With This Ring is a Harlequin "American Romance" novel.  I don't usually read a lot of Harlequin or Silhouette novels--this might be my third or fourth-- but I've been trying to get into them so I be up-to-date on current romance novel trends.  I want to work for that industry someday, and I've neglected this whole facet of the genre.  Usually I only read the longer single titles or series because I'm a very quick reader and I want a book to last as long as possible.  Still, these novelas are good for when I don't have a lot of time on my hands, like right now.  So, onto the review...

Summary
Boy-from-the-projects Brent Borden has been in love with high-society Leslie Durrance since high school, but she's never had much use for him until he shows up outside the church as she runs away from her wedding and her two-timing groom.  Brent lets her stay at his house, a safe haven from all the gossip and questions she will have to endure.  

At Brent's, Leslie experiences a simpler life than she imagined, and she even finds herself enjoying living life on a smaller scale.  She discovers a new side of herself when she offers to plan a fundraiser for the local homeless shelter at which Brent's mom volunteers.  But what happens when she must return to her world, so seemingly disparate from the one in which Brent lives?  Will she keep rejecting Brent as she has done for years, or will she what a great guy he really is?

Opinion (a little spoilerish)
I enjoyed reading this book, but I feel it didn't capitalize on all its elements.  

First, we have class tensions.  Brent's mother, a tireless crusader for the poor, doesn't like Leslie and all her high class background represents.  The two have several uncomfortable encounters with each other.  But suddenly, off-stage, those tensions are solved.  I didn't like Brent's mother, and I wanted to see her put in her place.  But no.  A phone conversation between Brent and Leslie takes care of the whole business.  Also, Leslie's mother is a right snob, but all the issues with her are solved off-stage, too.

Second, we have long-standing love.  Throughout high school, Brent tried to date Leslie, but she always turned him down.  Why?  The only reason I can fathom is that she had a lot going on in high school with all her committees and club meetings, so she didn't have time to go out with him or anyone else.  The book sort of alludes to the fact that Leslie was never attracted to Brent in high school.  But why not?  There's really no good reason.  She just wasn't.  Of course, that happens in real life all the time.  But this is not real life, this is a book, and in books there have to be reasons for everything.  Also, I don't really understand why Brent likes Leslie.  He doesn't seem to think she's special for any specific reasons.  She's special because she's Leslie.  But what makes her Leslie?  I don't think she has enough of a personality for him to like anything about her.  

Third, we have new love.  Suddenly, Leslie is all about some Brent Borden, but what makes him so different now than when he was in high school and she didn't like him?  Nothing that I can tell.  Maybe Leslie's different, but I don't think she is.  There's no reason other than gratitude for Leslie to be in love with Brent Borden now.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm not being fair.  Maybe she would have been in love with him in high school if she'd had the time to get to know him.  But maybe that's reaching...

I don't know.  I had a good time reading this book because it was well-written, and I needed something to read, but I thought Ms. McKenzie could have developed more tension between the characters, and given more reasons for their actions and motivations.

All in all, I give this book a 6 out of 10 for personal enjoyment and a 6 out of 10 for actual quality.

Up next: Not sure, probably Cane by Jean Toomer.

My second Ibbotson book (and not my last).

Summary
Set after the Russian Revolution, Anna, a Russian countess, and her family have to flee to England and live in impoverished conditions.  Anna takes a job as a temporary maid at the Earl of Westerholme's estate to make some money for her family.  The household needs extra help because they are readying the house for Rupert, the Earl, and his soon-to-be wife, Muriel Hardwicke.  With her innocent, earnest, hardworking ways, Anna enchants the household, below stairs and above.  She also manages to enchant the earl, who has come to find that his bride-to-be is not quite the woman he thought her.   

Opinion
I liked this book just as much as I liked A Company of Swans.  Again, Ibbotson uses pretty basic romance conventions, but she writes my favorite kind of heroine (innocent, everyone loves her, a little too perfect), and I haven't gotten annoyed with the conventionality yet.  Maybe by the next book.  I didn't like that Anna and Rupert spent very little time just with each other.  In Swans, there is a point when Harriet and Rom are together almost constantly, which gives them a chance to fall in love.  In Countess, Anna and Rupert are hardly ever alone.  I'm able to spend my disbelief and accept that they are in love without having really gotten to know each other, but I shouldn't have to do so.  Ibbotson makes up for it, though, I think, because Anna and Rupert have more powerful moments together than Rom and Harriet do. 

The secondary cast of characters play a huge role in the story.  This is one thing Ibbotson does very well--give all her secondary characters their own personalities.  She never makes them just fillers or walk-ons, so the reader can connect with them and enjoy them.

All in all, I give the book 8.5 out of 10 for personal enjoyment, 7 out of 10 for actual quality. (Same as Swans)

This was book two in my list for the What's in a Name Challenge, but I couldn't wait until the beginning of the year, so it's just a regular book review.

