5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Second book in series is stellar, March 15, 2008
This review is from: Only Uni (The Sushi Series, Book 2) (Paperback)
Only Uni by Camy Tang is the second book in The Sushi Series. This book focuses on Trish, flighty, flirty, and newly driven to focus on God. Trish has made a multidtude of sins in her past, including sleeping with her creepy artist ex-boyfriend. But she's decided to change all of that. No more looking at men, time to preach the Gospel, and rely on God for strength. But, her new research partner, Spenser is too handsome to ignore, her attempts at volunteering at church seem to end up with blood being spilled, and it's hard to remember to keep your mind always on God. Tang writes with such zest! Her quartet of cousins are best friends, and the banter between them is never stilted or preachy, even when they talk about their faith. The dialogue sounds like she transcribed a group of real women. They call each other on their foibles and comfort when the going gets tough. Trish is a hard character to empathize with; her mind bounces from one thought to the next so quickly, that it could be hard for the reader to keep up, but Tang handles it with flair. Trish comes across as a real flesh and blood woman with deep regrets about her sexual past. Tang throws a shocker in near the end of the type that isn't normally seen in Christian fiction (good for her!). It's realistic and painful, but I look forward to watching Trish's character continue to grow in the next book. The first chapter for the next book, Single Sashimi, is included in the back. Don't read it unless you're a masochist like me; now I have to wait until August to see what happens next!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
She's Just a Girl Who Cain't Say No, August 13, 2010
This review is from: Only Uni (The Sushi Series, Book 2) (Paperback)
Despite loving
Sushi for One?, I had my doubts about this book. In the first book of the Sushi Series, Trish Sakai, the heroine of this one, is portrayed as something of a jerk, the reason agnostic Aiden Young refuses to even consider dating Christian women (at least until force of nature book one heroine, Lex Sakai, unintentionally demolishes all of his defenses). But Trish was also the only cousin Lex told about her rape and the rock Lex leaned upon to get her through that. In this book we really get to know Trish Sakai, and it turns out she's really not such a bad person;
she's just a girl who cain't say no, either to fattening food or to men, or at least to one man, her Svengali of an ex-boyfriend Kazuo Kawakami.
But this time Trish is determined to turn her life around and devote herself to God and enlists the help of her three cousins, the only other Christians in her large extended family. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time she's asked them to help her pick up the pieces after she's messed up so they are more than a little skeptical, especially when they hear the rather rigid if Biblically based rules she's set for herself. But Trish really, really means it this time.
The trouble is that events seem to be conspiring against her. Trish catches her father kissing another woman, which causes her mother to have a (nonfatal) heart attack when Trish tells her about it; she loses her apartment due to an accidental arsonist of a roommate; the miracle replacement housing she finds turns out to be something that would send
Bob Vila running and screaming like a little girl; her attempts to volunteer at church end in disasters of Biblical proportions (Think I'm exaggerating? Read about Pet Day at Sunday School if you dare!); she's still attracted to the creepy Kazuo that Grandmother, the (justly) feared matriarch of the clan is pressuring her to go back to for business reasons and also attracted to her often infuriating colleague at work who also happens to be a volunteer at the very same church Trish is attending; and the consequences of her past mistakes are about to catch up with her.
Like the first book, this novel shouldn't be funny at all, but like the similarly cascading disaster of a movie,
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, this novel is relentlessly, uproariously funny; when things got the most stressful or moving for Trish, they also got the most hilarious.
Of course it is obvious early on how this is all going to turn out, though not to the protagonists, but the fun comes in how Camy Tang gets us there. She kept me guessing 'til the end.
Now that I am well and truly hooked, I look forward to reading
Single Sashimi and
Weddings and Wasabi.
Note: Ms. Tang is also the author of an Asian-American Christian suspense romance novel series:
Deadly Intent,
Formula for Danger, and
Stalker in the Shadows).
Note: Ms. Tang is also the author of the start of another Asian-American Christian suspense romance novel series:
Protection for Hire.
Note: For full disclosure I won this book from the author rather than purchasing it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tang Does it Again!, March 21, 2008
This review is from: Only Uni (The Sushi Series, Book 2) (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed Camy's first book, Sushi for One? but the character of Trish annoyed me. I found her flaky and shallow. So I wasn't sure if I'd like an entire book about her. Camy, why did I ever doubt you?
In Only Uni we get to meet the real Trish Sakai in all her wonderful, flawed glory. What I love about this book is how real Trish is. She's made mistakes - lots of them - but she longs to live the way God wants her to. We go along for the ride as she struggles to work her way into God's good graces, until she finally realizes that His grace was there for her all along.
There's a lot of stuff going on in Only Uni, but Camy keeps the pace moving with loads of humor and some real heart-tuggers. Toward the last third of the book, she turned down a road I wasn't expecting, then she did it again before the end. It's part of what makes Only Uni such wonderful, authentic read.
Since this is the second book in the series, the obvious question is: Do I have to read Sushi for One? first? No, but it will be a lot more fun for you if you do!
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