Hearts on a String: A Novel by Kris Radish

From the back of the book:

Holly Blandeen has always cherished the story her grandmother told her about the thread that connects all women, tying them forever in sisterhood.  It's a beautiful idea, but with all the curveballs life has thrown her way, Holly has often felt isolated, different from other women.  That starts to change when she meets four strangers in an airport and they agree to share a luxury hotel suite because a powerful spring storm is barreling across the country, stranding travelers from California to Florida.  What begins as a spur-of-the-moment decision becomes an unlikely, unexpected, and sometimes reluctant exercise in female bonding, as these five exceptional women - each at a crossroads - swap stories, share secrets, and seek answers to the questions they've been asking about life, love, and the path to true happiness.  A storm may have grounded them for the moment, but after this wild adventure in which anything can and does happen, they'll never have to fly solo again.

My thoughts:

I enjoy reading chick lit and women's lit - I have no shame in admitting that.  However, I do not enjoy to read badly written lit of any kind and sadly this is exactly what transpired when I chose to read and review Hearts on a String for the TLC Book Tours.  From the summary I was provided with, the book sounded like the perfect light read for a summer's day - exactly what I was in the mood for. Alas, my mood was dampened when I began to read the book and discovered what I was in for:  bad writing.  The story centers on a group of women who meet by chance in the airport's restroom where they all band together to fish a cell phone out of the toilet. As they celebrate the phone's freedom, an announcement is made that due to terrible weather the airport has shut down all of its inbound and outbound flights - thereby stranding these women in Tampa, Florida.  In a split second they all agree to follow Nan (owner of cell phone in toilet) to the hotel suite she has just vacated (apparently its still available) and room together to ride out this terrible weather. From this point on we find out about each woman and the ways in which they are similar and different from one another.  We discover that they all want the same thing - happiness in their lives.  Aside from the women, we find out that there is a convention being held at the hotel  - a convention of psychics, who seem intent on sliding messages underneath the women's suite informing them that there are dangerous people lurking about the hotel (so they should BEWARE). 

I'm beginning to wonder what made me think this would be a good read? Hmmm.  I suppose I'll just chalk up to a lapse in judgement - which I will need to rectify straightaway with a very good book in hand and a big cuppa in the other.  But I digress.  On to the writing - which was not good. I hate to critique it, but seriously, how many times did we have to read about the women chatting or texting on their cell phones (like every other minute - I get it! We are a cell phone/texting obsessed society!) and then we had to repeatedly read about how each woman kept questioning their sanity over their rash decision to share a room with complete strangers ("What were we thinking?" or "Are we crazy?").   Oh and I forgot to mention the beginning of the book when Holly's a kid and her grandmother tells her that all women have strings on their hearts that connect them to one another - how hokey is that?!?  I mean I get the point that it was trying to get across - all women bond together to help one another, but using the idea of a string on our hearts to paint the picture was rather lame.  UGH!  And then the fact that one of the women in the group happens to be having an affair with the husband of the woman who suggested sharing the hotel room - PREDICTABLE!  I just found these women to be annoying cliches and felt disconnected from them throughout the book. The flow of the book dragged on and I would find myself wanting to watch television or flip through a magazine instead of reading it. I wound up skimming through pages because I wanted it to end. I should have just given up on it, but I found myself wondering why the psychics kept warning the women about dangerous people (although that was pretty predictable, too).  At the end of the day, I'm done and I'll just leave it at that. I definitely won't be picking up another Radish book in the future - her writing is just not my cup of tea.

If anyone wants my copy, they are welcome to it. Just leave me a comment and provide your email address so that I can contact you for your shipping details. (US residents only). 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review!