Review: Spin by Catherine McKenzie

Summary:  Kate Sanford is thirty years old, living as though she's still in college.  Her friends are all twenty-something and think she is a 25 year old graduate student.  Life hasn't exactly turned out as she had hoped.  Kate is still finding herself and making mistakes along the way.

It's fate when Kate is offered an interview on her birthday.  The night before the big day, she goes out with friends, promising herself it's just for one drink and she'll come home and prepare for the interview.  Only one drink turns into several and Kate stumbles home after dawn.  She wakes up with only minutes to dress, catch a cab and arrive to her interview on time.

It's obvious to everyone at the interview Kate is still drunk.  She's doing her best to appear lucid, but instead sounds like a babbling fool.  When the nausea hits her full force, she runs out of the interview and proceeds to vomit in the bathroom.

Needless to say Kate doesn't get the job.  A few days later the magazine calls her.  They have a proposition:  get admitted to the same rehab as Amber, the current IT Girl, write an exclusive and the position is hers.  Kate instantly agrees.

My Thoughts:  Initially when I first discovered Spin, I thought it would be a quick read.  A great way to wind down after a long work day.  Actually, Spin wasn't as light as I thought it would be.  Kate struggled with real-life issues:  insecurity, disappointment and frustration with how her life currently is, alcoholism, family issues and trust.  These themes made Spin quite the engaging read.

I enjoyed watching Kate's transformation from a carefree woman to discovering her potential.  Although her time in rehab initially was her ticket to her dream job, she used it as a way to learn more about herself and her role in her family.

Spin took me by surprise.  I adored Kate and wanted her to continue growing and moving forward with her life.  I wouldn't mind reading a "where is Kate now?" sequel!  I definitely want to read more of McKenzie's future books.  Highly recommended.

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Book Details:
ISBN: 9780062115355
Pub. Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages:  448
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Print copy borrowed from library

Private: #1 Suspect by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Private:  #1 Suspect by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Private Series, book 2

Private director Jack Morgan is accused of a horrible murder⎯and not even his own world-class investigators can prove he didn't do it.

UNSOLVABLE CASES

Since former marine Jack Morgan started Private, it has become the world's most effective investigation firm⎯sought out by the famous and the powerful to discreetly handle their most intimate problems.  Private's investigators are the smartest, the fastest, and the most technologically advanced in the world⎯and they always uncover the truth.

IMPOSSIBLE MURDERS

When his former lover is found murdered in Jack's bed, he is instantly the number one suspect.  While Jack is under police investigation, the Mob strong-arms him into recovering $30 million in stolen pharmaceuticals for them.  And the beautiful manager of a luxury hotel chain persuades him to quietly investigate a string of murders at her properties.

THE #1 SUSPECT IS JACK MORGAN

While Jack is fighting for his life, one of his most trusted colleagues threatens to leave Private, and Jack realizes he is confrtonting the cleverest and most powerful enemies yet.  with more action, more intrigue, and more twists than ever before Private:  #1 Suspect is James Patterson at his unstoppable best. (Book Jacket)

My Thoughts:
Private #1 Suspect started out with a bang... literally.  I was caught up in the action from page one.  Having read Private, the first book of the series, awhile ago, it took me a few minutes to remember the characters.  Luckily Patterson provided a brief description of the key players.

Unfortunately about the middle of the book, the storyline started to drag for me.  Jack and his employees are frantically trying to prove his innocence while the police detective assigned to his case thinks Jack committed the murder.  Meanwhile, Jack is tormented about his feelings for his murdered ex-girlfriend, harboring feelings for another past love and thinking about a new woman.  It was a bit much and distracted me from the murder mystery.

Jack has a hunch who could have set him up.  Someone who has been out to get him for a long time.  When the killer's identity is finally revealed, it was anti-climatic and felt a bit forced.  Needless to say, I didn't enjoy Private #1 Suspect as much as I did Private.

Will I continue the series?
Despite my disappointment with the second book, I will continue reading Patterson's Private series.  Overall, I like Jack Morgan.  He's a broken man with a past that continues to haunt him.  He keeps people at a distance, but underneath there is a warm, caring man waiting to be released.  I hope the readers will eventually meet him.

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Book Details:
ISBN: 9780316097406
Pub. Date: January 2, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages:  432
Genre: Thriller
Source: Print copy borrowed from library

Review: Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

Wickedly funny and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love⎯all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers.

Isabella, Mary, and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. On Sunday after Sunday, at bridal shower after bridal shower, they coo over toasters, collect ribbons and wrapping paper, eat minuscule sandwiches and doll-sized cakes. They wear pastel dresses and drink champagne by the case, but amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with: Isabella is working at a mailing-list company, dizzy with the mixed signals of a boss who claims she’s on a diet but has Isabella file all morning if she forgets to bring her a chocolate muffin. Mary thinks she might cry with happiness when she finally meets a nice guy who loves his mother, only to realize he’ll never love Mary quite as much. And Lauren, a waitress at a Midtown bar, swears up and down she won’t fall for the sleazy bartender—a promise that his dirty blond curls and perfect vodka sodas make hard to keep.

With a wry sense of humor, Jennifer Close brings us through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. These are the years when everyone else seems to have a plan, a great job, and an appropriate boyfriend, while Isabella has a blind date with a gay man, Mary has a crush on her boss, and Lauren has a goldfish named Willard. Through boozy family holidays and disastrous ski vacations, relationships lost to politics and relationships found in pet stores, Girls in White Dresses pulls us deep inside the circle of these friends, perfectly capturing the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life.

When I first started reading Girls in White Dresses, I didn't know what to expect.  It took a few chapters for me to adjust to the author's writing style.  When I began to look at each chapter as a short story with recurring characters, I was able to delve deeper into the novel.

I'm no longer in my 20s, however I thought Close painted an accurate portrait of the anxieties, insecurities, and doubts I felt when I graduated from college.  As my friends were getting engaged and married, I was pursuing my Master's degree.  I wondered if I would ever find myself on the path of marriage and children.

Girls in White Dresses is a a perfect companion to a lazy summer afternoon.  If you find yourself feeling frustrated at the beginning, I would advise you to keep reading, it's worth it.  If you are like me and not twenty-something anymore, it's also a walk down memory lane.  Recommended.

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Book Details:
ISBN: 9780307596857
Pub. Date: August 9, 2011
Publisher: Knopf
Pages:  304
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: eBook downloaded from library