Angieville

I was so happily surprised (and intensely affected) by Leaving Paradise that I couldn't wait to start in on the sequel, the inevitably titled  Return to Paradise . Honestly, I loved Maggie and Caleb so much that I savored the thought of them back on the page together, dealing with the awkward and ambiguous place they were unceremoniously left in at the end of the first book. Naturally, snagging an ARC of Return to Paradise was pretty high up on my list of things to do at BEA. And I hadn't even read the first book yet! I have to say I'm not loving the cover, though. The newer cover of Leaving Paradise   struck just the right note, when it comes to the fear and pain and connection between these two characters. The cover of the sequel just doesn't measure up, in my opinion. It probably doesn't help that that's not how I picture either of them and that kissing under the moonlight by a lake (while it may happen in the book) just doesn't really encompass the whol...

I'll admit it up front--I've been cowardly avoiding reading Leaving Paradise . As you know, I devoured Simone Elkeles ' Perfect Chemistry late last year and happily enjoyed the sequel Rules of Attraction a few months ago. But I deliberately stayed away from Elkeles' earlier novel because I had heard somewhere it left the reader feeling pretty raw and worked over and I guess I haven't been in the mood for such of late. But before I could decide one way or the other, I heard she was writing a sequel and, very uncharacteristically, I chose to wait until the sequel was out to read both books. No idea where I dug up that little dose of will power as it's generally in short supply around here. In any event, I managed to snag signed copies of both books at BEA and finally settled down to read Leaving Paradise on the plane ride home. A word on the cover. Originally published in 2007, this book has already had two covers and I actually really like both of them, though...