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Make Me (Make or Break, #1)
8.0
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"Make me, Channing. Make me fall. Push me, shove me, just make sure I get there.” I shout at him,...
Adjoining Rooms
6.0
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Knox Townsend can hardly believe it when he walks into Playgroundz Café Store #57 to find his old...
Contemporary MM Romance Novella
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2171 KP) rated Frosted Yuletide Murder in Books
Dec 19, 2021
Delectable Christmas Fun
Emory Martinez and her twin sister Carrie are not happy to discover that their mystery client for a Christmas party is Blair, an old high school nemesis. As the evening progresses, Blair continues with her abuse of Carrie, but she gets into fights with others at the party as well. When Emory and Carrie return to the location of the party the next morning, they find Blair’s dead body. The rumors and evidence seem to be pointing to the sisters. Can Emory figure out what happened before either of them spends the holiday in jail?
Before we go any further, I do want to issue a warning – this book spoils some events in the lives of the characters from previous books in the series. If you aren’t up to date, don’t start here. As a Southern California resident, I enjoyed this book’s setting since its depiction of weather in December made me feel right at home. The plot is filled with events that kept me engaged. I did feel the climax was a bit weak, but overall, I still enjoyed the book. One reason is the characters. Yes, the suspects are strong, but I’m talking the series regulars. I love getting to spend time with all of them, and fans of the series will be interested in seeing the latest developments in Emory’s life. You’ll want to work this Christmas cozy into your reading schedule as soon as you can.
Before we go any further, I do want to issue a warning – this book spoils some events in the lives of the characters from previous books in the series. If you aren’t up to date, don’t start here. As a Southern California resident, I enjoyed this book’s setting since its depiction of weather in December made me feel right at home. The plot is filled with events that kept me engaged. I did feel the climax was a bit weak, but overall, I still enjoyed the book. One reason is the characters. Yes, the suspects are strong, but I’m talking the series regulars. I love getting to spend time with all of them, and fans of the series will be interested in seeing the latest developments in Emory’s life. You’ll want to work this Christmas cozy into your reading schedule as soon as you can.
Austin (Learning to Love #4) by Con Riley
10.0
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Can Austin learn to love the opposite who attracts him? Austin Russell doesn’t belong at a...
Contemporary MM Romance
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2171 KP) rated The Fragrance of Death in Books
Aug 8, 2022
Murder is Nothing to Artichoke Over
Thanks to a sinus infection, Sally Solari has lost her sense of smell. While that would be bad enough under normal circumstances since it interferes with cooking at her restaurant, she is really struggling to prepare her dish for the Santa Cruz Artichoke Cook-Off. However, that quickly becomes the least of the issues when the body of a fellow contestant, Neil Lerici, is found near the end of the day. Sally had been friends with Neil’s sister, Grace, in high school. As the two rekindle their friendship, she can’t help but poke around. But is her old friend guilty of murder?
It's been a few years since we last visited Sally, but I am pleased to say she is back in top form. It was great to catch up with her and her family and friends and see the next steps in some of her relationships. The suspects were strong, which lead to a mystery that was hard to figure out. It kept me engaged the entire time, and once Sally reached the solution, everything fell into place. Each book has focused on a different of the five senses, and I thought the sense of smell was done wonderfully here. Naturally, there are some recipes to enjoy after you’ve finished the book. Fans will be pleased to visit Sally again and will join me in waiting for the next in the series.
It's been a few years since we last visited Sally, but I am pleased to say she is back in top form. It was great to catch up with her and her family and friends and see the next steps in some of her relationships. The suspects were strong, which lead to a mystery that was hard to figure out. It kept me engaged the entire time, and once Sally reached the solution, everything fell into place. Each book has focused on a different of the five senses, and I thought the sense of smell was done wonderfully here. Naturally, there are some recipes to enjoy after you’ve finished the book. Fans will be pleased to visit Sally again and will join me in waiting for the next in the series.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated More than Exes ( Chasing the Dream book 0.5) in Books
Jun 5, 2022
99 of 230
Kindle
More than Exes ( Chasing The Dream book 0.5)
By Elizabeth Briggs
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶
Just when I think things can’t get any worse...my ex shows up.
This is it. Our one chance to make it big in the Battle of the Bands. We have to win.
