Customer Reviews

Second Season

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great book and not just because it pays homage to a fantastic city in my home state! What great writing! I had never read a book by Ali Vali but I will definitely read another. Second Season is about romance, love, heartbreak, betrayal- all the factors that make for a great romance novel- with the added factor that the main players are lesbians. And what a wonderful way to honor a great city that saw such tragedy with Hurricane Katrina. Cudos to Ms. Vali! Laissez Le Bon Temp Roule,La Lousiane

I really enjoy reading all of Ali Vali's books and Second Season does not disappoint. The characters are initially faced with loss, disappointment and fear. The story takes the characters through discovery, growth, love and security and in the end all is basically well and the girl gets the girl.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The high quality writing, multi-dimensional characters and phenomenal premise are what I've come to expect from Ali Vali. The talented author has a gift which keeps this reader hungry for her next publication.

Here, Vali introduces four women whose lives are intertwined. There is Kara Nicolas, a surgeon who is being sued for negligence in the death of a child. Kara, who isn't fond of children, is having an affair with Jessica Badeaux - mother of two. Jessica is married to Tully Badeaux, the prosecuting attorney in Kara's lawsuit. Tully buys coffee every morning from and tutors law student Libby Dexter. Libby has a crush on Tully and bonds quickly with Tully's two children. One can only imagine the drama that comes from this concoction of characters. Add the trauma of Hurricane Katrina to the mix and you have one heck of a great story.

It takes a lot of imagination to combine these ingredients into a successful story. The author does a nice job keeping everything and everyone `straight'; I didn't pick up on even one timeline or relationship error. On a personal level, the addition of Katrina made the story even more dramatic (I grew up near Biloxi and still have family there) and I applaud Vali's courage to write about such a tragic event.

Keep them coming Ali. This reader can't wait for more.

This enjoyable yarn works well as a romance, but less well as an action adventure. The story begins with the lawyer protagonist finding her spouse in bed with another woman. Lawyer kicks out spouse, and has to deal with all the problems common to break-ups involving long-term couples: telling the kids, splitting the property, and interacting with the ex's new lover. This scenario provides plenty of fodder (and angst) for any one book, and the author handles most of these issues well. With a little fleshing out (some issues, especially those involving the kids, were resolved a little too easily), and the lawyer's new love interest, this focus would make quite a believable romance.

Unfortunately, the story strayed into the realm of unbelievability with the inclusion of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It felt as though Katrina was added as an afterthought - it had little impact on the protagonist's family beyond justifying a trip to the home of the lawyer's parents. While the inclusion of Katrina was unnecessary to the plot, it wasn't as disconcerting as the plotline involving Hurricane Rita. Suffice it to say that turning the middle-aged lawyer into an action hero was less than realistic. As a middle-aged lawyer myself, I know whereof I speak.

Ms. Vali obviously is a talented writer. She writes dialog well, and particularly was effective in the scenes between the lawyer and her new love. She made me care about the main characters, and I hoped the lawyer's "second season" would be better than her first. However, I felt that the author simply could not do justice to everything she tried to cram into one book.

I really liked Vali's latest book. The writing is crisp, the characters are engaging, and the love story is believable. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of a few nit-picky things.

First, the book takes place during hurricane Katrina, but nothing bad happens to the main characters. No flooding, no loss, no emotional issues to deal with. The book could have been set in St. Louis for all the emotional impact Katrina had on the characters. That seems unrealistic. Second, Tully's daughter is 16, but never mentions driving once. Vali did an excellent job with the teenagers in the book otherwise. (I said this was nit-picky.) Finally, attorney Tully suddenly becomes an action hero during hurricane Rita. The scene where Tully fights the storm was well-written, but didn't fit with the rest of the book's tone. It was a bit like dropping a car chase into "Sleepless In Seattle." No matter how good the car chase is, it doesn't work in the story. The hurricane Rita scene would have worked just fine in one of Vali's "Devil" books, but not in this one.

Without these problems, I'd have given the book a very enthusiastic 5 stars. Instead, it gets an enthusiastic 4 stars. It's still definitely worth your time & money.

