A quick little roundup of several smaller reviews I wrote in Winter 2023 – 2024. Beware of spoilers!
Title: Death by Demo
Author: Callie Carpenter
Series: Home Renovation Mystery #1
Much thanks to Callie Carpenter, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review.
This book was great! Jaime was likeable and sympathetic, and I loved her conversations with Demo. I enjoyed watching her outsmart her adversaries. Also the lumber kiln was a unique method to me. Not sure Jaime had much chemistry with Mike, but I’m willing to see where it goes. I look forward to the next installment!
Title: The Expectant Detectives
Author: Kat Ailes
Series: Expectant Detectives #1
Much thanks to Kat Ailes, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was skeptical of this premise, but boy was I surprised. I loved it. I didn’t want to stop listening.
There’s a lot of pregnancy—I’d argue it’s 50% a mystery and 50% women’s fiction about a woman coming to terms with what’s about to happen to her body and her life. If you have zero interest in reading about pregnancy and childbirth, this book isn’t for you.
I adored Alice. She was SO relatable to me. We would 100% be besties. Laid back but not negligent. Not super social but also not a recluse. Would rather watch a screen than do chores. Isn’t perfect, makes mistakes, needs a shot of dopamine via junk food sometimes. She had an airhead moment from time to time, but let’s be honest, don’t we all? She’s a great friend and does her best to be a great girlfriend, and is scared to death that she won’t be a great mom. Sure, she could work harder to train Helen, but I also admire her patience and love for the kooky dog.
Every character grew on me, with the exception of Rowan and his dad. They just did not endear me. I didn’t like Dot, either, but I respected her enthusiasm and conviction toward her values. Joe took a while, but by the end I felt for him. I even liked Hen and Elsa, as well as the villain. Their story broke my heart.
It was an odd choice not to show Jack’s birth. So much of the narrative was building up to that, I feel it was the expected and deserved climax for the characters’ arcs as well as the women’s fiction part of the plot and pregnancy theme. It was very disappointing and baffling to skip ahead two weeks and find out we’d missed his birth.
One neither here nor there rant: Does it drive anyone else nuts to hear towns described as SO SMALL, then read on the next page that there are multiple stoplights and niche businesses like a holistic or new age shop and gong baths or whatever those were? I’m sure it’s a matter of perspective, but as someone who lives in the rural Midwest with the nearest town having a population of less than 1,000, a real small town has no stoplights, only one or two restaurants that serve unimaginative food, and struggles to keep the post office in operation, much less a niche business. End rant.
Overall, I loved this book and look forward to what Kat Ailes does next.
Title: Trouble
Author: Lex Croucher
Series: n/a
Much thanks to Lex Croucher, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I liked this book up to a point, and I will only say that I should not have ignored how this book was categorized.
Title: The Hollow Dead
Author: Darcy Coates
Series: Gravekeeper #4
Thank you so much to Darcy Coates, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Still in love with this series! Loved every moment of this installment. Keira and Zoe had great development, Mason and Harry didn’t develop much but were still great to have present. I wasn’t as concerned by Harry’s actions and comments this time around. He and Zoe were their very funny selves. Zoe and her bag of ex machina—excuse me, tricks—never fails to amuse.
I feel I had to suspend my disbelief a bit more for this book than previous, but I was having too much fun to really care. I can’t specify without spoilers, but I’ll say that Keira is very acrobatic for no apparent reason—life on the run doesn’t teach one stunts like that. Her thorough knowledge of runes has also yet to be explained.
We did get a lot of wonderful answers, though it remains unclear how Artec realized they could use ghosts to charge their phones. How did they come to know that ghosts were not only real, but possessed energy that could be harvested and converted into electricity?
Also, HOW DID THE TRUCKS TURN AROUND?? Omg that gave me an eye twitch.
Love it, can’t wait for the next one. Which I suspect to be the last?
Title: A Body on the Doorstep
Author: Marty Wingate
Series: London Ladies’ Murder Club #1
Much thanks to Marty Wingate, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was great! Mabel was a wonderful protagonist. Very admirable and sympathetic.
I loved the Useful Women aspect; it’s all kinds of patronizing but at the time it was a huge step forward for women. Some readers may feel that more of the book was about UW jobs than investigating, particularly in the beginning; I felt some imbalance, but I was enjoying the story too much to care.
I like Park as a character and love interest. I don’t have a clear picture of him in my head but that’s my fault; when he was described I was distracted by a murder lol.
My only complaint is that it was too easy to guess whodunit. I mean, it was the one character everyone liked and admired and no one suspected. Signs of self-interest and resenting the world. Might as well have named them Guilty.
Overall a great read and I can’t wait for the series to continue.
Title: Little Witness
Author: S.A. Dunphy
Series: DI Tessa Burns #1
Thank you to S.A. Dunphy, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This novel was great! I was leery about requesting it because I was afraid I would be out of my depth reading about Irish procedure and culture, but I was interested and gave it a shot. So glad I did! It wasn’t inaccessible at all. To me it read pretty much the same as US crime fiction, except a few things had different names, like the police force there is called the Garda.
