Everything's Coming Up Rosie

Hi, it's me,Chari-Dee, I know I have been very quiet lately, but I haven't had a chance to do as much reading this summer as I would like. And now that school has started back up - although PTO is keeping me very busy - I should start to have more frequent posts. In fact, I have 6 books scheduled to be in my mail box today, so the reviews may start flying for the next week. Dee and I have both made it clear that we love to read. We love to talk about the books we read - especially the books we love. So, after finishing this book, I struggled with myself for a while about whether or not I should review it. But as I have said before, we will be honest but never cruel, after all, the point of a book review is to let other readers know what you thought about a book. That way, if it turns out they have similar tastes to you, they can use your thoughts on the book as a guide. So in the end, it was my own words that talked me into doing this review.




Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Kasey Michaels
(Back Cover Copy)
What's a dedicated bachelor doing at a week-long society wedding celebration? Doug Llewellyn is being bored out of his skull......until a beautiful, unkown woman calls him "darling,"then plants a big wet kiss on him. Suddenly boredom is no longer Doug's problem.

Rosie Kilgannon, she of the big wet kiss, is also a guest at the wedding, and although she's used Doug as a way to escape an amorous admirer, that kiss was really something else! Why not enjoy each other for the week, no strings attached?

Which might have worked, if not for the weeping bride, the suspiciously shifty groom, the neurotic wedding planner...and the fact that True Love often sneaks up on the unwary and belts them right in the chops!

A ROSIE BY ANY OTHER NAME....
WOULD STILL BE IRRESISTIBLE.

Isn't that an adorable cover? The back cover copy sounds interesting, too (which for me to say is high praise, I know). Add those two things with the fact that HQN (Harlequin's single title line) had not let me down yet, and you have the reasons I picked up this book. I wish I could say that the third reason still stands, but unfortunately, Rosie was a very big disappointment for me.

I've mentioned before my penchant for reading everything between the covers of a book, and this was no exception. In my reading I found out that Michaels is a USA TODAY bestselling author, has won many awards including the RITA and not only writes contemporary, but historical romances as well. And while I haven't read anything else that Michaels has penned, I would lay money down that her historicals are top notch. In fact, there were several times while reading this book that I got that historical feel. But Rosie is a contemporary romance and I found myself greatly turned off by the writing.

For instance, she has her main character Rosie actually call someone a cad! And while I could almost believe that if she had said something like, "21st century cad," but just out and out cad didn't flow well with the current times. Now granted, the characters in this book are all from money, and I'm not exactly versed in the conversational nuances of the rich, I still couldn't picture any one in this era calling some one a cad. Maybe it's just me.

I've also found the more I work on my own writing, the more I look more critically at the writing of others, especially published authors. I like to take note of the POV (point of view) they use, and the pacing. Rosie was written in 3rd person omnisicient (Om), and I find, that for a romance, I prefer to read a book written in 3rd Limited. You can really connect with a character in Limited as you are seeing things as they do and can really get into their head. While in Om it is as if some one is simply telling you what is going on as they see it. You just aren't really privy to the characters thoughts and feelings, and therefore, I felt disconnected through out the whole book. And I'll be the first to admit, I love me a good steamy sex scene (ahem, I mean sweet love making scene), and with the writing in Om, the scenes that could have been made very juicy, felt more like forced filler.

The premise, as you can see from the BCC, is that Doug is going to a week long wedding party, with the wedding being the big finale. After 5 full chapters, the start of Chapter 6 brings us to day 2. That is 140 pages devoted soley to day 1. That made for very slow pacing. The first paragraph hinted to me that there would be pacing problems, as it is only one sentence. One very long sentence. Also, in that first day, you could have made quite the drinking game out of how many times the characters say each others names. The conversations between characters didn't seem very natural to me, as they kept using each others name when they ended a sentence. Once again, I'm not versed in the speak of the rich, but it just seemed excessive. I felt like yelling, "I get it already! Her name is Rosie Kilgannon and his is Doug Llewellyn, can we get on with it now?"

When Doug finally gets to the house where the party is supposed to take place, he meets Rosie almost immediately and gets the wet kiss mentioned above. With in those 12 chapters that take up 2 days, they both realize they love each other. They have sex and make out, in those 2 days. And while I am a big fan of the HEA, I need to have my Romance be a bit more believable.

All in all, I'm not too sorry I read the book. I think I may have found an author to look up when I 'm in the mood for a Historical. And if you like Kasey Michaels work, then I'm sure you'll like this one. I just know for me, it will not be a re-read.

If you have read this book (which maybe not, I just saw on her website that it isn't supposed to be out until October) I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Do you think I am completely off base? If you have read some of Ms. Michaels historical books I would love to hear your thoughts on those as well.

As always.....


Take Care