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Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
4.0
One of the great things about reading books in a series back to back is that you get a flavor for an author right away. You also are more ably to see I think any continuity issues too since if you are lucky you are picking up book #2 just a few days after finishing book #1.
In my case, I started reading Grave Peril 15 minutes after I finished up with Fool Moon. I actually had to stop reading after a few pages and went looking at Mr. Butcher's blog to make sure that I had not missed a book and Amazon had not incorrectly labeled this as book #3 in the Dresden Files.
This book starts right in the middle of Harry and his friend Michael (who he has known for several years and we only hear about for the first time in this book) racing as fast as they can to save some newborns from a ghost.
Harry and Michael we find have been working overtime in Chicago since a lot of ghost activity has increased with people being hurt all over. This case ends up touching some of the cops we have come to known in the Special Investigations unit closely and we have Harry fighting to keep them safe.
If that's not enough to deal with he is also trying to figure out his relationship with his girlfriend Susan and doing his best to warn her off of going to an event that Bianca (the vampire we come to know in Storm Front who is still mad and seeking revenge at Harry) has formally invited Harry to since he is a member of the White Council.
There is a lot going on in this book and honestly I feel like there should have been a separate book dealing with Harry and Michael and a fourth book dealing with the vampires.
Everything got thrown in together and nothing really worked. We also had new characters introduced and barely any information provided about them but for some characters we got a lot of information. It was very un-even.
I for one was very interested in Michael and would have loved a story of how he and Harry first met. Hearing about Michael and how he was provided his sword Amoracchius was great and I wish there could have been a novella between Fool Moon and this book.
We don't get a chance to really delve into Michael though because Mr. Butcher takes the ghost phenomenon and Harry finds out that the vampires may somehow be involved. I still don't quite like how Mr. Butcher loops everything together and it really made absolutely no kind of sense to me once we got to the end. In fact I remember thinking okay that was interesting.
I think just reading about the different types of vampires and what their powers were was just a bit too much for me to digest.
I think one way that would led me to enjoy this book more would be if Mr. Butcher had included a prologue that introduced the event that got referenced in a dream later on by Harry.
Even though I rated this 3.5 stars I am still very much enthralled with this series and can't wait to start Summer Knight.
In my case, I started reading Grave Peril 15 minutes after I finished up with Fool Moon. I actually had to stop reading after a few pages and went looking at Mr. Butcher's blog to make sure that I had not missed a book and Amazon had not incorrectly labeled this as book #3 in the Dresden Files.
This book starts right in the middle of Harry and his friend Michael (who he has known for several years and we only hear about for the first time in this book) racing as fast as they can to save some newborns from a ghost.
Harry and Michael we find have been working overtime in Chicago since a lot of ghost activity has increased with people being hurt all over. This case ends up touching some of the cops we have come to known in the Special Investigations unit closely and we have Harry fighting to keep them safe.
If that's not enough to deal with he is also trying to figure out his relationship with his girlfriend Susan and doing his best to warn her off of going to an event that Bianca (the vampire we come to know in Storm Front who is still mad and seeking revenge at Harry) has formally invited Harry to since he is a member of the White Council.
There is a lot going on in this book and honestly I feel like there should have been a separate book dealing with Harry and Michael and a fourth book dealing with the vampires.
Everything got thrown in together and nothing really worked. We also had new characters introduced and barely any information provided about them but for some characters we got a lot of information. It was very un-even.
I for one was very interested in Michael and would have loved a story of how he and Harry first met. Hearing about Michael and how he was provided his sword Amoracchius was great and I wish there could have been a novella between Fool Moon and this book.
We don't get a chance to really delve into Michael though because Mr. Butcher takes the ghost phenomenon and Harry finds out that the vampires may somehow be involved. I still don't quite like how Mr. Butcher loops everything together and it really made absolutely no kind of sense to me once we got to the end. In fact I remember thinking okay that was interesting.
I think just reading about the different types of vampires and what their powers were was just a bit too much for me to digest.
I think one way that would led me to enjoy this book more would be if Mr. Butcher had included a prologue that introduced the event that got referenced in a dream later on by Harry.
Even though I rated this 3.5 stars I am still very much enthralled with this series and can't wait to start Summer Knight.
Festive in Death by J.D. Robb
3.0
Up until the last book and now this one I have loved every JD Robb book out there. Even the ones that other fans did not care for I still defended this series. However, with the last book in the series, Concealed in Death I was starting to see that maybe a lot of the naysayers were right since that book had so much wrong with it I didn't know where to begin. With the newest Festive in Death, though JD Robb did rebound in this book it was just an average and very boring read.
We have Eve investigating who could have killed a trainer named Trey Zeigler. Eve is brought into the investigation after being called in by her hair and makeup tormenter Trina. Though it was good to see that Trina with a bit more depth it was still not enough to get over the overall lackluster story-line.
I really am trying to not complain since I was one of the readers who kept begging JD Robb to stop with the constant serial killer story-lines that only Eve manages to crack or having her becoming the focus of the killer. Having just an average murder for her to investigate during the holidays did not have the same thrill since in this one Eve is not up against a clock to find the perpetrator. Instead we have Eve investigating the victim and finding a lot of things that made you happy that the guy was dead. We have Eve paying lip service to every victim deserves to have someone stand for them in death but it just rang hollow to me.
Additionally, all of the old favorites are barely seen and when they do pop up just have a line or two (Baxter and Trueheart).
That said things that I am truly sick of reading about in this series:
Eve talking about Roarke's blue eyes.
Eve talking about how much she loves Roarke.
