Customer Reviews

Love Me Tender (When I Fall in Love)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What teenage girl hasn't had a crush on her favorite male singing sensation? Especially if you live in the heart of Hollywood, say in Laguna Beach, where it's likely you'll see someone famous on a weekly basis sunning themselves at the beach, just cruising Pacific Coast Highway or taking in a stroll along the many quaint shops along the beachside community. While you're there, you may even step into Sweet Sal's Soda Shop, a favorite diner of the locals that is famous for it's cheeseburgers, onion rings and out of this world chocolate malts!

Let's take this story all the way back to when teen crushes were all the rage and rock and roll music was taking over the lives of teens everywhere. Enter the 1950's. A throw back to more casual times, where walls of girls bedrooms were adorned with posters of Elvis Presley, Cary Grant or even Dick Clark! This is where the story of Love Me Tender by Janice Hanna takes place! We are introduced to the Carmichael family who owns Sweet Sal's Soda Shop and the entire family works there, serving up food until the wee hours of the night while listening to the latest music from the jukebox. Back to the time where you are served by red and white striped uniformed waitresses with their hair in pony tails and singing the latest songs!

We meet Debbie Carmichael who is just turning 20 and is trying very hard to let those childhood crushes of Bobby Conrad become a think of the past, yet she can't help it. He is after all single, around 20 himself and the possibilities of meeting him in her dreams is enough to make her weak in the knees! When she learns that her father's diner is behind in the mortgage payments and could possibly lose it due to his recent heart attack, Debbie plans a benefit concert at her families diner may just be the one thing to save her father and quite possibly meet Bobby Conrad.

Johnny Hartman arrives from Topeka, Kansas with all the boyish good lucks he needs to make it in Hollywood along with his ability to write his own original songs. Once he hooks up with the local agent Jim Jangles, Hollywood is about to discover it's next rising star on Billboards music charts. Things take a turn when Jim arranges for Johnny to come along to Sweet Sal's to negotiate a benefit for Bobby Conrad his latest rising star and it's there that Johnny finds his inspirations to his songs from a blond hair girl named Debbie.

To read more about this amazing book, you'll want to pick up a copy of Love Me Tender by Janice Hanna. It's a perfect musical 5 out of 5 stars! I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and was transported back in time to the rock-a-billy times of the 50's! This is such a fun book with a message about how even God can use Hollywood stardom to get His message across the airwaves!

Get ready for a journey of nostalgia, complete with bebop, poodle skirts, and surfers, as Hanna dishes up a delightful story set in the 1957. I love the way each chapter starts out with a news article from a teen magazine, with columnists like Cinema Cindy and Hepcat Harry. Hanna stays true to the era and delivers a rollicking good love story set to the beat of rock 'n' roll. Novel Journey and I highly recommend it.

This was a cute book about the 1950s when rock music, diners and poodle skirts reign. I really liked seeing how Hollywood stars and rock musicians are portrayed in this book because normally a lot of Christian fiction tends to act like all entertainment is wrong! The story feels colorful and lively. It's fun to reminisce (ok maybe not for me since i wasn't born until 30 years later) but it's a time of simpler things. Hanna throws in tidbits from the news of the era and facts that make our day and age seem more indulgent and complicated. I was pleasantly pleased with how the romance turned out (no wedding...yet). Debbie acts like a normal young woman for the time period. She helps out her family but is also really into rock musicians and movie stars. Her family's diner sounds like a fun place to hang out at and the food sounded really good at as well. I enjoyed learning about the entertainment industry and thought it a hoot that Leave it to Beaver was thought to be a flop.

I did have two complaints about the book. The first was that I felt like the story was a in a bubble because nothing negative about the time period was mentioned at all. There was no talk about politics, no race relations, no international conflict...nothing that would make the story seem like a downer. I know that the focus was meant to be on the diner and Debbie's relationship but it just seemed too idealized for me. The other problem I had was that I felt the story to be a bit preachy at times. Characters going to church and mentioning faith several times is not a problem. However in the middle of the book, a mini sermon was preached about the Ten Commandments and then Debbie's father gave her a talk about how having crushes on movie stars and musicians can be detrimental to being a Christian. It took me out of the story to have a moral message slipped in like that.

Except for these two instances, like I said it's a cute story. It's like watching Grease or American Graffiti. You'll want to drive to your nearest diner and put on some golden oldies because you'll be in the mood after finishing this book.

