Tag: cozy

I have a few friends on GR who read the first book in this series and didn’t like it but I found enough to like that I bought and read the second one – which I thought was quite good. This one was NOT.

 

I really did not enjoy this book at all. It took me forever to finish this one because I just didn’t want to.

 

When I pick up a cozy, it’s for entertainment, for escape. Something nice and light, maybe a bit of humour – nothing too ‘real’. So when this book started with Hayley being beset by financial disasters, being so broke she has to beg her mom for money, her mom telling her ‘no’; well, we’re not off to a good light-hearted start are we? I realise the author is trying to set up the whole coupon-clipping-gameshow scenario, but she went about it in the most depressing, downtrodden way possible.

 

In addition to this, Lex, the love interest the author has been championing throughout the series, decides to go on a couple of benders through out the book and Hayley acts like this drunken, aggressive behaviour is a non-event. It’s never discussed or even acknowledged – not even when he beats down her brother’s door at night, falls down, and passes out on the floor. Really? I’m supposed to find this endearing????

 

I will give credit to the author for an excellently crafted plot – I did not see the villain of this story at all until the end. Also, the columns throughout the book are cute and entertaining, as well as a clever way to incorporate the recipes and cocktails into the story.

 

I’ll consider the fourth one when it comes out – because the second book was a good one, but this one is a definite black mark on the series so far.

I’m a fan of this series, but this one just didn’t do it for me and I can’t say why. Well, I can say waaayyy too much internal dialogue was going on – I was skipping all sorts of paragraphs. But even so, something was just missing from this one.

 

Plot line was decent, although a bit all over the place. Didn’t guess the murderer, but I don’t think I was trying either. I just kept thinking ‘must get through this book’.

 

Well, fingers crossed for the next one.

My favorite current series and this one did not disappoint. I’m so attached to these characters and Dharma.

 

The best bits of this book: meeting Derek’s brother and NO MINKA!!

 

I loved the whole sub-plot about Obedience Green and the Civil War. And of course, I can’t get enough of the bookbinding/restoration details. I find them fascinating, although I realise this might not be the case for everyone. Still, I don’t think they are overdone in any way.

 

The plot line revolves around Brooklyn’s sister Savannah and a reunion of sorts of Savannah’s classmates from Le Cordon Bleu. The villain was a bit unexpected, although I wasn’t totally stunned. The whole ‘person-you’d-least-suspect’ route, while effective, isn’t always surprising.

 

Overall, I found nothing to nitpick about this book and plenty to love. My only complaint is that I read it too fast and now I have to wait until next year for another fix. Boo, hiss and boo.

I put off reading this book for a long time because it just had way too redneck-y a vibe for me to think I’d find it enjoyable. But then I read about the author being a native Floridian (as I am) and I thought, well, I should give this a go, she should be able to do ‘old Florida’ justice with out turning everyone into caricatures.

 

So I was pleased to find myself thoroughly involved in this book by about 1/3 of the way in. I had to struggle a bit to keep Marty and Maddie straight, but each character very much has their own personality and for the most part, they’re colourful and likeable. Of course I love the Old Florida setting. The plot was well done; a lot of red herrings and suspects, a lot of clues. Very strong ending.

 

I’ll be ordering the next books in the series, and I’m hoping for some more scenes of the chemistry sort between Carlos and Mace. 

This first in a new series started off really strong, and I thought ‘yay!’ a new series to get excited about. But from there – well, it sort of fell apart. Not completely – it was still a good enough read, but not nearly as good as it’s potential.

 

First, the setting is excellent; small town, at the base of the blue ridge mountains. Most of the action takes place in only two places, so there’s not much of a mind map setup, but it wasn’t really missed and didn’t detract from the story.

 

Next, the characters. We start with a charity weaving night that introduces us to the main characters and coincidentally, the suspects. I really liked the female dynamic and was all set for a good ‘friendship’ setup for the series. But the protagonist, Della, spends most of the book talking down to her ‘closest’ new friend, Jenny, someone who believes she can read aura’s and tarot. Della treats her as a bit of a silly child because of this, and it hurts the book.

 

Della was supposed to have been a Financial Analyst in her previous life, but seems to have no money of her own and needs to take advice from the men in her life about her own financial decisions. ?!?!  Plus, I was over hearing about the damn high heels.

 

Marnie is introduced as a bit of a shrew, but then becomes likeable as the book progresses. The final female character, Dolores, is portrayed as a nasty, scheming piece of work until the last third of the book where she becomes a bit of a hero in the piece. ?!?!

 

And finally, Michael – the childhood friend/love interest: He is an Ass!!!! One minute he’s talking to Della like she’s a child and constantly nagging at her and the next, he’s blushing and running away from her at the slightest provocation. WTF??? Total turn-off.

