Brooke WilliamsCritiques

OH, I LIKED THIS BOOK, AND I FELT SORRY THAT MEGAN WAS SUCH AN INTROVERTED WOMAN. I was glad that her sister talked her into going on a reality show and took her place because Molly discovered that she was pregnant. When Megan showed up on the show, she was paired with a bunch of people, and she was embarrassed that she was such a clutch, but she slowly found her balance by looking at a dark curly haired hottie that made her try harder with each contest had to compete for and not be voted off the show.

I liked, medic, Cane Trevino as he was attracted to, Megan, but after his last breakup Eva left him with a broken heart when she suddenly left him and he was not ready to have his heart broken again.

3.75

This story was simply delightful. Danica, as the Mamarazzi, takes photos of celebrities. She's only doing what she has to do to support her mother who is in a nursing home. Keeping her identity a secret is important because someday she hopes to be a well-known, renowned photographer. Then she literally stumbles into a job as an actress and her life takes a surprising turn.

I loved this book!

What I liked most about this town's "backwards" approach to Christmas? Children bringing gifts to Santa, to be delivered to others who wouldn't be privileged to go Christmas shopping.

And next is the fact that the hero in this story is physically short. I've nothing against tall men, but there are already so many of them in romances. I like it when romantic characters are at least somewhat outside of the norm in some way.

As for the romance itself, the emotion and trust felt rushed after the couple had only known each other a relatively few hours. Yes, there are people who do fall hard and fast for each other in real life, but it's a challenge to make it convincing in a quick read, particularly without resorting to clichéd descriptions.

Also, with the amount of errors compared to this book's length, it could use another round of proofreading.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read overall, especially all of the backward Christmas tidbits.

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review. I found the story to be very entertaining. An enjoyable read that touches the heart.

STORY-LINE THE LEFTOVER BY BROOKE WILLIAMS:

Megan Malone's a quite homebody. She never did well with people, preferring to stay in her house, work at her home business, and let the world go by. Her sister, Molly, persuades Megan to take her place on the new local reality television show, The Leftover. A show similar to Survivor, Megan knows she has no skills to offer.

Cane's the medic for the show. Once a contestant on Accept This Dandelion, he's trying to heal a broken heart. He thought they had fallen in love, however, in the last episode, his wonderful world collapsed as his love ran off with the producer/host of the show. He hopes time from his job, new surrounding, and people, help heal his hurting heart.

Megan, sweet, quite, shy, and a loner, meets her crush from Accept This Dandelion; while Cane finds a shy young women who will not meet his eyes. With all the different personalities, will Cane find his heart healing? Will Megan find a way to come out of her shell and take part? Let the fun begin as the contestants vie for position of the last person left standing. My romance book reviews of The Leftover follows.

CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, AND DEVELOPMENT:

Author Brooke Williams, created an entertaining book in The Leftover. Having read other books with this story-line, I thought I would not care to read another book with the same old theme. However, I'm thrilled to say, I loved this book. Including a variety of personalities, scheming in the background, back stabbing galore, conniving, some good people, some really obnoxious, arrogant selfish ones, and then to round out the contestants, sweet shy Megan. Developing each of her characters to their full potential, I found myself hating Andrew; he's arrogant, egotistical, and a bully. What a character Brooke Williams crafted in Andrew. I wanted to "tell him off" during most of the book. Other characters you will love; as each proves they are good people and better friends.

Watching Brooke Williams develop Megan's personalities was wonderful; Megan comes into her own. As Megan stated and I quote:

"She'd finally found her voice...and her self-worth".

She finds confidence, stamina, the ability to talk to people, and she stands on her own merit; which began with the help of Cane as her anchor. The romance between Megan and Cane builds throughout the story. Williams matured Cane as he came to know Megan. One who always fell fast, Cane knew it would not be fair to use Megan as a crutch for his aching heart. Will they overcome misunderstandings and misinterpretations to find happy ever after? Sorry, you'll have to read the book to find out how all this ends.

Brooke Williams' writing is easy to follow as she created scenes which transition smoothly and her writing flowed well. The plot keeps you intrigued; wondering who's the next person eliminated. The pace of the book's just right for the story's length. With well-developed characters and clean sweet romance, I found I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Leftover. Perfect for a lazy afternoon of reading pleasure.

