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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd (Flavia de Luce, #8) in Books
Feb 13, 2018
Book 8 in Alan Bradley's wondrous series picks up with Flavia returning home from Canada--no longer in boarding school--and back home among her sisters, family servants, and faithful bike, Gladys. Unfortunately, upon returning home, she is met with the news that her father is gravely ill with pneumonia. Only Flavia's pesky cousin, Undine is around to greet her. Out and about in town, Flavia runs an errand and--in true Flavia fashion-- stumbles across the body of a dead man. He appears to be the local woodcarver, and Flavia finds him hanging upside down in his home. From there, Flavia's downtrodden spirits lift immediately, as there is nothing like a dead body to return her to her true self. She sets out to solve the case before her pal, Inspector Hewitt, can, but this case will offer plenty of twists and turns, even for our young sleuth.
This novel is immediately Flavia, from the start, like picking up with an old friend. The beginning finds Flavia feeling a little lonely and sorry for herself until finding a corpse, of course. With Flavia back from Canada, it's a return to Bradley's tried and true Flavia de Luce formula, but it's certainly not trite, or tired. While the plot is a bit twisty and keeps you guessing, as always, it's Flavia who is the true star. In this book, we see our heroine growing up a bit: not just in age, but in maturity. Thankfully, though, she's still our Flavia, with her feisty spirit and deep love of chemistry. Truly, she's just a dear character and Bradley is amazing in how he captures her voice so perfectly.
These novels never fail to disappoint -- this one, as well. I will continue to highly recommend this series. This can certainly be read as a standalone, but you would be doing yourself a disservice if you don't start at the beginning of Flavia's journey.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!); it's available for U.S. publication everywhere as of 9/20/16.
This novel is immediately Flavia, from the start, like picking up with an old friend. The beginning finds Flavia feeling a little lonely and sorry for herself until finding a corpse, of course. With Flavia back from Canada, it's a return to Bradley's tried and true Flavia de Luce formula, but it's certainly not trite, or tired. While the plot is a bit twisty and keeps you guessing, as always, it's Flavia who is the true star. In this book, we see our heroine growing up a bit: not just in age, but in maturity. Thankfully, though, she's still our Flavia, with her feisty spirit and deep love of chemistry. Truly, she's just a dear character and Bradley is amazing in how he captures her voice so perfectly.
These novels never fail to disappoint -- this one, as well. I will continue to highly recommend this series. This can certainly be read as a standalone, but you would be doing yourself a disservice if you don't start at the beginning of Flavia's journey.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!); it's available for U.S. publication everywhere as of 9/20/16.
Merissa (11805 KP) rated The Past Comes Homes (Ames Bridge #2) in Books
Oct 24, 2017
The Past Comes Home (Ames Bridge #2) by Silvia Violet
The Past comes Home is the second book in the Ames Bridge series, and we reunite with Pax, who we met in the first book when he supported Beck and Cal. In this book, we start off when he is a teenager. He is watching his older brother and his brother's best friend, and realises that what ticks his boxes is NOT the female anatomy. The years pass, and tragedy strikes Pax's family, but his feelings towards his brother's best friend remain the same. So when Brad comes back to town for a school reunion, Pax has to try and keep it cool being as Brad is straight... except that he isn't and he has had the same feelings for Pax and for pretty much the same amount of time.
With the same wonderful cast of characters, and yep, the not-so-wonderful are still there too, it was a pleasure to come back to this series. With a different set of circumstances and dilemmas, Pax and Brad's story is different from Beck and Cal, and I'm happy to announce that they show up in this one too.
One of the things that Silvia Violet does so well is to keep the tension and attraction going between her main males. The circumstances might not be right, but the attraction simmers. That means that when they DO get together, that attraction explodes into some of the steamiest, sensual, and sexy, reads I have had the pleasure of reading.
