Sunday, February 16, 2020
Starry Night by Debbie Macomber
Starry Night written by Debbie Macomber, narrated by Rebecca Lowman
Run-time: 5 hours and 21 minutes
The listener is immediately dropped into the life of an undervalued journalist named Carrie Slayton. Landing a job at Chicago newspaper seemed like a dream until Carrie finds herself stuck writing for the society page. She is surrounded by people with 2-Dimensional personalities who are just looking to get praise from her column.
Going for broke, Carrie makes a deal with her boss. If she can get an interview with an illusive, famous author named Finn Dalton, she can cover more serious new pieces. The catch is that no even knows where to find him, let alone know what he even looks like. The only thing anyone knows about him is that he lives somewhere in the Alaskan Wilderness.
Carrie is somehow the only person who can follow Finn's trail via his mom and then find Finn's only close friend who happens to be a pilot with an airplane. The pilot takes Carrie to Finn's cabin but then quickly leaves her there. There is a huge snow storm coming in and the pilot just leaves her to fend for herself with no way home but to wait for him to come back. Finn has no choice but to take Carrie in as a guest for a few nights or else she'd freeze to death outside.
Over the next few days, the listener learns the following: Finn loves Alaska. Both characters are attracted to each other but know that they shouldn't. Finn mentions Alaska every few minutes. In case the listener forgot that the book is set there.
In true light romance form, Carrie and Finn go from being enemies, tolerant of each other, friendly, flirty, then ultimately 'in love'. This progression of the relationship took place over the course of 72 hours.
Carrie's family and friends advise her to be guarded with her love because of the speed at Finn and Carrie were going with their relationship. They become concerned when they learn that Finn asked Carrie to not publish the article that could put her career in the fast lane. Carrie is soon forced to choose between her career or a relationship with a man she just met.
The lyrical writing style of Debbie Macomber is undeniably beautiful. The description of the setting almost transports the listener to the snowy mountains under the Northern Lights. The only drawbacks to the story is the validity and the cliche. It doesn't seem possible that after hundreds of different reports tried to find Finn that Carrie would be the first one to successfully do so. Also It follows the typical troupe of a reclusive, outdoorsy male and an unconventional, smart female falling in love.
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I enjoyed reading your review of this book. Romance is not a genre I'm very familiar with, which is why I chose it as one of the genres for my annotations this semester. Funnily enough, I had already picked up the book I'm going to read and annotate for that this week, and it is also by Debbie Macomber and also takes place in Alaska! (it's called Alaskan Holiday). I wonder if a lot of her books take place in Alaska, or if that is just a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteLaura I would guess that she has a set of books with an ensemble set of characters that are all based in Alaska. I've read some of hers and there are often several books set in the same area/town and has characters that build off the last book or take on a more leading role in one book vs another.
DeleteAfter reading your annotation, I don't think this will go on my to-read list. I do like romance, but those that have a historical background (that's what I annotated this week). Although romances tend to be fast-paced, this one was way too fast and predictable. I have to agree that Carrie does find Finn too easily and then why would he ask her not to publish the article? Seems kind of sketchy to me.
ReplyDeleteGreat annotation. With Laura reading another Macomber novel, it would be interesting to compare the two.
Macomber is a very popular author at my library. Your annotation is highly detailed in its description of what happens and how the story line progresses. I appreciate that you point out the cliche nature of the book. I'm not sure my readers would care, but that might have me flipping pages, just to check it off.
ReplyDeleteMacomber is a perennial favorite in my library! Great job summarizing this into a Kirkus inspired review! The ending was good but could have packed a punch if you had been able to condense it into one sentence. Still though great job and full points!
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