I am a huge fan of the '50s so I enjoyed the music and movie references, but I was left wishing for more substance. I wish there was more depth and maturity to the plot and characters. Throughout this book I kept on feeling like it was geared towards a younger audience, especially since each chapter begins with an article from a teen magazine. The constant swooning and gushing over Hollywood stars was quite juvenile and made the main character and her friends seem immature. The characters came across as predictable and too perfect; there was very little conflict or character development. The dialogue could sometimes feel like it was trying too hard to fit the '50s rhetoric. Some of the one-liners were funny the first time, but they were often repeated at least 3 more times and lost their humour.

This simple and nostalgic story was vanilla sweet but I was looking for a hot fudge sundae with different layers. I definitely recommend this book for someone looking for a lighthearted time warp that is clean and energetic.

Rating: 6.5/10

First reviewed here: [...]

I thoroughly enjoyed my venture into the 1950s in this classic love story by Janice Hanna. You have handsome heartthrobs, swooning teenage girls, and a jukebox full of unforgettable hits of the era. You'll also get a bit of drama with the soda shop struggles, and a touch of mystery as to who really knows what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood.

One thing I really liked about this book is how Janice captures the innocence and wholesomeness of the 1950s, and I also like how she infused a Christian message into the story...not so much a 'salvation' message, but one of listening to God to see what His plans are for each of us.

I loved the chemistry that Johnny and Debbie have, and I love how Janice portrays the marriage of Debbie's parents...you'll get misty-eyed just reading those parts. I loved Toby and how he pesters his dad throughout the book trying to get his chance at the Hollywood pie. This book has so many great secondary characters...many who would make for another great story.

If I could have been born at any other time in history, I would have chosen to live as a teenager in the 1950s...and I've felt like I've experienced it through the pages of this book. Well done, Janice.

I loved this book! I enjoy all of Janice's books. This one is a really fun nostalgic trip into my favorite time period. Janice is able to add so many voices to the story and you find yourself believing you are actually in the 1950's and the information is non-fiction. I also love the references to historical events as if they were actually happening today. Another great read from Janice Hanna!

Love Me Tender was a wonderful trip down memory lane for this 'Baby-Boomer' born in 1950. The days of jukeboxes at every booth in the cafes, transistor radios carried by every teen,(instead of the cell phones of today)and IMHO the best music there ever was. My sister and I had our bedroom walls covered with the teen magazine posters of the popular teen stars of music, TV,and movies. Times were so innocent back then,decent TV shows and movies,it was safe to leave your house doors unlocked and even leave your car unlocked,anywhere.
This wonderful book took me back to that special time. It's a very sweet love story and I really appreciate how well developed the characters and the story was.

I have only one complaint-it really bothered me when Debbie's dad lectured her on idolizing the teen stars, when his soda shop did exactly the same thing by making an issue of the wall of Star-Customers that had eaten there! That really struck me as hypocritical. But in every other way this was just such a fun sweet book,and I think the author did such a great job of 'putting me there' in the interactions between her characters. LOVED,LOVED,LOVED It!

I remember poodle skirts and saddle shoes, pony tails and bobby socks. So this book took me back a few years. And I enjoyed the trip. I am happy with this new line from Summerside press with stories from the 50's 60's and even the 70's. For me that is the good old days.

I was impressed with Debbie Carmichael's spunk and determination to save the family business, Sweet Sal's Soda Shop. When her first plan fell through she found plan B.

The 50's were simpler than now. The most to worry about was the Cold War. It was a much slower time than we have now. I loved going back to that era. The songs could be understood and the movies were clean. The love story between Debbie and Johnny was a love at first sight kind of love. No problems, just faith in God and love of family. The memories kept coming back as I read the book. I never had a poodle skirt, but I did wear all the petticoats. Every girl was in love with Elvis.
The whole book brought a smile to my face as I read it. Wonderful memories. If you did not live in the 50's, this book shows you how simple life was back then. Very good read!

I love the concept of this new series by Summerside Press. Each book is set in a different music period and the music of that time plays a central character in the story. I believe this is the first one and it struck a chord with me because it is set in my favorite musical time - the 50's - love it! Janice does an amazing job of making the music an important part of the story and I loved the waves of nostalgia as I read it. The jukebox in the diner makes a fun addition as the songs change when people are having conversations and the titles usually have some commentary on the conversation - too fun! The characters are fun, Debbie and Johnny are great, I expected to hate Bobby but he turns out to be a good guy and then Becky Ann and her little friends add the groupie feel that is needed when you are writing about heartthrobs. The storyline itself is a little simplistic, not in a bad way - the style is reminiscient of Wanda Brunstetter, but it is different from the other books by Janice I've read. Nothing is left for the reader to figure out, everything is stated for us very clearly. But that also means that I can see this as a book I can have my daughter read and I think she would love it to. For me this was a wonderful walk in a nostalgic park that I would visit again.