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Treasure and Tarot (Echoes of Secret Springs #1)
8.0
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It's been five years since Colton Maxwell left Sebastian behind to go on a quick adventure. He was a...
MM Romance Mpreg Supernatural
Merissa (13585 KP) rated White Roses : A Fairytale Retold in Books
Oct 16, 2025
WHITE ROSES is a fairytale retelling set in a fantasy omegaverse. Briar is the omega, cursed to sleep for 5,000 years. Landon is the alpha who wakes her. Briar finds the world has changed just a little in the time she's been asleep.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I love omegaverse stories and fantasy, so combining the two sounded perfect. In reality, I can't say as I did. Let me explain...
I found both characters to be rather bland, apart from Landon's alphahole qualities, which were there in abundance. If this is how mates are treated in this world, I'd sooner stay in mine. Prepare yourself for whiplash as the two of them go back and forth between s3x and not talking. I found the writing style to be quite disjointed and chunky, making my reading experience jarring. The best character in here was Elias, an 800-year-old fae, but he's only a supporting character. While the curse, the witch, and the dragons were all easily sorted.
The thought of putting Sleeping Beauty in a fantasy omegaverse is a good one, but for this book to shine, I think a lot more work needs to go into character development.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Oct 16, 2025
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I love omegaverse stories and fantasy, so combining the two sounded perfect. In reality, I can't say as I did. Let me explain...
I found both characters to be rather bland, apart from Landon's alphahole qualities, which were there in abundance. If this is how mates are treated in this world, I'd sooner stay in mine. Prepare yourself for whiplash as the two of them go back and forth between s3x and not talking. I found the writing style to be quite disjointed and chunky, making my reading experience jarring. The best character in here was Elias, an 800-year-old fae, but he's only a supporting character. While the curse, the witch, and the dragons were all easily sorted.
The thought of putting Sleeping Beauty in a fantasy omegaverse is a good one, but for this book to shine, I think a lot more work needs to go into character development.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Oct 16, 2025
Murder at Cottonwood Creek
8.0
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Far from England and their beloved Morrington Hall, Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst and his American...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2460 KP) rated Fallen Star in Books
Nov 26, 2025 (Updated Nov 26, 2025)
Body in a Barrel
LA County Sheriff Detective Eve Ronin and her partner are called to the scene of a body found in the Malibu Lagoon. Of course, it couldn’t be a body floating in the water. That would be too easy. In this case, the body was found floating in a fifty-five-gallon drum. What’s even more shocking is that Eve recognizing the victim. With his ties to some of the most powerful people in the county, can she find the killer without getting impacted by the politics of the case?
This book does contain some heavy spoilers for earlier stories in the series by necessity, but there is enough background you could jump in here. And what a wild ride it is. The plot spins in some unexpected directions, but I believed it all on the way to the logical climax. The characters are a little thin, but I do care about them. And I appreciate the depth we did get for Eve. The banter between the characters was fun, and the locker room humor was kept to a minimum. The violence was a little more than in the books I typically read. I’m ready for the next already, and fans of the series will be glad they picked this one up.
This book does contain some heavy spoilers for earlier stories in the series by necessity, but there is enough background you could jump in here. And what a wild ride it is. The plot spins in some unexpected directions, but I believed it all on the way to the logical climax. The characters are a little thin, but I do care about them. And I appreciate the depth we did get for Eve. The banter between the characters was fun, and the locker room humor was kept to a minimum. The violence was a little more than in the books I typically read. I’m ready for the next already, and fans of the series will be glad they picked this one up.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2460 KP) rated Three Strikes – You're Dead! in Books
Jun 28, 2024
Give This Collection a Sporting Chance
This is a collection of 14 crime fiction short stories with a sports theme. And there are plenty of unique sports here. The collection starts out with one of three baseball stories as the hero of a playoff game winds up dead moments after scoring the winning run. We’ve got a bounty hunter who is trying to bring in an ultimate Frisbee player. A college swimming coach is found dead at practice one morning. A woman plans to avenge her brother’s death in the bull riding ring. A biathlete is kidnapped. And a tennis coach finds himself in grave danger.
With all the stories, this is definitely long enough to be a full-length book, so you are getting your money's worth. The twists on a couple of the stories didn't quite work for me, but most of the stories held together very well. Likewise, the characters are all real. Considering the shorter space that the writers had to work with, I am always impressed when they can pull both of those things off. I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world, but I still found myself being pulled into these stories. Whether you are a diehard sports fanatic or have a casual interest at best, you'll enjoy this collection.
With all the stories, this is definitely long enough to be a full-length book, so you are getting your money's worth. The twists on a couple of the stories didn't quite work for me, but most of the stories held together very well. Likewise, the characters are all real. Considering the shorter space that the writers had to work with, I am always impressed when they can pull both of those things off. I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world, but I still found myself being pulled into these stories. Whether you are a diehard sports fanatic or have a casual interest at best, you'll enjoy this collection.