I found it rather implausible that Tessa would be allowed to create her own unit as a reward for disobeying orders–yes, she saved a child, which was wonderful, but she DID disobey orders–but it was fun to think she was given that honor and to watch her recruitment montage.
The downside to the recruitment montage was that too many characters were introduced at once, and I lost track a bit of who was who. I knew Maggie and Danny, of course, but we were introduced to some other men about that time and I don’t remember who they were. There was the cop with Alzheimer’s–that was fascinating–but there were other men, too, ones Tessa had known growing up, and I’m not sure of their significance. They could probably have been cut? And there were the cops who found Ash–that scene probably didn’t have to be broken up like it was, but it didn’t bother me too much. I understand it was maintaining tension while Tess got her shit together.
I loved Maggie’s spirit and strength. I loved that Danny had a good heart in spite of his temper. I loved Tessa’s fierceness and self-confidence. None of them had much character development, just demonstrated their faults and abilities while they worked the case, but they were likeable and sympathetic.
So the story wasn’t perfectly executed, but the stakes were high, the pace steady and quick, the setting new yet familiar, the narrator talented, and overall I enjoyed listening to this novel. Unfortunately Dunphy’s fiction isn’t available to my library, so I’ll be watching to see if more titles appear on NetGalley. I’d love to see what’s next for the Burns Unit.
Title: When a Dragon Falls
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks
Series: Embraced #7/Embraced by Magic #4
Thank you to Kerrelyn Sparks, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
All right, I tried reading this twice in two different formats. Back in October I tried the eprint version and it kept putting me to sleep. So I waited for the audiobook to become available at the library and tried listening to that. I’ve reached 53% and I’m calling it. It’s so boring. NOTHING is happening. They all just keep talking about what they plan to do or what they’re waiting for. When they actually get to doing something, it’s slow going or so bogged down in inner monologue that it still feels like nothing’s happening. I don’t dislike any of the characters, but none of them have much charm or charisma or personality. All I could think about while listening is how I couldn’t wait to listen to something else. Not good. I’ve loved this series to date, but each new book gets more and more stale. I’m ready for something new.
I believe Sparks’s husband has been very ill for a while, and the stress of that could be a factor. I wish them both well.
Title: A Christmas Miracle in the Little Irish Village
Author: Michelle Vernal
Series: The Little Irish Village #3
Thank you to Michelle Vernal, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to what was supposed to be a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Bookouture did not notify me of their approving my request, however, so I failed to download the ARC before it was archived that same day. I had to buy a copy in order to review it and stop it counting against my NetGalley feedback ratio. Publishers aren’t required to notify reviewers of approval, but in all my years using NetGalley, this is the first time one didn’t.
To their credit, Bookouture has sent notifications since, so I forgive them . . . but I’m still salty about wasting an Audible credit.
Because a waste it was. While ostensibly charming and heartwarming, this book was mostly fluff.
There was no reason the love interest had to go missing; that was purely unnecessary drama. Sure, it created tension, with Ava wondering if she’d have a chance to apologize for leaving him, but I didn’t like that. On that point, I agree with Grace, Ava’s twin, that Ava deserved a chance to do what she wanted with her life, and if Shane was unwilling to compromise, move on from him. He should have approached her with apologies, not the other way around, I don’t care if he’d already seen the error of his ways or not. (And why did his dad wait to lay into him AFTER she’d left? What good did that do? *eye roll*) Once Shane was found, all the tension regarding that storyline dissolved, because no conflict remained. He was sorry, still loved her, wanted to get married immediately. Cue wedding planning fluff.
As for the main storyline, that of Ava and Grace’s difference of opinion, it’s resolution was awful. Ava and Grace both stubbornly refused to try to resolve the issue, and Mommy had to step in and force a resolution herself. Pathetic. Removed a great opportunity for character development in which the characters could mature enough to approach each other and fix the problem themselves. It also made it appear that Grace was in the wrong, when I don’t believe she was. Yes, she had to learn to let go of Ava and stop resenting Shane, and she should have been able to resolve the conflict herself, but Grace’s point in disliking the whole business—that Ava was bowing to Shane’s whims when she shouldn’t—I completely agree with.
The premise is absolutely solid, but the execution was terrible. Overall it came off like the author just wanted an excuse to write about a cozy Irish community, so she tossed together some half-assed conflict to make it a story. Or was contractually obligated to write another book and same. The journalist thread meant nothing, the Christmas setting was superfluous. Flashing back to when she and Shane—met? fell in love? It was unclear—was unnecessary. Shouldn’t have needed to switch to Nora’s point of view. The whole book was a mess. I’d have recommended starting the story where the conflict started, before the girls moved to New York, and made it more romance by switching POVs between Ava and Shane so we could experience their thoughts and emotions as they worked through the situation themselves. Lots more opportunity for character development and would hopefully cut down on the fluff.
Lastly, the quality of the recording wasn’t great. Definitely not the worst I’ve heard, but not great either. I could hear a tinny/echoy quality, and the narrator sounded bored at times. In a few spots she repeated herself, as if changing her mind about how to deliver a line, but the mistakes weren’t edited out. Also I believe chapter fourteen was repeated. Very sloppy work.