 

All-in-all, the characters felt all over the place, I never knew how I was meant to feel about any of them (except Michael, whom I’m sure I am meant to like but really, I’d just like to kick him in the jewels…)

 

Finally, the plot. Very well done and wow, way to keep me completely distracted with lots of suspects and red herrings and then shock me at the end. Totally didn’t have a clue until Della did. Excellent!

 

Not sure I’ll read the next one or not – though I’ll admit to finding the weaving bits very interesting. I’ll have to see how I feel once the next book comes out.

I ::Loved:: this book! I never say that about firsts-in-series; most of them are a bit clunky and awkward, as the author is getting to know their characters on paper for the first time.

 

This book was just excellent and I felt like it took off from the first page. I love the setting – an island 12 miles into Lake Michigan. That just invites quirky characters and eccentricities. And the location allows for weather of all kinds – like a spring blizzard in this book, allowing the setup to work perfectly.

 

The POV is first person, but it’s set up in a way that’s a tiny bit like Bea is talking directly to you – not irritatingly so – just enough that her personality really comes through, and I love her personality. She’s smart, accomplished, wealthy AND she has a past. But instead of dumping it all out on you right at the beginning, there are just small comments; reactions to things that hint at bigger things and again, not in an irritating fashion; the action is fast paced and interesting so you aren’t feeling like you’re being teased (too much) or led around by a hook. I’m pretty sure I know what her former career was, and she comes right out and eventually shares what brought her to the island and a new life, but there’s still so much to learn!

 

The other characters are all introduced almost at once, but each is so unique I didn’t have any trouble keeping them straight. I like Kate’s character; Chandra is just a wee bit too much of a caricature at points, but she shows a streak of mischief I really like! And oh my heaven, Levi. Ms. Logan’s other series (which I genuinely like a LOT) has a sweet romance sub-plot that you find yourself cheering for. But this series and Levi – HOT! Love the banter between him and Bea; the author does an excellent job making the tension between those two vivid. And he just screams ‘man with a past!’ to me – I hope I’m not wrong. Kate has a possible love interest as well who intrigues me – I want to know more about him as well – and Chandra is too busy revisiting her past to care much about future love interests.  

 

Finally, the plot – well done Ms. Logan, well done. I never had a clue who the villain was – lots of suspects, disparate clues – and when it was revealed, well, I read a lot of cozies, and I’m not saying it’s never been done before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. I can’t wait to read more about these three. Ms. Logan has set the bar high for herself with this one; I hope it’s a sign of things to come. I found this book to be a breath of fresh air in a genre that’s been threatening to stale for some time now. I’ll be eagerly awaiting word of book two!

Meh. The main character, while not unappealing, isn’t really three dimensional enough to be appealing. No hint of spark, or humour – even her ‘temper’ isn’t really much of anything to make one sit up and take notice. She’s terribly earnest and has a hint of wounded bird about her that makes me want to tell her to suck it up and get over it.

 

Comments about her biological clock were about three too many. The ‘romance’ is rather tepid as well, although the men are likeable and appealing enough. If all the characters were 20-30 years older, the whole character dynamic would work better, I think. (ok, maybe not the biological clock bit.)

 

The plot was, well, I don’t know. I pegged the villain very early on in the book so the whole thing felt predictable.  I want to like this series – there are themes and bits that appeal to me, but I just don’t know that I’ll be continuing on with it beyond this book.

Well, this book was the one that decided whether I continued with the series or not. I was left feeling disappointed by the first two – the main character was just scatter-brained and a bit of a mess. Not the heroine I want to rally behind. So I figured, one more book, if it’s as disappointing as the first two, the series goes into the donation bag.

 

I’m happy to say this book is a marked improvement over the first two. Marked. Hayley isn’t a ditz and she’s finding her groove and her backbone. The plot was very well laid out with no clear path to who the killer was until then end. Some might not appreciate the lack of ‘clues’, but it does make for an ending I personally didn’t see coming.

 

I’ll admit to being bone dead tired when I read most of this book, so there might have been a fourth star had I been more alert, BUT, the lack of any kind of romantic tension and the over-usage of internal dialogue/introspection would have taken that fourth star away anyway. So, definite signs of improvement, and I’m actually curious about the fourth book and what it will bring. So, we’ll see.

I just couldn’t get into this book at all. I liked the first book well enough that I looked forward to this one, but it just fell flat. I had a hard time remembering who was who from the first book at first, so it took me a while to sort it all out. Then, well, meh.

 

The characters are all likeable, the plot was serpentine and convoluted and almost too complicated, but it kept you guessing. It was well written. And beyond the pageant stuff – which I have zero interest in on a good day – I like the gardening talk. So I can’t really say why this book fell so short for me.

 

I’ll wait for the next book before deciding whether or not to drop this series – it could be just a sophomore slump.