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Book Reviews
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Books You’re on the Fence About - 2024
The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky
A bit like Tim Allen's The Santa Clause movies, but with a gay couple at the helm. Could have been memorable had the couple not been so whiny.
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Aesop's Fables: A New Translation
Good, but repetitive after a point. Might work better if read at random, which I did not have the luxury of doing as it was an ARC.
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The Rhino Keeper by Jillian Forsberg
90% readers have rated this 4 stars or more. I am in the immediate outlier range with my 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
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The Highly Sensitive Parent: Be Brilliant in Your Role, Even When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. AronMy review 3â�
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Mother-Daughter Murder Night � Nina Simon � 3.5***
I enjoyed this fresh take on the typical whodunit / cozy mystery. The amateur sleuths here are intelligent and reasonable in the risks they take. I appreciated that Simon crafted a plot that kept me guessing right up to the reveal. But what I really enjoyed about the book was the family dynamics. The ending of this novel makes me hope for a sequel.
LINK to my full review
Reid's Lost Cap - Della Cain
Found By Daddy Series Book #13
Genera: M/M Romance/Daddy, little
4.5�
Review:/review/show...
Truly Madly Guilty � Liane Moriarty � 3.5***
As much as I’ve grown tired of dual timelines, I have to admit that Moriarty excels at this device. And, as she has done with previous novels, here she also uses changing points of view to explore the basics of our lives: marriage, friendship, sex, family, guilt and forgiveness. Who among us hasn’t been plagued by “what if…�?
LINK to my full review
An Astonishment of Stars: Stories by Kirti Bhadresa
A short story collection with BIPOC women in the lead. Interesting but a mood read.
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My review of
December Park by Ronald Malfi, way too long and more of a coming of age tale than a horror novel.review: /review/show...
Three-Inch Teeth- C.J. Box - (Wyoming)
Joe Pickett series Book #24
Genera: Mystery & Suspense/Thriller
3.5�
Review: /review/show...
Mrs Plansky’s Revenge � Spencer Quinn � 3***
Mrs Loretta Plansky is a recent widow, living in Florida, when she falls prey to a scam and finds her bank accounts drained. When the police and FBI tell her there is little to no hope of finding the culprits, let alone getting her money back, Loretta decides SHE will do it herself. This was a fun lark of a novel. She may be in her seventies, but Loretta Plansky is one kick-a$$ heroine! Brava!
LINK to my full review
Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken
Based on the story of a woman in thirteenth century Ireland who was the first to be condemned as a witch. Had great potential but the writing approach was a bit too experimental. Might work better for Booker-style lit fic lovers.
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Protector in Disguise by Veronica Forand 3-StarsHer husband lied, but she's got secrets too.
My Review*
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
This worked well for many readers, but I couldn't stand the contemporary timeline. The historical timeline saves the book.
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Here is my 3.39 rounded to 3 stars review of A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke:/review/show...
Supernatural mystery
Unlikely crime-solving duo
Funny, Charming, and Entertaining
Here is my 3.12 rounded to 3 stars review of Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly:/review/show...
Regency period cozy mystery
Features Emma Woodhouse Knightly from Jane Austen's Emma .
Entertaining, amusing, enjoyable
Uneven pacing, dialogue didn't always feel true to the period
The Last Bridge- Teri Coyne - (Ohio)
Genera: Fiction/Dysfunctional Family/ (Rape, Incest & Alcoholism)
3�
Review: /review/show...
Please pay close attention to the trigger warnings
I read
Secret Admirer by Cynthia Eden.My review: /review/show...
And I listened to
Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris.My review: /review/show...
We Sold Our Souls - Grady Hendrix - (Pennsylvania)
Genera: Music (Heavy Metal)/Horror
4�
Possible Triggers: Sexual Assault, Devil Worshipers
Review: /review/show...