Except our bassist is missing. Guess who gets to track her down? That’s right, me. Because I’m the guy who’s always stuck fixing my band’s problems. And now my car won’t start. FML.
As if I’m not having a bad enough night, my ex-girlfriend Alexis shows up too. She offers to help me track down our rogue bassist, and with only hours before our band goes on stage, I can’t refuse.
I haven’t seen Alexis since high school, but now she’s back with a sexy new attitude and fiery red hair to match. She broke my heart once, but she’s not getting away this time.
Tonight I’m going to win—not just the Battle of the Bands, but the girl I never got over.
This is a standalone novella in the Chasing The Dream series, set a month before More Than Music.
It was good for what it was the start was a bit Ripley but it turned out ok in the end. This is a novella to a series so we will see how the rest of the books work out!
Kindle
More than Exes ( Chasing The Dream book 0.5)
By Elizabeth Briggs
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶
Just when I think things can’t get any worse...my ex shows up.
This is it. Our one chance to make it big in the Battle of the Bands. We have to win.
Except our bassist is missing. Guess who gets to track her down? That’s right, me. Because I’m the guy who’s always stuck fixing my band’s problems. And now my car won’t start. FML.
As if I’m not having a bad enough night, my ex-girlfriend Alexis shows up too. She offers to help me track down our rogue bassist, and with only hours before our band goes on stage, I can’t refuse.
I haven’t seen Alexis since high school, but now she’s back with a sexy new attitude and fiery red hair to match. She broke my heart once, but she’s not getting away this time.
Tonight I’m going to win—not just the Battle of the Bands, but the girl I never got over.
This is a standalone novella in the Chasing The Dream series, set a month before More Than Music.
It was good for what it was the start was a bit Ripley but it turned out ok in the end. This is a novella to a series so we will see how the rest of the books work out!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated California Storm ( Crown of Frost & Blood 4) in Books
Nov 29, 2023
179 of 235
Kindle
California Storm ( Crown of Frost &Blood 4)
By CY Jones
⭐️⭐️⭐️
What do you when everything you hold dear is taken from you?
They came for me in the light of day, killed the man I love, and took me with them.
Then my kidnappers get robbed, and I’m taken again, thrown into a world my mom fled from. A world of sirens and mermaids where I find out I’m the Queen of them all.
I just graduated from high school, what do I know about being a Queen?
On the other side of the veil, everything is different.
The villain isn’t easy to pinpoint, and what I thought was the truth, turned out to be nothing but an elaborate lie.
Everything here is a game of power and strength and I’m just learning the rules. Do I fight for a world I was hidden from or swim away as fast as my tail can carry me?
Everything may be uncertain, but this I know. I’m California Azalea DelaCort and I will survive this storm.
I have loved this series and I really enjoyed this book about Cali who is Winters sister. The only thing was it seemed a little rushed and unpolished in places. Although by the end it did have me wanting the next book I need to know what happened to her!! It’s left on one hell of a cliffhanger.
Kindle
California Storm ( Crown of Frost &Blood 4)
By CY Jones
⭐️⭐️⭐️
What do you when everything you hold dear is taken from you?
They came for me in the light of day, killed the man I love, and took me with them.
Then my kidnappers get robbed, and I’m taken again, thrown into a world my mom fled from. A world of sirens and mermaids where I find out I’m the Queen of them all.
I just graduated from high school, what do I know about being a Queen?
On the other side of the veil, everything is different.
The villain isn’t easy to pinpoint, and what I thought was the truth, turned out to be nothing but an elaborate lie.
Everything here is a game of power and strength and I’m just learning the rules. Do I fight for a world I was hidden from or swim away as fast as my tail can carry me?
Everything may be uncertain, but this I know. I’m California Azalea DelaCort and I will survive this storm.
I have loved this series and I really enjoyed this book about Cali who is Winters sister. The only thing was it seemed a little rushed and unpolished in places. Although by the end it did have me wanting the next book I need to know what happened to her!! It’s left on one hell of a cliffhanger.
Stronger Than Longing (Chesapeake Days #3)
9.0
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Return to small-town Chesapeake and fall in love with the single-dad bad boy who keeps breaking...
Contemporary MM Romance
Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow!
