Will start the series from the beginning

Fateful Words by Paige Shelton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Started this series with this book, and enjoyed it so much will read the series from the start.
The characters were engaging, the red-herrings believable, and the solution made sense.

There's one aspect that conceivably could create a plausible follow-up, since with a couple of characters questions remain, but not sure if this is how she leads into each new book of this series.

Another reason to read the full series, and why I enjoyed this book so much, is that Edinburg is on my travel bucket list. I loved getting glimpses of the city via this book.

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Great story telling, but that ending....

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The writing is incredible. A true master class in character develpment. Cass's voice is amazing, as is PJ's. Murray is incredibly skilled at writing from the perspective of a child and a teen.

I honestly can't say much about the plot as I fear writing anything will ruin the storyline for others.

I also enjoyed the narratives from Dickie and Imelda, but was blown away by Cass's and PJ's in terms of an adult male writing them.

This is my first book by Murray, and at some point I will read his others.

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Learned a bit

There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History by Rory Carroll
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I somehow wasn't aware of this particular bombing, that came close to harming Thatcher. This was during the time of The Troubles. An interesting narrative, that highlights what happened in Brighton in 1984, and details some other aspects of that time-frame.


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Just an ok read

The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am sitting here debating whether this is a 2 or a 3. I went with a 2 because it was "just ok" for me. I liked some aspects. It gives off a bit of a creepy vibe that kept me reading and waiting for some thrills, but overall it didn't add up for me.

I honestly had issues with people's ages, and while it could make sense in a paranormal way perhaps, there was absolutely no explanation for characters to have been a certain age in 1963 (at the youngest 22 perhaps up to 30ish), and apparently robust and fighting off others on the rooftop in the current day and time. And Lillian's age was really confusing. Flirting and possibly dating Chad as if she and Rosie are the same age, yet she was a child in 1963?

At one point I thought we were going with a vampire story, but that didn't come to pass.

I don't mind paranormal, but I do need a bit more world building in that area to explain what caused various elements of the story.

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Continues the great legacy of MHC

It Had to Be You by Mary Higgins Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

MHC was my go to mystery author in HS (possibly MS), after a slew of Nancy Drew books when younger. Alafair Burke does a great job of continuing MHC's legacy.

I loved the set-up of this book, and rooted for many of the characters. The red herrings were great, causing me to go back and forth with who I felt was guilty.

The only quibble I had was it seemed like it would have been harder than it seemed here, for the guilty to keep the secret for as long as they did.

I received this as an arc from NetGalley

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Creepy YA horror

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This engaged me throughout, and I worried about many of the characters (which kept me reading). Feels more like a YA horror than a thriller. Deals with grief, and revenge in a unique manner.

Not sure I liked the ending; it didn't wrap up terribly smoothly for me.

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Funny and engaging

When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown by Kenan Thompson


I tend not to rate memoirs. This one is a bit different from some though, as it isn't revealing a huge scandal or difficult childhood etc., but I will still stick with not putting stars on it.

Listened to the audio, which was Kenan himself. Enjoyable, and interesting overall.
Light and funny, and over-all respectful of other actors and comedians.

The chapter on being single though, he kind of references women in a typicaly "bro" manner though, which was odd.

But, I enjoyed listening to him, and remember his shows from when he was a kid. I do watch SNL, so it was interesting to hear about and remember his early years on it.

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Decent sequel

A Fatal Groove by Olivia Blacke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An enjoyable follow-up, and a series I will continue reading.

The mystery this time involves the mayor's death, and all the varied suspects seem plausible. Decent resolution as well.

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Hurricaine and human antagonists

One Deadly Eye by Randy Wayne White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had been an avid reader of this series, but skipped some of the recent ones (and started his YA series, but only read a couple; both decent).

It was nice to catch back up, and there were a few developments I hadn't been aware of, in Ford's life.
I particularly enjoyed the hurricane description, and the focus on Sammy and his group and their attempts to deal with the horrible storm

I also enjoyed the banter between Ford and other characters.

I didn't care for the level of brutality described that dealt with the human antagonists though, and while I thought the idea of awful people targeting hurricaine victims, and know this takes place, this aspect in the novel was a bit too much and a bit too unbelievable.

The book ends on a cliff hanger in terms of a couple of important people in Ford's life, which I won't detail to avoid spoilers, and due to the fact that I read an ARC via NetGalley

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A true thriller

Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't read any of his previous books, but they are going on my TBR as a result of reading this.

I was hooked from the start, and riveted by each narrator's storyline. The twists were great, and most unexpected.

