Book Club August Pick: Helena Hunting's Pucked!

In 2015 I read and reviewed the novel Pucked by Helena Hunting. Since that time I have re-read Pucked, as well as read a few more in the series. For me, I like Pucked as a stand-alone.
At this point I want to pause and say this for people whose sensibilities may be rubbed the wrong way by dirty, explicit or crass language. If you are one of those people, don’t even read the rest of my book promotion. Try a different type of romance. For others who may try to compare this to Fifty Shades of Grey. I would say you can and cannot, they are at their core romances with complications that need resolution, explicit language and sex scenes but are widely different from there. Pucked is everyday life and a comedy. It’s an imaginary yet potentially attainable world (minus the mom’s hair in the book J) that probably won’t require safety words, crazy storage space or therapy. (Side note, I do like the Fifty Shades series!) The author of Pucked toed the line of language but even the characters don’t take themselves seriously so it works. It’s the exception to the rule.

Okay- back to the topic at hand. Thanks for listening and sticking with me. With Pucked, the author, Helena Hunting, is able to create a book that is a romance at its core. Sure it is colored with a foul mouthed leading lady (think of classic lines in movies like: “Yippy Ki Yay MotherF@cker!” or “Abso-F@cking-lutely”), strong caring men, and overall is excellent girl porn, but the formula for romance that we all love to read is there and you can sink into it… and other things, *ahem*. There are scenes Ms. Hunting created in the book that had me laughing at the absurdity of them or laughing because I can't imagine how she came up with them but I was so thankful she didn't take the scenes out. How many authors would do the cape scene for one!? That’s right; you have to read the book to find out what the Super MC cape is in reference to but OH, it is SOOOOO worth it! 5 years later and I still giggle.

At our last book club meet up, we were trying to decide what to read next. With all the stress and less than normal lives we are living during the COVID19 pandemic, I wanted to read something happy, funny, not heavy, and sexy. So, I nominated Pucked. I don’t know if any of my fellow book club ladies have read a novel quite like it so I am excited to introduce this new (to them) author and brand of romance to those who have not. That said: August 2020 book club pick- hang on to your masks- is Pucked! Wahoo! You’re in for a sexy and fun reading adventure ladies! Everyone deserves humor, happiness and a little erotic treat. I’m anxiously awaiting their (and yours if you want to share) reviews….     

                                                                                                                

Book Club July Pick (Sorry it's Late!): The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Okay- I may be a month late sharing but, our book club read for July 2020 was The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It is a great addition to historical fiction, regarding the Nazi occupations. The novel takes place in France from when the Nazi’s move in, during and when they leave. It is a long book and covers a lot of ground. We follow the interweaving stories of two sisters living very different and dangerous lives during this time.

From the opening, the reader is hearing the history of this time from one of the sisters. It is not until later that we can figure out which sister is narrating. For me, this was the mysterious angle to keep me drawn to the story to figure out who was telling the tale and kept me reading. By the time I figured it out, I wanted to keep reading to see how it all ends up and how the author will close the story. Kinda like the movie Titanic did for people, having the older lady telling her tale but you don’t know how she’s a part of the story and want to know more.

There are history and heroics shared throughout the story that I have never learned about. Kristin Hannah has a gorgeous style of writing that gives you everything you could want to sink into the world she is creating, yet it’s not overwhelming and so depressing you want to stop reading. As we know, during this time in history, there was not a lot of goodness. For me, my biggest takeaway from this book was that the true essence of the story is the power of love. The love of mothers, fathers, lovers, children, friends, family, of county and religion. It’s heartbreaking, brutal, leaves you vulnerable, but also beautiful and the greatest gift and blessing of all. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Stay tuned for our August 2020 book club pick!