Tag: chick-lit

A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses

I loved Molly Harper’s Nice Girl’s series – the characters were people I wanted for friends. If I could live in one of the fictional universe’s in my books, Half Moon Hallow would rank in my top 5 list – IF I could work at Specialty books.

 

So having said all that, of course I loved this book. While Jane and Andrea aren’t center stage, they are a major part of the book and plot – as is Dick. Nola isn’t quite as left of center as these loveable members of HMH, but she plays a great straight-man to many of their antics.

 

I’m a sucker for treasure hunts, so the plot of this book appealed to me: searching for four objects necessary for the continuation of her family’s magic. Ms. Harper tried to keep each artefact search a little bit different, nothing too clichéd. I loved the scene at Jane’s parents house – very funny.

 

Overall, a great addition to the Half Moon Hollow Universe. I hope Ms. Harper continue’s to spin her tales in that little town in Kentucky for some time to come.

Garden Spells

I put off reading this book for a long time because I figured it had to be one of those emotionally manipulative tear jerkers, but the lure of a book with magic and the recommendation of a trusted book-twin had me cracking it open.

 

Just a lovely, brilliant book that grabbed me from the first page. Each character came to life vividly and I just didn’t want to stop reading about any of them. I genuinely enjoyed that the author did not take us down the clichéd path with Sydney or with Fred – in a book all about magic (or mostly about magic), the author chose to take the more realistic path. The book’s climax is predictable, given the plot points, but thank you Ms. Addison Allen for not drawing it out and making it any more melodramatic than it needed to be. It was just right – and deliciously ironic.

 

My only complaint: I truly feel that poor old apple tree is just horribly mis-understood.

Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria (Tara Halloway #4)

This series is just so much fun. While Peach Sangria is a mystery, it’s not your typical murder mystery.

 

Tara is after terrorists by going after their source of money. It’s a slow story to develop and there’s a lot more character development going on, bulking up the book. But I like the character development so I don’t mind at all that the ‘plot’ isn’t front and center and taking up Tara’s every move.  

 

In the land of character development, Ms. Kelly gave us a love triangle a few books ago, and it’s resolved in this book (thank goodness!). She also does something I don’t think any author to date has done: gotten me to switch loyalties from one man to the other. Usually once a love interest is introduced, and it’s a good one, I get really snippy about author’s messing with the status quo. But Ms. Kelly has done a very good job of changing my loyalties and handling the love triangle resolution with grace.  

No Quest For The Wicked (Enchanted, Inc., #6)

This is such a great series for anyone looking for a light, fun, humorous read. No Quest for the Wicked is so action-packed it’s almost exhausting to read, but a lot of fun during the wild ride. I hope this is a series she continues to enjoy success with as I look forward to seeing all the great characters again soon.

Death, Taxes, and Extra-Hold Hairspray (Tara Holloway Mystery #3)

I think this may be my favourite book in this series so far. I thought that the plot was a slightly different spin on the typical mystery – no murders for a start – and the need for Tara to be creative in order to bring down the ‘bad guy’. I put this on my shelves as a cozy mystery, but really it’s a bit more of a chick-lit mystery – the romance is just a little bit more explicit and the language just a little bit more vulgar than what most would consider ‘cozy’. But the humour is dry and wry and the romantic tension is ratcheted up a notch in this book as Tara tries to decide who is a better fit in her life, Brett or Nick.  An excellent read, I really enjoyed it.

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.

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.