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A Decent Ride
Book
This book is shortlisted for the 2015 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for comic fiction. With a...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Death of a Red-Hot Rancher in Books
Sep 15, 2021
Lizzie Find Murder Heats Up Her Life
Lizzie Hale is enjoying running her romance bookstore. So what if her love life is a little non-existent, she loves getting to spend her days around books and interacting with her customers. Life gets much more complicated, however, when Brody Pierce dies. Brody owned the buffalo ranch outside of town, and Lizzie keeps finding evidence that her aunt may have been his secret lover. Lizzie worries that, if true, this secret will lead to her aunt being arrested for murder. Lizzie jumps in to the investigation to try to clear her aunt, but what does it mean when all the evidence she finds seems to point to her aunt?
There are plenty of book themed cozies, but this is the first one I’m aware of to feature romance novels as the specific bookish hook. I’m not a fan of the genre, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this book. Lizzie is a great main character, and she is surrounded by charming family and friends I hope will be regulars. Part of the plot was driven by misunderstandings, which drove me crazy, but on the whole the plot was good with plenty of secrets to be uncovered before we reached the logical climax. I had lots of fun along the way and even laughed a few times. If you are looking for a lighter mystery, this is a debut to pick up.
There are plenty of book themed cozies, but this is the first one I’m aware of to feature romance novels as the specific bookish hook. I’m not a fan of the genre, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this book. Lizzie is a great main character, and she is surrounded by charming family and friends I hope will be regulars. Part of the plot was driven by misunderstandings, which drove me crazy, but on the whole the plot was good with plenty of secrets to be uncovered before we reached the logical climax. I had lots of fun along the way and even laughed a few times. If you are looking for a lighter mystery, this is a debut to pick up.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Mar 1, 2023
Merissa (12061 KP) rated Princes and Kings (A Rose in a Thorn Bush #1) in Books
Dec 7, 2021 (Updated Jul 9, 2023)
PRINCES AND KINGS is the first book in A Rose in a Thorn Bush series, and we start with Llywelyn the Great's funeral and his two sons, Dafydd and Gruffudd. Gruffudd's son, Owain, doesn't think his uncle will make a good king and has no hesitation in confronting him. This means that when King Henry of England gives him a choice, Dafydd makes Owain part of the bargain to get him out of his hair. Gruffudd and Owain are sent to the Tower of London as hostages of war, the treaty dependent upon their safekeeping. All is well until Gruffudd can't cope with being a prisoner any longer and tries to escape, dying in the process. The treaty is broken and war is inevitable.
As a long-term lover of Wales and all things Welsh, I couldn't wait to read this story. Told as third-person and with a multitude of perspectives, it gives a rounded view of the events leading up to and including, the defeat of the English by the younger Llywelyn. You also get the see the bond between brothers, even with their vastly different experiences.
Whilst I enjoyed this story, I found it slightly disconcerting when the character's emotions changed so quickly. One of them went from being distraught at the thought of the loss of her husband to thinking that she'd lost him years ago anyway. And another went from intensely disliking a wife, to having a normal conversation with her in the blink of an eye. And then there is having a funny feeling about someone where nothing else is mentioned or happens.
That being said, I did enjoy this book and think it is a really good interesting start to a series that involves a bloody and brilliant time in Welsh history.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 7, 2021
As a long-term lover of Wales and all things Welsh, I couldn't wait to read this story. Told as third-person and with a multitude of perspectives, it gives a rounded view of the events leading up to and including, the defeat of the English by the younger Llywelyn. You also get the see the bond between brothers, even with their vastly different experiences.
Whilst I enjoyed this story, I found it slightly disconcerting when the character's emotions changed so quickly. One of them went from being distraught at the thought of the loss of her husband to thinking that she'd lost him years ago anyway. And another went from intensely disliking a wife, to having a normal conversation with her in the blink of an eye. And then there is having a funny feeling about someone where nothing else is mentioned or happens.
That being said, I did enjoy this book and think it is a really good interesting start to a series that involves a bloody and brilliant time in Welsh history.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 7, 2021
Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated The Kind Worth Killing in Books
Mar 15, 2018
It would be hard to describe this book without giving too many of its surprises away, so I am just going to summarize the very beginning. A man meets a woman in an airport lounge in England, on the flight home, the 2 wind up discussing the possibility of killing his unfaithful wife and her lover. By the time the plane lands, they have the beginnings of an actual plan worked out. Where things go from there I cannot say, but do be prepared for a chain of events that are a lot less straightforward than that description might suggest. Twists and surprises are scattered liberally throughout this tale of revenge, which pulls the reader in pretty much from the first page. The characters, while understandably a bit hard to like, are never less than interesting, which only helps to add to the suspense when they find themselves in potentially dangerous situations. My only real complaint would be that the ending felt a bit flat. It's not to say that it's bad, rather that it didn't feel climactic enough considering all that had transpired before it. Still, that shouldn't stop you from reading this otherwise excellent and suspenseful novel.
The Wicked Mr Hall: The Deathbed Confessions of Serial Killer Roy Archibald Hall
Book
Growing up in Glasgow in the 1930s, Roy Archibald Hall was a natural thief. After moving to London,...
ST
Sinatra: The Chairman
Book
Finally the definitive biography that Frank Sinatra, justly termed 'The Entertainer of the Century,'...
Sophie Calle: And So Forth
Sophie Calle and Marie Desplechin
Book
Throughout her career, the photographer and installation artist Sophie Calle has been creating...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The First Fall (When Winter Comes #1) in Books
Aug 3, 2020
138 of 200
Kindle
The First Fall ( when winter calls book 1)
By Daniel Willcocks
The sky is bleeding. The storm has come.
A crimson rift washes over the isolated Alaskan town of Denridge Hills, staining the Aurora Borealis the color of blood. To some, an unlikely occurrence. To those in the know, a sign of dark magic at play. When the storm has completed its devastation, who will be left standing?
A social media mogul holds the fate of her ex-lover in her hands. A high school student finds himself miles from home, his constitution and willpower put to the test. A researcher searches for his nephew, his knowledge of the town’s local history the only lead toward ending the madness.
When the world shrinks around you, the monsters come, and all that’s left is an unbending will to survive, who will emerge as the true heroes, and who will be marked as the villains?
This had me hooked from the beginning. Well written and a intriguing story! Left you wanting the next episode now!
I’ve been following Daniel Willcocks a while on instagram glad I finally got round to reading something He’s done!
Kindle
The First Fall ( when winter calls book 1)
By Daniel Willcocks
The sky is bleeding. The storm has come.
A crimson rift washes over the isolated Alaskan town of Denridge Hills, staining the Aurora Borealis the color of blood. To some, an unlikely occurrence. To those in the know, a sign of dark magic at play. When the storm has completed its devastation, who will be left standing?
A social media mogul holds the fate of her ex-lover in her hands. A high school student finds himself miles from home, his constitution and willpower put to the test. A researcher searches for his nephew, his knowledge of the town’s local history the only lead toward ending the madness.
When the world shrinks around you, the monsters come, and all that’s left is an unbending will to survive, who will emerge as the true heroes, and who will be marked as the villains?
This had me hooked from the beginning. Well written and a intriguing story! Left you wanting the next episode now!
I’ve been following Daniel Willcocks a while on instagram glad I finally got round to reading something He’s done!
Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City
Book
Here is New York as you've never seen it before; the New York behind the New York that you think you...
comedy history