Women's Fiction/Romantic Comedy Book Review | FINDING FRASER by kc dyer

Title: FINDING FRASER
Genre: Women's Fiction | Romantic Comedy
Author: kc dyer
Rating: 5 stars

SUMMARY:

I met Jamie Fraser when I was nineteen years old. He was tall, red-headed, and at our first meeting at least, a virgin. He was, in fact, the perfect man.
     That he was fictional hardly entered into it...
 
On the cusp of thirty, Emma Sheridan is desperately in need of a change. After a string of failed relationships, she can admit that no man has ever lived up to her idea of perfection: the Scottish fictional star of romantic fantasies the world over—James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser.
 
Her ideal man might be ripped from the pages of a book, but Emma hopes that by making one life-altering decision she might be able to turn fiction into fact. After selling all her worldly possessions, Emma takes off for Scotland with nothing but her burgeoning travel blog to confide in.
 
But as she scours the country’s rolling green hills and crumbling castles, Emma discovers that in searching for her own Jamie Fraser, she just might find herself.

REVIEW:

One word to describe this book: FUN! So, so, so fun! Quick, witty, swoon-worthy, and . . . fun!

Confession time: I have never read a single word of the OUTLANDER series. Shameful, right? But even so, I “got” this book. I mean, what woman hasn’t obsessed over a fictional man at some point? And a girl (and not even a young girl, I might add!) who has the cajones to set out on a quest to find her very own real-life version of a fictional heartthrob? #MySpiritAnimal

Seriously, I loved this. The premise is primo and it’s something nearly every woman can relate to. For sure.

Full of wickedly awesome dialogue (complete with Scottish dialect that was impossible not to totally immerse yourself into), extraordinary setting descriptions that made me believe I was right there (I have never been to Scotland, but had no trouble “seeing” what Emma saw), a great cast of characters, and a sweet little romance, this book has it all. OUTLANDER die hard or not, this is a story anyone can love. FINDING FRASER gets an easy five stars from me and is one I highly recommend you add to your Summer TBR List.

Reviewer's Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found on ChickLitPlus.com.

Ready to buy or read more?
Find FINDING FRASER on Amazon

Exercise & Fitness / Memoir Book Review | YOGA GIRL by Rachel Brathen

Title: YOGA GIRL
Genre: Exercise & Fitness, Biography/Memoir
Author: Rachel Brathen
Rating: 5+++ stars

SUMMARY:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
By the yoga instructor who inspires more than one million followers on Instagram every day.

Whether she’s practicing handstands on her stand-up paddleboard or teaching Downward-Facing Dog to the masses, Rachel Brathen—Instagram’s @Yoga_Girl—has made it her mission to share inspirational messages with people from all corners of the world. In Yoga Girl, Brathen takes readers beyond her Instagram feed and shares her journey like never before—from her self-destructive teenage years in her hometown in Sweden to her adventures in the jungles of Costa Rica, and finally to the beautiful and bohemian life she’s built through yoga and meditation in Aruba today.

Featuring spectacular photos of Brathen practicing yoga with breathtaking tropical backdrops, along with step-by-step yoga sequences and simple recipes for a healthy, happy, and fearless lifestyle—Yoga Girl is like an armchair vacation to a Caribbean spa.

REVIEW:

Full disclosure: I am a HUGE Rachel Brathen fan. I get so much inspiration from her, it's almost ridiculous. So unless she wrote complete drivel, I knew I was bound to love this book.

And I did.

First of all, the images and photos in this book are stunning. As on her Instagram and Facebook pages, we get a peek of the real Rachel, doing her Yoga Girl thing, in all kinds of gorgeous, sunny locales. She lives in Aruba, so you can imagine how many beautiful photos are taken there.

Beyond that, the content itself is fantastic. She's included healthy recipes (that are actually duplicatable), some background on her upbringing (which I really enjoyed reading), yoga sequences and advice (of course!), and her trademark "love yourself, you're fucking amazing" pep talks (my favorite thing about the entire book and about Rachel in general). And she does all this in her fun, relatable, very REAL voice.

This is one of those (very few) books that I pull out over and over. Rachel gives little checklists/summaries throughout the book - action items, if you will - and they are awesome to refer back to as you travel on your journey toward your higher self. I would say I flip through or re-read parts of this book once every couple weeks. Honestly.

Finally, as a GIRL BOSS, I can really appreciate the phenomenal job Rachel has done in branding herself. One look at her social media accounts and you know EXACTLY what this girl is all about. And she's making a great living out of it. If you want a case study in how to use your talents to create an incredible life and future - while growing as a human and giving back to the world - Rachel Brathen is the perfect subject.

Bottom line: Whether you're a yoga junkie like me or not, you'll love this book. It's as much about self-care and self-worth as it is yoga ... and then there's that whole 175+ pages of eye candy thing. ;-) You'll love it. I promise!

Reviewer's Note: I purchased and read this book on my own volition. I did not receive a review copy.

Ready to buy or learn more?
Find YOGA GIRL on Amazon

Women's Fiction Book Review | THE OYS & JOYS by Marcia Feldt

Title: THE OYS & JOYS
Genre: Women's Fiction
Author: Marcia Feldt
Rating: 4 stars

SUMMARY:

Peaks & Valleys, Rain & Rainbows, Oys* & Joys. That's life! 

                   Every woman buries secrets. Even from herself.
Meet Lizzie, Sassie, Grace and Ruby. Boomers ready to reach for their dreams. Until baggage from the past floods their lives. And not like a hurricane. Like a tsunami.

Four women who define their moment by revisiting their past to embrace their future. Their journey--paved with an abundance of humor--sizzles with attempted murder (oops), DNA surprises (who's the father?), boatless boat slips (Oy, he puttered away on her birthday), and sexual awakenings (yep, at their age). Oh, and then there's the pole dancing for seniors.  A story of unlocking truth. Of defeating regret. Of the power of steel-laced friendships. But sometimes the back side of middle age shoves the past, and the secrets it harbors, into the present.

                                          And secrets never die quietly.                                       

*Oy or Oy vey: Terms to express exasperation, dismay, calamity or any other sense of woe. Yiddish origin but so widely used, integrated into American colloquialisms and found in dictionaries.

REVIEW:

I was very excited to read this since I love books about friendships, and the fact that this was about a group of Baby Boomer women was particularly enticing.  And the group’s name? The Oys and Joys! How fun!

This book was written in first person with alternating points of view, so each character had a chance to tell her story through her own voice. The author did a great job developing the main characters and each one of them grew throughout the book. I appreciate that, since having so many characters can sometimes compromise the development of at least one.

However, as with many stories featuring multiple POVs, keeping track of who’s who and all of their baggage was tricky. And these characters have a lot going on. Everything from love interests to secret family members to business situations to mentally abusive spouses to sexual revelations. There is just so much to digest, along with a huge amount of peripheral characters to support the stories. And while the author did a nice job linking everyone and everything together, this book was not one you could breeze through and still get the whole story. You really need to pay attention – but the payoff is great.

While the ladies bickered so much I sometimes wondered how and why they were even friends, they did pull together when the going got tough and that was especially heartwarming. This is a true story of friendship and of navigating life’s messy waters while dealing with the added “bonus” of aging. And the ending was poignant and sweet.

Overall, this was a fun and engaging read and if you go in knowing you need to pay close attention to the plotline and the characters, I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Reviewer's Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I've also posted a similar review over on ChickLitPlus.com.

Ready to buy or learn more?
Find THE OYS & JOYS on Amazon