Eve getting metaphors wrong.
Eve getting crazy because Peabody and McNabb kiss or touch in front of her.
The boring sex scenes between Eve and Roarke (this is the problem with having a long standing series the two leads just become boring).
Eve and Summerset constantly trying to one-up each other. Just admit you like and respect each other and be done with it.
Eve's dreams giving her clues to the murder. I don't know if JD Robb is trying to show that somehow Eve has psychic powers or what since it has been alluded to in other books and in some of the novellas but I am over it. No freaking magick (JD Robb and Nora Roberts preferred spelling) in this series.
I think that JD Robb did read or at least got an inkling at how many people were turned off by Eve's behavior towards a new character so at least that was changed in this book and we had Eve behaving like a normal human being. I am disappointed that Eve had not reached out to Mavis more based on the revelations that were revealed about her (Mavis) in the last book. That would have been nice and actually shown some character development by Eve. Instead we still have Mavis dressing funky and having the world's more precocious two year old.
I really do think though this saddens me that this series needs to end already. JD Robb needs to either end it or do something that truly shakes up the series. I feel like all of the characters have become untouchable so even when Eve or they are in danger I don't have a wisp or fear that anything will happen to any of them.
We have Eve investigating who could have killed a trainer named Trey Zeigler. Eve is brought into the investigation after being called in by her hair and makeup tormenter Trina. Though it was good to see that Trina with a bit more depth it was still not enough to get over the overall lackluster story-line.
I really am trying to not complain since I was one of the readers who kept begging JD Robb to stop with the constant serial killer story-lines that only Eve manages to crack or having her becoming the focus of the killer. Having just an average murder for her to investigate during the holidays did not have the same thrill since in this one Eve is not up against a clock to find the perpetrator. Instead we have Eve investigating the victim and finding a lot of things that made you happy that the guy was dead. We have Eve paying lip service to every victim deserves to have someone stand for them in death but it just rang hollow to me.
Additionally, all of the old favorites are barely seen and when they do pop up just have a line or two (Baxter and Trueheart).
That said things that I am truly sick of reading about in this series:
Eve talking about Roarke's blue eyes.
Eve talking about how much she loves Roarke.
Eve getting metaphors wrong.
Eve getting crazy because Peabody and McNabb kiss or touch in front of her.
The boring sex scenes between Eve and Roarke (this is the problem with having a long standing series the two leads just become boring).
Eve and Summerset constantly trying to one-up each other. Just admit you like and respect each other and be done with it.
Eve's dreams giving her clues to the murder. I don't know if JD Robb is trying to show that somehow Eve has psychic powers or what since it has been alluded to in other books and in some of the novellas but I am over it. No freaking magick (JD Robb and Nora Roberts preferred spelling) in this series.
I think that JD Robb did read or at least got an inkling at how many people were turned off by Eve's behavior towards a new character so at least that was changed in this book and we had Eve behaving like a normal human being. I am disappointed that Eve had not reached out to Mavis more based on the revelations that were revealed about her (Mavis) in the last book. That would have been nice and actually shown some character development by Eve. Instead we still have Mavis dressing funky and having the world's more precocious two year old.
I really do think though this saddens me that this series needs to end already. JD Robb needs to either end it or do something that truly shakes up the series. I feel like all of the characters have become untouchable so even when Eve or they are in danger I don't have a wisp or fear that anything will happen to any of them.
Pretty in Ink by Lindsey Palmer
2.0
Well I read this book because it was supposed to be a hilarious look at the goings on at a women's glossy magazine. I wish that I could say that I enjoyed this book, but I just suffered right through it until the bitter end.
Reading the book synopsis I thought that the main character in his book would be Leah Brenner.
The book synopsis says the following:
"For years, Hers magazine has been a fixture on newsstands--relatable, reliable, and ever-so-slightly frumpy. But with sales
slumping, Hers' editor-in-chief soon finds a pink slip in her inbox. And her ruthless, blisteringly high-heeled replacement may
not be finished cleaning house yet. . .
Leah Brenner suspects she won't be on the payroll much longer either. A telecommuting, breast milk-pumping mom of three
doesn't mesh with her new boss Mimi's vision of a sleeker, younger-skewing Hers. Not content with nabbing Leah's office,
Mimi's protégée, Victoria, is itching to take over Leah's duties too--and she's not alone. As the summer rolls out, and staffers
are asked to give up even their sexiest secrets to save the brand, everyone at Hers--the sycophantic new assistant;the photo
editor who's sleeping with her boss;the Ivy League intern with oversized aspirations--will fight to keep her career, and some
shred of dignity, intact."
Instead each chapter switches over to another staff member at Her and sometimes Ms. Palmer will repeat the same character after a few chapters but I often had to go back to the previous chapters to make sure that I had the characters right. Besides Leah Brenner we have an additional 10 characters we are introduced to in the other chapters.
Frankly some of the characters like Ed the mailman and Erin the intern could have been cut so the reader could at least focus on the more interesting and integral characters.
I am also disappointed that we didn't get a chapter told from the new editor in chief, Mimi's point of view.
I ultimately found the the writing haphazard and I found myself just gritting my teeth through some of the chapters since the book started to feel never ending to me while I was reading it. Since you don't get a lot of time with these characters the development of them was quite shallow. Besides Leah's character I was not the least bit interested in any of the other characters.
I just finished reading Sally Koslow's Little Pink Slips about three months ago and I found that to be a much more accurate and hilarious read of the goings on at a women's magazine. I also think that Ms. Koslow was smart to have the focus be on one main character instead of flip flopping back and forth among many characters.
