If wishes were horses...
A Skeleton in the Family (by Leigh Perry)
Reviews in less than 150 words...
When Georgia finds a job teaching at the college in the town where she grew up, she jumps at the chance to move back into her childhood home with her young daughter. But her home comes with a permanent resident in the attic.
Sid is the skeleton in the closet. Really, Sid is a skeleton. He has lived in the house since Georgia was a young child. He's happy in his attic reading and rattling around, but when he encounters a woman from before he was murdered he starts to fall apart...literally, he falls apart. (OK I'm going too far with the puns...I'll stop now.)
A Skeleton in the Family was a moderately entertaining cozy murder mystery. A skeleton as a character is an interesting idea and the author gets as much mileage as she can from it, but in the end it’s not quite enough.
Rhythm and Bluegrass (by Molly Harper)
Reviews in less than 150 words...
When Bonnie, an historian for the Kentucky Commission of Tourism hears about an old music hall that is slated for demolition, she rushes to Mud Creek to try and save as much of the heritage as she can.
She crashes into the Mayor, Will McBride who is desperately trying to save his dying town. They fight over the future of the music hall, and when they’re not doing that, they fight the urge to dive into bed together.
Rhythm and Bluegrass is a laugh out loud funny book filled with quirky characters you want to know. Molly Harper is a master of snark and wit. She’s one of the very few authors whose books I will buy just because her name is on the cover.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and Pocket Star Books for providing me with this ARC.
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Down and Out in Beverly Heels (by Kathryn Leigh Scott)
Reviews in less than 150 words...
After her con-man husband swindles his investors, Hollywood actress Meg Barnes finds herself penniless and living in her car. Desperate to get her life and career back on track she lands a supporting role in a TV pilot. But with the FBI and the Mob still after her husband, she needs to deal with her past before she can look to the future.
When I looked at the cover of this book, I was expecting a ditzy self absorbed Hollywood starlet, who manages to solve the crime despite her complete incompetence. The synopsis pretty much confirmed that.
But it only took a few chapters to realize this book was something very special. What I got was a confident, intelligent and kind heroine who was doing her best to make the most of her situation.
So much love for this book that 5 Stars aren’t nearly enough.
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Sorry for the Slow Day
I imagine those of you who have been on BookLikes for a while are a little miffed at how slow the website has been for the past 24 hours.
No doubt the cause is thousands of refugees from Goodreads landing on your doorstep in the middle of the night and asking for a bed.
I'm sorry for the inconvenience we are causing you, I really hope we are able to bring something to this site and are not just here to drink your beer.
This is your home but I hope that given a little time it can become our home as well.
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Shanna (by Kathleene E. Woodiwiss)
Shanna needs a husband or she'll be forced to marry someone her father chooses. She comes up with the idea of marrying a condemned prisoner. Then once he is hanged she'll be a widow in mourning and will have her freedom.
But Ruark manages to cheat the hangman and finds himself an indentured servant, a bondsman to Shanna's father. Ruark quickly becomes the most valued of bondsmen much to Shanna's chagrin. She cheated Ruark of his wedding night and he's determined she should pay him his due.
This book is like driving across America. There are a lot of great things to see, but it takes so damned long. Despite the length, the book which was written nearly 40 years ago stands up well. The quality of the writing and the editing are things you just don't see very much these days. The ending was a little ridiculous. I mean the guy who murdered the woman Ruark was accused of killing happens to be the Knight who is courting Shanna. The husband of the woman is Shanna's maid's long lost love...yeah, and a dozen more strings neatly tied into a bow, but overall it's a great book.(Group Read with Tuelle and Rockelle)
The Bone Season (Scion 1)
Paige is a voyant with the very rare gift of being a dream-walker. She can push into people's minds and if she chooses attack them at their very core. Living in the near future, in a London that is ruled by humans who fear and despise the voyants she finds a home in the criminal underworld where her gifts are valued. Then she is captured by the government and sent to a Oxford, a city that has been removed from all maps, a prison for the voyants that is ruled by mysterious and brutal beings known as the Rephaim.
