The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella Book Review

Sometimes you don’t need a goal in life. You don’t need to know the big picture. You just need to know what you’re going to do next.

When I started reading this book, I wasn't that interested. I got a little bored. Well, the same goes with a lot of books that I've read. I read a few pages, then stop. The next day I'll read again, and then stop. Until I arrive at the exciting parts of the story, that's when I get obsessed.

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She's made a mistake so huge, it'll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up, in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she's mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they've hired a lawyer; and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can't sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope - and finds love - is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does - will she want it back?

At one point in your life, you'll get into a crossroad. This is the stage where you have to make big choices. You have to choose well because time plays a very important role. Once you made choice, you either rejoice because you made the right decision; or realize that you chose the wrong road, but you can't just go back because life is not a game that you can reset to the time and place you started.

I like this love story. I like the moral. And even though I got bored at the beginning, I learned a ton in the end. I learned that you can't always run and beat deadlines. The best ways to enjoy life is by taking things slowly, one at a time. We don't live to work, we work to live. :)

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Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella Book Review

When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?

If you're really into reading you'll probably understand what I'm going to say...

There are lots of books out there. From dreadful horror to mushy romance. Sometimes we read a particular book, out of curiosity, maybe because everyone's talking about it or just because the cover looks good, or  for whatever reason you may have in mind.

Sometimes, you'll encounter a book that will take you ages to finish. You know it's good, and that's the reason you still want to read it, but then you feel too lazy to turn to the following page. And there are those books that would make you grip, keep your eyes open in the middle of the night, until you finally come to the very last page.

That's what I admire about authors. They have different styles of story-telling. Some feels so alive while others are just soooo plain boring. :)

After reading three Nicholas Sparks' for months in a row, I decided to lighten up my spirit.

So I picked this book. I don't know why, probably because of the cover.

For two nights, I've slept at four o'clock in the morning. The first day, I wasn't that addicted but yesterday, I didn't stop until I got to the very last page. (okay, maybe I stopped to eat and to take a shower.)

The book is funny, like most Sophie Kinsella books. I'm a fan of hers you know. :)

I've also read Can You Keep a Secret?, of the same author. The characters are the same, even the story has similarities; the main character having a not so good luck and then something good comes her way.

But this one absolutely lifted my mood. And it teaches me a lot about life, in a humorous way. :)

The love story is cute as well. I always like love stories where the guy is a serious type and the girl is all clumsy and funny. Sounds like the Princess Diaries isn't it? I think that is the point. You don't need to be pretty and sparkly like Barbie for someone to like you. It's always best to be loved for who you really are.

And what else did I learn from this one?

You don't need to have all the glamorous things in life to be happy.

"Everything looks different when the gloss is gone."

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Peregrine Series by Jude Deveraux Book Review

The Peregrine Series is comprised of The Taming and The Conquest, both set in medieval England.

The Taming, the first book in the Peregrine series and set in 1445, tells the story of wealthy Liana Neville and infamous warrior Rogan Peregrine. The second book, The Conquest, set two years later, narrates how Zarred Peregrine and Tearle Howard withstood the feud from their rivaling families.

The stories are not likeable initially, especially at some parts where it talked about dirt and sex with many women. (I'm glad I wasn't born at that time). But what's intriguing about them is that the lead characters weren't the "love at first sight" type so it had me wanting to know how they fell in love.

The Taming

Liana is everything a woman would dream to be. Pretty, young and rich. Men from all over England paid court to her. They would sing for her, write her poems and tell her all the lovely things. All of these she gave up just to live with the handsome but rude Rogan Peregrine in a filthy, old and decaying castle.

Rogan married the lady for her dowry. He wanted a rich wife to build an army against his family's enemy. He didn't care a single bit for her. He left her alone all the time.

For all that she gave, her husband ignored her. Liana tried to be a meek and mild wife, hoping to win the man's heart. Not until she found out why her husband wouldn't spend the night with her. From a scared little rabbit, she transformed to a Fire Lady, setting his husband's bed on fire, literally.

For the first time in his life, Rogan was softening to a woman. Liana introduced him to the comforts of a clean home, the pleasure of bathing and to great food that doesn't have sand in it.

He spent all his life training for battle. For him, looking at the moon was a waste of time, but not when he looks at it with his wife. He had many women but only Liana responded to him so passionately.

But the three generations of war between the Peregrines and the Howards kept Rogan hard. His family is all that was left to him, and he would do anything to protect them.


The Conquest

For all her boy's clothing, only Tearle Howard knew that she is a girl the very first time she saw her.

Beautiful Zared Peregrine was raised and trained as a boy. She grew up with horses and lances and everything there is for a man. The Peregrines had suffered loss enough that they'd do everything to protect Zared from their enemies, the Howards.

Tearle, though a Howard, is very much different from his older brother. He grew up with all the finery and joys of life. He didn't grow up with hatred planted in his heart. He wanted to end the ancient feud with the Peregrines, but most of all, he wanted to have Zared Peregrine as his wife.

He did everything to have her trust and her love. He befriended her brother, showed her the things a woman should have and gave her all the things she didn't have. He did everything to prove to her that he deserves her trust. He did everything, but all the Peregrines could see is a Howard, not the man that he truly was.

For Tearle, one could end a war without a fight. Above all, his love is more important than the riches that the two families were trying to have.



I keep a list of Jude Deveraux novels so I could pick a romance book any time I'm feeling mushy or at times when I just want to take my time reading a book for a week or two and not get those ugly eye bags for staying up so late at night.

Though these are not the kind of books that I specially love and would be tucked in my Favorites shelf, what I do like about these are the way the stories are presented. The author wanted to tell a story about castles and motes and horses, and I imagine just that. These are the kind of books that I'd want to read every night before bedtime, like fairy tales, only they're intended for adults.

Well, I noticed that Deveraux has a thing for disguises and men with gorgeously shaped, big bodies and black hair. But there is this thing about Jude Deveraux. She seem to touch something deep within me with her novels. Maybe, I have a thing for romances and with men with gorgeously shaped bodies. ;) No, seriously, maybe because deep inside I'm still a princess and I'm dreaming that one day I'll meet my knight in shining armor.

Uhm, the last line is cheesy, I know, but please forgive me.


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