Review: To My Senses

To My Senses, by Alexandrea Weis


One of the side benefits (or hazards, depending on your point of view) of being an airline pilot is that after ten or twenty years, you've pretty much seen most of the world.

And while at times it can seem as if most places are interchangeable, there are still quite a few locations that never stop drawing people back.

New Orleans is one of those places and this sultry and mysterious city still lures A Reader's Respite back time after time.

It's also the setting for Alexandrea Weis' debut novel, To My Senses, a rich tale about love in the higher societal circles of New Orleans. Nicci Beauvoir is a young society woman struggling to find her place in this world. She has the charming trait of being able to see New Orleans high society for what it is and possesses that rarest of gifts: the ability to laugh at it.

Courtyard at Hotel Provencial. A Reader's Respite married Mr. RR here at sunset many moons ago.

Nicci's world, however, is turned upside down when she meets David Alexander, a mysterious artist and, as it turns out, a local gigolo. Despite her better judgment, Nicci falls in love with David and as you can imagine, this presents a whole plethora of problems.

The story is driven by it's characters and their development, which Weis does with a deft pen. Nicci and David are written with honesty and depth and the secondary characters, if not always likable, are eccentric and essential to the story.



The Court of the Two Sisters. An excellent spot for a pre-wedding brunch for the whole wedding party.


The plot rises to a crescendo slowly and is reminiscent of a sweltering New Orlean's summer. Really, it becomes hard to put the book down. And the ending? We don't deal in spoilers around here, but we will say kudos to Ms. Weis for throwing us a curve-ball that we never saw coming!



The Royal Cafe provides a darned good wedding reception.

Okay, so who's up next to read this great debut novel? If you're interested, leave a comment here and on Wednesday, April 22, a random winner will be drawn. International entrants are encouraged!



Title: To My Senses
Author: Alexandrea Weis
ISBN-13: 978-1419661112
336 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Date: June 30, 2007



More discerning reviews you may be interested in (if you know of any more, leave a link!):

Bookopolis
You've GOTTA Read This!
Cheryl's Book Nook
Book Review Journal
Diary of an Eccentric

17 comments:

  1. I read this book a couple of months ago, and completely fell in love with the characters, the story, the city, the whole bit. The author has put a chapter of the sequel to this book, titled "Recovery" on Amazon as a free download. I'm so excited about seeing Nicci again.

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  2. Sounds like a great book. Please enter me.

    sharon54220@gmail.com

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  3. Thanks for the teasers about your wedding day. I'd love to be entered for the book. milou2ster(at)gmail.com

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  4. I'd love to check this book out, so please add me to your draw. (Rebachin at gmail)
    And I love the graphic in your blog title . Where did you find it?

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  5. This sounds like it could be an interesting read! I'd love to be in the draw!

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  6. Wow falling in love with a gigolo? That would really be interesting. Please do count me in.

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  7. This sounds SUPER. Please do enter me.

    And I loved the photos and the tidbits about your own wedding. Great post.

    BFish[dot]Reads[at]gmail.com

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  8. New Orleans is like no other city in the world! Sounds like the personality of the city gets a starring role in TO MY SENSES.

    Thanks for sharing the personal photos in your post; I love the unique architecture.

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  9. Sounds good to me. I'm down to only four that I'm reading.

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  10. I enjoyed this book and reviewed it here. The ending was great, and I can't wait for the sequel. I love that you put pictures in your review--what a wonderful place for a wedding.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  11. Hi Michele! Love your blog and reviews! I've just nominated you for a Premio Dardos award! Here's the link: http://chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/awards-awards.html

    Keep up the wonderful posts!

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  12. I'd love to read this book. I was just in New Orleans for a wedding at the end of March.

    Not to bribe you or anything... but I just left you an award over on my page: http://www.texasredbooks.com/2009/04/new-awards-and-moving-news.html

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  13. This sounds lovely. Count me in. Thanks.

    ♥ Nely

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  14. This sounds delightful! New Orleans has always fascinated me and I cherish fond memories of my one trip there almost 20 years ago. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy of "To My Senses."

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  15. A fun review! I liked it a lot. I love the minin photo essay you inserted in to the review. For some reason I have never read a story set in New Orleans nor visited the place. I know that I will have to do both sooner rather than later. I might just start with this book.

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  16. Wonderful review, I love unpredictable love stories and would love to win a copy of this one ~ please put me in the draw.

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  17. Rebachin - actually, the nice lady who I paid $$$ to designed the blog for me, but I picked out the graphic and colors online and then paid for the copyright to them. Confusing (for me). All I know is if one pays enough money, they can get just about anything. ha.

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Fire away!