a wild car/cross country trip that brings two people close together

This Much is True – Tia Louise 

Romance, single fathers, fiction. 

Rating 10/10

Hope was drunk and passed out in the backseat of the chevy impala she technically sold. J.R. was in a need of a vehicle to get him to go see his son and confront his dad. He was locked away for two years for being caught up in a drug trade he was not involved with. He enlists his brother to come help prove his innocence in a crime he didn’t commit when he finds a stowaway in the backseat. Hope is flustered and angry with J.R. and tells him he has to take her back but unfortunately there is no turning back. J.R. picks up his brother, Scout, and the trio head off on a road trip. She learns more about J.R. and Scout and they learn about her and her family. J.R. slowly grows more in love with Hope and vice versa. They arrive at the destination. J.R.’s grandma and brother want him to marry Hope because she is a keeper and he doesn’t want to drag her into the mess. However, she proves resilient and proves that she wants to be with J.R. She helps him prove his innocence and save his life.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. I was simply amazed by the plot and the timing that the novel takes place in. The characters felt so alive and the interactions felt so genuine. I really enjoyed the different perspectives, one for Hope’s POV and J.R.’s POV. This was organized and there were a lot of emotions I felt through the characters. There were times I laughed and cried throughout this novel. I didn’t really want this novel to end but unfortunately there was an ending that was perfect. The author did an excellent job of storytelling and the perfect amount of romance with some steamy moments that were unexpected. Overall, I finally understand the hype for some romance novels and before I hardly never read them because of the premise that there is strictly only sex everywhere. This was not the case. There was a lot of substance and action happening that wasn’t sexual. I do recommend this novel because it’s a really good read.

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Isolation Can Be BAD

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman

Single women, social isolation, intergenerational relations, friendship, computer technicians, Glasgow, Ireland, psychological, contemporary women, fiction.

Rating 7/10

Eleanor Oliphant is a woman with an interesting personality and ideology for life due to her past trauma involving a psychotically mentally ill mother. Eleanor has a schedule that consists of Monday through Friday working at her job. From Friday to Sunday, she drinks one bottle of vodka throughout the weekend and doing her usual routine. Eleanor is fine with this lifestyle. When unusual and unpolite behavior comes across her way, she tries to understand life through her own ways of interpretation. Raymond comes into her life and he changes her life. Raymond shows her that life should be way better than just fine. Through life changing events, Eleanor heals from past trauma and becomes herself the way she wants to be.

I did like this book in the beginning. As I saw one of my college professors reading this novel and spoke about the novel with deep interest. I personally saw Eleanor as antisocial, but I had guessed due to past traumas. Overall, this book was fine and was short but with a thick plot that should’ve and could’ve been expanded into a lengthier story. I just did not like the climax, but the ending sufficed enough. Maybe in the future I will reread this novel and give the novel another chance possibly.