8.0
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'Tis the season for sleuthing in Donna Andrews' cheery new addition to the New York Times...
Becs (244 KP) rated The Crucible in Books
Oct 2, 2019
I absolutely love Arthur Miller and anything regarding witches/ the Salem Trials. So, the crucible for me is a five-star novel. Can we just take a moment to admire the writers of the 50’s and older as they don’t seem to be getting much hype lately? Like, literary classics are deemed school reads and not your typical everyday read. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
Reading these in school and then giving them a reread five years after graduating, has shown a new light onto these novels. And has made me appreciate them more as a whole compared to when I read them in high school. If you haven’t read many literary classics, I recommend starting with something by Arthur Miller or George Orwell. Yes, they may be a bit hard to get into at first, but give it time. That’s the key when reading any book!
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Genre: Literary Classic, Historical Fiction, Plays, Drama
Synopsis: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history,” Arthur Miller wrote of his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller’s drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town’s most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence.
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “witch-hunts” in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, “Political opposition… is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence.”
WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
Audience/ Reading Level: High School +
Interests: Plays, Drama, Witches, the Salem Trials, Arthur Miller, Literary Classics.
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Difficulty Reading: With every literary classic, you run into the problem of the first 30% of the novel being a bore or hard to get into. The Crucible was only a bore in parts but taking the novel as a whole, it was a pretty easy read.
Promise: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.”
Insights: The Crucible is based on true events and Arthur Miller has a way of explaining everything that was wrong with the way people lived. I.E. Woman did not have rights until the early 1920’s. This didn’t stop some countries/states to still not allow the woman to have rights. But taking The Crucible into perspective, the women that were charged with witchcraft were unable to explain themselves to the men. The men believed the accusers either because they were sleeping with them or because they were their family. Luckily, nowadays we don’t have this extreme of situations but it still does exist. The Crucible teaches all of its readers, young or old, many valuable lessons that are sometimes hard to witness. Plus, Miller correlates the events in the Crucible to the anti-communist McCarthyism of the 1950s.
Favorite Quotes: “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.”
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
“You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore”
What will you gain: A love for another literary classic and a love for Arthur Miller if you do not already love his writing. Plus, a great historical read.
Aesthetics: The witches, the trials, the way people take sides, I mean I can’t say much more without giving spoilers away. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?
“It is rare for people to be asked the question which puts them squarely in front of themselves”
Reading these in school and then giving them a reread five years after graduating, has shown a new light onto these novels. And has made me appreciate them more as a whole compared to when I read them in high school. If you haven’t read many literary classics, I recommend starting with something by Arthur Miller or George Orwell. Yes, they may be a bit hard to get into at first, but give it time. That’s the key when reading any book!
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Genre: Literary Classic, Historical Fiction, Plays, Drama
Synopsis: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history,” Arthur Miller wrote of his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller’s drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town’s most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence.
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “witch-hunts” in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, “Political opposition… is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence.”
WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
Audience/ Reading Level: High School +
Interests: Plays, Drama, Witches, the Salem Trials, Arthur Miller, Literary Classics.
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Difficulty Reading: With every literary classic, you run into the problem of the first 30% of the novel being a bore or hard to get into. The Crucible was only a bore in parts but taking the novel as a whole, it was a pretty easy read.
Promise: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.”
Insights: The Crucible is based on true events and Arthur Miller has a way of explaining everything that was wrong with the way people lived. I.E. Woman did not have rights until the early 1920’s. This didn’t stop some countries/states to still not allow the woman to have rights. But taking The Crucible into perspective, the women that were charged with witchcraft were unable to explain themselves to the men. The men believed the accusers either because they were sleeping with them or because they were their family. Luckily, nowadays we don’t have this extreme of situations but it still does exist. The Crucible teaches all of its readers, young or old, many valuable lessons that are sometimes hard to witness. Plus, Miller correlates the events in the Crucible to the anti-communist McCarthyism of the 1950s.
Favorite Quotes: “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.”
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
“You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore”
What will you gain: A love for another literary classic and a love for Arthur Miller if you do not already love his writing. Plus, a great historical read.
Aesthetics: The witches, the trials, the way people take sides, I mean I can’t say much more without giving spoilers away. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?
“It is rare for people to be asked the question which puts them squarely in front of themselves”