The only small point I should make: the words used for cussing instead of cuss words made me pause. When I read the first couple, I thought they were editing errors, typos, or a download problem. However, I shortly realized it's Williams method of handling vulgarity without using vulgarity. Sometimes I am a little slow on the up take. So if you are too, please know these are not editing errors or mistakes. How imaginative of Brooke Williams!

With clean clear writing, varied personalities, alliances made and broken, misunderstandings, and sweet romance, I would not hesitate to buy The Leftover for myself or a friend. Romance book reviews are not always easy to create, however, Brooke Williams crafted a book I easily reviewed giving high marks for prose, characters, content, structure, and development.

THE LEFTOVER RECOMMENDATION: STARS 4

FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE:

Additionally, I received this book from the author and chose to voluntarily review the book with honest romance book reviews. Lastly, book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion. Consequently, all book reviews on-line and on my blog, are my opinions. In addition, no one influences my voluntary romance book reviews.

Find more in https://chillandreadblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/the-leftover-by-brooke-william...

Megan will find more than love in this romantic comedy that will keep you company in a sweet and leisured time. She will find her confidence and that is what the fuss is all about!

Megan Malone is a geek, shy, stay-at-home person, avoiding social life if she can. Her sister Molly, though is a different story. She is outgoing, loveable, active and sportive. Molly loves “Survivor” show and when the local channel is setting up a similar local show, she is right into it. When she gets rejected due to pregnancy, she convinces the produces she will bring her replacement her own. The replacement she has in mind is no other than her sister. And Megan would do anything for her sister, even going to a Survivor-like TV show.

Cane Trevino is recovering from a heartbreak. The woman he thought to be meant for him, chose to be with someone else and this is something he never saw coming. He is now the medic in the new show in local TV, in parallel with his normal job as a paramedic. Work will help him not think about the love and the woman he lost.

It is not the first time to read a book that is actually telling the story of a reality TV show, but it is a good one! The atmosphere is not only about the game but it is also on the character that it focuses on. Megan is a person that would never file for a TV show. She is shy, clumsy, avoids social life, cannot meet people’s eyes easily and does not leave her house is she does not have to. She is not confident, she doesn’t believe in herself and in her capabilities. She is like most teanagers, only a little older. This theme is wonderful to write on.

Through the book we see Megan’s transformation to a person that overcomes her fears and complexes and evolves to a complete human being. She even finds love, as she finds the courage to look someone in the eye and even go and talk to people. This big challenge is what pushes megan out of her shell. Same goes with everything we are afraid of. And that is a positive message. To overcome our fears and weaknesses, all we need to do is phase them, get into a situation that we actually have a really good reason to do things that otherwise we wouldn’t. Like if it was a survival issue or a matter of doing something for someone we love.

As a sometimes-fan of the hit reality show, the Bachelor, I was drawn to the title of Williams’ book. Accept this Dandelion is a take off the TV show, but it is so much more. A quick and easy read, I found the story to be captivating with some interesting and unexpected twists and turns to the plot line. So captivating that I read it in one sitting, unwilling to put it down until I reached the end – at 3:00 AM! The concept of the dandelion replacing the rose makes it so much more interesting and presents a lovely story on its own. But it’s the chemistry between Renee (one of the “girls,”) and Ben, the local wealthy playboy, that really keeps this story moving. This is a wonderful beginning for a new series by a prolific and very good author. I will be recommending Accept this Dandelion to all my bookworm friends.

This was seriously a good christian read!

Woman hops into taxi.
Goes into labor.
The prayer both have suddenly leads them down a new path. Together.

I liked the book and thought that it was a truly refreshing read after some of the others I have picked up. I fell in love with both the H and H. and all of the other characters except for Elias. This is a good quick christian read that I picked up off Amazon for free.

I LOVE the Amish. I think that they have a lot of guts and glory to live the way that they do and I wish I could live without half of my electronics. I love the way that Brooke Williams told this story and I loved the characters. The first book in a minute that I could feel the emotions of the characters which is important in a book like this.

Title: Backwards Christmas
Author: Brooke Williams
Publisher: Prism Book Group [Diamond]
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"Backwards Christmas" by Brooke Williams

My Thoughts...