Reading the book synopsis I thought that the main character in his book would be Leah Brenner.
The book synopsis says the following:
"For years, Hers magazine has been a fixture on newsstands--relatable, reliable, and ever-so-slightly frumpy. But with sales
slumping, Hers' editor-in-chief soon finds a pink slip in her inbox. And her ruthless, blisteringly high-heeled replacement may
not be finished cleaning house yet. . .
Leah Brenner suspects she won't be on the payroll much longer either. A telecommuting, breast milk-pumping mom of three
doesn't mesh with her new boss Mimi's vision of a sleeker, younger-skewing Hers. Not content with nabbing Leah's office,
Mimi's protégée, Victoria, is itching to take over Leah's duties too--and she's not alone. As the summer rolls out, and staffers
are asked to give up even their sexiest secrets to save the brand, everyone at Hers--the sycophantic new assistant;the photo
editor who's sleeping with her boss;the Ivy League intern with oversized aspirations--will fight to keep her career, and some
shred of dignity, intact."
Instead each chapter switches over to another staff member at Her and sometimes Ms. Palmer will repeat the same character after a few chapters but I often had to go back to the previous chapters to make sure that I had the characters right. Besides Leah Brenner we have an additional 10 characters we are introduced to in the other chapters.
Frankly some of the characters like Ed the mailman and Erin the intern could have been cut so the reader could at least focus on the more interesting and integral characters.
I am also disappointed that we didn't get a chapter told from the new editor in chief, Mimi's point of view.
I ultimately found the the writing haphazard and I found myself just gritting my teeth through some of the chapters since the book started to feel never ending to me while I was reading it. Since you don't get a lot of time with these characters the development of them was quite shallow. Besides Leah's character I was not the least bit interested in any of the other characters.
I just finished reading Sally Koslow's Little Pink Slips about three months ago and I found that to be a much more accurate and hilarious read of the goings on at a women's magazine. I also think that Ms. Koslow was smart to have the focus be on one main character instead of flip flopping back and forth among many characters.
The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan
3.0
I picked this book due to the story-line being about women, witches, and magic. It seemed fitting to read in September prior to fall really rushing in.
The main character in this novel is Reve Dyer (full name Revelation). Reve and her husband Jeremy are practicing magicians in Las Vegas. We quickly find out that Reve and all of the female ancestors in her family tree are able to do real magic. Reve, Jeremy, and their three daughters, Grace, Faith, and Caleigh are genuinely happy until the day her husband is accidentally killed. Reve finds out that her husband's accident was in fact murder and is soon hiding with her children from a man that wants to harm all of them. This causes her to go back to Hawley Five Corners in Massachusetts to stay with her maternal grandmother.
I really did like how the book slowly spilled all of the secrets of the Dyer family. One of the secrets that Reve starts to delve into is the "The Hawley Book of the Dead," which is also the title of this novel. The Hawley Book of the Dead is supposed to be able to reveal truths.
There were still some things that I didn't think worked that well in this novel. First, having the story also including Reve's daughters viewpoints just didn't work. I think it would have been better to have additional books that fully explored all of the characters individually.
Also the hint of a romance that was set up in this book was just a bit much for me. It probably didn't help that I never got a sense of Reve as a character or that she really loved her husband. At times Reve felt very one dimensional to me. The character just reacted to many things that happened to her and I hope in future books (if there are any) she is more well rounded.
Additionally, there was way too much tell going on in this novel. I honestly started rolling my eyes when the book slowly started unveiling how the Dyer women were pretty much a part of every ancient myth in the world. It started to get to be a bit too much for me. An entire family of Mary Sue's doesn't interest me as a reader.
That said, I still think that Chrysler Szarlan, the author of this book, has set the stage for a continuing series and I hope does follow up on this book with more stories about the Dyer women.
Please note that I received this book for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
The main character in this novel is Reve Dyer (full name Revelation). Reve and her husband Jeremy are practicing magicians in Las Vegas. We quickly find out that Reve and all of the female ancestors in her family tree are able to do real magic. Reve, Jeremy, and their three daughters, Grace, Faith, and Caleigh are genuinely happy until the day her husband is accidentally killed. Reve finds out that her husband's accident was in fact murder and is soon hiding with her children from a man that wants to harm all of them. This causes her to go back to Hawley Five Corners in Massachusetts to stay with her maternal grandmother.
I really did like how the book slowly spilled all of the secrets of the Dyer family. One of the secrets that Reve starts to delve into is the "The Hawley Book of the Dead," which is also the title of this novel. The Hawley Book of the Dead is supposed to be able to reveal truths.
There were still some things that I didn't think worked that well in this novel. First, having the story also including Reve's daughters viewpoints just didn't work. I think it would have been better to have additional books that fully explored all of the characters individually.
Also the hint of a romance that was set up in this book was just a bit much for me. It probably didn't help that I never got a sense of Reve as a character or that she really loved her husband. At times Reve felt very one dimensional to me. The character just reacted to many things that happened to her and I hope in future books (if there are any) she is more well rounded.
Additionally, there was way too much tell going on in this novel. I honestly started rolling my eyes when the book slowly started unveiling how the Dyer women were pretty much a part of every ancient myth in the world. It started to get to be a bit too much for me. An entire family of Mary Sue's doesn't interest me as a reader.
That said, I still think that Chrysler Szarlan, the author of this book, has set the stage for a continuing series and I hope does follow up on this book with more stories about the Dyer women.
