friends, Miri doesn't, in fact, her family has just moved away from her best friend. The old house they move into may have a mystery, buried treasure. When Miri gets in trouble and gets sent to her room. She finds a lens stuck to the wall for no apparent reason. When she looks through it, all of a sudden she's been taken back in time to the 1930's and meets a girl named Molly. Well, Molly's life isn't a good one, she's been orphaned and left with her grandmother and mean aunt and cousins. Her grandmother loves her, but is not in good health, and her aunt and cousins want her grandmother's money. Her cousin Horst is a violent boy, and Miri decides she must somehow rescue Molly and take her back to her own time. Turns out Horst is a thief, and the stories of buried treasure are pretty much true. All this leads to an interesting adventure, and a happy ending, which I kind of wondered if that is what would happen.

Next book I started tonight is "Mary Ingalls On Her Own" by Elizabeth Kimmel Willard. Which is taking me back to some old childhood friends. Can't wait to blog about it, probably tomorrow night is my guess.