{Review} The Way That You Play It by B.J. Thornton

The Way That You Play It by B.J. Thornton
Publication Date: June 7, 2011
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
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My Rating:

Summary: After her boyfriend dumps her for a teenage pop starlet, Caroline Curran moves to a rental house so far outside of downtown Atlanta that even the care of her closest friends cannot reach her. Short, stacked, and soft hearted to a fault, Caroline allows her failed relationship to drag down her songwriting career. An influential friend in the music business sends a gift to inspire her to write some new songs: a talented young singer named Trent Buckney whose beautiful voice is overshadowed by his stony demeanor and poor White trash accent.

Running from a violent past, and from being overworked, underpaid, and overwhelmingly responsibility for his mother and sister, Trent is desperate to work with Caroline both for money and for surcease from his dismal life. The songwriter and the singer form an uneasy relationship cemented by their mutual willingness not to ask questions that neither wants to answer.

However, just a few days together in Caroline’s house stir up artistic admiration and arousal, while they collaborate on a song, “The Way That You Play It.” They try to sublimate their attraction into forming a band and recording a single, but late nights full of torrid blues music only feed their festering sexual tension. They engage a raw romance that is put to the test when Trent’s past catches up to them both. Facing the consequences of his actions leaves Trent with one chance, at one pivotal performance, to turn his feelings for Caroline into more than a one hit wonder.

On opposite sides of the same guitar, they both learn that love isn’t limited to the hand that you’re dealt if you gamble on The Way That You Play It. (SOURCE)

 It took me a while to really get into this book. Probably not until I was about 60% done did I really feel the chemistry between Trent and Caroline. I spent a lot of time worried that Trent was going to get hurt, either emotionally or physically. I loved his devotion to his mother and sister and my heart went out to him-- that his family had been through so much and it was all on his shoulders to take care of them.

I liked Caroline and her sass and really wanted to see her happy with someone that treated her right. She definitely got a raw deal with her ex. It was understandable that any attraction she might have felt for Trent in the beginning was fought against.

I enjoyed some of the secondary characters. Caroline's girl friend was funny and their relationship entertaining. I definitely felt like some of the secondary characters had larger roles than I expected. Especially Reyes, who tried to woo Caroline throughout the book. He was kind of a jerk, but I guess that's to be expected when you are suppose to be rooting for the 'hero' of a novel. He was just so pushy! Ms. Thornton did an excellent job of making me want to punch him time after time haha

I had my fingers crossed for Trent through the whole book, desperately hoping that he would be able to do something with his music. I wanted something big to happen for him so bad. He definitely went through many obstacles in a short period of time. With the help of others, he really started to shine.

Once Caroline and Trent allowed their chemistry to come to a head things really picked up. They were delicious together. Caring and trusting and giving. I enjoyed that side of them-- seeing them as a couple since they'd fought against it for most of the book. I was on pins and needles until the end, worried that something was going to happen and it would fall apart. Thank goodness that did not happen!

Overall, I enjoyed The Way That You Play It. It had some great dialogue and an interesting plot.




These are only my personal observations and thoughts regarding this book. Any and all books blogged about here are paid for with my personal money unless otherwise specified within the review. If you have questions please feel free to contact me.

{Review} The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Published Date: Feb 10, 2009
Publisher: Amy Enihorn Books/Putnam

My Rating:

Synopsis: Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't. -Source

I'd been wanting to read The Help for a while, especially since it was made into a movie. The big draw for me was it's southern roots, plus it's based in Jackson Mississippi, where I've been multiple times and have great memories of.

I loved that it has southern vernacular and little sayings that I'm so familiar with. There weren't too many (fake) "y'alls" thrown in just for the heck of it. It was all more 'old south' with phrases like "a goin" and "fixin". I laughed my way through most of the book because it all seemed so familiar to me, especially parts that reminded me of my grandmother or great grandmother.

The relationships between the ladies and their help was interesting. Some of them were nicer than others. What I really found fascinating was that in private a few of them were nice to their maids, but in public they were dismissive or rude. Keeping up appearances and all of that, you know.

Skeeter is such a great character, as are Aibileen and Minny. They truly came alive and jumped off of the pages for me. Miss Skeeters manuscript is almost like reading a book with-in a book. You get her journey of writing her novel as well as the stories the maids shared with her for her book.

I think if you are from the south, have southern roots you might like The Help.

{Review} Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello

Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello

Published Date: Nov 30, 2010

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

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My rating:

Synopsis: A young woman abandoned as an infant on an Alabama porch is horrified to discover that she is the missing heiress to a vast Connecticut fortune--a birthright she is desperate to reject in favor of her Peachtree Lane roots.

Gracie Lynne Calloway--once left in a coal bucket on a front porch in a small Alabama town--discovers on her twenty-fifth birthday that she is the kidnapped daughter of a late New England financier and heiress to a fortune. When the tabloid press and her unwanted greedy relatives descend on her, she has to admit the quiet secure life she's known and loved is gone for good. As Gracie struggles to stabilize her world and come to terms with her new identity, she learns that belonging is not about where you came from but who you are. (SOURCE)

I received this in a Goodreads Giveaway a couple of weeks ago. When I first read the synopsis (which made me enter to win) I was happy to see a "Southern" fiction as a giveaway. I started reading it after finishing up something else and for the most part I enjoyed it.

My only "complaint" if it can be called that, is that being from the South, I kind of felt unsure about the dialogue (the phrasing, the 'southern speak') when this is a modern day book. Sometimes it seemed too forced and over the top, but it wasn't anything that kept me from enjoying Salting Roses.

This is a cute book with fun characters and a peek into a young womans life when she finds out everything isn't what it seems. Gracie's family is a little hodge podge of people she's always assumed were biological family. Her story shows that you don't necessarily have to share blood to be a family. If you're from the south, you'll definitely recognize some of these characters as someone you know; a neighbor, an aunt, a friend.

I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading something light and different.