Looking for a Sign

Finished June 25

Looking for a Sign by Susie Dumond

Gray, the main character has recently moved to New Orleans after a break-up from her long-term girlfriend. She has moved in with her best friend Cherry, Cherry's husband Robbie, and their toddler son River. She helps out with River, and takes time to get herself familiar with the city before finding a place of her own. 

Cherry convinces her to go to an astrologer, Madame Nouvelle Lune, to get her palm read. Following this visit, the two decide that since Gray, at nearly twenty-nine is reaching a turning point in her life astrologically, she should date people from every sign to determine which she was most compatible with. A deadline of her upcoming birthday in six weeks is agreed upon. 

Gray's new job is doing PR and marketing for a local private school system. She ends up late for an first meeting with one of the school system's new principals, Victoria. But she begs for a second chance and works hard to put together a number of ideas to help the principal in her drive to make the school more diverse and bring new material to their curriculum. 

The two meet outside of work when they go to the same park, Gray with River, and Victoria with her son, and this begins a new friendship for her. 

As Gray works her way, in order, through the star signs, starting with her own sign Aries, she makes other friends, and has a few sexual experiences. 

The idea of the storyline is interesting, but Gray felt a little naive for her age on the personal level, unlike her professional persona. I also felt a lack of depth in the characters, and some generalizations and depictions that made me a little uncomfortable, particularly in terms of sexual identity. I feel like the book could have used some sensitivity readers to address this. 

The novel had some great passages, but overall it failed to really grab me. The ending saved it a bit, and the extra material was novel and interesting. 

The Lonely Fajita

Finished April 10

The Lonely Fajita by Abigail Mann

This novel came to my attention through one of my students, who included it in a booklist assignment. The plot sounded interesting, and I definitely enjoyed it. 

The main character is Elissa, a woman in her twenties who has an internship at a online dating company that only pays her expenses. She lives with her boyfriend Tom in an apartment shared with two other tenants, one of whom is relatively new and the landlord's daughter, Shamaya. 

Elissa and Tom's relationship has cooled lately and Shamaya is saying the occupancy doesn't allow couples.

When Elissa sees and advertisement for ElderCare Companionship, a program where a young person gets a room in the home of a senior in return for support and companionship, in a bid to cut down on isolation. Elissa applies on a whim, although she is hoping for Tom to move to a new apartment with her. 

When Elissa gets matched with an eighty-three year-old widow named Annie, she has second thoughts, but without many options, she agrees to a meeting to confirm.

And so Elissa moves in with Annie, and things get very interesting. 

Elissa is an interesting character, with less confidence than she should have, and some good friends who want her to reach her potential, Maggie and Suki. I enjoyed seeing her grow during the course of the novel. Maggie is a primary teacher, married with no children. Suki works in the same cooperative technology building as Elissa, and is a big support for work issues, and has an active lesbian love life. 

Annie is a woman who has her own regrets and secrets, and who both learns from Elissa and teaches her things. 

I love these character-driven books with friend relationships between women of different generations and this one was no exception. A great read, with some surprises along the way. 

Merry and Bright

Finished December 20
Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber

This light romance set around Christmas follows other similar books by the author. Here we have college student Merry Knight who has taken a year off college to work for the money she needs to continue. She is working for a consulting company, Matterson Consulting, primarily on a big project that are working on for Boeing. This is an important project and its success could lead to more work with the company. She is nearly done her contract, which goes until the end of the year.
Merry lives at home with her parents and her younger brother Patrick, who has Down's syndrome. She has a good relationship with all her family, and her mom and Patrick decide to sign her up for a online dating site. They know that what's inside is what is important, so to fend off men attracted by her beauty, they use a picture of the family dog, a golden named Bogie.
Jayson Bright has had a difficult life up to now. Not in the financial sense, he has plenty of money, but in the caring and emotional sense. His parents divorced when he was young and took little interest in him. He is close to his cousin Cooper, and a visit from this cousin makes him realize he has been pouring all his time and energy into the project at his uncle's consulting firm, knowing that if he is successful, this will seal the deal for him to take over the company as his uncle retires. When he looks on the dating site his cousin used, he is surprised to see a local woman whose picture is a dog. It reminds him of his childhood dog Rocky, and on impulse he puts up a profile using Rocky's picture.
Jayson's worry over the project and driving energy have led him to be brusque in the office and he's had a couple of run-ins lately with a young woman in the data office. Of course she hasn't taken well to his attitude, but is a dedicated worker.
And thus the stage is set for a online romance between two people who know each superficially, but not really.