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Alex (Twilights Falls #1)
Alex (Twilights Falls #1)
A.M. Salinger | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
wonderful start to a new series!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

    Alex’s business partner scammed him for the tune of half a million dollars. His friend, Izzy, has the perfect solution. Marry her client, live with said client for 6 months, and get his half million back. Finn’s great aunt is a manipulative woman, but she loves him, she really does. Getting Finn out the house to meet someone new was not going to work while the artist hides himself away following the death of his wife several years ago. Marrying him off seems the perfect idea. When Finn and Alex come face to face at the courthouse, neither is expecting a man, but they go ahead. They can live with each other for 6 months and be done. But what happens when feelings get involved? When things begin to be REAL?

    I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this start of a new series by Salinger! I LOVED the Nights series and I can see this new series growing on me too.

    There is immediate attraction to Finn from Alex but while Finn acknowledges, to himself at least, that Alex is gorgeous, it takes time for the attraction to Alex to grow. Loved that it wasn’t immediate obvious to Finn, just what he might be feeling for Alex.

    It’s not overly explicit, at least to start, but once these guys admit they want each other, and that Finn doesn’t seem to have a problem with that, they are all in! It does get a bit emotional, especially for Finn, when talking about his wife, and then to his great aunt about . . .things . . .and you feel sad for him, that he was never fully honest with himself. That his wife and his aunt saw, though, knocks him.

    Glad the business partner gets his comeuppence!

    I LOVED the wider group of friends that Alex comes home to! They are funny and I wonder if the series will evolve around them? I know Carter is next, who pops up here.

    It didn’t take me long to read the 170 pages its billed as, just over 90 minutes, but it left me feeling that warm and fuzzie feeling I haven’t had from a book in a good long while.

    So, thank you, Ms Salinger, for setting me up for a busy day at work, feeling that warm and fuzziness all day! I look forward to catching up with these guys should they pop up again in the series. * I hope they do!*

    OH!!! There is a bit at the back of this book that gives the first chapter to One Night, which is the first in the Nights series. If you haven’t read those books, I STRONGLY recommend you do! I made a new shelf for them, and everything! And of course I read that little bit and then had to go back and read Cam and Gabe’s first book again. And NOW I wanna go back and read the whole damn series again! Be warned though, those books are HOT off the charts!

    Ah sod it! I wrote 4 stars, then changed it to 5 then back to 4, but here you go!

    5 warm and fuzzy, too stinking cute stars!

    **same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Hamish DeLuca and Regina “Reggie” Van Buren have a new case—and this one brings the war in Europe dangerously close to home.



Determined to make a life for herself, Regina “Reggie” Van Buren bid goodbye to fine china and the man her parents expected her to marry and escaped to Boston. What she never expected to discover was that an unknown talent for sleuthing would develop into a business partnership with the handsome, yet shy, Hamish DeLuca.



Their latest case arrives when Errol Parker, the leading base stealer in the Boston farm leagues, hires Hamish and Reggie to investigate what the Boston police shove off as a series of harmless pranks. Errol believes these are hate crimes linked to the outbreak of war in Europe, and he’s afraid for his life. Hamish and Reggie quickly find themselves in the midst of an escalating series of crimes that seem to link Boston to Hamish’s hometown of Toronto.





When an act of violence hits too close to home, Hamish is driven to a decision that may sever him from Reggie forever . . . even more than her engagement to wealthy architect Vaughan Vanderlaan.



My Thoughts: I had a hard time starting into the book but as the reader gets further along in the storyline, it becomes a very interesting read. This is a second book in the series, and I do recommend to the readers that they read the first book "Murder at the Flamingo" to help get to know the main characters a little better. A murder mystery with a little romance as Hamish has to deal with his feelings toward Reggie, being friends and co-workers for two years. This novel takes place in the 1940's pre-war era, with the main character Hamish trying to get past his relationship with a shady cousin.


It was interesting to learn a little about Boston; especially the housing situation during that era. The writer has an enjoyable style of writing that brings the characters to life for the reader. This is a good book for those who love mysteries.
  
Fire (The Knights of Av'lor #3)
Fire (The Knights of Av'lor #3)
Sam Rook | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fire (The Knights of Av'lor #3) by Sam Rook
Fire is the outstanding final instalment in The Knights of Av'lor series. Kate has just returned to Av'lor and has been betrayed by Garrent. He has ensnared her daughter with a necklace that controls her, and taken her to Earth. There, he tells the rest of the Knights that Av'lor has fallen, and because he has destroyed the gate, they have no way of knowing the truth or returning home. The rest of the story is how Kate, Lan, and the rest try to find a way back to Earth, to find Rachel, to stop Garrent, and hopefully return peace to their lives.

My word, I could gush about this book/series for hours!!! There is so much I could write, but I've stopped myself because I don't want to ruin it for anyone else. This #Fantasy series has a bit of everything for me - love, wit, danger, sorrow, heartbreak - it's all here. The author pulls you into their world and makes you feel. You feel their sorrow, their desperation, their determination. And when it seems like everything is about to fall down around their ears, you feel their pain. It's simply amazing.

