EBR Guest Review: Heart Tales by Celine Garcia (Yvonne)
Posted in 3 stars, guest, review
EBR Guest Reviewer: Yvonne
Synopsis:
Three charming tales of
that never ending roller coaster called life, each one sure to pack a
sweet punch of candy for the heart. One story involves a girl and a
mystery box with handwritten song lyrics. The second follows a guy on
the road with memories of the girl that got away, and finally a teen
girl who can actually speak to the source of her angst…her heart.
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/QMcpG6QUz98
Audio Frequency
Geraldine works the counter at Audio Frequency, a small music store that was once the hub of the local music scene. The best part of her day is a little brown box that is delivered to the store with song lyrics written inside, a playful guessing game between a mystery guy who seems to totally get her. Geraldine finds she is ready to make big changes at Audio Frequency and thankfully her best friend Sam just scored her a ticket to the biggest music benefit in town. Geraldine may get everything she wants when she discovers that her mystery guy may be at the event.
A sweet little story about friendship, expectations, and the leaps that must be made to take the love you want.
Legal U Turn
Gwen and Dean share an awkward drive home for their first college break because of convenience. But with hate comes a confiding friendship that may mean more to Dean. After his true feelings slip during a trip home, his friendship with Gwen ends abruptly and they don’t speak or see each other again.
Two years later Dean finds himself driving the same route he and Gwen used to take home years ago and it’s accompanied with the best memories of Gwen. A journey filled with a fun combo of memorable road trips and not so great first impressions causes Dean to wonder, is there a possibility of rekindling one of his greatest friendships?
Heart Set on You
A funny thing happened to Ellie when she woke after her heart transplant. Her donor didn’t exactly die. Instead he stayed behind to both of their confusion and can only be seen by Ellie. Ellie is unable to make friends at school and her only confidant is her heart donor, who she coincidentally nicknames Heart. After thinking she would always be socially challenged, she comes across someone who could change everything. Can this new someone help free Ellie and Heart from their bond? Or will new feelings arise that neither of them expected?
A unique story that reveals how friends can compliment and challenge each other told with fun sarcastic humor and heart. (Taken from Goodreads)
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/QMcpG6QUz98
Audio Frequency
Geraldine works the counter at Audio Frequency, a small music store that was once the hub of the local music scene. The best part of her day is a little brown box that is delivered to the store with song lyrics written inside, a playful guessing game between a mystery guy who seems to totally get her. Geraldine finds she is ready to make big changes at Audio Frequency and thankfully her best friend Sam just scored her a ticket to the biggest music benefit in town. Geraldine may get everything she wants when she discovers that her mystery guy may be at the event.
A sweet little story about friendship, expectations, and the leaps that must be made to take the love you want.
Legal U Turn
Gwen and Dean share an awkward drive home for their first college break because of convenience. But with hate comes a confiding friendship that may mean more to Dean. After his true feelings slip during a trip home, his friendship with Gwen ends abruptly and they don’t speak or see each other again.
Two years later Dean finds himself driving the same route he and Gwen used to take home years ago and it’s accompanied with the best memories of Gwen. A journey filled with a fun combo of memorable road trips and not so great first impressions causes Dean to wonder, is there a possibility of rekindling one of his greatest friendships?
Heart Set on You
A funny thing happened to Ellie when she woke after her heart transplant. Her donor didn’t exactly die. Instead he stayed behind to both of their confusion and can only be seen by Ellie. Ellie is unable to make friends at school and her only confidant is her heart donor, who she coincidentally nicknames Heart. After thinking she would always be socially challenged, she comes across someone who could change everything. Can this new someone help free Ellie and Heart from their bond? Or will new feelings arise that neither of them expected?
A unique story that reveals how friends can compliment and challenge each other told with fun sarcastic humor and heart. (Taken from Goodreads)
Stars Given: ★★★☆☆ (3 Stars)
Overall View:
***this book was given to me by the author through Ethereal Book Reviews (Guest Reviewer Program)***
My Rambles
While reading this review please keep in mind that I'm not a big fan of the romance genre, and this might have influenced my opinion of Heart Tales in a negative way. If you enjoy the genre in general, make sure to give this collection of short stories a try! Heart Tales includes in total three stories: Audio Frequency, Legal U Turn and Heart Set On You. All three stories have that romance feel written all over them, and will be a delight to read for those who enjoy the genre. The first two titles mentioned have both incorporated the theme of friends falling in love, while Heart Set On You is about loss, forgiveness and finding peace of mind. All in all they make for cute little stories, although I have to admit in general the characters felt a bit flat and some of the actions quite cliche. But then again: this kind of romance stories just aren’t for me...