Please note that I received this book for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes
3.0
This is my first time reading Samantha Hayes and I have to say that I really did enjoy "Until You're Mine." This book had a surprising ending though parts of the book did drag in places.
This novel is told in three perspectives. The first perspective we have is Claudia. Claudia is a stepmother to twins and a social worker who has a long history of miscarriages and still-births. Claudia is finally pregnant and is happy that she is about to become a mother in just a few weeks. The second perspective is told by Zoe that is a nanny that Claudia has interviewed to hire as a live in nanny to help with the twins and her soon to be born baby since her husband (Claudia's) is a naval captain away at sea. The third perspective is told by Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher. Lorraine is investigating a series of crimes against pregnant women.
My major issue is with the fact that Claudia and Zoe's stories are told in the first person. However, Lorraine's story is told in the third person.
Additionally, sometimes the tenses changed in the novel which was maddening to me since I would have to re-start my reading at times to make sure I was checked in to what was going on.
Finally, I have to say that Lorraine's entire story-line really didn't add anything for me. I think it was because Lorraine had a lot of stuff going on in her story-line it made it harder to jump back and forth into Claudia and Zoe's story-lines.
The ending was a surprise and I did find myself re-reading the entire book since I was able to pick up on more clues that were in the book that I didn't recognize upon my first read through.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
This novel is told in three perspectives. The first perspective we have is Claudia. Claudia is a stepmother to twins and a social worker who has a long history of miscarriages and still-births. Claudia is finally pregnant and is happy that she is about to become a mother in just a few weeks. The second perspective is told by Zoe that is a nanny that Claudia has interviewed to hire as a live in nanny to help with the twins and her soon to be born baby since her husband (Claudia's) is a naval captain away at sea. The third perspective is told by Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher. Lorraine is investigating a series of crimes against pregnant women.
My major issue is with the fact that Claudia and Zoe's stories are told in the first person. However, Lorraine's story is told in the third person.
Additionally, sometimes the tenses changed in the novel which was maddening to me since I would have to re-start my reading at times to make sure I was checked in to what was going on.
Finally, I have to say that Lorraine's entire story-line really didn't add anything for me. I think it was because Lorraine had a lot of stuff going on in her story-line it made it harder to jump back and forth into Claudia and Zoe's story-lines.
The ending was a surprise and I did find myself re-reading the entire book since I was able to pick up on more clues that were in the book that I didn't recognize upon my first read through.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
Since You've Been Gone by Anouska Knight
3.0
First of let me say that I loved this cover. Nine times out of ten I will buy a book or just select a book off a bookshelf at the bookstore due to the cover. Awesome cover but just an average romance book to read.
This book centers around Holly Jefferson. Holly owns her own bakery and is still reeling from the death of her husband Charlie after a horrible accident. It has been really hard on Holly to get on with her life knowing that her and Charlie had so many dreams that were left unfulfilled. Due to one of her clients Holly meets Ciaran Argyll. Ciaran inexplicable falls for Holly and the entire book really is about Holly trying to let Ciaran in to her life.
The good parts of this novel for me was definitely the writing. The way that Anouska Knight slowly lets the reader find out that Holly's husband Charlie has died was well done. Also we have intermixed dreams of Holly where she is still with Charlie and happy. Those parts of the book just broke my heart. Also Holly admitting why she hasn't fixed up her home and how right now she is just going through the motions so her sister and brother in law don't worry about her.
Though those parts of the book I found to be written quite well the entire courtship of Holly by Ciaran just didn't ring true at all. Not be all "Fifty Shades of Grey" about it but a millionaire playboy that can have any woman in the world picks a random woman who runs a bakery?
And no I am not saying that a millionaire playboy won't just meet a random woman and be totally into her but you have to make me believe that it can happen while reading your book. It drove me nuts that most of Holly's personality just read as bland to me. She has an assistant named Jess that is behind the most creative cakes her bakery does so I can't even say that Holly is somehow a baking genius. She describes herself in fairly ordinary terms and just leaves it at that. I am not saying the woman must be drop dead gorgeous but her personality was boring and besides her being a challenge to Ciaran I really didn't see what about her appealed to him.
That said Ciaran also reminded me of Christian Grey by being at times a stalker and also just pushy about everything going on in Holly's life. There is an incident where Ciaran decides to take it upon himself to change something quite huge in Holly's life and gets mad at her for rightfully being mad that he inserted himself into something that she didn't ask him to. I don't find pushy jerky men to be attractive in my romance reads. It just sets me off since makes me hope that the hero gets hit by a bus so the heroine can go off into the sunset.
I think the overall point of this book was a good one. How do you go on with your life when the love of your life is gone. I just wish that I had seen more of a personality from the main heroine and that the main hero didn't just give me bad "Fifty Shades of Grey" vibes.
Please note that I received "Since You've Been Gone" for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
This book centers around Holly Jefferson. Holly owns her own bakery and is still reeling from the death of her husband Charlie after a horrible accident. It has been really hard on Holly to get on with her life knowing that her and Charlie had so many dreams that were left unfulfilled. Due to one of her clients Holly meets Ciaran Argyll. Ciaran inexplicable falls for Holly and the entire book really is about Holly trying to let Ciaran in to her life.
The good parts of this novel for me was definitely the writing. The way that Anouska Knight slowly lets the reader find out that Holly's husband Charlie has died was well done. Also we have intermixed dreams of Holly where she is still with Charlie and happy. Those parts of the book just broke my heart. Also Holly admitting why she hasn't fixed up her home and how right now she is just going through the motions so her sister and brother in law don't worry about her.
