Jane’s Melody and Jane’s Harmony by Ryan Winfield

source: purchased
title: Jane’s Melody
author: Ryan Winfield/ Twitter
pages: 232
published: 2013
rated: 4 out of 5

genre: Contemporary Romance
first line: The day after the funeral, Jane came back to the island cemetery and sat in her car, watching rain fall on her daughter’s grave.

Blurb:
WHAT BOUNDARIES WOULD YOU CROSS FOR TRUE LOVE?

That’s the question a grieving mother must answer when she takes in a young street musician she believes can shed light on her daughter’s death—only to find herself falling for him. A sexy but touching love story that will leave you both tantalized and in tears, Jane’s Melody follows a forty-year-old woman on a romantic journey of rediscovery after years of struggling alone.

Sometimes our greatest gifts come from our greatest pain. And now Jane must decide if it’s too late for her to start over, or if true love really knows no limits.

My Thoughts:
Jane’s Melody is actually a re-read for me as I first read this one in 2014. I have been meaning to read the sequel, Jane’s Harmony, so I decided to read the first book again since it has been a while.

In this story, Jane is a forty year old grieving mother. She lost her only daughter Melody to drug abuse.
What stood out again in this one was Jane’s pain and feelings of helplessness at the loss of her child. The drug abuse took hold of Melody at a young age and spiraled out of control until Jane got the phone call that her daughter had passed away.
Throughout the story, Jane’s grief is real and jumps off these pages. She goes to group therapy and is trying to work through her pain. There is substance abuse in her family so Jane is familiar with the struggle of loving an addict. The author tackles this sensitive subject with heartfelt compassion.

She let herself weep. In a way she was crying more for that little five-year-old girl who had died long ago than she was for her twenty-year-old daughter who had died just recently.
p.55, Jane’s Melody by Ryan Winfield

The Unidentified Redhead (Redhead Series #1) by Alice Clayton

source: free review copy courtesy of the publisher
title: The Unidentified Redhead
author: Alice Clayton/Twitter
published: Gallery Books (October 15, 2013)
genre: chic lit/humor
first line: “You do realize I have seen you naked before, right?”
pages: 318
rated: Romantic and entertaining
3 1/2 out of 5

blurb:
WATCH OUT, HOLLYWOOD!

Grace Sheridan is back. Ten years after discovering that looks and talent are a dime a dozen in Los Angeles, she’s wriggling into a pair of badass jeans and ready to show the film industry that there’s way more to her than just a head of gorgeous red curls. And Hollywood’s newest Brit super-hunk Jack Hamilton certainly sees a lot to like. Grace is trying to restrain herself from jumping a man who is nearly a decade her junior, but Jack is making it clear that he personally has zero problems with that idea.

While Grace and Jack are still swapping innuendo-loaded quips and text sex though, the paparazzi have caught up with them, headlining the “unidentified redhead” who’s been photographed trysting at a restaurant with the heartthrob of the year. Now Grace is in stuck in a double bind. She’s head over heels in lust with Jack, but there’s her own career to think of as well. A sizzling romance with the newest “it” boy may garner her industry attention . . . but is it the kind of attention she’s always dreamed of?

my thoughts:
I was in the mood for something light and funny so I finally grabbed my review copy of Alice Clayton’s The Unidentified Redhead.

The book centers around thirty three year old Grace Sheridan and her love interest Jack. Grace has lost weight, gotten herself together and is now an aspiring actress living with her best friend Holly in Los Angeles. Holly is a casting agent and her latest client is hottie twenty four year old British actor named Jack Hamilton.

There is flirting straight off the bat when Grace and Jack meet at a party and even though Grace keeps telling herself he is too young for her, the two become involved.

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

source: free review copy via AmazonVine
title: The Marriage of Opposites
auhtor: Alice Hoffman
genre: Magical Realism
pages: 365
published: Simon and Schuster (August 4, 2015)
first line: I always left my window open at night, despite the warnings I’d been given.
rated: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Blurb:
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things: a forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro—the Father of Impressionism.

Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel’s mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel’s salvation is their maid Adelle’s belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle’s daughter. But Rachel’s life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father’s business. When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France.

Building on the triumphs of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things, set in a world of almost unimaginable beauty, The Marriage of Opposites showcases the beloved, bestselling Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. Once forgotten to history, the marriage of Rachel and Frédérick is a story that is as unforgettable as it is remarkable.

My thoughts:
After having read several of her books, I am a fan of Alice Hoffman’s. She has penned gems like Practical Magic and The Ice Queen, that became instant favorites when I read them. Then again, I wasn’t too crazy about Incantation and while Here on Earth had an engrossing storyline and was inspired by Brone’s Wuthering Heights but I really disliked the main characters.
I was curious to see what I would find upon reading The Marriage of Opposites.