authentic reviews and insightful interviews for inquisitive readers
Title: New Leaf Author: Catherine Anderson Series: Mystic Creek #2 Charming, cozy, and heartwarming–the perfect book to read curled up by the fire What a charming story! I was impressed. I can’t give a very authoritative review of her last book a year ago, Silver Thaw–the one that started this new series–but I remember thinking that the writing seemed a bit sloppy, just not as spectacular as I had come to expect from an author whose work I’ve collected for …
Title: Obsession Falls Author: Christina Dodd Series: Virtue Falls #2 good kind of weird. more thriller than romance. pain and insanity in many forms… Where. To. Start. Before Virtue Falls last year, I hadn’t read a Dodd novel for several years. She had a period where she published novellas that weren’t printed and reissues of old books that I already own and have read, and since I don’t have an ereader and don’t really like sitting at my computer for …
Title: The Scam Authors: Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg Series: Fox and O’Hare #4 Intelligent, fast-paced, hilarious, intriguing–what more could you want? 🙂 Evanovich at the top of her game Evanovich is on a role so far this year, in my opinion. I loved Wicked Charms, the third fun and mostly silly installment in her Lizzie and Diesel series, and I loved this fast-paced, intriguing installment in the Kate O’Hare and Nick Fox series. Last but not least this year …
Title: An Inquiry into Love and Death Author: Simone St. James Series: n/a What a wonderful—and chilling—surprise! So, I loaned this audiobook from the library for the promise of romance. The synopsis didn’t make it sound particularly terrifying, more intriguing, and I love a good mystery with my romance–as well as a dose of history–and England–so I thought, sure, I’m due for a non-mainstream, non-mass-market-paperback romance and downloaded it. I needed a break from my own writing last night and …
Title: The Last Time I Saw Her Author: Karen Robards Series: Dr. Charlotte Stone #4 Not a stellar example of Robards’ writing skills, but a fantastic ending to the series! I give this five stars because I love Karen Robards’ books and particularly loved the Dr. Charlotte Stone series, and I’m just glad to finally know how it ends! I’m satisfied with it. If you’re a Robards fan, you’ll love it. If you’re new to Robards, I recommend starting this …
Title: Entwined Author: Heather Dixon Series: n/a Enchanting and Heartwarming! I was complete taken with this novel! It might have gotten a tad tedious in the middle as the characters developed and I waited for something to happen, but I barely noticed, so swept up in the fairy tale. I wasn’t familiar with the tale of the twelve dancing princesses, but I googled it after and drew the parallels. I believe I much prefer this version. I usually read romance …
Title: Evermore Author: Alyson Noel Series: Immortals #1 Twilight knock-off, pathetic characters, ridiculous paranormal elements Well. I’ll start off by saying that I listened to the audiobooks of the first and second books of this series, and I’m not sure if I’ll listen to the others. They’re narrated by Katie Schorr, who has potential but was by no means skilled at the point when she recorded these. I hope she’s gotten better with practice. She reads in a pleasant, engaging …
Title: Cider Brook Author: Carla Neggers Series: Swift River Valley #3 boring with unlikable characters I couldn’t finish the book. It was SO. BORING. Usually when I start a book I’m a can’t-stop-until-it’s-done person. But I worked on this one for a week, unheard of for me. When I still had two hours left (of the audiobook) I decided to give it up, because I still didn’t care about the characters enough to want to know how they turn out. …
Title: The Untamed Bride Author: Stephanie Laurens Series: Black Cobra Quartet #1 Thoroughly confused by what Laurens was trying to do here First I’ll say that I’m not a regular Stephanie Laurens reader. While I’ve read a few, though I don’t remember which, she never caught my attention enough to find a spot on my keeper shelves. But my library’s digital selection is limited, and this happened to be available. It was not a wise choice. I was both intrigued …
Title: Ravished by a Highlander Author: Paula Quinn Series: Children of the Mist #1 If you like highlander romances, you MUST read this book! I LOVED this book! I’ve read a lot of romances, particularly a lot of highlander romances, and was prepared for a cheesy, unrealistically wanton portrayal of testosterone and damsels in distress. I was pleasantly surprised to find both of those elements, but in no way were they cheesy. I think they could have easily crossed that …