Though those parts of the book I found to be written quite well the entire courtship of Holly by Ciaran just didn't ring true at all. Not be all "Fifty Shades of Grey" about it but a millionaire playboy that can have any woman in the world picks a random woman who runs a bakery?
And no I am not saying that a millionaire playboy won't just meet a random woman and be totally into her but you have to make me believe that it can happen while reading your book. It drove me nuts that most of Holly's personality just read as bland to me. She has an assistant named Jess that is behind the most creative cakes her bakery does so I can't even say that Holly is somehow a baking genius. She describes herself in fairly ordinary terms and just leaves it at that. I am not saying the woman must be drop dead gorgeous but her personality was boring and besides her being a challenge to Ciaran I really didn't see what about her appealed to him.
That said Ciaran also reminded me of Christian Grey by being at times a stalker and also just pushy about everything going on in Holly's life. There is an incident where Ciaran decides to take it upon himself to change something quite huge in Holly's life and gets mad at her for rightfully being mad that he inserted himself into something that she didn't ask him to. I don't find pushy jerky men to be attractive in my romance reads. It just sets me off since makes me hope that the hero gets hit by a bus so the heroine can go off into the sunset.
I think the overall point of this book was a good one. How do you go on with your life when the love of your life is gone. I just wish that I had seen more of a personality from the main heroine and that the main hero didn't just give me bad "Fifty Shades of Grey" vibes.
Please note that I received "Since You've Been Gone" for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
4.0
I started and stopped My LIfe Next Door a few weeks ago. I had to re-read the beginning again since I honestly didn't remember a lot about the book at that point but I think I initially just chalked this up to another young adult novel that I probably was not going to enjoy. I have to say that I really did like this novel and found it to be a very good 3.5 star read.
Taking place in Connecticut, this story focuses on 17 year old Samantha Reed. Coming from a well to do family as well as being a Senator's daughter has its own challenges for Samantha. The summer before her senior year of college has Samantha thinking she will just work at the local restaurant and be a lifeguard two days out of the week. However, her life changes when she finally gets to officially meet the family next door, the Garretts. Being told from a young age to stay away from the Garretts by her mother Samantha has watched and envied them from her bedroom window. She gets involved with Jase Garrett and finally starts to realize what she has been missing this entire time from her closed off family.
I think that Ms. Fitzpatrick wrote Samantha just the right way. Being 17 and in lust and then love with the boy next door could have just been a cliched story but I found that Samantha and Jase's story was very well done.
I think a lot of young adult novels when portraying first love don't actually make me feel the couple is in love with each other. However, I felt that from Samantha when it came to Jase and vice versa.
Additionally, I thought that all of the characters except for Samantha's mother and her mother's campaign manager Clay were written as three dimensional living breathing people. All of the Garretts had their own personalities and though the family was a bit quirky I thought that it worked very well.
The reason why I did give this book 3.5 stars was that after a while it felt like everything humanly possible was being thrown at Samantha in this book.
And I for one think that there was enough going on with Samantha secretly dating and trying to hide her relationship with Jase that she then had to find out her best friend Nan's secret, help out Nan's brother Tim, deal with her mother, etc. It all became just a bit too much. There is a plot that erupts in this book that I thought was super farfetched and it caused me to roll my eyes a lot. I mean there was already so much going on that this plot point did not need to happen at all.
I honestly wish that Ms. Fitzpatrick had focused more on Samantha and Nan's changing relationship in this book since that part really did intrigue me a lot more. To have Samantha realizing that the best friend she thought she had was silently judging her and doing all of this other stuff threw her as it would me.
To have both girls in relationships and have one of them spiraling out of control while one was totally in love with her boyfriend was a nice contrast.
I definitely enjoyed and would recommend to other young adult readers.
Taking place in Connecticut, this story focuses on 17 year old Samantha Reed. Coming from a well to do family as well as being a Senator's daughter has its own challenges for Samantha. The summer before her senior year of college has Samantha thinking she will just work at the local restaurant and be a lifeguard two days out of the week. However, her life changes when she finally gets to officially meet the family next door, the Garretts. Being told from a young age to stay away from the Garretts by her mother Samantha has watched and envied them from her bedroom window. She gets involved with Jase Garrett and finally starts to realize what she has been missing this entire time from her closed off family.
I think that Ms. Fitzpatrick wrote Samantha just the right way. Being 17 and in lust and then love with the boy next door could have just been a cliched story but I found that Samantha and Jase's story was very well done.
I think a lot of young adult novels when portraying first love don't actually make me feel the couple is in love with each other. However, I felt that from Samantha when it came to Jase and vice versa.
Additionally, I thought that all of the characters except for Samantha's mother and her mother's campaign manager Clay were written as three dimensional living breathing people. All of the Garretts had their own personalities and though the family was a bit quirky I thought that it worked very well.
The reason why I did give this book 3.5 stars was that after a while it felt like everything humanly possible was being thrown at Samantha in this book.
And I for one think that there was enough going on with Samantha secretly dating and trying to hide her relationship with Jase that she then had to find out her best friend Nan's secret, help out Nan's brother Tim, deal with her mother, etc. It all became just a bit too much. There is a plot that erupts in this book that I thought was super farfetched and it caused me to roll my eyes a lot. I mean there was already so much going on that this plot point did not need to happen at all.
I honestly wish that Ms. Fitzpatrick had focused more on Samantha and Nan's changing relationship in this book since that part really did intrigue me a lot more. To have Samantha realizing that the best friend she thought she had was silently judging her and doing all of this other stuff threw her as it would me.