Takes the classic "Strangers on a Train" and twists it up in truly unique ways.

Great characters, great plot, and a true thriller.

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Nice follow-up

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This started off quite well for me, and I felt the spark that made me love Divine Rivals. I have never been a fan of stories about battles, and when this delved into that it kind of made that spark flicker out.

I did want to know more about Dacre and Enva, so appreciated that, but would have preferred learning more about the other gods, myths, the music etc versus the battles.

Overall I felt it was a fitting end to the duology. Thus, I liked it.

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resolution fell apart

A Pie to Die For by Gretchen Rue
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I do enjoy cozy mysteries. The premise and setting for this one had me hooked.

Initially I pretty much knew where the murderer was from (basically you're looking at locals or tourists) and thus I focused on certain characters.

The issue though was even though I was essentially right, the character involved didn't make much sense. The reasoning for the crime didn't add up (as earlier aspects of their values etc wouldn't have allowed this person to murder for the motive provided, despite any perceived harm being done to them..and by the way those earlier aspects are all at the end as the person essentially confesses to Este) So, the murder mystery really fell apart for me at the end.

Another thing that irked me, was the detail of what she prepared. Pages were devoted to her prep work and making of various pies. One feature of many cozy series involves recipes, especially if the protagonist owns a unique coffee shop, ice-cream shop or diner, as Este does in this series. However, usually the meal or dessert etc would be briefly mentioned in a mouth watering way, and then the recipe would be provided at the end, as an addtional perk for the reader. At times I thought I was reading a cookbook, because there was too much detail in the pie recipes. And yes, there are actual recipes at the end of the book, which do look good. However, I would have preferred more sleuthing than those descriptions, and defintely wanted a resolution that made a bit more sense than this one did.

Having said all of that, I would be tempted to read the 2nd, and hope that mystery revolves more around the lucky pies, and perhaps a recpient not liking the results or something.

So, overall this was an ok read for me.

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Humor was nice

The September House by Carissa Orlando
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyed the humor and the narrator quite a bit. Loved how the rationalizations developed so seemlessly. Living with odd things as if all is normal made sense in this novel.
The build up was well done, and most aspects were believable.

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The Nurses in Vietnam

The Women by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am close to Hannah's age, and thus the recollections she has of the Vietnam war (that she mentions in the afterword) are similar.

I truly appreciated the narrative that dealt with the nurses in Vietnam. The horrors they witnessed, and the lives they saved. I thought the experiences shared seemed real, including Frankie's return home and her path to therapy etc.

I was honestly irked by the various love stories, and more irked by the resolution of a couple of those. While I do think romance will obviously happen in historical fiction, since romance happens in real life, it threw the narrative off for me in this novel.

I also wish there had been more about Barb and Ethel, perhaps chapters from their perspectives.

Overall, I do think the novel addressed a forgotten group of women, and it told that story well.

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Dragged a bit

The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer by Krista Davis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Decent 2nd story to this series. Started off very strong but the middle was much too long, and I was practically begging for the resolution to arrive.

I enjoy the setting and some of the returning characters a lot, so stuck with a 3 instead of a 2.

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Bland thriller

The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It started off nicely, but the build up and character development were stilted. I got confused between Harper's husband and brother so at one point thought some sort of incest was involved (it wasn't, it was merely my confusion because the characters lacked definition)

I knew right away who "The Party Guest" was, so that was rather disappointing, while not knowing the why until later in the book. While the why had merit, the execution by the party guest was rather stupid. They could have easily developed a legal case rather than the ridiculous method they chose. Other characters had equally weak reasons for their choices.

Basically, it isn't the typical reunion at an isolated place with bad weather coming story. It was a bland version of that trope with weak plot and characterization.

I did finish it, and thus rated it a 2

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Debut cozy

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise and story line were intriguing. If it ends up being a series I will try the 2nd. I did find the main character not as well drawn as I had hoped. For 20 years she has had nothing to do with the business, much less any kind of detective work, yet repeatedly we are told that she can easily solve the murder mystery. That was a bit odd to me, and would have merited a 2 overall, but I ended up deciding it was a 3 since the version I read was an ARC, and perhaps the published version corrected editing issues (that also bugged me) as well as too many references to her skills that weren't backed up by anything.

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A bit unbelievable

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a decent enough book, with plausble red herrings, but some aspects felt a bit leaden to me. A slower paced story than was necessary I guess. I honestly didn't believe how long a process the therapy aspect took. I feel she would have remembered what happened sooner than she did.

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