I was a fan of Silvia Violet's after reading Professional Distance (Thorne & Dash #1), and the Ames Bridge series has just compounded my love of her writing style. As expected, there were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. I read this book in a single sitting - the world (and my children) having to wait until I had reached the end of Pax and Brad's story. An excellent addition to the series, and highly recommended by me.
* 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!
With the same wonderful cast of characters, and yep, the not-so-wonderful are still there too, it was a pleasure to come back to this series. With a different set of circumstances and dilemmas, Pax and Brad's story is different from Beck and Cal, and I'm happy to announce that they show up in this one too.
One of the things that Silvia Violet does so well is to keep the tension and attraction going between her main males. The circumstances might not be right, but the attraction simmers. That means that when they DO get together, that attraction explodes into some of the steamiest, sensual, and sexy, reads I have had the pleasure of reading.
I was a fan of Silvia Violet's after reading Professional Distance (Thorne & Dash #1), and the Ames Bridge series has just compounded my love of her writing style. As expected, there were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. I read this book in a single sitting - the world (and my children) having to wait until I had reached the end of Pax and Brad's story. An excellent addition to the series, and highly recommended by me.
* 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!
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Blessing (The Amish Cooking Class #2) in Books
Jun 18, 2018
The Blessing by Wanda E. Brunstetter is the second book in the series The Amish cooking class. In the first book Heidi and Lyle open their home up at the Troyer Amish Farm for cooking classes that Heidi teaches. In this second book Heidi teaches were second cooking class. I read the Brunstetter's first book in The Amish cooking class series and this book did not disappoint.
Just like the first book, Heidi's students in The Blessing are facing a variety of needs. Aa young teenage who is struggling with life after her mother, an alcoholic, abandon her family. A mailman who wants to learn to cook. A wife who's husband is a policeman and gives her this gift to learn to cook. A caterer who wants to learn new recipes for her business and a hunter who wants to learn to cook for his buddies. The story bring in some of the characters from the first book in the series, which is an added bonus to see how the first set of doing are doing.
Heidi seems to be a compassionate and thoughtful young woman, with a good sense of humor who genuinely loves sharing her love of cooking and of God with her students. It is heartwarming to see how Heidi is able to reach her students hearts when they are suffering, particularly teenage Nicole, who is struggling with forgiving her mother for leaving the family.
At the classes Heidi teaches her student to cook good Amish food and always sends them home with a Bible verse on the back of the recipe card. The story shows how each person needs something in there lives and Heidi is able to help them.
The story has feelings of hope, love, friendship, forgiveness and trust in God. Heidi shares a scripture with each of her recipe cards. This touching story left me wanting for more. I hope there will be more additions to her Cooking Class series. The stories are uplifting and enjoyable to read.
I received an ARC from Shiloh Run Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Just like the first book, Heidi's students in The Blessing are facing a variety of needs. Aa young teenage who is struggling with life after her mother, an alcoholic, abandon her family. A mailman who wants to learn to cook. A wife who's husband is a policeman and gives her this gift to learn to cook. A caterer who wants to learn new recipes for her business and a hunter who wants to learn to cook for his buddies. The story bring in some of the characters from the first book in the series, which is an added bonus to see how the first set of doing are doing.
Heidi seems to be a compassionate and thoughtful young woman, with a good sense of humor who genuinely loves sharing her love of cooking and of God with her students. It is heartwarming to see how Heidi is able to reach her students hearts when they are suffering, particularly teenage Nicole, who is struggling with forgiving her mother for leaving the family.
At the classes Heidi teaches her student to cook good Amish food and always sends them home with a Bible verse on the back of the recipe card. The story shows how each person needs something in there lives and Heidi is able to help them.
The story has feelings of hope, love, friendship, forgiveness and trust in God. Heidi shares a scripture with each of her recipe cards. This touching story left me wanting for more. I hope there will be more additions to her Cooking Class series. The stories are uplifting and enjoyable to read.
