This book ended up just not for me at all. I suppose I found the combination of the three story lines – romance (and I use that term VERY loosely – really it was closer to small vignettes of erotica), pirates and supernatural – disparate enough to each distract from the other. It just felt too scattered for me to enjoy completely as one story. I would have liked to have seen the connection between Phaeton and Jason Exeter explored in more detail; the possibilities there intrigued me. I liked Phaeton’s protector, Edvard the Sneaky too. And I was very disappointed that America Jones’ abilities as a witch were completely ignored. Had more attention been paid to any or all of these, I’d have enjoyed the book so much more. I will also add that for anyone out there who is uncomfortable about romance that goes beyond innuendo, this book is most definitely not for you.
Author: MurderByDeath
Trail of the Spellmans (Spellman Files Series #5)
I can’t say anything except this is an excellent book. Funny, endearing, interesting. As with all the previous ‘documents’ there are quite a few plot lines and Izzy Spellman does her usual excellent job at getting to the bottom of all of them. The evolution of character development throughout all the books has been interesting, humorous and at times painful to witness and bittersweet.
I’d have given this book 5 stars, but was personally disappointed with the resolution of one of the story lines.
A definite recommendation for anyone who enjoys some hilarity with their sincerity.
Death, Taxes, and a Skinny No-Whip Latte (Tara Holloway Series #2)
I took a break from reading this book after about 6 chapters because it wasn’t holding my attention. I picked it back up after a few days and found myself much more interested in the rest of the book.
Slow start or short attention span, the book picked up quickly afterwards and while you pretty much always know who the bad guy is, I found myself looking forward to finding out how they catch him in the end. Lots of action, a few slapstick moments and great characters. I’ll be on the lookout for the third book.
Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs (Jane Jameson Series #1)
I had so much fun reading this book! The author’s wit and humour clicked with me and I absolutely loved the dialogue.
The mystery was, while not the main focus of the story, well thought out and not obvious. The only part of this story I didn’t like was just how nasty the women in her family are to her but at least the author allowed the main character, Jane, to have a spine and she didn’t take being treated like crap as though she deserved it. Jane gives as good as she gets and I love reading about her. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book.
Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson #3)
Third Grave Dead Aheadby Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★★
isbn: 9781250001542
Series: Charlie Davidson #3
Publication Date: February 4, 2012
Pages: 310
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Paranormal private eye. Grim reaper extraordinaire. Whatever. Charley Davidson is back! And she's drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake because, every time she closes her eyes, she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hell-bent on murder when the devil's son just won't give up?
2021 Re-read: Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t have anything to say in my original post about how dark this one is, and how hard to read at least one scene was. Re-reading it, even knowing it was coming up, was still incredibly difficult, and I found I couldn’t let myself do more than skim read said scene. It’s the sharp contrast of the often dark plots, to the snarky humour woven throughout the narrative that makes these books readable for me.
Original Thoughts: What a great book. I started it and couldn’t put it down until it was finished. I was hesitant about the premise – Charley can’t go to sleep. I was afraid it would be painful to read – but that wasn’t the case in the slightest. I found myself holding my breath during parts of the story, and although there were places where the reading of the story was difficult – truly painful for the characters at times – the humour never lets up and I love Charley’s sense of humour. The comedic banter she exchanges with many of the characters – especially her BFF Cookie, makes me laugh out loud.
I truly hope I do not have to wait another year for the fourth one. I’ll be re-reading the three I have in the meantime.
No Nest for the Wicket (Meg Langslow Mystery #7)
No Nest for the Wicketby Donna Andrews
Rating: ★★★★★
isbn: 9780312329402
Series: Meg Langslow #7
Publication Date: August 8, 2006
Pages: 259
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow series is one of my all time favourites and a series I re-read with regularity.
No Nest for the Wicket is one of the best (extreme croquet – really!), as I really enjoy the ones where Meg’s wacky family plays their part (and boy they are the best sort of whack-jobs!). I’ve read no author who can so perfectly write such three-dimensional characters – even the most out there of the relatives seems believable (ok, almost believable).
I think the plot was solid, with lots of red herrings and the murderer ultimately not easy to guess.
I hope Ms. Andrews finds many, many more plots within her as I’ll be devastated when this series ends. (This review reflects the third time I’ve read this book.)
The Spellmans Strike Again (Izzy Spellman Mysteries)
This is my review after reading this book for the second time.
This is a great series and this one might be my favourite of the four so far. As funny as the family is, it’s nice to see a few of them get put in their place, and it’s great to see Izzy evolve. I love the footnotes, and there are quite a few laugh-out-loud moments.
This is not a typical mystery, with one major plot, but rather has many smaller plots running in parallel and I thought they were all handled really well. I’m really looking forward to the 5th Spellman case.
Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure (Tara Holloway Series #1)
Overall, I thought this was a very entertaining book. More cozy than romance, but with significant Romance traits (the sex scenes were more graphic than your standard cozy).
I found myself skimming once in awhile, even though I liked the characters and enjoyed the writing, so I’m going to chalk that up to trying to read during the busy holiday season.
I’ll definitely be ordering the next book in the series to see what happens next.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
A beautiful cookbook with fabulous photographs and a lot of recipes that sound like a lot of fun to try. I’m looking forward to trying quite a few of them in the near future
Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side
Not a bad collection, but not the best one I’ve read. I liked about half the stories, found most of the rest just ‘ok’ and completely disliked one. Still, there are a few here that I’ll probably re-read again in the future when I’m looking for a quick Supernatural fix.