I quite enjoyed The Bone Season...I might have even rated it 4 stars but for one thing. The bain of my existence, authors that use the last chapter of a book to try and force me to buy the next in the series. I don't want a whole bunch of questions raised in the last pages, I want a resolution!!! It annoys me....a lot.
After her husband abandons her in a back-water Pennsylvania town, leaving her in a dilapidated house, Paige finds herself in a downward spiral of depression and alcoholism. Realising that she needs a focus she takes up running, and through that and with the help of her neighbors she gradually starts to rebuild her life. Running Against Traffic is a pretty good first effort with one or two missteps. There were twenty-something pages of e-mail correspondence right in the middle of this book which really didn't work. Honestly I skipped through most of it. I got the gist of what was going on and then just tried to get past it. There is an awful lot going on in this book....a lot of characters and a lot of stories. By the end it seemed like the author was rushing to tie up all the loose ends. That said, I enjoyed this book a lot. The author has a lot of raw talent and she'll go along way if she can learn to pace herself.
Extreme Exposure (by Pamela Clare)
Full disclosure, I'm going to repeat something which cEe beE said in her review of Extreme Exposure. You can see it here:
Kara is a hard nosed reporter and single mother. After a whistle-blower contacts her, she finds herself investigating a company that is dumping toxic waste into the environment. But there is high level corruption which reaches all the way up to the state legislature and a lot of powerful people who want the story squashed.
Reece is a State Senator. As a member of the audit committee it's his job to oversee politicians and government employees...making sure they fully disclose their interests and don't make any undue claims. But one or more of the members of the audit committee might be receiving kickbacks.
When Kara and Reece cross paths there is a spark but it isn't long before Kara realizes Reece is closer to her investigation than she's comfortable with.
I've only read two books by Pamela Claire. Skin Deep which was written in 2012, and this book written in 2005. I really don't know what happened in the intervening years but it's plainly obvious that she has developed into a very good writer. Calling a spade a spade, this book is a pale shadow of Skin Deep. Extreme Exposure doesn't quite have the balance right. It seemed a little too heavy on the "romantic" and a bit light on the "suspense". It's entertaining enough...I was never tempted to walk away from it, but it lacked that mysterious something which Skin Deep had.
After a young child in her parish is murdered, Rev. Elsa Montgomery has a crisis of faith. Fleeing her church in Seattle and returning to the poor community in Colorado where she grew up, she finds purpose by making meals for the poor in the soup kitchen of her best friend's church. With the help of a recovered alcoholic and the community they take over a rubbish strewn vacant lot and create a garden. But gang violence is a constant threat. The Garden of Happy Endings is an unconventionally spiritual book about loss, grief and healing. It somehow manages to broach these issues without ever being too preachy or offering up pat answers.
In quick succession, Kyla's fiancé cheated her and her grandparents of their savings; she was in a serious car accident which left her broken and scarred; and her grandparents who were forced to leave their home passed away. With the court case behind her and her now ex-fiancé behind bars Kyla's two closest friends drag her to a dude ranch in Montana to help her regroup and plan her next step. One of the first people she meets in Whisper Creek is Decker, the quintessential tall dark and handsome cowboy. She's attracted to him but with so much baggage weighing her down she doesn't trust her judgement. Decker has his own problems. After his despotic father kicked him out many years earlier, he used the ranch to back his out of control gambling. Now Decker has 30 days to find the money to pay up or his family will lose the ranch. Nothing happens in Accidental Cowgirl that I haven't seen before, but it's exactly what I want from this genre. A simple story well told, characters I like and nothing too tricky. It's a light and satisfying read and among the better Contemporary Romances I've read recently.
Savannah Morningstar;1. had a teenage pregnancy2. was kicked out of home and abandoned by the babies father.3. is a single mother.4. was poor.5. worked as stripper.Jared MacKade;6. is a local boy from wealthy family.7. has three rambunctious brothers8. is divorced.9. has a very large penis.10. was betrayed by Lando Calrissian who turned him over to Boba Fett.Of these 10 key plot points, one does not appear in this book. Can you spot which one?
