Westmore: A Review

Carol Cassada - Westmore  

When Was It Released?: 11th April 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: I received this as part of the blog tour for Westmore from Tiffany at A Cozy Reader's Corner Review
Who Published It?: Create Space
Number Of Pages: 390 pages


Family drama, romance and a picture perfect New England town; what more could you want in a novel? Well Westmore offers all this and much more. I was first introduced to Westmore by Tiffany over at A Cozy Reader‘s Corner Review . She is running a blog tour of Westmore and after becoming intrigued by the novel I decided to sign up.

Westmore follows the lives of three families; The Greens, The Braxton’s and The Reynolds. Charlotte is a widowed single mother, who never believed she could find love after the death of her husband. That is until Detective Bryant comes onto the scene. Andrew Braxton is a ruthless successful businessman who runs his household with an iron fist. As soon as he learns his youngest son Wayne plans to move away and work for another publishing company he goes out of his way to do everything he can to stop his son from leaving. Laura Reynolds is having marital problems and so decides to move back home with her daughter Megan. Little does she know that she may be running from the past but her past could be about to catch up with her.

The style in which Carol Cassada wrote Westmore was very enjoyable. I found style and storyline is a little reminiscent of Danielle Steel’s novels. The storyline held a large amount of promise being filled with romance, family drama and family issues. The characters are engaging and I found that there were characters I fell in love with. Charlotte in particular was one of my favourite characters throughout the novel. I found Charlotte to be very relatable and I was moved by the problems she has gone through in her life. I felt the emotions she was feeling and found that I was routing for her to overcome the issues and find happiness. I also found that the character of Andrew was enjoyable to read about. Even though I did not like him as a character, in fact at times I found myself hating him, I enjoyed the way in which he brought drama into the novel. I also loved the way in which Westmore ends on a cliff hanger, leaving the reader in suspense. This made me want to read the next instalment to discover exactly how the story plays out.

I did find, however, that far too many characters were introduced in a short space of time. At the beginning of the novel numerous characters are introduced for about a page each. You do not really get to know much about the characters before you learn about new ones. I found that this meant I forgot who characters were and became confused about how the characters were intertwined with each other. I usually enjoy novels with numerous characters but in the case of Westmore I think they should have been introduced as the novel progresses rather than just all in the beginning. I also thought that very little seemed to actually happen within the novel until the very end when I was left with a cliff hanger. I would have liked to see more drama in the middle of the novel in order to power the novel forward. In addition I found that there were a large number of errors; both spelling and grammatical. This may, however be due to the fact that I was send a novel for review, therefore it may not be the finished manuscript.

I have to admit that I found Westmore was not a novel that I enjoyed as much as I thought I would. I found that my tastes were slightly different to this novel. I would defiantly recommend anyone to read this novel for themselves and form your own opinions. I have read many good reviews on Westmore, however I just found that it was not to my tastes. Please remember that my reviews are only my opinion, therefore you may find yourself completely disagreeing with what I say. Having said that, I am defiantly looking forward to reading volume two of Westmore and finding out exactly how the story progresses.

The Empty Nesters: A Review

Nina Bell - The Empty Nesters

When Was It Released?: 1st September 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: Hannah Hargrave was kind enough to send me a copy in exchange for an honest review
Who Published It?:  Sphere 
Number Of Pages? 373 pages

Family dramas are some of my favourite novels to read and when I first heard about Nina Bell’s latest novel The Empty Nesters, I just knew this would be the novel for me. I have to admit that I have not read any of Nina’s previous novels, although I have heard great things about them all, however I was hooked from the first page and could not put this novel down.

Clover and Laura have been best friends for years, and along with Alice, they share holiday’s, sleepovers, school runs, child care and lots of gossip. They are more like a family than just friends. All families, however, have their secrets, and for these ladies it is no different. Once their children leave home and head to university, they all find that their lives and marriages change forever and the old rules on friendship and love no longer seem to apply. When Alice decides that she wants the lives that Clover and Laura have, all the ladies have to find out who they really are and exactly what they want from their lives. Without the children, can they marriages and friendships survive?

Before reading The Empty Nesters, I was a little worried that I would be unable to relate to the characters, as they are all in their forties and fifties with children leaving for university. Once I started reading, however, all my worries were put aside as the characters are actually very relatable. Even though I have very little in common with Clover and Laura I found that they were really likable characters. I felt that I was drawn into their lives, and the lives of their children without any hesitation. Nina Bell is really able to capture the emotions of these women as they try to figure out their lives once their children are leaving for college. I was especially able to feel Laura’s pain throughout everything that she goes through within the novel. I really felt for all these characters and was routing for their happy ending. The storyline line itself flows well, with little twists and turns thrown in, making the plot exciting. Many times throughout the novel I was sure I had figured out why certain characters were keeping secrets and what those secrets were, only to be surprised in the next chapter when it turned out to be something entirely different. I loved how the reader is kept in suspense, which made me want to keep reading to find out exactly what happens. I was able to really delve straight into the novel from the beginning and I really enjoy reading about the holiday the families take to France. This resonated well with me, as when I was younger, myself and my extended family took very similar vacations together. I also enjoyed reading about the male characters, George and Tim within the novel. I may not have liked them as people very much but they were entertaining characters who really contributed to the development of the story.

I only wish that Nina Bell had added some narrative from Alice’s point of view. I really enjoyed that she wrote from Laura and Clover’s point of view, therefore showing exactly how they felt and what they were thinking but I did not get to know Alice very well throughout the novel. Perhaps if there had been some narrative from Alice I would have got to know her character better and understood why she acts the way that she does.

Nina Bell has a real talent for penning intriguing, real and emotional family dramas that really engage the reader. With The Empty Nesters, she has succeeded with this style of writing yet again. I will be finding all Nina Bell’s previous novels and devouring them in the same way that I did The Empty Nesters. I cannot wait to read more from this talented and engaging writer. I really enjoyed this novel and would not hesitate to recommend The Empty Nesters to anyone looking for family drama infused with chick lit.