A 'Backwards Christmas' what did that mean? Well in the South Pole, Alaska that is what they do every single year. Yes, celebrate a 'Backwards Christmas.' This author gives the reader quite a interesting short short read that will have upside down trees and I loved how the mistletoe will come into play as you read the story. The story being of two people ...Chris Furst who had lost his parent in a tragic way and he seemed to have lost his way being a non believer of the holiday spirit. Then their is Noelle Richards who had one time been in Chris's life but due to certain reasons things had changed with Christ after his parents had died. Now, I don't want to tell too much of the story but we find Noelle is a tour guide and there will be a lots going on in this small town around this Christmas time. Will there be a turnaround for Chris during this time as he seems to be coming around? Will he seek the love that he once had with Noelle? What about his faith? Will there be a second chance for him and Noelle? Well, to find out the answers to these questions and more you will have to pick up "Backwards Christmas" to see how well this author will bring it all out to the readers.

This was a beautiful written short Christmas read of how some things are done so very different in South Pole, Alaska. If you love the cold weather and something a little different in reading for the Christmas holiday then I would definitely recommend this read especially to you.

I received a copy through NOR in exchange for an honest review.

For star rating and review please visit InD'tale magazine online, October 2015 issue. www.indtale.com

Can a person be a villain and a hero? Brooke Williams shows it's possible in Mamarazzi as she pens a story which captures the imagination...and steals your heart.

Danica Bennett's a brilliant photographer, but nobody knows it except her...and her agent. She'd happily toss her disguises in the trash for a "real" job except for the bills on her counter and her grumbling belly. When her search for the next great "shot" lands her as an extra in the next great sitcom, her life takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself on the other end of the lens. Faced with pressure from her agent, the Mamarazzi must make a choice...to trust or leave love behind.

Ms. Williams layers this story with lessons in life which are important for all. From the fragmented heartbreak of Alzheimer's to the blunders of assumptions, she touches the heart and keeps the reader turning the pages.

I give Mamarazzi five stars.

What are the chances that Danica Bennett could go from being the notorious "Mamarazzi" with a hidden identity to being Hollywood's next darling on the other side of the camera? The impossible trip she's in for engagingly unfolds in Mamarazzi by author Brooke Williams.

This is the second book I've read by this author. There are some major and minor story similarities between this one and Williams's Accept This Dandelion, and a scene or two between Danica and her leading man, Eliot Lane, reminded me of Norman Maine and Esther Blodgett in the 1937 version of the film A Star is Born.

However, the Mamarazzi storyline really comes into its own, and after pleasantly enjoying most of it, the last third or so of the book had me especially hooked with turns I didn't expect.

Though the story does have comical moments, humor doesn't have a strong presence in much of the book, so despite its categorization, I wouldn't call this romance a romantic comedy. Honestly, the romance isn't what drew me in either, and there are places where the writing could've been less repetitive and more nuanced, leaving room for the reader to understand what didn't have to be said. But it was the unexpected turns that gripped me and the inward aspects of the heroine's journey that touched me, and as I like to say, a book doesn't have to be technically perfect (whatever that would be) to wow me.

And Danica's journey has left me with a definite, and even an emotional, "wow."
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I received a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review.

What I liked most about this romantic comedy? Renee's segments on the dating show kept me guessing, as much as they did Ben, I'm sure.

It was enjoyable for me as a reader to take trips with the both of them on local radio and television, as these characters really come off as people anyone might meet or hear about in one's hometown. The book is repetitive at points, where the narrator restates or rehashes the same information for the reader without necessarily developing it further, and I would've liked to see the heroine grow to become less self-deprecating in the end, at least a little.

But the novel's climax is a satisfying one, and this book has my recommendation for readers of clean romance looking for a fun and uplifting story.
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I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I do not watch reality shows on television because they have nothing to do with reality. They are so artificial. This book is a take on a bachelor reality show, but it was sweet, clever, and very entertaining. I enjoyed it all the way through. It made me smile.

I found myself laughing all the way through Accept This Dandelion by Brooke Williams. Renee Lockhart, longing for a better position on the radio allows her friend to sign her up for the local TV version of "The Bachelor". From setting herself on fire, dancing a jig, wearing cut-offs to a pool party, even slapping a monkey, she has so many funny antics she would be hard to forget. And the "playboy" bachelor himself Ben McConnell who proves to be a much deeper and caring person than everyone first thought of him. Another finalist finds who finds out some "dirt" on Renee and passes it on to Ben in the hopes of helping her own chances of being the winner of his love. Who will he choose to give the dandelion and his heart too?

I enjoyed this book tremendously and highly recommend it! I received an ARC (advanced readers copy) from the author in exchange for my honest review rather it be good or bad. Thank you for allowing me the chance to read this.

Look for this book on February 4th 2015