This book had its weaknesses, but was an enjoyable, light read overall. There wasn't much depth to mine, so I'll list its faults as I see it, those problems that keep it from getting higher marks in my mind, but keep in mind that an average book by my standards still apparently delights other readers. Figure out what reviewers have opinions that seem to mirror yours, and look at what other books they recommend.

The good: the setting was interesting, the inclusion of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were intriguing, the characters were generally likeable, even with their faults exposed. I liked how we got some of Jessica's point of view, and even the other villain Kara's. The plot twists and turns were well thought out. The characters seemed to suffer from realistic issues.

The not-so-good: events never seemed to affect the characters, and their lack of consistent internal dialogue left them seeming less than 3-dimensional.

In the beginning Tully is wrestling with some pretty weighty issues as her life isn't what she'd wanted it to be. Her kids are understandably distant, and she takes great pains to turn everything around. But in my mind everything turns around way too easily. Suddenly any member of the family is apt to break into deep and meaningful conversation with no warning, and no one thinks this is strange, or even considers how this is a contrast to how things have apparently been for years. And how old is the younger boy, Ralph? He often seems pre-teen, but then precociously takes part in emotionally mature conversation with a perspective as if he had years on even Bailey.

And while words and actions seem to indicate that characters are feeling the effects of the actions of those around them, they never think about those same things. This was especially evident in the conversations I mentioned: there was no accompanying internal dialogue. Issues would come up, everyone would participate in a brief conversation about them, then it was as if everyone shrugged their shoulders and moved on. Perhaps they're just very laid-back people (though they weren't established as such), but forgoing the chance to explore the consequences of everyone's actions was dramatic opportunity lost in my opinion. Jessica is cheating? Mom got beat up? We're going on a trip to Mexico? Lane is considerably younger than Mom? Hurricanes have ravaged our city? I'm dating a girl? Eh. It'll all be ok...and no one ever thinks about them again. In fact, the only reason Kara and Jessica remained in their thoughts at all was because of the tie-in with a case Tully took (and though her clients seemed like complete strangers at the outset, apparently she grew up very near them in a small town, so it stretches the bounds of my credibility a bit to think that she'd never even heard of them before, or that that wasn't a consideration when she was taking their case). I'll admit that there's an angst line that I don't like to cross when reading my escapist fiction, but this book stayed too far away from that line.

Ultimately everything was too pat, leaving this book as a sweet sort of fluff, like cotton candy, but with nothing to stick to the ribs. With some editing (beyond mechanics of grammar, continuity, etc.) and re-working it could have had a lot more impact, so perhaps it's the unrealized potential that bugs me the most. I haven't read any other Ali Vali works, so I can't say if this is typical. But if all you want is cotton candy, and you find me entirely too critical, I expect you'll really enjoy this book.

I have purchased all of Ali's books and each one is just as great as the last one - this one I enjoyed because once again the main character is strong, independent but deep down a warm gentle person. You can just tell how much Ms. Vali loves the south and she makes you just want to visit New Orleans any chance you have. Ms. Vali brings depth to not only her characters but also their surroundings....I look forward to more of Ms. Vali's publications.

This was my third book by Ali Vali and the best in my opinion. I loved the story and characters so much I reread it immediately. It is very powerful and an enjoyable read. Recommend it all who enjoy a nice romance with a good storyline. Can't wait to read others by Ali Vali.

Ali Vali has created another fantastic story! In my opinion Vali gets better with each book and with each book comes another passionate romance. Second Season is well written and the characters are well developed. As the reader, you can feel each characters emotions throughout the book. This book is full of love,loss,lust, budding friendships, wicked humor, and a little what goes around comes around. Throw in passion, romance, and a little sex...you have a great story by Ali Vali! I can't say enough about this amazing writer...she is well worth the read! I read this book in 2 days and loved every minute of it. It will stay in my collection to read again. Keep up the great work Ali!

. . . because that's all you'll need to read this book. I love this writers' books and have gladly awaited the release of this one. I was NOT dissappointed.

Love lost, new love found, family first. Those are the true premise of this book. Sprinkled here and there with rich, believable characters. Add some current events like a huge hurricane that wreaks havoc and you have one great book.

A must read, I look forward to reading more from this talented writer.