Customer Reviews

Fireside: The Lakeshore Chronicles (The Lakeshore Chronicles Series)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This is not her greatest book. I really wanted a romance novel. The romance here was on the back burner. Bo Crutcher wasn't a knight in shining armor. He seemed like an illiterate. Definitely, no one I would want to date. Also, his son, A.J. really missed his mother, but he was overly rude to his father. This went on for far too long in my opinion. Her previous books in this series were MUCH better.

Public relations expert Kimberly van Dorn is reeling. Her professional basketball star lover dumped her following a public argument. Soon after that spat, she is fired by her firm. Needing time to recuperate and decide what next, Kim goes home to stay with her widowed mom for a while.

However, mom has converted their house into a boardinghouse; more shocking is she is dating one of her renters. Also residing there is baseball pitcher Bo Crutcher, who is about to reach the majors playing for the Yanks, and his son AJ. The child stays with him since AJ's mom got into serious immigration issues and is probably going to be deported. However, Bo is caught between two conflicting spitballs as he has never met his kid before the dumping while he must attend the Fame School if he wants to play for the Yankees. Bo hires Kim to be his PR guru. Though attracted to one another, he can't get to first base with her as she has vowed to never date professional athletes ever again.

The latest Lakeshore Chronicles (see SNOWFALL AT WILLOW LAKE, DOCKSIDE, THE WINTER LODGE and SUMMER AT WILLOW LAKE) is a fabulous lighthearted romantic romp. Susan Wiggs cleverly combines humor with a strong cast working through a difficult situation as life after striking out Kim has thrown two splitters at Bo just when he is about to join the Yankees.

Harriet Klausner

I usually love Wiggs' books but this one really fell flat. It seemed extremely phoned-in, like she wasn't really into it, but had a contract to fulfill. The romance took a back seat to a rather boring policially-correct immigration plot, and the male lead character was a waste. The end was abrupt and tacked on. Really, really off this time, Susan. Next time a book comes out in this series I'll wait and check out the Amazon reviews before buying it. This one went to the Mooch-pile pretty quick. Hopefully the lady who mooched it enjoyed it more than I did.

Fireside is a sweet, sticky, formulaic romance with a little more plot than most books of this type, but still not my cup of tea. 5th in a series, yet stands alone too. Not really bad (the author does a good job with grammar, spelling, and punctuation), but not good enough to make me want to look for the previous four books, nor any that may come after... or anything else by this author.

Character development is far too slow and tentative in this book, almost experimental, or so it seems. Too much description, too little action, and too little dialogue to the story for it to be really good. Fully half of the book was past before I sensed any realistc characteristics to the people involved in this story... and then I could not bring myself to care overly much for any of them. Why'd I finish reading this if I don't like it? I'm clueless about that myself... it surely wasn't worth wasting my time.

Recommended to those who like sweet and sticky, mostly plotless and formulaic romance novels; anyone else should steer clear of this... This review has been simultaneously posted on Amazon.com, Dragonviews and Library Thing.

Susan Wiggs is one of those authors that you can trust to write a book which is an enjoyable read, whatever its subject. In 'Fireside' the main character, Bo Crutcher, is a baseball player. As an Englishwoman I know next to nothing about baseball and wondered if this would put me off the book; no it didn't, partly because the baseball isn't that central a part of the plot, but more because the author knows how to create a story and how to write characters about whom we care.

As the story begins we meet Kim van Dorn who has fled her collapsed relationship and returned to her mum in the small town of Avalon. Kim's life has changed hugely but her skills as a publicist for baseball players might actually come in handy when she meets Bo Crutcher who has just got the big break of his career.

But Bo's career isn't the only thing going on in his life. He has suddenly had to take responsibility for his twelve year old son, a boy he has never previously seen, and as Bo tries to begin to be a father as well as learning to perform for the media, he may have an opportunity to form a relationship with Kim. But with Bo's career and his care for his son at odds, what future is there for them?

This was an enjoyable story with appealing characters, particularly as the relationship between Bo and his son AJ unfolds. The romance side of the story felt subordinate to much of the action but it was well told nonetheless and this is a very worthwhile read for those who like gentle love stories.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

I've read all of the Lakeshore Chronicles and most of everything that Susan Wiggs has ever written. I will buy any book that she writes the second that I see it. She's the best.

But,I must say that this one left me a little disappointed. I did feel that her treatment of illegal immigration was a little one sided but that wasn't my problem with this novel because that was necessary for the context of the plot.

I felt her development of Bo was disappointing. He was this wonderful larger than life man who should've been one of her sexier male characters but at the end he just failed to develop. I think her theme that athletes can be insensitive and boorish restrained her ability to make him seem like a real man. He came across as sweet but not too bright.

And the ending was rushed...maybe she was on deadline for another book?

Let me preface this by saying that I love Susan Wiggs and have read nearly all of her other books. However, it seems like somebody else wrote this one. The characters are flat and boring, there is minimal plot, and the ending is unrealistic. Don't waste your hard-earned money...

Do not waste your money on this book, if you are looking for a good romance novel. The romance was a background to a politically correct screed on illegal immigration. The characters were flat and undeveloped. I had to struggle to get to page 150 and I gave up after that.

I've read and enjoyed all the previous books in The Lakeshore Chronicles, but this one isn't in the same league. There was zero chemistry between Kim and Bo, and they were both incredibly two dimensional - especially Kim. The book was so NOT that I finally decided to stop wasting my precious time trying to get through it, and I'll tell you there aren't many books that I don't bother to finish. The absolute final straw for me was all the liberal preaching about our horrible and cruel illegal immigration situation. Puh-leeze! You're a romance novelist, Ms. Wiggs, and I'd suggest you stick to that - not sociopolitical commentary. I also would strongly recommend a fact check on some of the outrageous assertions that were made in this book regarding the deportation of illegal immigrants - oh, whoops! I'm supposed to say "undocumented aliens", right? This book made me start searching the customer service section for "Kindle book refunds".

Lesson learned~ every book is not everyone's cup of tea. I almost didn't read this book because of the negative reviews I found, but I am so glad I decided to try it anyway. While it may not be my favorite of the series I most definitely enjoyed it. Yes there is a lot of talk about immigration policies and sports but that's who the characters are and don't you learn something new from all the books you read. Perhaps with the bad reviews given the content was just something they felt strongly about. So there's my 2 cents........enjoy the book just like the rest of the series.