bookedoc's reviews
339 reviews

Cold Light of Day by Toni Anderson

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3.5

Working through Toni Anderson’s backlist and the Cold Justice series. I love these romantic suspense books and Anderson is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors. This was an enjoyable third part of the series, but fell a bit short in comparison to the first two books. The espionage plot had a little more action and was more of a political thriller than the first two books. I liked Scarlett’s character and felt drawn to her quest for redemption, but Matt wasn’t my favorite of the male protagonists in the series so far. 

Action thrillers and romance lovers know we don’t generally read these for “realism”, after all that’s not what makes these books entertaining 😉 however the romance pacing this book was just a little TOO unrealistic and sudden for me. It didn’t feel organic at all and felt as though it was just dropped in the middle of the plot as a filler.
Tattered by Devney Perry

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3.0

Cute romance/surprise pregnancy trope. Thea is unexpected reunited with the father of her child, 6 years after their fateful one night stand. Thea was unable to located Logan after all these years until fate brought him into her town on a business trip, changing their lives forever. Challenges arise and emotions surface as Logan accepts and adjusts to being a father and Thea tries to find a comprise without uprooting the life her and her daughter spent 6 years building together. 

I thought the story was sweet and I did really fall for Logan’s character. Thea has a lot of understandable insecurities and tries hard to conceal a past she is ashamed of- which I empathize with, but her character frustrated me quite often and I struggled to get past some of her more dramatic behaviors towards Logan and in general. This story teetered between a 3 and a 3.5 star read for me but I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
The Day She Disappeared by Lisa Hall

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4.0

“The Day She Disappeared” is a clever, who-dun-it mystery set within a small island town. After leaving her home to pursue a successful writing career, Becky returns home from London to her isolated island community for the funeral of a loved one, only to be pulled back into the shadows of a dark past she thought she left behind. As a true crime writer, Becky starts to investigate a recent case of a young woman who disappeared from that very town, which is eerily similar to the case of a missing girl from Becky’s past. As Becky starts to draw parallels between the two cases, she questions the familiar faces from her past as well as the newcomers to the island, and suspects someone is more sinister than she realized. Are her enemies closer than they appear? 

I love thrillers that derail your guesses at every turn and keep you stumped until the end, and I have to say I really was caught by surprise at the ending. The circumstances around each character are revealed slowly and I felt as though I was putting a puzzle together one tiny piece at a time and couldn’t wait to see how the story ended. Becky is an interesting and flawed character with her own demons. While Becky’s mysterious past is mentioned early in the story, the actual circumstances are not revealed until later in the book.  This built up her character for me as a reader; I didn’t know how to feel about her as a protagonist until digging into the story. It’s another thing that keeps you guessing!

The quiet seaside town and small population gives the story a somewhat “sleepy” mystery feeling, but enough of the characters are suspect that the story never seemed boring. This gave the story an eerie feeling reminiscent of reading true crime. (I could just picture the fog rolling in off the water as I read!). Overall an enjoyable thriller to read.

(Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for review!)
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

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3.5

I love these books involving women in STEM and the unique couples that Hazelwood pairs up in her books. Greg and Cece are amazing supporting characters and gave me quite a few laughs. Jack is swoon worthy, of course, but I had a challenging time with Elsie’s character. Although her character is purposely a little awkward, she frustrated me and I found that difficult when reading the book 😅. Additionally, the sexual tension that builds through the book is fantastic but the “awkwardness” of the actual intimate scenes were a bit overdone and (to me) felt a little ridiculous. Otherwise, it’s a cute read.
Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

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4.0

I’m working my way through this series now (better late than never) and I loved this second installment even more than the first. I love seeing Morelli in a more involved role this time and Grandma Mazur is absolutely hysterical this time around. I listened to this one as an audiobook and I love the narrator they chose, it really suits the book. On to book three!
Dead Drop by Tate James

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3.5

I love the plot and theme of this series and I enjoyed this second book! I listened to both Honey Trap and Dead Drop on audio and the narrators do a fantastic job and fit the characters well. I will say that I didn’t like this book quite as much as the first, I felt the love triangle got to be a little much and while I do love reading smut, it started to take over the book too much, too early; I felt the first book had a better balance of both. I still can’t wait to finish the series though!