Montauk - by Nicola Harrison: Book Review

Title: Montauk
Author: Nicola Harrison
Pages: 400
Publisher: St Martin Press
Release Date: 4th June 2019
Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction
Format: Kindle

This is what you read during a weekend at the beach or when you want something very light.

The first half of the novel dragged a bit. You expect there to be romance outside marriage, but it was postponed for so long that when it did happen it was almost too sudden. The main character, Beatrice, seems to be mercy and understanding worthy, but now I have second guesses.

It's the late 1938s, women have proven during WWI that they can stand on their own two feet, so Beatrice could very well have left her egocentric and adulterous husband - so I don't understand this part of her dilemma. Not to mention, she was from a middle-class family, had worked before marriage, it's not like she wouldn't have survived. As for her affair with Thomas, the lighthouse keeper, she created the stairway to that, so don't act all surprised when you find yourself with that man in bed, Beatrice. Also, interesting how she falls in love with him so quickly. It read quite unrealistic. Their relationship doesn't feel very sustainable for the future, if you ask me.

The two characters I liked the most were Elizabeth and Dolly. Elizabeth is the laundress whose services are hired by the wealthy of New York during the three summer months spent in Montauk. Dolly is part of the ritz elite, she has her own business, but she is still rational and can see beyond the veil of glamour. Both of them are the constant voices of reason, a voice Beatrice lacks, unfortunately. 

The author did a good job of presenting the 1930s the vacationing wealthy lived in. I don't know how accurate everything is, but I enjoyed glimpsing into their lives and the summer spent in Montauk, the fishing village.

As for the ending - I totally understand it. The main character needs to be someone on her own, and possibly the only way to do this is to be independent for a while, away from the strings of high society and romance. I liked that she is now a mother, after longing for that for such a long time. Having no lover by the end of the novel was a nice touch. And how cool that a historically accurate natural disaster fixed all her romantic problems? 

It was a good novel, kept me interested. Some dry-ish patches, but for a first novel, Nicola Harrison did a fine job.

I received a free advanced e-book copy from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

Summer Vibes Books

Whenever I think of books perfect for reading during the hot summer months I think of something easy. However, I am a hard to please reader. Don't just go throwing chick-lit at me! I am pick in my easy reads.

{I just need to say that there's nothing wrong reading what I call easy books. What I'm saying is that not everyone can enjoy them to the same degree. I usually don't.}

I have long planned to read more YA. The books I've read thus far that fall into that category are few. A few weeks ago I saw Stephany mention a book repeatedly on her blog and her Instagram account. That book is Love & Gelato. Now, listen. I don't typically read books that are this easy to read. I need to be either too tired and look for something that is outside my heavy topic reading pattern, or I requested it via Net Galley because it had a pretty cover and I overlooked all the warnings in my head telling me this is not the book for me.

This leads us to my poor YA list. I have read one (or two?) of John Green's YA novels, namely The Fault in Our Stars and I loved that one. Oh, and also Let it Snow, that stories collection. That was cute. Let me rephrase: I loved the feeling it gave and that I read it during a snow storm, but I am not sure my feelings would be the same if I were to reread it. And no, I did not like the movie. Eleanor &Park is also on the YA read novels, as well as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series (yes, ma'am, I liked this series!), The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mocking Bird and Lord of the Flies (classics, come on! and I'm not even sure these could be considered YA), A Walk to Remember, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret... and that's pretty much it. No Harry Potter, no Hunger Games, no Divergent, no the cheesy ones out there. 

To this pathetic list was added, you guessed it, Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch. I thought Lina, the main character, was stupid and intentionally so. Poor soul had no awareness of language, made embarrassing mistakes, had shocking gaps in her general knowledge of everything, but she could sure wow her fellow Americans with a hard to pronounce word or trivia piece. Please. This was in the first part of the novel. Then it grew on me. I rooted for her, for every character, it gave me the fuzzy, cheesy, summer vibe I was after in the first place. 

This wasn't the only summer vibes novel I read. Just yesterday I finished The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan. It was funny, it had a slow rhythm, it held my attention, maybe a tad too long and repetitive, but not a deal breaker. The setting of the story makes me want to pack my warm and fuzzy clothes and head to the Northern Islands of UK. Of course, I would like to eat all the food. My expectations weren't high; I was just looking for a summer read. I liked Flora. The references to Snapchat and other social media mediums made it read real and contemporary. She kept saying "Shut up!" when she had no argument in her squabbles with her brothers or Lorna - that's a real character right there!
The love part didn't interest me so much, I paid more attention to her development as a person. I liked how the novel ended, and the atmosphere it created.I forgot where I first learned about this novel I first learned about this novel from Modern Mrs. Darcy's blog, in her Summer Reading Guide. I am glad I read it. 

I am on the look-out for more books to cram in before the summer's officially ready. The Internet is talking about When Dimple Met Rishi, but I don't know... I have one or two other books on my Kindle that I think would be good for this summer vibe thing, and we'll see from there.

Nothing beats the feeling of having the possibility to read to your heart desire for two long summer months.

The Little French Bistro - by Nina George: Book Review

Title: The Little French Bistro

Author: Nina George

No. Pages: 336

Format: mobi - Kindle

Publisher: Crown Publishing

Release Date: 13.06.2017

It's a poetic and funny novel, it reminds a little bit of Brit-Marie from the novel Brit-Marie was here. As most novels whose setting is the beach during the summer, it created a cozy feeling, with quirky characters whom you cannot help but endear. It's the kind of novel that presents the good characters clearly, making sure you see their goodness, and the bad characters truly bad, making sure you don't miss their nastiness. It presented love as the only important force in the universe, and you couldn't help but cheer for them. However, I do not remember the names and particularities of every characters, only the most important ones. At some point they seemed alike, and I'm referring to the women. Not a deal breaker, though. 

At some point there were some eyebrow-raising details, but because the story and the main character, Marianne, were presented so smoothly and as if everything happened naturally I let them pass. The novel starts in a somewhat gloomy way, but it doesn't stay that way for long. Some lines the characters have made me straight-up laugh, and I don't often laugh at a book. It's just that it took me by surprise, and it was a nice surprise.

I read Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop about two years ago. I enjoyed that novel, but The Little French Bistro I liked more. Maybe it's the setting and the summer vibes and the perfect timing when I read the novel - whatever it was, it was a perfect read at the right moment.

If you want to read a novel set in France, a novel that sends summer vibes with a touch of melancholy and even sadness, but with a good ending, pick up this novel. It is a novel with an eventually daring character and a perfectly dreamy setting.

I received a free e-book copy of the novel from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

5*/5