Mary Ann Rivers

Mary Ann Rivers' second book delivers and more. Sam the eldest of the Burnsides and an adult with ADHD fights to change his relationship with his siblings, pursue a woman he really cares for while juggling all his duties as brother, friend, lover and physician. Again his romantic lead, a complicated woman named Nina comes with her own baggage and as they navigate the waters of their connection the author reveals the very essence of who they are and how willing they are to confront their own show more pasts and make positive changes. The sex in this second book is even more beautifully written and full of emotion and insight into both characters. I found myself genuinely loving the characters of Sam and Nina. Sam especially surprised me in light of the way I reacted to his negativity in the first book. Made me remember to look below the surface in the negative people in my own life. Love it when fiction teaches me! show less

4.5

Empecé esta novella sin demasiada esperanza de que fuera buena y nada más como un medio de distracción para no pensar en una lección que tengo hoy . Quería dormirme en paz ...

Sorpresa para mí porque después de los primeros dos capitulos , no pude parar de leer hasta que no la terminé . Incluso después del final me quedé con ganas de que hubiese sido una novela entera, con muchas más situaciones y diálogos , y estos protagonistas íncreibles.

Para hacerla corta e instarlos a show more que la lean :

Esperaba la típica erótica con personajes esculturalmente bellos y una historia de sexo entre "anónimos" donde el anonimato se rompe después del primer encuentro , y la relación sexual es la (como cantan Anna y Hans) la puerta hacia el amoooooor.

Me encontré, en cambio , con un énfasis que no está puesto en la cercanía del sexo , sino en la menospreciada anticipación del primer beso: en la nostalgia romántica que evoca el simplemente besar.

Estamos lidiando con gente sin tiempo, gente ocupada o abrumada que extraña esa cotidiana simplicidad. Es ahí que está la genialidad de la historia: tomar lo que para muchos es rutinario o un mero comienzo de algo más y convertirlo en el centro, en el auge del encuentro erótico . Las escenas están tan bien escritas que la sensualidad aparece casi sin que te des cuenta, entre la incomodidad de lo desconocido y la ceguera al dejarse llevar.

Y no es eso nada más, no . Los personajes son personas, tienen sus dramas pero no se revuelcan en ellos ni se dejan vencer. Podemos relacionarnos con sus pesares y emocionarnos con sus derrotas.

Una joya, verdaderamente. Un libro imperdible que cuenta una historia de amor simple y desgarradora a la vez .

Es menos The Notebook y mucho más: esta joya del cine europeo . (No porque The Notebook tenga algo malo , pero la diferencia está) show less

Wow. For a novella (it’s just over 100 pages of story total), this one packs quite a wallop. I managed to make it through to the end okay, but then the first two paragraphs of the author’s acknowledgements, of all things, had me in tears. The good, happy kind, of course. I’m going to start stalking this author’s website to see when her next book comes out for sure.

This story just blew me away. It was steamy, moving, poignant, and funny. I loved Brian and adored Carrie. I strongly show more suspect that Carrie and I were separated at birth, actually. Even though this novella is fairly short on page count, somehow I couldn’t just read this book quickly—it felt, like Brian’s personal picture, as if it had many layers that I needed to investigate at a slower-than-usual reading pace. (Though, yes, I still read it in a day. It’s summer break! And I’m probably going to read it again before school starts up again in the fall—it’s that good.)

And I am totally getting myself one of those “Reading is Sexy” totes. Or maybe the hoodie. show less

Librarian Carrie West longs for something more in her life, so when she sees an intriguing online personals ad from someone who only wants one hour a week, kissing only, she takes a chance and responds. When “Wednesdays only” turns out to be nowhere near enough, Carrie has to convince Brian that he’s worth more than just one hour a week. However, Brian has complications in his life that seem almost insurmountable. Can they find a way to turn “Wednesdays only” into a full-time show more relationship?

As a librarian, I make a point to read books with librarians as main characters or libraries as settings. I tend to avoid novellas because I don’t feel like they’re long enough—that once I’m finally fully engaged, it’s over already. However, I think this novella was truly well-written. The story was shorter than I usually like, but it was so sweet and poignant and it ended in a good place (both story-wise and emotionally). It was more than I expected. Once I read about Carrie responding to the personals ad, I thought the novella would go strictly “steamy.” However, while there is definitely some “steam,” the relationship that develops between these two people is heart-breaking and beautiful at the same time. Brian turns out to be an incredibly vulnerable, good man (although he denies it) who is dealing with huge responsibilities that he wants to handle the right, moral way. For such a short work (104 pages in the ARC), I thought the character development was wonderful. show less