What I've Read This Week Part II . . .
The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot -- Mystery/Women's Fiction
Heather Wells is getting ready for a new school year and for her big wedding to Cooper Cartwright. Finally her luck will change and she'll get a happily ever after. Not so fast, Heather! First, a hard-partying, Middle Eastern prince moves in (thanks to his father's half-million dollar donation) and everyone suddenly wants to be in Fisher Hall! Heather's boss Lisa is sick with the stomach flu, leaving Heather to deal with eager students and unhappy parents. Then, an RA turns up dead in her bed seemingly of natural causes. Heather has a bad feeling about this and it's up to her to protect her students from a killer. To add to her stress, her mother suddenly reappears in her life with no good excuse or even a sincere apology. Heather so does not need more stress in her life and thankfully Cooper is supportive. Will she live to walk down the aisle at the Plaza and finally get her happily ever after? (What do you think?) This is the best mystery of them all. It's less gruesome than the first two and more interesting than the middle two. It kept me reading way way too late at night. There are several huge shockers that I did not see coming at all, including the wedding. The motive seems really bizarre but the criminal is clearly unbalanced and has issues. I also love the relationship between Cooper and Heather. Do guys like Cooper actually exist outside the pages of a novel? They're so sweet and fun together. There aren't any real love scenes between them in this book just some suggestive talk. Cooper's sisters make a guest appearance to provide some comic relief and we get to meet some of his unusual friends. Heather's mom also makes her first official appearance rounding out the new characters. I like the way the personal plot was woven into the story and not left for the very end. It relieved some of the tension of the mystery. My big gripe with this book, as with many of Meg's books, is that it gets preachy. There's discussions about having children and not having children and Heather's views don't really jive with her character. This part of the plot pretty much comes randomly out of nowhere. There's also a lot of talk about relationship issues, Mommy issues and therapy that gets a bit overdone but does fit the plot of the novel. I really enjoyed the book other than those few quibbles and I'm sad to leave Heather behind.
United We Spy (Gallagher Girls) by Ally Carter -- Young adult fiction
This final installment in the Gallagher series picks up at the start of Cammie's final semester at Gallagher Academy. The seniors are busy planning for their future but all Cammie wants is to be alive. She's left with a lot of questions after her ordeal and finally realizes why The Circle of Cavan is after her. Her mom wants Cammie safe and sound at school but Cammie knows it's up to her to end this thing. Cammie and her friends are children no longer and not knowing who to trust, they must rely on each other. With only a few clues to go on and backup from some loyal friends, they're off hunting down killers and trying to prevent the most deadly and dangerous thing to happen to her country in years. Cammie knows she may die in the process but she won't die without taking down a few bad guys in the process. Many of the plot elements in this book resemble Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but what happens is original. This book is non-stop, heart-pounding action. I had enough sense to read the book during the DAY so I didn't stay up all night. I couldn't put it down. Just when it seems like it's done, there's more and the story isn't over until the very last page. The story does get violent at times and is rather scary. Yet, it's also very predictable. I had a pretty good guess who they could trust and who they couldn't and I wasn't wrong. I liked this final entry in the series a lot, more than some of the previous books, but I am not sorry to leave the series behind.
The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot -- Mystery/Women's Fiction
Heather Wells is getting ready for a new school year and for her big wedding to Cooper Cartwright. Finally her luck will change and she'll get a happily ever after. Not so fast, Heather! First, a hard-partying, Middle Eastern prince moves in (thanks to his father's half-million dollar donation) and everyone suddenly wants to be in Fisher Hall! Heather's boss Lisa is sick with the stomach flu, leaving Heather to deal with eager students and unhappy parents. Then, an RA turns up dead in her bed seemingly of natural causes. Heather has a bad feeling about this and it's up to her to protect her students from a killer. To add to her stress, her mother suddenly reappears in her life with no good excuse or even a sincere apology. Heather so does not need more stress in her life and thankfully Cooper is supportive. Will she live to walk down the aisle at the Plaza and finally get her happily ever after? (What do you think?) This is the best mystery of them all. It's less gruesome than the first two and more interesting than the middle two. It kept me reading way way too late at night. There are several huge shockers that I did not see coming at all, including the wedding. The motive seems really bizarre but the criminal is clearly unbalanced and has issues. I also love the relationship between Cooper and Heather. Do guys like Cooper actually exist outside the pages of a novel? They're so sweet and fun together. There aren't any real love scenes between them in this book just some suggestive talk. Cooper's sisters make a guest appearance to provide some comic relief and we get to meet some of his unusual friends. Heather's mom also makes her first official appearance rounding out the new characters. I like the way the personal plot was woven into the story and not left for the very end. It relieved some of the tension of the mystery. My big gripe with this book, as with many of Meg's books, is that it gets preachy. There's discussions about having children and not having children and Heather's views don't really jive with her character. This part of the plot pretty much comes randomly out of nowhere. There's also a lot of talk about relationship issues, Mommy issues and therapy that gets a bit overdone but does fit the plot of the novel. I really enjoyed the book other than those few quibbles and I'm sad to leave Heather behind.
This final installment in the Gallagher series picks up at the start of Cammie's final semester at Gallagher Academy. The seniors are busy planning for their future but all Cammie wants is to be alive. She's left with a lot of questions after her ordeal and finally realizes why The Circle of Cavan is after her. Her mom wants Cammie safe and sound at school but Cammie knows it's up to her to end this thing. Cammie and her friends are children no longer and not knowing who to trust, they must rely on each other. With only a few clues to go on and backup from some loyal friends, they're off hunting down killers and trying to prevent the most deadly and dangerous thing to happen to her country in years. Cammie knows she may die in the process but she won't die without taking down a few bad guys in the process. Many of the plot elements in this book resemble Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but what happens is original. This book is non-stop, heart-pounding action. I had enough sense to read the book during the DAY so I didn't stay up all night. I couldn't put it down. Just when it seems like it's done, there's more and the story isn't over until the very last page. The story does get violent at times and is rather scary. Yet, it's also very predictable. I had a pretty good guess who they could trust and who they couldn't and I wasn't wrong. I liked this final entry in the series a lot, more than some of the previous books, but I am not sorry to leave the series behind.
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