Maggie is married to a retired Navy SEAL, she's a full time mom who loves clipping out coupons and is a definite fan of bulk toilet paper from Walmart if it will save her a dollar. When her one friend volunteers her to work as a cleaning lady for her snooty neighbors she's none too happy. But she dutifully turns up for the job mop and bucket in hand.
Unfortunately for her the job lands her right in the middle of a murder mystery. The wife has turned up dead and the husband would be the main suspect except Maggie is his alibi.
I really don't know what to say. I was expecting to be mildly entertained, not to find a book that I just can't fault. I was expecting your stereotypical klutzy neurotic heroine, not a smart and snarky woman who is comfortable in her skin and will unapologetically stick up for her friends. I was expecting a husband who treats his wife like a disobedient child, not a guy who is genuinely in love with his woman, who trusts her judgement and will back her come what may.
Nine out of ten murder mysteries I will have picked the bad guy in the first 25%. This book I was still wondering right up to the last chapter. So all of that adds up to five stars...and I haven't even considered the clever and witty writing which had me laughing and madly highlighting some of the great expressions and turns of phrase. If you hear me say something cool in the next few weeks, there's a good chance I stole it from this book.
After a tragic accident on a hike she was leading, Tessa returns to Las Ladronas, the town in New Mexico where she was born. Living with almost overwhelming grief she starts searching for answers to questions that have long been buried. Questions of her childhood and the hippie commune where she lived the first years of her life. While there she meets Vince, a single father who is raising his three daughters, one of whom is still grieving the devastating loss of her mother. It's hard to avoid superlatives with this book. It's just amazing, it's a journey of forgiveness, and perhaps even redemption. As Tessa pulls at the threads of her past she forms an unlikely bond with Vince's troubled daughter and together they are able to learn to move forward again. I've read a lot of books with similar plots. What really separates this one is an almost oppressive malevolence that seeps from the pages. Are they ghosts? All I'll say is when I found out I was surprised.
Penelope (by Anya Wilde)
When the Duchess of Blackthorne invites Penelope to stay with her in London and to pay for her introduction to society it is a rare opportunity. Leaving behind her rural home and her wicked step-mother she travels to the stately manor with her goat and immediately finds herself clashing with the dowager's¹ son the duke.
With no home to return to, she must make the most of the season and find herself a husband...pretty much anyone will do. With a little help from a cross dressing modiste² she learns the ways of polite society and starts attending balls. But her entry into the ton³ is anything but plain sailing and a series of comic catastrophes ensue.
Penelope is a bit of a romp. It's a laugh out loud funny Regency Romance which, for the most part worked although there was a section in the middle which dragged and the jokes were occasionally a little too much. The book settled down at about the 70% mark and I was ready for that. A lot of fun.
¹ Dowager (n): the widow of a duke or a lord
² Modiste (n): a lady's dressmaker
³ Ton (n): fashionable society / the aristocracy
Harry Dresden is a wizard. If you need lost objects found or paranormal events investigated he's your man. He's a bit like Magnum P.I. in a witches hat. As you would expect he's broke, behind on his rent and doesn't have customers lining up at his door. When the police call him in to consult on a murder with links to the magical world, he finds himself tangling with a mobster who wants him dead...a dark mage who wants him dead...and a council of wizards who want him dead. Oh and the police department who don't trust him. No real surprises and the inner monologues were annoying but I always find inner monologues annoying. There was a little info-dumping but it wasn't excessive so I can deal. All in all a half decent urban fantasy.
Lady of Devices (Magnificent Devices #1)
Coming from a life of privilege, little is expected of Claire except that she marry well and be a good wife. But her greatest desire is to attend college and become an engineer. Then after a failed business venture her father commits suicide, she loses her life of privilege and finds herself on the street. She must rely on her wit and her education to survive and make something of herself.
Lady of Devices occasionally felt a bit like a video game, with Claire acquiring skills and then moving on to the next level. But that's not a criticism, it worked well for the story. If I have a criticism it's that the book is too short. After just reading A Discovery of Witches which was interminably long, I'm going to go the other way with this one and say I wish there were 150 more pages.