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Book: This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Ever since she was a teenager, children's book author Molly Somerville has been infatuated with handsome Kevin Tucker, quarterback for her sister's Chicago Stars football team. Unfortunately, Kevin doesn't know she's alive until one fateful weekend when they're marooned together at the family vacation cabin. When Molly gets carried away by her creative imagination and compromises Kevin, the results are disastrous and before the dust settles, Kevin's in trouble with his boss, Molly's in deep trouble with her emotions, and both of them are in danger of losing their hearts. Their journey to a happy ending is dicey, at best, and even if they can get past their outrageous and painful beginning, whether these two can lower their guards and let the other into their equally wary hearts is questionable.

When: Feb. 1st through end of month
Who: Anyone who wants to join in.

Reading Guide:

Week One: Chapter 1-6

Week Two: Chapter 7-13
Week Three: Chapter 14-19
Week Four: Chapter 20-end(Feb. 23-28 )

Discussion:

Week One:

* Did the first couple of chapters hold your interest?

* What kept you reading?

* Do you like the Author's writing style?

* Are you able to identify with the characters in any way?

* Which character annoys you the most and why?

* Do you think the story has a promising start and are you looking forward to the next couple of weeks?

* Are you finding it easy to read or are you pushing yourself to read?

Week Two:

* This story deals with a lot of "real life" type issues such as unrequited loved, struggling to make the ends meet, overprotective families, etc. How do you think that makes the book stronger? Or does it make it weaker?

* Do you like the changing points of view or would you rather have the book solely from one point of view? For example, the book alternates between being from Molly's point of view and later on, from Kevin's (even later on someone else).

* Do you think that having multiple points of view helps you to understand the characters better or does it just make the book longer?

* What has been your favorite part of the book so far? Least favorite?

* Have you had any 'what the hell?' kind of moments so far - meaning things you have no idea WHY the author wrote what they did?

Week Three:

* It was at this point in the book that I was getting antsy for things to be resolved. I was tired of the cat & mouse game and just want the two to get together and stop dorking around. Did anyone else feel this way?

* What did you think about the secondary love story? Should it have been included?

* Open discussion ..

Week Four:

* What did you think of Phoebe's ultimatum to Kevin? Do you think that she meant it or that she was just trying to get the "grand gesture" from him?

* Did you like the ending? Was it too neatly tied up and perfect or did you think it was OK?

* Do you have any desire to read the other books about this family? (Phoebe and Dan's story, etc) or are you content with this one?

* Overall did you think the book had a good good flow? Were there are any parts of the book that felt choppy or just didn't mesh with everything else?

* What did you think of the epilogue? Did you like the style or wish it had been written normally.

** Open discussion **

Also, switch over to the other book club thread and give a shout about what you'd like to read next.

Aukima - it does sound good to me too. I ordered mine from the library.

got the book 3nodding and the book on tape rofl
horrah for the library <3

at the book club I'm in IRL we usually just go off topic eventually rofl
though that might be due to the fact that we're all teens and only about half of us actually finish the book sweatdrop
so I'm not all too sure exactly what i want to talk about ^^;
I'm relatively a fast reader... but not *really* fast ^^; plus I still need to finish Interview With The Vampire first sad

Well, I got my book yesterday and it's around 400 pages.

Is 100 pages per week OK with you guys? I can give actual chapters that fit into that split later but for now just assume that much?

Basically I feel I'm a harsh critic of most writing. I don't know if it's because I'm a writer myself or if I'm just a mean person *G*

I want to find out if other people feel the same way I do with a story. I want to say things like, 'why on earth did they do x or y? It just added nothing to the story' and have someone else understand what I'm saying though not necessarily agree if they felt it added something I missed.

Make sense?

And off-topic convo is fine but I'd like to try and stick to the topic at hand.

I couldn't resist I started reading it ^ ^

Discussion for first 100 pages:

* Did the first couple of chapters hold your interest?

Yes, I liked the portrait painted of Molly. The label dropping for her clothes was odd at first and then when you found out why it made you see her in a different light. Her relationship with her family was nice to see as well.

* What kept you reading?

I liked the fact that Molly was a writer and lived in her own little world. I also liked that she had this complete crush on someone who would never notice her - and that her niece felt the same was was so cute.

* Do you like the Author's writing style?

It's very easy to read and conversational. She doesn't skimp on details but she doesn't go overboard either and I appreciate that. The bits from the Daphne books are adorable.

* Are you able to identify with the characters in any way?

Molly definitely .. as a writer myself I know that I sometimes get lost in what I'm doing and see my characters everywhere.

* Which character annoys you the most and why?

At this point none of the characters. They all seem to have a purpose.

* Do you think the story has a promising start and are you looking forward to the next couple of weeks?

I'm thrilled with the book so far. It's not the best thing I've ever read but it is really well-written and enjoyable.

* Are you finding it easy to read or are you pushing yourself to read?

*grin* WAY too easy to read .. as I said earlier, I've already finished reading it. I just started reading and couldn't stop, I just wanted to see what happened next.

I'm sooo close to finishing, I'm up to the point where Molly just told the guy not to buy the camp ground. lolz BBlater