Audio Frequency
Geraldine works at a small music store and frequently receives boxes filled with music material sent by the local radio. The music is not the most interesting part of the boxes though, as someone at the radio is communicating with her through a lyrics guessing game. Dying to find out who the mystery man is, she asks her friend Sam to investigate. But Sam doesn't have to look far to find him...It's quite a cliche story about a friendship turning into something else, but I liked the fact that Geraldine wants to move forward and become a co-owner of the music store. It shows that deep inside she is woman with a mission, even though finding the mystery man is still the most important part of the story. The lyrics that Celine Garcia used were a neat detail and added dept to the music theme of Audio Frequency. In fact, the lyrics were the reason I prefer this story over the other two!
Legal U Turn
Gwen and Dean started of the wrong foot, mostly tolerating their mutual company because they had no other option. But being forced to ride together a friendship is slowly starting to grow... A friendship that for Dean turned into something more, but just as the truth came out something terrible happens. Dean's father dies and Dean was too late to say goodbye. Angry with Gwen, he disappears for two years. Then he goes back to the places they went to those two years ago and remembers all the good things about her.
While reading this review please keep in mind that I'm not a big fan of the romance genre, and this might have influenced my opinion of Heart Tales in a negative way. If you enjoy the genre in general, make sure to give this collection of short stories a try! Heart Tales includes in total three stories: Audio Frequency, Legal U Turn and Heart Set On You. All three stories have that romance feel written all over them, and will be a delight to read for those who enjoy the genre. The first two titles mentioned have both incorporated the theme of friends falling in love, while Heart Set On You is about loss, forgiveness and finding peace of mind. All in all they make for cute little stories, although I have to admit in general the characters felt a bit flat and some of the actions quite cliche. But then again: this kind of romance stories just aren’t for me...
Audio Frequency
Geraldine works at a small music store and frequently receives boxes filled with music material sent by the local radio. The music is not the most interesting part of the boxes though, as someone at the radio is communicating with her through a lyrics guessing game. Dying to find out who the mystery man is, she asks her friend Sam to investigate. But Sam doesn't have to look far to find him...It's quite a cliche story about a friendship turning into something else, but I liked the fact that Geraldine wants to move forward and become a co-owner of the music store. It shows that deep inside she is woman with a mission, even though finding the mystery man is still the most important part of the story. The lyrics that Celine Garcia used were a neat detail and added dept to the music theme of Audio Frequency. In fact, the lyrics were the reason I prefer this story over the other two!
Legal U Turn
Gwen and Dean started of the wrong foot, mostly tolerating their mutual company because they had no other option. But being forced to ride together a friendship is slowly starting to grow... A friendship that for Dean turned into something more, but just as the truth came out something terrible happens. Dean's father dies and Dean was too late to say goodbye. Angry with Gwen, he disappears for two years. Then he goes back to the places they went to those two years ago and remembers all the good things about her.
This story is not my overall favorite, but it came in close second. Dean is an interesting character I could see being developed into a novel character...As is the storyline itself. Legal U Turn is not only about friendship turning into love, but also about loss and second chances. It would be interesting to read more about the life of Gwen and what she felt during those two years... And what would happen to the two of them after they meet again.
Heart Set On You
After Ellie had her heart transplant, something strange happened to her: she started to see the dead boy who gave her her new heart. She is the only one who can see and talk to him, and soon people around her think she is 'weird'. The boy who is called Heart never goes far away and tries to protect her from harm... When Seth starts to take interest in Ellie, things take an interesting turn: suddenly Seth is being able to see Heart as well. Heart now has the mission to bring Ellie and Seth together, so he can find closure and move on to the next life... Seeing it as his obligation to find her happiness before he leaves forever.
This last story doesn't fit in with the other two stories and I cannot say it was in a good way. I normally don't mind paranormal stories or a ghost as a main character, but I just didn't feel it with this one. Otherwise said, the story wasn't really believable. I found both the name and the white T-shirt with the fading red heart Heart is wearing rather tacky, and the other characters just felt a bit flat. The general storyline has a lot of potential, and it might have worked better as a novel... Although I would makes some serious changes to the Heart character. All in all my least favorite story by far!
Heart Set On You
After Ellie had her heart transplant, something strange happened to her: she started to see the dead boy who gave her her new heart. She is the only one who can see and talk to him, and soon people around her think she is 'weird'. The boy who is called Heart never goes far away and tries to protect her from harm... When Seth starts to take interest in Ellie, things take an interesting turn: suddenly Seth is being able to see Heart as well. Heart now has the mission to bring Ellie and Seth together, so he can find closure and move on to the next life... Seeing it as his obligation to find her happiness before he leaves forever.
This last story doesn't fit in with the other two stories and I cannot say it was in a good way. I normally don't mind paranormal stories or a ghost as a main character, but I just didn't feel it with this one. Otherwise said, the story wasn't really believable. I found both the name and the white T-shirt with the fading red heart Heart is wearing rather tacky, and the other characters just felt a bit flat. The general storyline has a lot of potential, and it might have worked better as a novel... Although I would makes some serious changes to the Heart character. All in all my least favorite story by far!
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