In Your Eyes

ISBN: 0804120056
Pub. Date: June 2004
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Finance whiz Alex Miller decides to end his relationship with his lover. He isn't interested in committed into a permanent relationship in the first place, and he thinks Sydney Raines will understand but she thought he will change his mind in the end. So now he is stuck with her as her firm helps to oversee some of his projects.

Genevieve Monaghan is a talented artist. When Grace Miller, a friend asks her if she is keen to take up a project to paint for the new children's wing in a Boston hospital, she accepts it since her companion has moved away and she is in need of a studio space and Grace has kindly offered to her. The only thing she doesn't expect is, she has to work with charming and good-looking Alex who seems to be getting on her nerves yet she is attracted to him at the same time.

On the other hand, Alex is attracted to a rollerblader he saw at the Central Park, and he is attracted by her simplicity and natural beauty. Imagine his astonishment when he realizes she is the same person who is hired for his project.

Although they are different like day and night, but still this won't stop the attraction from growing between them until it sizzles with intensity.

This is a sweet story about two different people falling in love that will bring a smile to your face.

Astrid and Veronika

ISBN: 0143038079
Pub. Date: February 2007
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

This is a story about a friendship between two women, young and old, and how their encounter with each other changes their life after they have bared their souls and exchange their life stories.

Veronika is a 30-year-old writer. She moves into a quiet and small village in Sweden, hoping to find some isolation and also to devote her time in her writing. She then meets her neighbour, an older woman, whom the village considered her a "witch" because she doesn't mix around with people and they think she is a little strange.

Astrid, the older woman, has been watching her new neighbour behind her curtains the day she moves next to the house, until a day Veronika didn't come out of the house. After much hesitation and out of curiousity, she decided to stop by Veronika's house to have a look and found out she was sick. Although Astrid isn't used to playing hospitality, still she helps Veronika with cooking her meals although she appears to be discreet.

After this incident, their friendship starts to blossom and they become close friends. It is during this time that they began to talk about their past, as each has their own emotional story to tell. The things they had shared are basically about their relationships; e.g. Astrid being rejected by her grandfather as a child, how she came to lose her true love and then spending her life miserably after she was married to a man she didn't love. Veronika, on the other hand, leaves her boyfriend and falls in love with a New Zealander when she met him in a pub one day, but their relationship didn't last and she grieves.

Linda Olsson has written this story with a beautiful poetic style, as she switches the characters' POV by chapters so that the reader is able to get a glimpse of the individual character's thoughts.

What also makes this a captivating read to me is the unique friendship between the two women despite their age gap and different social backgrounds, and how their individual life experiences have changed their mindsets through sharing and learning from each other. There were times that I felt sorry for the characters, but in the end I was simply touched by their courageous for moving on with their lives.

Twilight

ISBN: 0316160172
Pub. Date: October 2005
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books

This has got to be one of the best YA novels I have ever read in my 'thirty-ish' years! I love reading paranormal stories, thus I didn't hesitate to pick this up after reading the interesting blurb.

17-year-old Isabella Swan moves to stay with her father in Forks, Washington, where rainfall is common in this little town as compared to her mother's place in sunny Phoenix. She struggles to fit in initially, but what intrigues her greatly is the attractive yet strange Cullen family, in particularly Edward Cullen who happens to be her lab partner in class. Bella (as she prefers to be called) is attracted to Edward, but she doesn't understand why he is unfriendly and avoids her like a plague at times. On the other hand, Edward is also fascinated with Bella, but he keeps his distance from her until the day he saves her from a truck accident.

After this incident, Bella insists to find out more about him. She later finds out Edward is a vampire; and though Edward warns Bella to keep a distance from him, still they can't fight off the attractions they have for each other. Bella doesn't care if he doesn't belong to the human race, but little does she know she is putting herself (as well as her family members) at risk after they discover another clan of vampires and they want Bella's blood badly.

The story starts at a slow pace in the beginning; this is where I learn about Bella's family history and why she ends up staying with her father in Forks. Thereafter, the story begins to pick up its pace after reading the part she has met Edward, and how it changes their life after knowing each other. I was very much attracted to Edward despite he being a vampire, he is so very charming. But what most attracted to me was the way he protects Bella even though deep in his heart he wishes her to be his own.

Stephenie Meyer has written a wonderful debut story with a bite and I will be looking forward to reading the sequels New Moon and Eclipse.

Other Bloggers' reviews:

Passion for the Page

Rhinoa's Ramblings

Tanabata

Exit Strategy

ISBN: 0553588192
Pub. Date: June 2007
Publisher: Bantam Books

For readers who have read Kelley Armstrong, I am sure you are familiarised with her Otherworld series. But do you know that she is also writing a completely new genre? Crime thriller, that's what. I'm so excited about it. I love reading stories about strong heroines, no matter if they are assassins or policewomen.

In this case, Kelley delivers a great new voice in Exit Strategy, where we get to meet the protagonist, Nadia Stafford as the female assassin. Or to be exact, she's a contract killer, and she does her 'assignments' for a Mafia family. Actually, Nadia isn't really borne to be a killer, and she has the blood of a police's family. She used to be a former cop, but was out because of a scandal.

But when the Helter Skelter killer committed several murders and made to the news, her mentor, Jack approaches her and asks if she wants to take on this mission. They later find out that this killer is also formerly a hitman, and is now turning to a serial killer. Hence, it becomes a killer versus killer mission for them all. As Nadia plunges deep into the assignment, she doesn't know who to trust anymore.

I was completely engrossed in reading Exit Strategy due to the tight plot; and that Kelley is great in keeping up the suspense until the end. The protagonist is one tough heroine, and I like that about her. I understand from Kelley's website that there will be a second book after this.

Other Bloggers' reviews:
Musings of a Bookish Kitty

High Noon

ISBN: 0399154345
Pub. Date: July 10, 2007

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Wow! I absolutely enjoyed this book! I'd have finished this book sooner, if I wasn't sick and delayed my reading. Anyway, I like the plot, as well as the characters and the suspense behind the story.

Phoebe MacNamara is the top hostage negotiator with the Savannah Police Department. While trying to prevent a suicidal bartender from jumping off the roof, she gets to know Duncan Swift, who happens to be the bartender's employer and he owns a sports bar. She manages to coax the bartender down from the roof, and after this incident Duncan can't seem to stop thinking about her. Phoebe, on the other hand isn't so sure about their relationship, since she has left her ex-husband some years ago and is very happy with her young daughter and her agoraphobic mother whom they have survived from her ex-lover who had broke into their house and terrorized them when she was younger. Till now, Phoebe's mom doesn't dare to step out from her house. It was partly this incident that Phoebe decides to become a hostage negotiator, taking after Dave, who was the negotiator then and is now her mentor/superior.

Then, someone assaults her in the police station by putting a hood over her head and humiliates her. Subsequently, she starts to receive a mutilated doll and dead animals at her doorstep. Thinking it is a subordinate she had had an issue with, she confronts him but later finds out that someone other than her subordinate is watching her every moment closely. She soon learns he is out to get revenge, and she intends to stop him before he succeeds in getting what he wants.

I was really hooked to the story from the beginning to its ending. Nora Roberts succeeds in creating a great suspense and holding it and never let go. There were times I was impatient and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. And another thing is, I like everything about the hero, Duncan. He is such a sweet and understanding man, that at times I wish he is real. High Noon is definitely a keeper for me.