Reviews for Cinnabar summer

The average rating for Cinnabar summer based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-04-01 00:00:00 Leslie Goss This book takes place in England, to which I have never been except through books. The lead female character, Rosemary, is a relatively new author, recently widowed, mother of 2 college age children living away from home. Her first major book is being turned into a movie and this is where the lead male enters the story. Stephen is an actor who hasn't always had it easy in life but has also been dealt a rough and unfair hand with the media, altering common perception of his character. An innocent comment by Rosemary to her friend/producer Oliver and his inability to keep his mouth shut leads to a misunderstanding between the two before they even meet. Initially, Rosemary's concern over him being slightly too old for the role image leads to sensitivity and almost outright hostile behavior from Stephen the first couple of times they meet. Rosemary also is dealing with a discovered betrayal by her late husband and working through what seems like the aftermath of a controlling and mentally abusive relationship throughout her adult life. Through the lens of a woman who has been underhandedly beaten down her entire adult life, Rosemary slowly begins to figure out who she wants to be and starts the process of being comfortable in her own skin. Once the misunderstanding is cleared away Stephen and Rosemary begin a slow courtship rife with further misunderstandings and missed communications. I admit I have read a lot (and by a lot, I mean my bookshelf on my Kindle cloud is in the thousands) of books, a significant number of them being romance of some type. I had a hard time relating to Rosemary's responses to situations and perceived situations as far as emotionally goes, both on a reader level and a personal one. At times, I felt she was acting more like a teenager in her emotional responses and non-responses. Others she would initially start this way but then quickly mature like whiplash. There was an entire chunk of time in this book where the leads kept "missing" each other for communication by phone. This felt contrived and not realistic in the modern world in which we live since during the book there was reference made to her having an iPad, computer, mobile phone, and land lines. I also had an issue when she immediately believed the worst about her daughter's involvement in the plot line. I am a mother and I have a hard time believing the way that was written but it could also be a cultural divide type thing. I am thoroughly a Southern American Woman (Yes, that deserves capitalization. If you were here, you'd understand.) There were several times throughout the book where, even though we all speak English, it is very different versions of English. By that, I mean that geography that would be significant just by name was a complete blank in my head. Slang lost me in certain sentences. I also had a hard time with the ease in which Rosemary automatically slipped into her own head and believed the worst about everyone in a situation but then didn't do a single thing to stand up for herself. As we say here, she just rolled over and took it, ran away, and didn't fight for anything. Also, it must be mentioned that a HUGE distraction in this book was editing. Grammatically speaking it was fine. Spacing was an issue. About every 15-20 words you would have 2 words with no space between. I read this on my Kindle so I suspect it is a formatting issue and I hope it gets resolved so that the reader can focus more on the story. There were also things I loved about the book. I loved that Rosemary didn't let the discovery of her betrayal keep her down for long. I liked that she was witty and thoughtful. She was so loyal to all of her friends and family in the book, you know, except the believing the worst about her daughter bit. She had gracefully dealt with the aftermath of her late husband's death and the mess he left her in. Stephen seemed to be a down to earth lead male who loved his family and had dealt with some nasty blows from people he once cared about but he still wasn't bitter. He was careful in his pursuit of Rosemary, trying to build something real and lasting out of the spotlight. He equally contributed to the misunderstandings throughout the relationship,thus making him more human than some of the male leads you see lately who are almost always in control. I found this part a nice break from the current trend. In short, this was a worthwhile read. I feel if I understood some of the English references more that I would've enjoyed it more but that's not something the author could really control. I felt like there were several parts of the story that were predictable to me but were still worth the read.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-04-15 00:00:00 David Roger Cinnabar Summer, written by Danielle Shaw, is the first book I've read by this author. The story is about Rosemary Fielding and Stephen Walker. Rosemary is recently widowed with two grown children, Jane and Ben, and both are living away from home while they attend college. She has definitely gone through a lot of changes in her life, and is about to go through even more. She has written a popular novel titled To Love the Hero. A friend of Rosemary's, Oliver Duncan, is making the novel into a miniseries, and to her dismay, he has cast Stephen Walker to play the leading role. Rosemary told Oliver that she felt the leading role should be played by someone younger. Of course, Oliver went back and told Stephen that Rosemary felt he was too old to be cast for the leading role, and that did not go over well. Needless to say, Rosemary and Stephen were off to a very rocky start. Stephen Walker is an actor that is constantly in the tabloids. He has just been chosen to play the lead role of Edward Crighton in the miniseries To Love the Hero. He wants to meet the author of the book, especially since he wants her to explain why she feels he's too old to play the leading role. After all, he is only thirty-five years old. After meeting and clearing up the miscommunication, Rosemary begins to realize Stephen is not the man she thought he was. This just goes to show that you can't believe everything you read in the headlines. The two begin a friendship of sorts, and things are revealed about each character that sheds new light on both of them. Rosemary slowly finds her true self, after years of being told what to do by her husband. She is learning to make a new life for herself, one that includes Stephen. Stephen didn't always have a glamorous life, but he never let any problems he faced change who he is. He could have become bitter, but chose to not let his problems define him. The friendship between the two lead characters is a slow, but also a refreshing change from the typical "jump into bed" romance novel. They base their relationship on friendship first, and both learn the key to making things work is communication. They started off on a bad note due to miscommunication, and face further problems for the same reason. However, they do end up eventually learning from their mistakes. Both characters have their flaws, which make them realistic. Overall, I enjoyed sharing their journey through the pages of this book, and would recommend this charming romance novel. I received a digital copy of this book from Endeavour Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.