I received an ARC from Shiloh Run Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson, #10) in Books
Jan 16, 2019
Silence Fallen is #10 in the Mercy Briggs series, and honestly, they've started to get a bit boring. Mercy gets into trouble. Mercy gets into SPECIAL trouble that werewolves would have a hard time with, but she's special because she's a coyote shifter, and her abilities give her an edge over the pure strength of werewolves! Mercy antagonizes enemies, escapes, finds her way home. Gets revenge. That's basically the plot of almost every one of these books. I generally like them, but this one in particular fell short. Maybe it's because I haven't read them in a while, but it just lacked the urgency of some of her other adventures.
One thing that really bothered me was the big bad vampire in the beginning - who was creepy as ALL get out - turned out to not be that bad, I guess? They let themselves get used by him to fulfill a plot and weren't mad about it? I would have expected Mercy's pack to take the dude down, no matter the consequences, but that wasn't what they decided to do.
And then, very frustratingly, they revealed something in the last ten pages or so that made me go re-read EVERY SCENE with a certain character and yep, there was no foreshadowing of that AT ALL. And there should have been. That's something the reader should be able to guess, because the viewpoint character knows about it. And it's absolutely not hinted at. So that's frustrating, and changes the meaning of several scenes.
So I'm very meh on this one. I don't know if I'll continue this series. Sometimes series just overdo their lifespan. This should have been wrapped up and moved on to other characters some time ago. The second series in this world, Alpha and Omega, is still pretty good. But maybe it's time to set Mercy aside. Do a series focused on the fae, or the vampires or something.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
One thing that really bothered me was the big bad vampire in the beginning - who was creepy as ALL get out - turned out to not be that bad, I guess? They let themselves get used by him to fulfill a plot and weren't mad about it? I would have expected Mercy's pack to take the dude down, no matter the consequences, but that wasn't what they decided to do.
And then, very frustratingly, they revealed something in the last ten pages or so that made me go re-read EVERY SCENE with a certain character and yep, there was no foreshadowing of that AT ALL. And there should have been. That's something the reader should be able to guess, because the viewpoint character knows about it. And it's absolutely not hinted at. So that's frustrating, and changes the meaning of several scenes.
So I'm very meh on this one. I don't know if I'll continue this series. Sometimes series just overdo their lifespan. This should have been wrapped up and moved on to other characters some time ago. The second series in this world, Alpha and Omega, is still pretty good. But maybe it's time to set Mercy aside. Do a series focused on the fae, or the vampires or something.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Lindsay (1706 KP) rated Journey to Munich (Maisie Dobbs #12) in Books
Feb 15, 2018 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)
What a journey this book takes you on. This book takes you back to WW2 a bit and Nazi time. What will happen to Maisie Dobbs? The story gets even better as you read.
Why is everything a secret? They need to get a British man home from Munch. Will that happen? Maisie got to go to Germany as a family member of the man who being held by Hitler.
Maisie needs to be careful and Also protected. Will she return back home safe or will she be caught?
Jacqueline Winspear has become one of my favorite authors with the first book that I got to review. I will be looking for more of her books. I love to finish off the rest of the books in this series. She captured my attention the min you start reading. It takes a bit before getting to the story of a book. She gives a little background about Maisie Dobbs from the earlier book and continues on in this book.
Why is everything a secret? They need to get a British man home from Munch. Will that happen? Maisie got to go to Germany as a family member of the man who being held by Hitler.
Maisie needs to be careful and Also protected. Will she return back home safe or will she be caught?
Jacqueline Winspear has become one of my favorite authors with the first book that I got to review. I will be looking for more of her books. I love to finish off the rest of the books in this series. She captured my attention the min you start reading. It takes a bit before getting to the story of a book. She gives a little background about Maisie Dobbs from the earlier book and continues on in this book.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated City Fun in Books
Jun 16, 2018
City Fun by Margaret Hillert is a book with bright illustrations that are colorful, and show diversity. In this book, two friends have a day in the city. Some of the activities are they go to the park, the library, ride a bus, and watch some construction. The illustrations are bright and colorful. The story has limited words, the illustrations in itself tell a story. I believe that children will enjoy pointing to objects in the picture, and talking about the story beyond the word as they learn to read. These books would be a great addition to a home and class library for young children who are learning to read.
