Rating: 
Summary: Mayberry in Maine
Review: A delightful read! You'll find yourself laughing out loud at these different characters living on the island of Heavenly Daze. A refreshing approach to teaching us how God works in our lives no matter what our personality. Lori Copeland and Angela Hunt have hit a home run with this series! Can't wait to see what these charming people will get into next!
Rating: 
Summary: Just can't stretch my suspension of disbelief that far...
Review: After reading the latest Jan Karon Mitford novel (In This Mountain) I wanted more about God, small towns and interesting people. So I turned to this, the first in the Heavenly Daze series. Sadly, it'll likely be the last for me. If you've read the other reviews you'll know it's about a village in Maine whose residents are aided by angels. Well, for me the concept just didn't come together. The main stories -- Anne and Olympia De Cuvier's struggle to get along and pastor Winslow Wickam' insecurity about his lack of hair and charisma -- work really well as plotlines. Tossing the angels into it turns the book into a silly Disney movie-of-the-week. In the end, I found them annoying intrusions that zapped the credibility of the main stories. And then there's the stuff about Tallulah the dog. It could have been chopped right out and I wouldn't have noticed. Oh well. I'm glad others have enjoyed this series so much.
Rating:
Summary: HEAVENLY & HOPEFUL
Review: Better than Jan Karon's Mitford - this book transports from the chaos and sadness of today into a realm of hope and hereafter. It accomplishes what a lot of preachers can't. A definate read to comfort mind, body and spirit. After reading the first I purchased the rest.
Rating:
Summary: HEAVENLY & HOPEFUL
Review: Better than Jan Karon's Mitford - this book transports from the chaos and sadness of today into a realm of hope and hereafter. It accomplishes what a lot of preachers can't. A definate read to comfort mind, body and spirit. After reading the first I purchased the rest.
Rating:
Summary: Taste the sea air
Review: heavenly daze warmed my heart,made me laugh out loud,and was a comfort as I sat in my victorian tea house and read myself into complete serenity.I could almost taste the salty air on my lips.
Rating:
Summary: Endearing and charming
Review: Hi, I just finished "The Island of Heavenly Daze." I just had to write and say how much I enjoyed this wonderful book. The characters are all so endearing. I love the guardian angels. I'm glad I just discovered the book, because now I won't have to wait long for the next one! Keep them coming! I could read about these folks for years.
Rating:
Summary: Endearing and charming
Review: Hi, I just finished "The Island of Heavenly Daze." I just had to write and say how much I enjoyed this wonderful book. The characters are all so endearing. I love the guardian angels. I'm glad I just discovered the book, because now I won't have to wait long for the next one! Keep them coming! I could read about these folks for years.
Rating:
Summary: Comfort books
Review: I found your Books While browsing my book store. The front cover look to be a comfort book, so I bought the first two in the series & now I'm hooked.Will ther be more than just the five books? I hope so, Your writing is so vivid it's like I'm one the island myself. Love the stories don't stop.
Rating:
Summary: My First 2 Star Rating...
Review: I hate to be the party pooper, but I really could not get into this book. When my friends heavily recommended it to me, I thought a nice fluffy book (as they described it) would be a nice break. However this book never really rose to what it's potential might have been (in my opinion).In a nutshell, my criticisms are this:
- It was poorly written. The book simply dragged, and I forced my way through it hoping that it would pick up at some point. When it did, it was a whole new set of characters (the Annie & Olivia story), and I had trouble getting into them.
- This brings me to my second point: The plot is incredibly choppy. You start with a huge focus on the pastor and then move for most of the book to focus on Annie & Olivia. Then, at the end, you switch back to the pastor. My guess was that one writer took one subplot and one took the other, but it would have been easier to care about the characters & their issues if they were developed throughout.
- There was a sloppiness about details in the town and the storyline. Sometimes I would start picturing one thing in my mind only to have a dog or a person or something in a completely different place than I had been led to believe. I think because of the two authors, no one took full responsibility for solid development of the town, places, or even character details.
- Only the main characters were really developed. Again, I think each writer focused on her subplot, and that left alot of the town as one-dimensional characters valuable only as a stereotype against which the main characters play off.
- Lastly, I think I would have cried if any more cliche evangelical sayings, promises, prayers, etc. were shoved down my throat. If you want to write a fluffy, funny story with quirky characters then go ahead...but don't use it to be preachy because there isn't enough meat there to really speak to real life. Instead, I got the sense that the authors created each scene with their punch-line sermon in mind...it was all too manipulated to have any poignancy. However, for what it's worth, I did appreciate 2 things:
1. The inclusion of the angels was creative. When I heard the plot, I truly dreamed up great & amusing potential for this book.
2. I appreciated a mid-life crisis type pastor who wasn't really endearing. In most Christian fiction, you seem to run into the same characters over and over, but he was new...and believable.
Rating:
Summary: My First 2 Star Rating...
Review: I hate to be the party pooper, but I really could not get into this book. When my friends heavily recommended it to me, I thought a nice fluffy book (as they described it) would be a nice break. However this book never really rose to what it's potential might have been (in my opinion). In a nutshell, my criticisms are this:
- It was poorly written. The book simply dragged, and I forced my way through it hoping that it would pick up at some point. When it did, it was a whole new set of characters (the Annie & Olivia story), and I had trouble getting into them.
- This brings me to my second point: The plot is incredibly choppy. You start with a huge focus on the pastor and then move for most of the book to focus on Annie & Olivia. Then, at the end, you switch back to the pastor. My guess was that one writer took one subplot and one took the other, but it would have been easier to care about the characters & their issues if they were developed throughout.
- There was a sloppiness about details in the town and the storyline. Sometimes I would start picturing one thing in my mind only to have a dog or a person or something in a completely different place than I had been led to believe. I think because of the two authors, no one took full responsibility for solid development of the town, places, or even character details.
- Only the main characters were really developed. Again, I think each writer focused on her subplot, and that left alot of the town as one-dimensional characters valuable only as a stereotype against which the main characters play off.
- Lastly, I think I would have cried if any more cliche evangelical sayings, promises, prayers, etc. were shoved down my throat. If you want to write a fluffy, funny story with quirky characters then go ahead...but don't use it to be preachy because there isn't enough meat there to really speak to real life. Instead, I got the sense that the authors created each scene with their punch-line sermon in mind...it was all too manipulated to have any poignancy. However, for what it's worth, I did appreciate 2 things:
1. The inclusion of the angels was creative. When I heard the plot, I truly dreamed up great & amusing potential for this book.
2. I appreciated a mid-life crisis type pastor who wasn't really endearing. In most Christian fiction, you seem to run into the same characters over and over, but he was new...and believable.
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