Maria Geraci

Let me tell you about this book.
I was at the library using wireless there since our cabin is sans Internet. Every time I glanced up, the bright pink cover of the book was smack in my line of view. The darn think taunted me, but I resisted. The next day, I chose a new seat, but the book had been moved on the shelf and again was right in my face. The next time I was back at the library, the book had been checked out. No magenta cover mocked me-- until the librarian came by to reshelve books, show more and guess what was back and placed on the shelf across from me. Uh huh. That's right.

Let me tell you about this story: fresh, funny, thoughtful. Yes, it's chick lit, but chick lit with character and decent writing. I liked it. Emma, the main character has wit, intelligence, and a keen perspective on life. She is blessed with good friends, loving mothers, and a dogged determination that carries her through some interesting situations. Ms. Maria Geraci chose to create a path for Emma that carries her out of the realm of chick lit, into something with more depth and insight than someone picking up that magenta cover might initially suppose. From the opening gambit, where Emma hears someone describe her as "the fat friend" (you know, the one who other girls bring along so that they'll look better) Maria Geraci creates real characters, puts them in believable situations, and tops it off with nice writing, humor, and insight that gave this reader an author to watch. The relationships between friends, lovers, co-workers, and family were refreshingly believable. And I love a book that makes me laugh with the cleverness of a phrase or situation. Emma's "let me tell you" moments were a nice touch, too.

Let me tell you something I've done, that you probably haven't , that happened in the book. Cow paddy bingo-- only I played it with horse droppings. And I won. So there!

Maybe I liked Emma so much because she and I share a commonality. As Emma said, "I have a tendency to overanalyze things. It's both my greatest strength and my greatest weakness." Let me think on that a bit more, and get back to you. show less

Pride, hidden truths and lost love are in the driver seat of That Man of Mine. As Mimi begins to find her voice and make major changes in her life, Zeke struggles with unresolved feelings about his past, his job and his love life. Can Zeke and Mimi learn to listen to each other before they lose out on what really matters? More complicated than her previous romances but Ms. Geraci never loses that magnetic spark that attracts to her heartwarming romances.

3.5 stars

"How do you know how far Rusty's cousin's cabin is from here?"
The mood had now shifted from deathly quiet to deathly tense. Thick with something in the air that Mimi's lungs couldn't quite breathe in. "I...looked it up on a Facebook map," she admitted. He didn't say anything, so she felt the need to clarify. "I guess...I just wanted to know where you were at night."
He stared at her. "You want to know where you are every night?" he asked solemnly.
"Me? Here in my house?" she said, show more feeling confused. Because where else would she be?
He picked up her hand and placed it against his chest. She could feel the slow but steady beat of his heart against her palm.
"You're right here with me, Mimi. Every single damn night we've been apart, you've been right here with me.

I'm usually not a fan of already married couples but this book had little devastating moments. Zeke and Mimi were a great couple to read about, married very young, have drifted apart, strong extremely stoic waters run deep husband, and feeling lost wanting more wife. No forced angst and the trust between the two was a thing of beauty, seriously, the strongest I've ever read between a couple and their little moments like the one above, cracked my heart. They had moments that were emotionally devastating as they showed the love between them and frustration of not being able to get it together. The small town drama eclipsed the romance for me too much but was still well done.If small town business was replaced with more interaction between our couple, this would be a five star read for me. The ending was a bit unsatisfying as I'm not sure anything was resolved with Zeke getting past his stoic personality and Mimi getting the emotional closeness she wanted. I could have read about this couple all day, though. show less

My thoughts...Maria once again provides a fun, light-hearted romantic comedy for adult readers. Bunco Babes Gone Wild was every bit as sexy as the first installment, Bunco Babes Tell All. We meet a new character, Georgia, who finds herself in an uncomfortable situation with strangers. Little does she know, it won't be her last. We also meet a sexy, Prince Charming named Dave, but it he her Prince Charming? The original girls are still around mixing margaritas and dishing out gossip. Who knew show more a dice game could be so sexy?

There was only one thing about this installment that turned me off. It took me a while to warm up to the heroine Georgia. She starts out really snobby and materialistic. After a while, her character started to open up a bit and you could see that she really does have a big heart and good intentions. It was just part of her character, but the superficialness was a turn-off. Maybe it was just her way of protecting herself from others.

Overall, this was another great read. I would recommend it to fans of a good light-hearted story (with a touch of sex). show less