To have both girls in relationships and have one of them spiraling out of control while one was totally in love with her boyfriend was a nice contrast.
I definitely enjoyed and would recommend to other young adult readers.
Screwdrivered by Alice Clayton
5.0
I previously read books one and two in the Cocktail Series.
I liked Wallbanger, the first book in the series and gave it three stars. I really did laugh out loud at several parts of the book that dealt with Caroline Reynolds and her annoying neighbor she called "Wallbanger". About a third of the way through the book though Caroline started to work on my nerves though and the constant double entrendes with her and "Wallbanger" AKA Simon Parker just got old pretty fast.
The second book in the series, Rusty Nailed I rated two stars. I found the entire character of Caroline to be mystifying and infruiating and I thought that Ms. Clayton paid way too much attention to Caroline and Simon's friends Neil and Sophia. That entire storyline needed to be trimmed from this book or it could have been its own standalone book. Either way I felt like I was reading two books crammed into one.
The third book in the Cocktail series Screwdrivered was a very fast and enjoyable read.
This time the main character is Viv Franklin that readers were introduced to in book two. For those of us readers who were getting a bit tired of Caroline this book brings a welcomed break from her and Simon.
Viv, living in Philadelphia and running her own business while being forced on bad dates with yuppies by her mother still dreams about her time living in Paris and painting. After another bad date she arrives home and gets a phone call from a lawyer in California telling her that her Great Aunt has died and left her a house and land.Taking the opportunity to go on an adventure and maybe have a red hot steamy romance is too much for Viv to resist so off to California she goes.
Viv is left dealing with a house that is in need of a huge renovation and meets two entirely different men.
Clark a nerdy librarian who is refusing to allow Viv to make any renovations to her home that may alter the historical aspect of it.
Hank is a hot cowboy who is still being paid by Viv's Great Aunt's estate to take care of the horses and chickens that are on Viv's land.
I know who I would be picking...how about all of you?
Readers will get some scenes with Caroline and Simon from books one and two which was nice. I can say that I liked Caroline more in what I have read so far. Maybe because she wasn't freaking out about something thoughtful that Simon was doing and acting like he had committed a felony.
Parts of the book are downright funny to me and seriously Alice Clayton can write a freaking hilarious scene that will have you crying with laughter. There is a scene with one of the potential bachelors and his kissing is so disgusting that I was put off by anyone's saliva being in my mouth for the next fortnight.
Ms. Clayson also still excels at writing very good steamy love scenes.
I really did like the main character Viv and hope she pops up in future books in the Cocktail series. The epilogue wrapped things up a bit too neatly which is why I gave this book 4.5 stars.
Mai Tai'd Up is the fourth book in the series that comes out December 2, 2014. I plan on pre-ordering my book today!
I liked Wallbanger, the first book in the series and gave it three stars. I really did laugh out loud at several parts of the book that dealt with Caroline Reynolds and her annoying neighbor she called "Wallbanger". About a third of the way through the book though Caroline started to work on my nerves though and the constant double entrendes with her and "Wallbanger" AKA Simon Parker just got old pretty fast.
The second book in the series, Rusty Nailed I rated two stars. I found the entire character of Caroline to be mystifying and infruiating and I thought that Ms. Clayton paid way too much attention to Caroline and Simon's friends Neil and Sophia. That entire storyline needed to be trimmed from this book or it could have been its own standalone book. Either way I felt like I was reading two books crammed into one.
The third book in the Cocktail series Screwdrivered was a very fast and enjoyable read.
This time the main character is Viv Franklin that readers were introduced to in book two. For those of us readers who were getting a bit tired of Caroline this book brings a welcomed break from her and Simon.
Viv, living in Philadelphia and running her own business while being forced on bad dates with yuppies by her mother still dreams about her time living in Paris and painting. After another bad date she arrives home and gets a phone call from a lawyer in California telling her that her Great Aunt has died and left her a house and land.Taking the opportunity to go on an adventure and maybe have a red hot steamy romance is too much for Viv to resist so off to California she goes.
Viv is left dealing with a house that is in need of a huge renovation and meets two entirely different men.
Clark a nerdy librarian who is refusing to allow Viv to make any renovations to her home that may alter the historical aspect of it.
Hank is a hot cowboy who is still being paid by Viv's Great Aunt's estate to take care of the horses and chickens that are on Viv's land.
I know who I would be picking...how about all of you?
Readers will get some scenes with Caroline and Simon from books one and two which was nice. I can say that I liked Caroline more in what I have read so far. Maybe because she wasn't freaking out about something thoughtful that Simon was doing and acting like he had committed a felony.
Parts of the book are downright funny to me and seriously Alice Clayton can write a freaking hilarious scene that will have you crying with laughter. There is a scene with one of the potential bachelors and his kissing is so disgusting that I was put off by anyone's saliva being in my mouth for the next fortnight.
Ms. Clayson also still excels at writing very good steamy love scenes.
I really did like the main character Viv and hope she pops up in future books in the Cocktail series. The epilogue wrapped things up a bit too neatly which is why I gave this book 4.5 stars.
Mai Tai'd Up is the fourth book in the series that comes out December 2, 2014. I plan on pre-ordering my book today!
Dune by Frank Herbert
5.0
So it took me a while to get through Dune. Not because I don't absolutely love this book, but because I was reading it in between finishing up some other books this past week.
I first read Dune back in high school. I was in my junior year of high school and it was the last week of school before Summer vacation. I don't know about any other people here but the last week of school in my small town meant that we had nothing to do but watch really bad movies or just read quietly to ourselves before the next period.