Summary
Set in 1912 Cambridge, England and the Amazon, A Company of Swans stars a ballet dancer, 19-year-old Harriet Morton.  She is the repressed (oppressed?) daughter of a Cambridge professor who is almost engaged to be married to a not-entirely-objectionable-but-certainly-not-ideal colleage of her father's.  She is offered a chance to be in the corps of a ballet company about to tour the Amazon. She escapes from her overbearing father and miserly aunt to join the company.  They travel to South America to perform in an Opera House run by Rom Verney, an Englishman living in self-imposed exile.  She and Rom discover a once-in-a-lifetime love that is threatened by the appearance of Harriet's almost-intended and Rom's former flame.  

Opinion
Ibbotson wrote for these books (A Company of Swans, Countess Below Stairs, and other recently rereleased novels)adults in the eighties, and some of her books have recently been rereleased and marketed to young adults.  I think this was a good move by the publisher (Speak, an imprint of Penguin) because the book is pretty simplistic.  That said, it does have some adult themes and situations like SPOILER lust, exotic dancing, and premarital sex (highlight to see spoiler).  Also, outdated romance fiction conventions feature prominently in this novel: helpless female rescued by male, one-dimensional "Other Woman" character, etc.  I don't really have a problem with this, but I could see how people would.  I could also see how people would have a problem with the plethora of coincidences that carried the plot forward.  Seriously, one Amazon review compared it to Charles Dickens' novels, and she is so right.  At one point, Ibbotson blatantly announces that Rom encounters a deus ex machina, and I wanted to yell that her whole novel is one deus ex machina after another (if you are slightly liberal with the definition).  Oh well, I got over it. 

I really do love this book.  The exotic locale and the 20th century time period are nice changes from the Regency and Victorian England settings I'm used to.  I like Harriet's character, though some may find her too good, too sweet, too perfect for their liking.  She's this innocent, joyful, loving girl that can do no wrong.  I tend to like characters like that because a lot of romance novelists make their heroines shrews because they can't find that balance between independence and niceness.  I much prefer too much niceness to too much shrewness (if that's a word).  

Ibbotson infuses the book with classical references and vivid descriptions of the life of a ballerina and of the ballet.  She is one smart, cultured lady, and her allusions and descriptions make the novel that much more enjoyable.  Sometimes they can make things drag, as can the multiple points of view she writes in, but the story is worth the digressions and time away from the main characters.

All in all, I give the book 8.5 out of 10 for personal enjoyment, 7 out of 10 for actual quality.

So I've finished my first book in my first challenge ever!  Except it doesn't count because I had to read this book rightnow and couldn't wait until the challenge officially starts in January.  Too bad it wasn't worth it. I'm still getting this reviewing thing down, so the format might change as time passes.

Synopsis
In Kissing Snowflakes by Abby Sher, Samantha Levy is an almost-sixteen-year-old New Yorker (the state, not the city) headed to the slopes of Vermont for her winter vacation/father's honeymoon with his new wife, Kathy.  On her vacation, Sam has two objectives: fall hopelessly in love and stay as far from Kathy as possible.  She thinks she has accomplished her first goal once she meets the hot ski instructor, Drew, but are his intentions pure?  And what about the lodge owner's earnest son who seems to be around every corner?  Sam is up for one heck of a vacation.

Opinion
I have very mixed feelings about this book.  Parts of it are funny and quirky and realistic.  Parts of it are barely tolerable.  It hasn't been that long since I was fifteen (six years), but I cannot remember acting like Sam does.  I seem to have an inability to get past my own mind and experiences, and this gets in the way of my judging this book.  So just bear that in mind.

Sher writes in a very conversational style, truly in the voice of a fifteen year old (really, she sounded thirteen to me, but remember my biases).  Sometimes this, and sometimes it's just annoying.  Really, I felt like I was reading my old diary: "Well, today this happened, and can you believe how hot [crush of the week] is, and, oh my goodness, BFF and I are not getting along at all!" 

A lot of the conflicts in the book are superficial, glossed over.  Sam deals with some real issues--a new stepmom, a fight with her best friend, her first experience with boys--that could and should have been explored much more fully.  The resolution of the stepmom issue is contrived and predictable.  The fight Sam has with her best friend Phoebe is never resolved.  As for the boys--and this is a problem with the rest of the issues, too--I just don't feel that Sam learns anything, or learns what she should have.  

I did like some parts of the book, though!  Sam is a sweet character.  She's awkward and nerdy and assertive.  The awkwardness produces some cringe-worthy moments--you know, those that you remember for the rest of your life they're so embarrassing, and you don't know whether you want to laugh in sympathy or yell at Sam to stop being fifteen and show some discernment.  But it also allows for a more likable character.  

The ending is divine.  I love the ending.  I don't want to spoil it, so I won't say more, but it really is a nice finish.

All in all, I give the book 5 out of 10.  

Up Next: A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson  (probably, or maybe a new challenge!)