The Learning to Read series is easy to read. The series uses site vocabulary that is printed in the back of the book. The book captures the imaginations of beginning readers and help them on their way to independent reading. The books can be read aloud to young children or the children can read the books themselves.
The Learning to Read series is easy to read. The series uses site vocabulary that is printed in the back of the book. The book captures the imaginations of beginning readers and help them on their way to independent reading. The books can be read aloud to young children or the children can read the books themselves.
Milleen (47 KP) rated The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters, #1) in Books
Nov 14, 2018 (Updated Nov 14, 2018)
For anyone who is searching for a series of books to keep them entertained into the foreseeable future. 'The Seven Sisters' was released in 2014 and, so far, three others have been published at the rate of one per year, 'The Storm Sister', 'The Shadow Sister' and 'The Pearl Sister'.
Maia D'Aplise and her sisters were all adopted as babies by the elusive billionaire Pa Salt. Now they have all gathered together at their childhood home 'Atlantis:, a mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva, having been told that their adopted father has died and already been buried at sea. Each of the sisters is handed a clue to their true heritage and Maia traces her own path across the world to Brazil. This novel follows her story as she puts together how her own life began. These books have been extremely popular since their release, each of them an adventure with history, mystery and romance thrown in. Something to enjoy now and for a few more years as the series progresses.
Maia D'Aplise and her sisters were all adopted as babies by the elusive billionaire Pa Salt. Now they have all gathered together at their childhood home 'Atlantis:, a mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva, having been told that their adopted father has died and already been buried at sea. Each of the sisters is handed a clue to their true heritage and Maia traces her own path across the world to Brazil. This novel follows her story as she puts together how her own life began. These books have been extremely popular since their release, each of them an adventure with history, mystery and romance thrown in. Something to enjoy now and for a few more years as the series progresses.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Jul 31, 2021
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Read to Death (A Read 'Em and Eat Mystery, #3) in Books
Feb 21, 2018
Who wouldn't love to visit a cafe that hosts several book club meetings per day? And sells books to boot? This is such a great location, it's a little disappointing to realize that it is only fiction.
In this story, Sassy finds her best friends and room mate the only convenient suspect for murder, and decides to snoop around on her own to clear her pal's name. Throw in a little family drama at home and a business to run, and she has her hands full! This was a fun story, and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.
<i>I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.</i>
In this story, Sassy finds her best friends and room mate the only convenient suspect for murder, and decides to snoop around on her own to clear her pal's name. Throw in a little family drama at home and a business to run, and she has her hands full! This was a fun story, and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.
<i>I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.</i>
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Instinctual (Rise of Iliri book 2) in Books
Jan 13, 2020
EVERY MAN WANTS HER. MANY WANT TO KILL HER.
Good luck to them….
In the second beautifully-crafted paranormal romance of this reverse harem epic fantasy series, author Auryn Hadley explores Sal’s gently-morphing relationship to the Black Blades—her comarades-in-arms and lovers ...
I'm just so in love with these books! We are back with Sal and her men. They are dealing with the backlash of coming out as all Iliri and finding the steel. Also figuring out where they stand in personal relationships. Balec brings in other elite teams to help with bringing home the steel but with it comes the race issues against Iliri. This was so good!
Good luck to them….
In the second beautifully-crafted paranormal romance of this reverse harem epic fantasy series, author Auryn Hadley explores Sal’s gently-morphing relationship to the Black Blades—her comarades-in-arms and lovers ...
I'm just so in love with these books! We are back with Sal and her men. They are dealing with the backlash of coming out as all Iliri and finding the steel. Also figuring out where they stand in personal relationships. Balec brings in other elite teams to help with bringing home the steel but with it comes the race issues against Iliri. This was so good!