Karen Healey (1) (1981–)
Författare till Guardian of the Dead
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Om författaren
Karen Healey is an author who made the New Zealand Children's Book Award 2015 shortlist with her title While We Run. (Bowker Author Biography)
Foto taget av: official author pic
Serier
Verk av Karen Healey
Penelope Pops the Question 5 exemplar
Hera Takes Charge 5 exemplar
The Unicorn Bell 2 exemplar
Teen Movie Times 2 exemplar
Bespoke & Bespelled (Movie Magic) 2 exemplar
Associerade verk
Monsters in the Garden : An Anthology of Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy (2021) — Bidragsgivare — 7 exemplar
Athens to Aotearoa : Greece and Rome in New Zealand literature and society (2017) — Bidragsgivare — 4 exemplar
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
- Födelsedag
- 1981
- Kön
- female
- Nationalitet
- Aotearoa / New Zealand
New Zealand - Bostadsorter
- Christchurch, New Zealand
- Agent
- Goldblatt, Barry
Medlemmar
Recensioner
Bespoke & Bespelled av Karen Healey
Short and sweet—a very fast, fun read. As judging by the cover will tell you, it's a cute, magical romance, but it's also a fun little film industry mystery.
This is a prequel novelette about two Olympus employees, Penny and Odysseus. Penny, Olympus’ Wardrobe Assistant, is unimpressed about overseeing a new intern. Odysseus is cocky, despite being clueless about fashion, determined to land a final placement in Finance, despite that Finance doesn’t take interns, and interested in Penny, despite being younger than she is.
Meanwhile, Penny is worried about her cousin Helen’s apathy towards her -- Helen’s -- upcoming wedding.
This was a lot of fun, and particularly satisfying as a retelling.
Meanwhile, Penny is worried about her cousin Helen’s apathy towards her -- Helen’s -- upcoming wedding.
This was a lot of fun, and particularly satisfying as a retelling.
Odysseus hesitated, staring across the road at her.… (mer)
Penny beckoned him over, and he crossed immediately.
“I’m not stalking you,” he said.
“That’s exactly what a stalker would say.”
“I’m really not,” he said, looking unsure of himself for the first time she could remember.
Penny wasn’t actually concerned. Odysseus was brash, manipulative and way too smart for his own good, but he didn’t set off her creep alarm. Hanging out with Helen had given her a lot of practice at sniffing out creeps.
But it was fun to watch him wriggle. “What are you doing here, then?” she asked, trying to look stern.
This takes place after the events of Persephone in Bloom and Aphrodite Unbound. After divorcing her unfaithful husband, Hera has her sights set on becoming Olympus Inc.’s next CEO.
She has also acquired a couple of new housemates -- Don, one of her ex-husband’s older brothers, is staying in case Zeus shows up and makes a nuisance of himself again, and Leia, a homeless teenager who Hera has taken in. Seeing both Hera’s and Don’s interactions with Leia is part of why I enjoyed the dual POV, because the relationships that develop reveal a fuller picture of all three of them. I really liked the found-family dynamic which emerges.
I generally prefer single POV romances but I noticed that I was enjoying this book because of the dual perspectives! It portrays the characters and their relationships with depth, without losing tension or becoming frustrating. Don and Hera have known each other for years, but for all that time, she’s been very much in love with someone else -- and she’s still processing the end of that relationship. So it’s very understandable that Don has never told Hera how he feels about her and that she has never realised neither the truth of his feelings nor the potential for her own.
And having dual POV enhanced the tension, because the story was clearly setting up these two to get together, yet I couldn’t anticipate how that would happen! I wasn’t sure how and when Hera would realise, nor how she would react when she did.
This story is also notable for being about a couple in their forties, and for thoughtfully exploring the challenges faced by women in leadership roles. So that was interesting too. I’m still sorting out how much I like the ending (subjective emotional reactions are subjective, et cetera, et cetera) but I really enjoyed reading this book. And I came away wanting to revisit Persephone in Bloom.
She has also acquired a couple of new housemates -- Don, one of her ex-husband’s older brothers, is staying in case Zeus shows up and makes a nuisance of himself again, and Leia, a homeless teenager who Hera has taken in. Seeing both Hera’s and Don’s interactions with Leia is part of why I enjoyed the dual POV, because the relationships that develop reveal a fuller picture of all three of them. I really liked the found-family dynamic which emerges.
I generally prefer single POV romances but I noticed that I was enjoying this book because of the dual perspectives! It portrays the characters and their relationships with depth, without losing tension or becoming frustrating. Don and Hera have known each other for years, but for all that time, she’s been very much in love with someone else -- and she’s still processing the end of that relationship. So it’s very understandable that Don has never told Hera how he feels about her and that she has never realised neither the truth of his feelings nor the potential for her own.
And having dual POV enhanced the tension, because the story was clearly setting up these two to get together, yet I couldn’t anticipate how that would happen! I wasn’t sure how and when Hera would realise, nor how she would react when she did.
This story is also notable for being about a couple in their forties, and for thoughtfully exploring the challenges faced by women in leadership roles. So that was interesting too. I’m still sorting out how much I like the ending (subjective emotional reactions are subjective, et cetera, et cetera) but I really enjoyed reading this book. And I came away wanting to revisit Persephone in Bloom.
Well, now it was her office, and she’d decorate it as she pleased, in light woods and harmonious shades.… (mer)
And she’d ask Don for advice. He’d know how to make this space professional, but not dull, and elegant, but not stiff.
So many things she had to be, so many tightropes to walk.
Despite not being a romance reader, I enjoyed this sequel to Persephone in Bloom. The fake dating of two mature and likeable characters (although they each had baggage to work through) played out well against the “high society” background. I liked the mythological references, although it’s a perfectly readable story even if you’re not familiar with them. Oddly, my biggest chuckle was over Heph’s surname being “Smith”. The other characters were fun as well, and I’m sure we’ll see more of them.
As a minor criticism, I could have done with a bit less internal angst about perceived inadequacies.
Overall, an enjoyable fast read.… (mer)
As a minor criticism, I could have done with a bit less internal angst about perceived inadequacies.
Overall, an enjoyable fast read.… (mer)
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Statistik
- Verk
- 14
- Även av
- 6
- Medlemmar
- 1,342
- Popularitet
- #19,173
- Betyg
- 3.8
- Recensioner
- 121
- ISBN
- 69
- Favoritmärkt
- 2