Books one and two both ended with a cliffhanger that had me gasping. This one doesn't, but I sort of wish it had. Don't get me wrong, I hate series when they end abruptly and you are left hanging. You don't get that with this book, but it also feels completely wrapped up, and I don't know if I'm ready to let go of this world and its characters yet.

I would just like to add that I re-read Hope before I read Gate. And this time I re-read both of them before I started Fire. I wasn't bored with the re-reads, I didn't skip parts. I was as enthralled and intrigued as I was the first time I read them. I really can't recommend these books highly enough. They are excellently written, with no editing or grammatical errors that spoilt my reading flow. If you want a fantasy that will take you to worlds beyond your own, then I can definitely recommend this series.

* Verified Purchase ~ November 2017 *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
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Lesley (60 KP) rated A Steep Price in Books

Aug 10, 2018  
A Steep Price
A Steep Price
Robert Dugoni | 2018 | Mystery, Thriller
9
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Plot, character development (0 more)
Tracy Crosswhite never disappoints!
I LOVE Tracy Crosswhite and this newest entry into the series was no exception. I laughed, I cried, I gasped. This is the review that I posted on my blog.

Moving right along. My beloved Tracy Crosswhite is back for book #6, A Steep Price. Every time Robert Dugoni releases a new book in this series, I feel like I get to see old friends again. Kins, Vic, Faz, Dan, Dan's DOGS!, and of course Tracy herself. I love this series because it feels authentic, manages to remain heartwarming in the face of grim subject matters, and really makes you care about the characters.

This time around, Tracy and Kins are investigating the death of a young Indian woman whose best friend has reported her missing after delivering some life-changing news. Unfortunately, when she is found murdered in a shallow grave in the park, it creates more questions than answers. As they delve deeper into her life, they find a lot of ambition that was hampered by her familys societal expectations, her grim determination to raise money for medical school at any cost despite her parents wishes to return home and accept an arranged marriage, and the seedy underworld of "Sugar Dating", which has enough loopholes to escape being classified as prostitution, despite being dangerous and borderline sex work. Tracy is feeling threatened and on edge due to their newest team member, another female who seems to be snooping in private files and isn't honest about the circumstances of an officer-involved shooting in the case that Vic and Faz are tackling currently. A young activist woman who spoke out against gangs and the drug trade in her underprivileged area gets shot and killed. The guys think it's connected to a local gang leader whose father they put in prison years earlier. The hotter the trail gets, the more in danger they are. Little Jimmy blames them for putting his dad away, and for his subsequent death in prison when a rival gang member stabbed him. Just as things are reaching a boiling point, Tracy and Kins figure out exactly who their killer is and they're hot on the trail. The book, like the others in the series, was a fun, fast-paced read with heart and a satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend starting this series!
  
Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)
Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)
2018 | Action, Thriller
Following up “Escape Plan”; Lionsgate and Sylvester Stallone have teamed up for “Escape Plan 2: Hades”. This time around Dave Bautista is teamed with Stallone as security expert Ray Breslin (Stallone), is trying to find a locale known as “HADES” where one of his top operatives Shu Ren (Xiaoming Huang), has become an inmate.

Life in the high-tech Hades is harsh as inmates are matches up to fight one another and the place appears to be escape proof.

In a race against time, Breslin must find out all he can about HADES and find a way into the prison in order to break out with his man before it is too late.

The film has good production values for a home video release. It may not have the grand scope of the previous film but it does have enough elements to entertain. I would have liked a bit more screen time for Bautista and Stallone but with a third film already reportedly shot, it would be great to see where the series goes next.

For now, the film despite some flaws is entertaining enough for fans of the original and does make for some decent viewing at home as long as you set reasonable expectations.

http://sknr.net/2018/07/05/escape-plan-2-hades/
  
Chasing Butterflies (Bad Girls #1)
Chasing Butterflies (Bad Girls #1)
Jennifer Labelle | 2018 | Contemporary, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Chasing Butterflies (Bad Girls #1) by Jennifer Labelle
Chasing Butterflies is the first novella in the Bad Girls series. In it, we meet Sawyer. She left her home town with her big sister and never looked back. Now, due to the death of her sister, she returns there, needing a fresh start. Her first night in town, and she bumps into the one memory she was hoping to avoid.

This is a very fast-paced novella, although it is an easy read. Unfortunately for me, I didn't really connect with Carley before she died, so the impact on Sawyer was pretty much lost. And while I understood Sawyer's reasons for selling her parents' home, actually moving back there to work didn't make a lot of sense. Not exactly a fresh start.

Still, this was written very well, with love a foregone conclusion so the declarations that came thick and fast actually didn't seem that premature. For a quick coffee break book, then I would recommend this.

* 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!