Murder at Marble House
8.0
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For fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2460 KP) rated Helpless in Books
Mar 19, 2025 (Updated Mar 19, 2025)
Murder and Kidnapping in a Storm
With the remains of a tropical storm hitting the area, the last thing that Zoe Chamber-Adams and Pete Adams need is a criminal running around the area. But that’s just what they’ve got. They are called to a horrific scene on a neighbors’ farm. The wife has been shot, the husband left for dead, and their daughter kidnapped. As Pete tries to find the daughter before she is taken out of the area, Zoe tries to learn what she can from the husband. Will the storm help or hurt them?
This is more of a ticking clock thriller than a mystery, with the book taking place over the course of a day. As much as I love this series, this one was a bit of a letdown. I found Zoe’s portion of the story slowed the plot down, and I found it a very dark book, even by this series’ standards. On the other hand, the overall plot of the book was great and I was still always reluctant to set the book down. It was great spending time with Zoe and Pete, and I enjoyed seeing the updates we still got on the series regulars and some ongoing stories. Fans of this great series will still be glad they picked up this book.
This is more of a ticking clock thriller than a mystery, with the book taking place over the course of a day. As much as I love this series, this one was a bit of a letdown. I found Zoe’s portion of the story slowed the plot down, and I found it a very dark book, even by this series’ standards. On the other hand, the overall plot of the book was great and I was still always reluctant to set the book down. It was great spending time with Zoe and Pete, and I enjoyed seeing the updates we still got on the series regulars and some ongoing stories. Fans of this great series will still be glad they picked up this book.
Debbiereadsbook (1614 KP) rated Playing for Keeps (Love Goals #1) in Books
Sep 3, 2025
the football talk is kept to a minimum!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
OK, here's the thing. I am not, in any way, shape or form, a football fan. I have to know about football for work, but that's all. I do not watch, or follow any teams. So I approached this book with caution. I've read other books by Parker and I loved them, so I gave it a go.
I am pleased to say, the football talk was kept to a minimum!
But.
I liked this, I cannot love it.
I found the speed of the relationship fast, but there was hardly any soul searching. Given as these two together could cost them both their careers, I expected some deep internal monologues and I don't get them.
I found the emotional connection a little flat, between Udo and Steven. Some of that is a follow on from the previous point, but I just felt a bit let down by that.
The steam level is fairly low, but that's not a bad thing. I liked that.
That said!
I did finish it, and there are some interesting side characters, who I hope will get a story. I will try another in this series to see who comes next!
3 good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
OK, here's the thing. I am not, in any way, shape or form, a football fan. I have to know about football for work, but that's all. I do not watch, or follow any teams. So I approached this book with caution. I've read other books by Parker and I loved them, so I gave it a go.
I am pleased to say, the football talk was kept to a minimum!
But.
I liked this, I cannot love it.
I found the speed of the relationship fast, but there was hardly any soul searching. Given as these two together could cost them both their careers, I expected some deep internal monologues and I don't get them.
I found the emotional connection a little flat, between Udo and Steven. Some of that is a follow on from the previous point, but I just felt a bit let down by that.
The steam level is fairly low, but that's not a bad thing. I liked that.
That said!
I did finish it, and there are some interesting side characters, who I hope will get a story. I will try another in this series to see who comes next!
3 good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Andrew Furlong (14 KP) rated Star Trek - Nemesis (2002) in Movies
Sep 27, 2017
The climactic battle is fun in a dumb action kind of way (1 more)
One of Jerry Goldsmith's final scores
The characters are lifeless (5 more)
The villain's plan is laughably stupid
The tone is dour and depressing, feels nothing like TNG
Constant continuity errors with the show
A piss poor send off for the TNG crew. They deserved much better than this.
Wastes the Romulans in their first major role in a movie
Just awful
The worst TNG movie by leaps and bounds. Nemesis is just awful to watch. It's dour and depressing for no reason and the plot is consistently stupid. It's just unpleasant, no joy to be found at all.
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated It Comes At Night (2017) in Movies
Sep 27, 2017
Great Build up but eventually falls flat.
It comes at night was one of those movies I heard about but really had no clue what it was actually about even when I started watching it.
The whole movie has a very tense and almost claustrophobic feel to it as well, I love movies especially horror/suspense movies where you have no idea who you can and can't trust and It comes at night really just takes that vibe and runs with it.
Sadly though the uneasiness and suspense never really paid off for me because the ending I found personally fell really flat and almost anticlimactic.
The whole movie has a very tense and almost claustrophobic feel to it as well, I love movies especially horror/suspense movies where you have no idea who you can and can't trust and It comes at night really just takes that vibe and runs with it.
Sadly though the uneasiness and suspense never really paid off for me because the ending I found personally fell really flat and almost anticlimactic.