Title: A Very English Murder
Author: Verity Bright
Series: Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #1
Thank you to Verity Bright, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to what was supposed to be a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Bookouture did not notify me of their approving my request, however, so I failed to download the ARC before it was archived a few days later. I had to buy a copy in order to review it and stop it counting against my NetGalley feedback ratio. Publishers aren’t required to notify reviewers of approval, but in all my years using NetGalley, this was the first time one didn’t.
To their credit, Bookouture has sent notifications since, so I forgive them. Also, I can’t be too mad when they’re the reason this wonderful book came into my life.
I adored this story. I adored Ellie, I adored Clifford, I adored Gladstone, I adored the other staff, I adored Ellie’s similarities to Veronica Speedwell, I adored the mystery. Even Lancelot—I didn’t want to like him, because he seems like a jackass, but he’s sweet and kind, too . . . his help at the end sealed the deal. That was awesome. I’m not convinced he and Ellie will end up together—their chemistry strikes me as more fraternal—but I understand her crush on him.
Inspector Whatshisname has love interest potential as well. But she had the most chemistry with Clifford. I had to keep reminding myself that he’s as old as if not older than her parents’ generation and is likely just meant to be a mentor, good friend, and parental figure. I loved their relationship most.
I guessed whodunit as soon as we met them—not sure how; they were just too ready to agree with Ellie, I guess, came off as super insincere, like a politician making promises they have no intention of keeping–but I didn’t care, I just looked forward to watching Ellie investigate on her own. The story was well paced and well written.
I’m SUPER bummed to find out that this series isn’t available at my library—isn’t available to even request via Libby. I’ll have to wait until I’ve stocked up some credits on Audible. Spent my last two on this and another book when I shouldn’t have needed to. >_< You can bet I’m checking my NetGalley shelves more frequently now.
Title: The Lady Thief of Belgravia
Author: Allison Grey
Series: n/a
Thank you to Allison Grey, Dreamscape Select/Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This wasn’t a bad book, but it ended up not really being to my taste. Waaayyy too much sex, even for a romance. There had to be, like, half a dozen sex scenes. Relatively graphic, and started pretty early. I was looking forward to My Fair Lady meets Ocean’s Eleven, but it seemed they spent more time forking and feeling inadequate than heisting or lady-training. And the heisting went way too smoothly for them—everything happened exactly right until the end, because, you know, climax. A great heist plot has NOTHING going according to plan–Ocean’s movies, Mission Impossible movies. That doesn’t mean the characters have to be dumb or incompetent, rather life and people are truly unpredictable and they have to be clever and skilled enough to think on their feet and improvise.
The duke was a creepy misogynistic asshole to be sure, but he didn’t really strike me as dangerous, or very smart. On the villain scale I’d give him a thumbs-down-raspberry.
Brandon was super sensitive, which isn’t necessarily bad, but he wore his heart on his sleeve and came off as needy. He was likeable enough and somewhat sympathetic, but that’s about it. Whenever the story mentioned he could fight, I was surprised, because he did not seem like the type. I could see him fencing, where there’s rules and honor, but not “no-rules” scrapping. Hard to believe he’s a spy. What I wonder is how he allowed the letters to be stolen from him to begin with; I can’t remember if the narrative said. Doesn’t really lend confidence in him.
Della was sympathetic, but I didn’t like her much. She struck me as self-centered/interested, but I suppose a person in her position in life needs to be. Doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t an endearing quality. Also, I didn’t care for her liberal use of the F-word. Again, I suppose it’s realistic for someone in her position to use such crass language, but that doesn’t mean it was endearing. Unless the tone is dark and gritty, it’s always jarring to hear that word in a historical. Kicked me right out of the story. And I’d think she’d have stopped once she began lady training.
Also, it baffled me that someone so determined not to sell herself would allow herself to go to bed with her employer. He wasn’t paying her for sex, but he was still paying her. She was still working for him. Gray area, I guess.
Overall, the writing wasn’t bad, the pace slow but steady, but the story just wasn’t what I expected/wanted it to be. Read this book for romance, not for action.
Title: Switched
Author: Sarah Ready
Series: Ghosted #2
Much thanks to Sarah Ready; W.W. Crown, an Imprint of Swift and Lewis Publishing, LLC; and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed Switched. Henry and Serena were both mostly likeable and sympathetic, though really not all that relatable, at least to me. I didn’t care for Serena’s supposed promiscuity, and I had trouble marrying quiet, serious, neat freak Henry with someone who would participate in pretty ridiculous pranks (leaving his brother in a boat drunk, naked, and without oars? I don’t think that’s funny).
It did feel like Ready had no idea what to do with the couple after switching them. I’d put money on it being one of those times the writer had a great idea for starting a book but didn’t think through the rest of the plot. Logic would suggest that the characters would bury themselves in science until they had all the answers, that kinda being their jobs, but instead they take off to socialize and get to know each other better. Because romance. And what are the best and most cliche ways to do that? A wedding and a near death, obvi. Just ask any romance author.
Despite that, though, I did enjoy the book. Took me a little while to finish since I wasn’t super invested, but a good time nonetheless.