FYI this is also how I first became aware of Monty Python.
So during my science teacher's class I got bored and started to examine the bookshelves he had in class. He had books just jam cracked in his shelves. I remember reaching out and wondering what this book at the time was and saw the title Dune.
Now my now dearly departed father was a huge science fiction and horror fan. In fact I have him to thank for introducing me to Stephen King and also tons of really weird and awesome science fiction films like "Enemy Mine", "Blade Runner", "Alien", and of course my beloved "Star Wars".
So by this time in my life I had seen the movie "Dune" with Kyle MacLachlan and fell a bit in love with him when I was all of 9 years old. "Dune" came out in 1984 but since I was all of 4 years old at the time I imagine my mom put her foot down about my father allowing us kids to watch that with us. I just remember being older and finding the Baron quite disgusting and felt ill watching him in his hover chair.
So though I recall Dune I remember not being too impressed with the movie overall (yes even at 8 I was critical) and being confused by all of the goings on and what the heck was so important about spice and what in the world were the Bene Gesserits.
So at 16 bored in class I remember being surprised that the movie I saw as a kid was actually a book. My science teacher at the time saw me studying the book and reading the book jacket and came over and told me "That there will open your mind". I of course being 16 rolled my eyes back at him. He told me to enjoy and read it while in class that week but he was going to start packing up the books on Thursday. I remember shrugging and saying okay and I started to read...and my mind was opened.
I fell head long into a book that was pretty much like Star Wars but with even more machinations going on. Things that the movie depicted that never made sense to me were now fully explained. I understood the Bene Gesserits. Felt for young Paul Atreides and wondered at the strength of Lady Jessica and Chani. For all else I can say about this book I say that is is truly a study of a strong group of women at its core.
Broken into three parts the book is divided into Dune, Muad'Dib, and The Prophet.
Each chapter has a portion of a book that we later find out is written by the Emperor's oldest daughter Irulan. At the time readers will wonder who this Irulan is and why she is so focused on recording the history of the house Atreides, Muad'Dib, and others important to him.
The book does move fast (yes I say this though it is 793 pages (no I am not counting the appendices in that) and you have to stop and catch your breath at some times. I find the parts showing Paul, Lady Jessica, and all that they did to survive on Arrakis thrilling. You can't help but hold your breath since every move that they make, everything that they say can possibly get them killed.
The parts of the novel that I found slow and boring were the chapters depicting Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. All those chapters did was make me read quicker to get back to what was going on with Paul and how was he coping.
I do remember trying to start to read Dune Messiah years later but I have no idea what I did with that book when I moved away after college. I am planning on continuing to read the rest of this series over the next few years.
Ultimately Dune reminds me why I love science fiction movies and books so much. I wish that someone would possibly try to re-do Dune again in movie form or make it a series on HBO or Showtime that can possibly showcase the brilliancy of the novel. I know that the SyFy Channel (I still hate the name change) a couple of years back started doing all of the Dune books as a miniseries.
I first read Dune back in high school. I was in my junior year of high school and it was the last week of school before Summer vacation. I don't know about any other people here but the last week of school in my small town meant that we had nothing to do but watch really bad movies or just read quietly to ourselves before the next period.
FYI this is also how I first became aware of Monty Python.
So during my science teacher's class I got bored and started to examine the bookshelves he had in class. He had books just jam cracked in his shelves. I remember reaching out and wondering what this book at the time was and saw the title Dune.
Now my now dearly departed father was a huge science fiction and horror fan. In fact I have him to thank for introducing me to Stephen King and also tons of really weird and awesome science fiction films like "Enemy Mine", "Blade Runner", "Alien", and of course my beloved "Star Wars".
So by this time in my life I had seen the movie "Dune" with Kyle MacLachlan and fell a bit in love with him when I was all of 9 years old. "Dune" came out in 1984 but since I was all of 4 years old at the time I imagine my mom put her foot down about my father allowing us kids to watch that with us. I just remember being older and finding the Baron quite disgusting and felt ill watching him in his hover chair.
So though I recall Dune I remember not being too impressed with the movie overall (yes even at 8 I was critical) and being confused by all of the goings on and what the heck was so important about spice and what in the world were the Bene Gesserits.
So at 16 bored in class I remember being surprised that the movie I saw as a kid was actually a book. My science teacher at the time saw me studying the book and reading the book jacket and came over and told me "That there will open your mind". I of course being 16 rolled my eyes back at him. He told me to enjoy and read it while in class that week but he was going to start packing up the books on Thursday. I remember shrugging and saying okay and I started to read...and my mind was opened.
I fell head long into a book that was pretty much like Star Wars but with even more machinations going on. Things that the movie depicted that never made sense to me were now fully explained. I understood the Bene Gesserits. Felt for young Paul Atreides and wondered at the strength of Lady Jessica and Chani. For all else I can say about this book I say that is is truly a study of a strong group of women at its core.
Broken into three parts the book is divided into Dune, Muad'Dib, and The Prophet.
Each chapter has a portion of a book that we later find out is written by the Emperor's oldest daughter Irulan. At the time readers will wonder who this Irulan is and why she is so focused on recording the history of the house Atreides, Muad'Dib, and others important to him.
The book does move fast (yes I say this though it is 793 pages (no I am not counting the appendices in that) and you have to stop and catch your breath at some times. I find the parts showing Paul, Lady Jessica, and all that they did to survive on Arrakis thrilling. You can't help but hold your breath since every move that they make, everything that they say can possibly get them killed.
