Book Review-Out Of The Ordinary

Out of the Ordinary by Jen Turano is the third book in the Apart From The Crowd series.  Book Summary:  This book follows the adventures of Miss Gertrude Cadwalader.  Gertrude is a paid assistant to the very quirky and unpredictable Mrs. Davenport.  Many times, Gertrude is forced to return items that her employer has “borrowed” in order to keep the peace.  She is also made to wear whatever creations Mrs. Davenport decides to create-including dresses with bustles made from birdcages.
Gertrude does her best to take everything in stride, but will her future be destroyed when things go too far?
My Take:  I didn’t care for this book.  I wanted to like it.  I have liked all of the books I have read by Jen Turano-including the first book in this series.  Sadly though, this book just wasn’t as good.  There were too many times Gertrude did things that were contrary to the character that was built for her in the book.  For instance, she was a loyal, honest, kind, and upstanding citizen, yet she also returned stolen items without notifying the authorities, kept secrets, and did dishonest things to protect her employer.  You wanted to like her, but you wondered why she was doing so many things against her own character.
The case was the same with the main male character-he was dashing, rich, humorous, etc.  But he also did some pretty silly stuff-reading romance novels to find out what type of romantic gestures women wanted, pulling crazy stunts, etc.  Even one of the main characters from the first book in the series turned from dashing to just plain silly in this one.
In the end, I wanted to like the characters and the book, but I just didn’t care for the juxtaposition between how the characters were described in the book, and what actions they took.  I wouldn’t recommend this book, but I do still like Jen Turano’s books, and will read more in the future.
As always, I thank Bethany House for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Merry Christmas!

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Christmas Card 35

For today’s card, I used another Project Life card (like yesterday.)  There was a non-Christmas saying on the black card, but I covered it up with a snowflake.  I added a border sticker and some gems below the snowflake.  I adhered the card onto some die cut paper and card stock.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn; Die: My Favorite Things; Project Life Card: Studio Calico; Sticker: Crate Paper; Snowflake: Maya Road; Gems: Kaiser Kraft; Other: Card Stock
I like how it turned out!
Stayed tuned-I am hoping to share a few more cards yet before Christmas-we will see!  🙂
I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Hazelnut’s challenge extra for December
Crafty Hazelnut’s December Patterned Paper Challenge

Christmas Card 34

For today’s card, I wanted to use some non-Christmas supplies.  I dug through some Project Life cards, and used one for the base of my card.  I stamped the wreath on top, added the chipboard piece and some sequins.

Supplies: Project Life Card: Studio Calico; Stamp: Memory Box; Chipboard Circle: My Mind’s Eye; Sequins: Lawn Fawn
A simple card, but I really like how it turned out!  And, as a bonus, I have been trying to use that chipboard piece on a card for several years.  Glad it finally found a card home.  🙂
I am entering this card into:
Crafty Hazelnut’s challenge extra for December

Wednesday Words

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