J.J. DiBenedetto

This was a very entertaining book. OK, so there were a couple of things that sounded a little awkward: an adviser (a professor of archaeology) intent on being a matchmaker for one of his very young, female students. And that same adviser asking same student to bring his brand new Landrover from Oxfordshire to Mallorca. I mean, seriously? An inexperienced driver, driving first on the 'wrong' side of the road, then, on the continent, driving on the right side, but with the steering wheel on the left -- that's a challenge even for drivers who are used to drive on that side of the car. Plus, we all know the Americans drive mainly automatic cars, and this one had gears to shift.

That aside, this was a very enjoyable book, playing with all cliches and prejudices you can think of ,of all nations involved -- and there are a lot of those: England, France, Spain, America, Germany, Ireland.... and it doesn't end there. Gender, age, -- you name it-- you'll find it here.

I could imagine that if you're easily offended this book might not be for you. I found it hilarious, after all, all these cliches are well known, and are portrayed in the funniest way. If I had thought for a moment that the author actually holds all these prejudices, I'd probably have turned away in disgust, but I couldn't detect any of that.

The book starts out fairly slowly, but once things get moving, it is very fast paced until the very end.
The narrator did a fabulous job with all the different accents, kudos for that. It was an enjoyable, light and fast listen, exactly right for forgetting everything around me for a while.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audio book by the author, narrator, or publisher.


… (altro)

Allison is a young widow, raising her 9-year-old daughter, Lucy, and running the bookstore her parents, now retired to Florida, founded.

Mike is the new science teacher at Lucy's school, her favorite teacher--and still feeling a little bit singed by his short marriage and rocky divorce from another widow with a child to raise.

Lucy has recently seen The Parent Trap.

But, honestly, to be totally fair, Blessings is a small town, and everyone knows and likes the bookstore owner, and the new teacher. They probably would have been thrown together without Lucy's plotting.

This is a gentle, warm, funny story, with genuinely likable characters. It's short, it's sweet, it's delightful.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author, and am reviewing it voluntarily.… (altro)

Sleepless in Salem perhaps, or You’ve Got Mail in Romance; J.J. DiBenedetto’s Reel Christmas in Romance tells the tale of two people meeting in real and e-life, and what happens when life imitates art. Of course, real life isn’t quite like the movies, but perhaps it’s more so than you’d imagine, especially when it’s the good old-fashioned movies and The Shop Around the Corner is being shown.

A warm, romantic novella, blending past and present comfortably, and leaving space for aficionados and apprentices, A Reel Christmas in Romance is a comfortable read for Christmas or for any other time when life needs a little Christmas love.

Disclosure: I was given a copy and I offer my honest review.… (altro)

Sara Barnes is a college junior, a pre-med focused on her goal of becoming a doctor, with her life totally under control.

At least, until the dreams start.

Not her own dreams. She never remembers her own dreams. Suddenly, though, she's experiencing other people's dreams. Some are her friends and fellow college students, which does have its problems, but not nearly as alarming as the other ones, the dreams of the serial killer. The killer's face seems vaguely familiar, but the real problem is, she sees he face of the victim in the dreams, and after the dream where the man is driving around in a car, the girl whose face she saw is found dead the next day.

These are not just awful nightmares. She's really experiencing this killer's dreams. She can't ignore it, and who can she tell? What can she do?

She tells her best friend, her roommate, Beth. She tells her new boyfriend, Brian. They are awesome friends, and there's not a scrap of lazy writing about it. DiBenetto totally makes me believe in the steadfast loyalty of Sara's boyfriend, and her best friend, when she is asking them to believe something absolutely, totally crazy, that she knows she would have a hard time taking seriously if it weren't happening to her. He makes me believe in the basic decency of their fellow students, even the ones they have some degree of conflict with.

When another series of dreams ends in another young woman being found dead, Sara knows she has to find a way to do something. When she realizes that one of her classmates is the probable next target, and is able to give her just enough of a warning that she takes the right precautions, she becomes even more driven to find the man and stop him, somehow.

It's the academic year 1989-90, and there are not cell phones everywhere, nor is the internet a big thing yet. At several points I found myself thinking, "why don't they just..." I remembered that no, even a decade or so after my own college years, these things aren't a part of daily life yet. When they realize they might find vital information by checking someone's court case records, the only option the is to figure out what courthouse the case was in. Heck, I had to do that kind of research myself--and I steadily and determinedly encouraged the lawyers I worked for to adopt the marvels of the internet and subscriptions to the right services as they came available. I was a law librarian, in roughly the time that Sara as a pre-med college student is trying to figure this out, without being able to explain to anyone who can help why she needs to know.

As far as I can tell, DiBenedetto, in writing this book set twenty years earlier, didn't drop a single ball on what is pervasive now, and either non-existent or still limited or expensive and not part of student life, at a time we don't, most of us, thing of as "the old days."

I believe, like, and respect the characters. The plotting, but even more, the careful, textured daily life of the period, is extremely well-done. All in the service of just a good, enjoyable mystery with elements of fantasy and romance.

And that's fantastic.

Recommended.

I may have originally received this audiobook as a gift from the author. I really don't remember. I am, in any case, reviewing it voluntarily.… (altro)