What Happened to Ruthy RamÃrez? â€� Claire Jiménez â€� 3.5***
Twelve years ago, thirteen-year-old Ruthy RamÃrez disappeared without a trace, leaving her family emotionally scarred. But now, Jessica, her older sister, is certain that a woman participating in the latest reality TV show is really Ruthy. Jiménez uses multiple narrators and dual timelines to explore what happens to this family after Ruthy’s disappearance. It’s hard not to grab onto the sliver of hope that this “maybeâ€� Ruthy on TV gives to the RamÃrez women. I went along on the roller coaster ride with them, and hoped, almost as desperately as they did, that they would find her and bring her home once again.
LINK to my full review
I felt like We Are Not Like Them
wasted its potential. Still it would make a great book club selection. My 3.5 star review:/review/show...
One Of Us Is Next � Karen M McManus � 2.5**
This is a sequel to the immensely popular One of Us is Lying . I understand the pressure, especially in the YA market, to produce series, especially when you have a hit with the first effort. But I think the author should have quit when she was ahead. I really did not like this sequel. I was never invested in the kids and thought the plot was manipulative (although, that was probably the point). Just way too much drama for drama’s sake, in my opinion.
LINK to my full review
Miss Julia Meets Her Match � Ann B Ross � 3***
Miss Julia is back in the 5th book of this charming series about a Southern lady of a certain age and her household. This time practically the entire town joins Miss Julia in her favorite “exercise� � jumping to conclusions. From Hazel Marie to Pastor Ledbetter and his wife Emma Sue everyone is ready to act on suspicions.
LINK to my full review
Canary Girls � Jennifer Chiaverini � 3.5***
Chiaverini turns the reader’s attention to the British women who, during The Great War (i.e. World War I), worked in munitions factories to produce the shells the British men fighting on the continent needed to win the war. I was completely unaware of this part of the history of WWI, and I really appreciated learning more about it. Parts of the book reminded me of the nonfiction work, RADIUM GIRLS, while other parts made me think of the movie, A League of Their Own .
LINK to my full review
Valentine - Elizabeth Wetmore - (Texas)
Genera: Suspense/Thriller (I'm not really sure)
2.5�
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Love in Slow M'Ocean - Gianni Holmes - (Maine)
Destination Daddies Series - Season Two
Genera: M/M Romance / Daddy/little
3.5�
Review: /review/show...
This was in NO WAY a bad story. If you, like myself...read and like M/M romances and 'Daddy/little" stories, then I would highly recommend it. The rating reflects parts of the story that I didn't entirely "get".
Everything We Didn’t Say � Nicole Baart � 2.5**
Been there, read that. There’s all kinds of crazy going on in small town Jericho, Iowa. Juniper’s secrets are par for the course, as her parents, her brother and just about everyone else in town seems to harbor secrets. I get that authors use this device to help build suspense, but I just found it tiresome. Also, I am so tired of the ubiquitous dual timeline. Still, it held my attention throughout. And I can see the appeal for a great many readers. So. my final rating is just shy of “okay.�
LINK to my full review
Transparent Is a Color - Kaje Harper
Genera: M/M Romance/Fiction
Part of the Subpar Superhero Series
3�
Reviews: /review/show...
All the Water in the World
had a great premise but didn’t quite deliver th oomph I hoped for. My three star review:/review/show...
The Drowning Woman
was like a car wreck I couldn’t look away from. My three star review:/review/show...
Explosive Eighteen � Janet Evanovich � 3***
Ah, Stephanie Plum. So, this starts with a bang as Stephanie is on a plane coming BACK from Hawaii, alone, but with an obvious tan line on her left ring finger. There are the usual stops at Cluck-in-a-Bucket, the usual “problems� with Stephanie’s car(s), the usual skips who refuse to be captured, the usual viewing at the funeral home and the usual push/pull between Stephanie, Morelli and Ranger. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve read one of these, and I’m sure that’s why I found it so entertaining.
LINK to my full review
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