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Kill Shot (The Fighting Detective #1)
Kill Shot (The Fighting Detective #1)
Blair Denholm | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a great step out of my comfort zone!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

A step out of my comfort zone, but a very welcome one!

Jack is from London, but has relocated clear across the globe after *something* happened. He and his partner are now tasked with finding out where the missing MMA fighter is, and who killed the trainer.

Jack is. . .interesting! He's not a perfect detective, not by any means, but I think, in his own way, his heart is in the right place. In JACK's right place, you know? Lots of hints and clues and titbits abotu what happened in London to send him running to Australia, but I didn't get the FULL picture, not really. And I really really want it! I think, this might be the only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars, was because I wasn't putting the clues and hints together well enough.

Oh, wait, no. there was another point I want to make. Claudia, Jack's partner, gets a chapter. Just the one. And I wanted more of her, or none of her. that one chapter had my hopes up of a dual point of view, and it's not, not really. One chapter is a tease! So in future books, can we have MORE Claudia, please??

The case of the MMA fighter and missing trainer is well laid out, and I wasn't sure which way it was gonna go til the end, so I was fully engaged and kept on my toes. Thoroughly kept on my toes, if I'm honest and that's a rare thing these days!

This is a step out of my comfort zone, I tend to mostly stick to romance of some description, so the blurb most have grabbed something at me for me to request it. I have not a clue what that was, but I'm very pleased it did.

I'd like to follow Jack and Claudia, they are good together!

4 good solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
CA
Cats Aloft (Anton and Cecil #3)
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Anton and Cecil, Book 3, by Lisa Martin, and Valerie Martin is the third book in the Anton and Cecil historical fiction series. After traveling by ship and train in the first two books, they get an opportunity to travel in the air in this outing. Anton and Cecil hook up with a bloodhound, Ruby LaNez in Chicago, to try a solve the mystery of the stolen white puppies. After helping to capture a bank robber, they head off to the fair to track down half a dozen missing white puppies. When they think they know who the culprits are, Cecil accidentally ends up in a hot air balloon. After a disaster in the sky, he ends up at the circus where he locates the missing puppies. With the help of some of the circus animals and a group of overgrown rats, he comes up with a plan to free a Siberian tiger and rescue the puppies. Anton and Ruby follow their noses and also end up at the circus.
What an enjoyable adventure for a pair of adventurous cats. The illustrations are scattered throughout this early chapter book and add just enough visual appeal that children will enjoy. For readers who love animal adventurers this is a fun series. This is an early chapter book that would be great for those late primary, junior readers to enjoy.

I received an advanced copy this book via NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers. Thanks so much.
  
Must. Move. To Italy. Now.

This is one of those books where you can live vicariously though the author and feel like you are living their life (and truly wishing you could!) Part 'Under the Tuscan Sun', a dash of 'Bridget Jones' Diary' and some hints of "Eat, Pray, Love" I am dreaming of Florence, it's people, it's food, and can easily picture the beautiful scenery after reading this!

Kamin is stuck. Shes in a bit of a rut professionally, personally, and mentally. The stresses of everyday life combined with lingering heartache are wearing down on her immensely and she takes a giant leap of faith and moves to Italy for a year. To write, mostly, but the lessons she ends up learning will change her life forever.

The way this book is structured is my absolute favorite! Every chapter is a month of her new Italian life, and starts with little snippets of the month (Smells, What's in season, Italian phrases learned) and they all end with AMAZING recipes that were talked about in that chapter. I adore how she shares these almost intimate details, and feel as if I'm there with her.

I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to try some of the recipes, and I aim to embrace "Bella Figura!"

I received a copy of Bella Figura as part of the Penguin First to Read program in exchange for my honest review.
  
Two Steps Forward (The Deacon's Family #3)
Two Steps Forward (The Deacon's Family #3)
Suzanne Woods Fisher | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Have you ever been caught off guard, that you got emotional from a book? Well if you did not know Suzanne Woods Fisher books. This one made me get emotional in a good way. Though I was in tears trying to read a few chapters. I would wipe them away and try and continue reading the book. Well, this did not help. It just keeps happening. Though I can say they were happy tears over sad ones. What triggered them I do not know.

It was something that the author wrote in the chapter that made me start the tears. This book “Two Steps Forwards” is written well. The storyline behind Issy in this book is done well. Sylvie King and Jimmy Fisher's storylines were decent. It was not that much that it made me emotional. That does not mean that it was written well.

I do enjoy it when there is a repeat of characters that come from previous books. The storylines do flow well. You can read these books out of order. They can read as standalone. The background does get explained a bit as you read.

I have read “Mending Fences” which is the first book of this series. Two Steps Forward is better than the first one only because it got me a bit more emotional. I would still read the first book as well of this series as I would love to pick up the second book of this series which is called “Stitches in Time”. If you would like to you read my review of Mending Fences.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Happily Ever After in Books

Jun 29, 2023 (Updated Jun 29, 2023)  
Happily Ever After
Happily Ever After
James Riley | 2023 | Children
5
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rushed Ending Keeps Me from Being Perfectly Happy with This Book
Lena and Shefin are living in the Blessed City. Everyone is happy and eagerly waiting for the fairy queen ball to take place that day. Something in the back on Lena’s mind is saying that things aren’t right, but she does her best to ignore them since to go against the fairy queens means punishment. But on her way to school that morning, she discovers a book lying on the road that seems to be for her. What could it possibly mean? And where in Jin? Could he be the key to uncovering what is really going on?

I was anxious to see how this book would end since I’ve enjoyed the previous books so much. It started strongly, with great actions and twists, plus dual points of view to help build tension. It was fun to spend time with the characters again, and the meta comments on writing and books were making me laugh, although they weren’t a prevalent as in the earlier books. Then we reached the ending. It was way too rushed, with some twists that left me completely unsatisfied. We do get a final chapter, but it wasn’t enough to make me feel better with the ending, especially since it changes what I thought I remember about a character. (Maybe I need to reread book two.) Fans will still want to read it, but it’s not as good as it could have been.