3.5 stars. This book starts out very well. Up to about page 100 I thought it would be one of my best reads ever, and that is saying something because I3.5 stars. This book starts out very well. Up to about page 100 I thought it would be one of my best reads ever, and that is saying something because I read a lot. It is an entertaining book, but there are far too many secondary characters, many of whom are not even introduced as far as I could tell. New names crop up here and there; by the time I was three quarters of the way through I gave up caring who they were really and just carried on reading. I liked the two main characters, The Duke of Derringer, and Leandra, for the most part. The only issue I had was that at times they both seem to be bipolar! Their behaviour is very inconsistent. This may be intentional, because The Duke had suffered a childhood trauma which could have left him unstable, and the circumstances surrounding Leandra's birth meant that she was always seen as an outsider in her family. However, I feel that the writer could have spent more time on character development of the main characters, rather than spending too much time on insignificant characters. Jaimey Grant obviously has a talent for writing a gripping story and keeping the reader engaged, because the first half of the book is amazing. The second half needed work to make it believable. There were times I was left questioning how certain things had taken place e.g. how did the Captain of the Ship where Derringer was being held captive manage to send missives out to Leandra? How would they have got to her? This was not explained at all. The book didn't really flow well in regard to continuation of certain threads in the book, for example, the letter that was found hidden in Derringer's mother's old notebook. I know the intention was that the reader should not find out this information until the end of the book, but the way in which it was written was a little annoying. As a reader I didn't like being kept dangling for too many chapters. The ending was nice, but the run up to the ending was a bit rushed I think. On the whole a good plot, nicely written, but I would personally have liked to see more of the main characters. A note to the author: Sometimes what doesn't work too well as a novel would work beautifully as a film or a play. In this case, I could really see this book as a very powerful film, or maybe a play in the theatre. I would definitely go and see it! ...more
I enjoyed reading J. Timothy King's memoir about how he found love. It contains interesting little stories about falling in and out of love and everyoI enjoyed reading J. Timothy King's memoir about how he found love. It contains interesting little stories about falling in and out of love and everyone will be able to relate to how difficult it is to secure a happy and fulfilling relationship. I consider myself to still be in the 'idiot' stage, being single and not having a clue about relationships! It was nice to get some insight from someone who has found 'true love', perhaps in a way that I would not have thought was the normal course of things, having been brought up watching romantic movies and reading romantic books... I would recommend this book to all fellow idiots in love, and anyone who struggles on a daily basis to understand how the opposite sex's minds work. LOL. It was enlightening and fun to read, and very inspirational. ...more
I read this book twice, because on first reading I didn't really connect with the authors. I wanted to give it another chance, as I feel the reason foI read this book twice, because on first reading I didn't really connect with the authors. I wanted to give it another chance, as I feel the reason for the authors writing the book, and wanting to get their message across, is honourable. On the second reading, I did appreciate the writing more, and I do now think this is a very good book. Shalonda 'Treasure' Williams sets out in this book to help the reader deal with a few questions that are very common and faced by all of us at some stage in our lives. Her partner, Tru-Sum, also adds his own opinions in some of the chapters. On first reading, Tru-Sum's opinions were one of the things that put me off the book. I found Shalonda's way of explaining things very down-to-earth, and Tru-Sum's — in comparison — rather preachy and overbearing. However, when I read the book over a second time I felt more able to appreciate that the way Tru-Sum gets his message across is very different to Shalonda, which is maybe why it didn't flow well on first reading; it just takes a bit of getting used to. I think this book would be of most use to people who are religious or spiritual, but who have doubts and are questioning God. The book is set out as more of a bible-study aid. Each chapter tackles a question that the reader may be asking, and Shalonda tries to answer the question by reference to her own experiences, and the bible. It is a good book for helping the reader to become familiar with the layout of the bible, as there are references in the text of each chapter to passages from the bible. There are also blank pages at the end of each chapter highlighting certain scriptures for further reading, giving the reader the opportunity to read and jot down what they have learned from the chapter. One issue I had, was that some of the quotes from the bible that the reader is being referred to, are very short, and I felt it would have been better to quote them in the actual book, rather than make the reader look them up in the bible, as this distracts from the flow of the writing and can weaken the force of the message that the writers are trying to get across. I mostly found this problem in Tru-Sum's contributions as he was very reliant on quotes from the bible for getting his points across. On the whole, Shalonda (and Tru-Sum) have done a great job in creating this little book as an aid to people who may be feeling uncertain, or who are at a low point in their lives. The overall message: that we should trust in God, have faith, and know that we are already saved. ...more
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