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bhnmt61's review
3.0
A lonely coffee shop manager gets thrust into the life of an 11-year-old girl whose parents are of the disappearing type. I think I am too cynical for this book. Everyone is so sincere, with their sweetly vulnerable hearts right out there on their sleeves. Lots of charming, quirky characters, not enough snarky, jaded ones. These people change because of the situation they are thrust into, but they are all perfectly emotionally transparent to begin with, so there's nowhere for them to go on that front, which was irritating. Also Eleven-year-old Clare was often just a little too adult, even for a precocious kid. It got better toward the end. In spite of my gripes, I did enjoy reading it, but it needed a lot more of Lenny, the wisecracking best friend.
rosemwood's review
4.0
This is the first book of a series. I actually read the 3rd book first and fell so in love with the story and writer I went out and got the rest of the series. If I had read this book first I would not have probably run out to read the other books in the series. I had a hard time getting into this book and about half way through started to but the ending was rushed. After so much detail and character development to just rush the ending kind of left me wanting more. A redo.
utahmomreads's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book as some light summer reading (even though it takes place in the winter). The characters were likeable and the writing is fresh--sprinkled with literary and cinematic references. And I appreciated that finally a 30-something living a fairly self-involved existence learns to truly love someone else.
lilymor's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.75
This book had so many of the ingredients which usually make me like a book. Stream of consciousness narration. Quirky protagonist. Focus on relationships, especially non-romantic relationships. Etc.
But it somehow fell really flat, and I still can’t exactly place why.
The beginning was promising and I was invested in Clare’s story arc at least, if not so much Cornelia’s. Then, when the twist happened that brought Clare and Cornelia’s arcs together, I was mind blown and expected this to be an awesome read.
But somewhere in the middle I realized I did not love any of the characters, did not find their relationships convincing, and did not really care much about what happened to them anymore.
Still finished it, but yeah. Didn’t leave me with any special delight or enthusiasm.
jbabiarz's review
3.0
An enjoyable read, though slow to get into. I like the perspective of the two characters, but felt that the girl's perspective was a bit mature for her age. And sometimes the film references felt a bit contrived and unnecessary - especially to someone who knows nothing about classic films. But overall, it was fun!
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
3.5***
Cornelia, the “under-achiever” in her family, is the manager of a café. One day a Cary-Grant-look-alike walks in and her life changes.
This is a chick-lit, romance novel with great heart. The novel is told in alternating points of view: Cornelia, and Clare, an eleven-year-old with a chaotic home life. I loved them both, though I was somewhat incredulous at several plot points.
Clare is a wonderful child character – smart, observant, brave and caring, she is also frightened and fragile. Several of her chapters just about broke my heart. Cornelia is likewise smart, independent, caring and compassionate, if occasionally blind to reality. She does tend to rely too heavily on old movies to explain her life, or on which to pin her hopes for love. I’m reminded a little of the movie Sleepless in Seattle, where Meg Ryan’s character obsessively watched the Cary Grant / Deborah Kerr movie An Affair to Remember. (Note: several reviews have criticized the book for the references to these romantic movies of the ‘40s and ‘50s, because the reviewers had no experience with them, so didn’t understand the references. Not the case for me, however.)
De los Santos was known for her poetry before she published this novel. Her skill at poetic writing shows here. I loved some of her metaphors and descriptions. For example:
Getting the words right matters, but so did describing his voice when he talked and capturing the feeling that filled her as he spoke and after he spoke. She thought about the word “capture,” how it put a writer on par with a fur trapper or big-game hunter, and how it implied that stories were whole and roaming around loose in the world, and a writer’s job was to catch them.
The men in the story didn’t get as much attention as I might have liked, and they were not very well developed. The ending is also a little too convenient, but it’s a chick-lit romance, so I cut her some slack. It’s a solid summer-at-the-beach read.
There is a sequel: [b:Belong to Me|2113410|Belong to Me|Marisa de los Santos|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441939798s/2113410.jpg|2212314] which continues Cornelia’s story. I’d read it previously, not realizing that this novel comes first. I don’t think it affected my enjoyment of either book, but readers should probably read them in order.
Cornelia, the “under-achiever” in her family, is the manager of a café. One day a Cary-Grant-look-alike walks in and her life changes.
This is a chick-lit, romance novel with great heart. The novel is told in alternating points of view: Cornelia, and Clare, an eleven-year-old with a chaotic home life. I loved them both, though I was somewhat incredulous at several plot points.
Clare is a wonderful child character – smart, observant, brave and caring, she is also frightened and fragile. Several of her chapters just about broke my heart. Cornelia is likewise smart, independent, caring and compassionate, if occasionally blind to reality. She does tend to rely too heavily on old movies to explain her life, or on which to pin her hopes for love. I’m reminded a little of the movie Sleepless in Seattle, where Meg Ryan’s character obsessively watched the Cary Grant / Deborah Kerr movie An Affair to Remember. (Note: several reviews have criticized the book for the references to these romantic movies of the ‘40s and ‘50s, because the reviewers had no experience with them, so didn’t understand the references. Not the case for me, however.)
De los Santos was known for her poetry before she published this novel. Her skill at poetic writing shows here. I loved some of her metaphors and descriptions. For example:
Getting the words right matters, but so did describing his voice when he talked and capturing the feeling that filled her as he spoke and after he spoke. She thought about the word “capture,” how it put a writer on par with a fur trapper or big-game hunter, and how it implied that stories were whole and roaming around loose in the world, and a writer’s job was to catch them.
The men in the story didn’t get as much attention as I might have liked, and they were not very well developed. The ending is also a little too convenient, but it’s a chick-lit romance, so I cut her some slack. It’s a solid summer-at-the-beach read.
There is a sequel: [b:Belong to Me|2113410|Belong to Me|Marisa de los Santos|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441939798s/2113410.jpg|2212314] which continues Cornelia’s story. I’d read it previously, not realizing that this novel comes first. I don’t think it affected my enjoyment of either book, but readers should probably read them in order.
tmathews0330's review
5.0
If people actually took care of each other this way, the world would be beautiful. Is it unrealistic? Sure, maybe. But maybe sometimes we need to see how easy things could be.
timna_wyckoff's review
3.0
VERY fun book to read. Nothing deep at ALL, but a sweet story. Keep going past the first few back and forth chapters...it gets better!
shareen17's review
3.0
The main character has a love of classic films, romance and surrounding herself with beautiful objects. The novel keeps that sort of sweet, nostalgic feel throughout. I didn't quite like how the plot was resolved, but enjoyed the author's writing and feel enough to seek out some of her other books someday.
alidottie's review
4.0
4 and a half stars. This is a bit on the sentimental/schmaltzy side, which quite appeals to me at times and obviously this was one of those times. I found the characters and the story endearing. The story is told going back and forth between the perspectives of the two main characters. I enjoyed that too.