The parts of the novel that I found slow and boring were the chapters depicting Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. All those chapters did was make me read quicker to get back to what was going on with Paul and how was he coping.
I do remember trying to start to read Dune Messiah years later but I have no idea what I did with that book when I moved away after college. I am planning on continuing to read the rest of this series over the next few years.
Ultimately Dune reminds me why I love science fiction movies and books so much. I wish that someone would possibly try to re-do Dune again in movie form or make it a series on HBO or Showtime that can possibly showcase the brilliancy of the novel. I know that the SyFy Channel (I still hate the name change) a couple of years back started doing all of the Dune books as a miniseries.
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
3.0
I really did love the beginning of this novel. I loved the character of Katy Schwartz and felt for her having to deal with moving from Florida to a small town in West Virginia three years after the death of her father. Having her be a fish out of water and starting to have pangs for the boy next door I thought was a cute concept. However, this book quickly morphed into another version of Twilight for me and I quickly started to get turned off. I ended up rating it two and a half stars.
I believe that Jennifer L. Armentrout is a very good writer. She breathes such life into Katy. I just felt that in the end the constant see-sawing of Daemon being horrible, kinda horrible, freaking horrible, decent, horrible again to Katy just got old.
Pro tip: If the main hero in the books is pretty awful you are just going to cause me to hope that he gets swallowed by a shark one day. Yes I know most women like to imagine ourselves with getting that bad boy with the heart of gold to fall for us and that our love can tame him. Seriously though, there is a difference between the bad boy and an abuser. Daemon is verbally abusive to Katy.
I didn't notice it right away since the jerky boy and the girl who finds herself attracted to him anyway seems to be a common trope in Young Adult (YA) novels these days. However, this quickly gets old and I started to turn cool and then downright cold towards the character of Daemon Black (also that name...seriously?).
An excerpt from the book:
"I looked over at her, shaking my head. But there was a fluttering deep in my chest, a breathlessness that shouldn't be there.
I didn't like him. He was a jerk. Moody. But there had been brief moments that I'd spent with him--like a nanosecond--when I
thought I might have seen the real Daemon. At least a better Daemon. And that part made me curious. And the other side, the
jerky one, yeah, that part didn't make me curious.
It sort of excited me."
Seriously? So there is literally nanoseconds that there may be this nice other guy that Daemon is secretly hiding and that makes you want him. Oh and him being a jerk and awful to you makes you excited. Girl, take a seat.
And as I said the similarity to plot to the Twilight series I could do without. I mean in Twilight's case it was vampires, in this case it was something else.
But in both cases we have a girl moving to a new town. She meets a ridiculous handsome guy and befriends his sister. The guy hates her for some inexplicable reason and she can't stop thinking about him and wanting to be with him. Guy saves the girl from imminent death and there is even a freaking scene where he saves her from getting hit by a truck. I mean I was just shaking my head at this point. I donated all of the Twilight books I had when I left Iraq and if I hadn't I would have probably gone back to highlight every similar thing I saw between Twilight and this book.
Eventually readers do find out what secrets Daemon and his sister Dee and the mysterious other friends are hiding but by that time comes I was over it. I just wanted to finish the book and be done with it. I really do love to read series but I cannot continue with more of this mess through a couple of other books. I may lose my mind or set fire to something.
I believe that Jennifer L. Armentrout is a very good writer. She breathes such life into Katy. I just felt that in the end the constant see-sawing of Daemon being horrible, kinda horrible, freaking horrible, decent, horrible again to Katy just got old.
Pro tip: If the main hero in the books is pretty awful you are just going to cause me to hope that he gets swallowed by a shark one day. Yes I know most women like to imagine ourselves with getting that bad boy with the heart of gold to fall for us and that our love can tame him. Seriously though, there is a difference between the bad boy and an abuser. Daemon is verbally abusive to Katy.
I didn't notice it right away since the jerky boy and the girl who finds herself attracted to him anyway seems to be a common trope in Young Adult (YA) novels these days. However, this quickly gets old and I started to turn cool and then downright cold towards the character of Daemon Black (also that name...seriously?).
An excerpt from the book:
"I looked over at her, shaking my head. But there was a fluttering deep in my chest, a breathlessness that shouldn't be there.
I didn't like him. He was a jerk. Moody. But there had been brief moments that I'd spent with him--like a nanosecond--when I
thought I might have seen the real Daemon. At least a better Daemon. And that part made me curious. And the other side, the
jerky one, yeah, that part didn't make me curious.
It sort of excited me."
Seriously? So there is literally nanoseconds that there may be this nice other guy that Daemon is secretly hiding and that makes you want him. Oh and him being a jerk and awful to you makes you excited. Girl, take a seat.
And as I said the similarity to plot to the Twilight series I could do without. I mean in Twilight's case it was vampires, in this case it was something else.
But in both cases we have a girl moving to a new town. She meets a ridiculous handsome guy and befriends his sister. The guy hates her for some inexplicable reason and she can't stop thinking about him and wanting to be with him. Guy saves the girl from imminent death and there is even a freaking scene where he saves her from getting hit by a truck. I mean I was just shaking my head at this point. I donated all of the Twilight books I had when I left Iraq and if I hadn't I would have probably gone back to highlight every similar thing I saw between Twilight and this book.
Eventually readers do find out what secrets Daemon and his sister Dee and the mysterious other friends are hiding but by that time comes I was over it. I just wanted to finish the book and be done with it. I really do love to read series but I cannot continue with more of this mess through a couple of other books. I may lose my mind or set fire to something.