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Racing the Light
5.0
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Private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, are back on the case in this...
In Our Stars (The Doomed Earth #1)
6.0
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The New York Times-bestselling author begins a gripping new saga about a refugee from the future...
Caio (Limerent #1)
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Sarah Baker is a paralegal in a law firm in modern day Brooklyn. Her life is bouncing between her...
Paranormal Supernatural Legal Romance Thriller Series
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2520 KP) rated Something’s Guava Give in Books
Feb 27, 2025 (Updated Feb 27, 2025)
Death on the Beach
New York transplant Plum Lockhart is beginning to get some traction for her new villa brokerage agency on the Caribbean Island of Paraiso. However, trouble comes knocking in the form of her former colleague Gerald who insists Plum go help out his boss’s daughter who is being held by the resort’s security. Plum regrets getting involved when Arielle is found murdered the next morning. Now Gerald is insisting that Plum help him solve the crime, and he’s shown up in person. Will Plum solve the case before her patience with Gerald runs out?
I struggled a bit with the first book in the series, but I’m glad I gave the series a second chance. Plum was a much better, more relatable character. Gerald still annoyed me, but the rest of the cast were fun and did a good job of keeping me guessing. The mystery was strong. A couple things seemed a little rushed, but overall it was good and reached a logical solution. Reading this book made me want to hop a plane for a tropical resort. I’ll definitely book time for the final entry in the series.
I struggled a bit with the first book in the series, but I’m glad I gave the series a second chance. Plum was a much better, more relatable character. Gerald still annoyed me, but the rest of the cast were fun and did a good job of keeping me guessing. The mystery was strong. A couple things seemed a little rushed, but overall it was good and reached a logical solution. Reading this book made me want to hop a plane for a tropical resort. I’ll definitely book time for the final entry in the series.
Erika (17789 KP) rated John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) in Movies
May 25, 2019
John Wick Chapter 3 picks up immediately after Chapter 2, which I liked, so it got going right away. The fighting is so well choreographed, and my favorite section of fighting was with the book in the New York Public Library. You apparently can kill someone with a very weighty book.
This chapter provided much more information on the Continental/High Table mythos, which I thought was cool. Asia Kate Dillon was stone cold as the Adjudicator, and I can't wait to see more of Dillon in Chapter 4.
I could have done without Halle Berry being in the film. She really didn't add anything, and both my father and I were annoyed that it cut away from Keanu fighting to show her, when frankly, the only person I really want to see kicking ass is Keanu.
This chapter provided much more information on the Continental/High Table mythos, which I thought was cool. Asia Kate Dillon was stone cold as the Adjudicator, and I can't wait to see more of Dillon in Chapter 4.
I could have done without Halle Berry being in the film. She really didn't add anything, and both my father and I were annoyed that it cut away from Keanu fighting to show her, when frankly, the only person I really want to see kicking ass is Keanu.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2520 KP) rated Musseled Out (A Maine Clambake Mystery, #3) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
With fall in the air, Julia must make decisions about her future with the family clambake. Will she stay or return to her job in New York City? That gets put on the back burner when the body of a potential competitor is found on an abandoned boat and the police begin to question her brother-in-law, who is clearly hiding something.
The book started off strong and never slowed down. There are plenty of secrets, clues, and twists along the way to a fantastic ending. The characters were strong and that made me care about the solution to the mystery that much more.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-musseled-out-by-barbara.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
The book started off strong and never slowed down. There are plenty of secrets, clues, and twists along the way to a fantastic ending. The characters were strong and that made me care about the solution to the mystery that much more.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-musseled-out-by-barbara.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Stepford Wives (1975) in Movies
Mar 30, 2018
Bryan Forbes' SF-horror-satire has left a cultural impression out of all proportion to its original box-office success. Nice modern couple leave grimy New York for idyllic small town of Stepford, where everyone seems happy and the women are thoroughly domesticated. What on Earth can the secret of the place be...?
Subtle storytelling and fine performances do a good job of masking the fact that the premise of the story is basically a paranoid fever-dream; oddly, some people interpreted the film as being anti-feminist and actually misogynistic, when it is actually about male objectification of women and fears of the same (maybe also has stuff to say about consumerism too). Perhaps a bit overlong, but the slow aggregation of details adds a lot to a convincingly unsettling atmosphere. An entertaining horror fable.
Subtle storytelling and fine performances do a good job of masking the fact that the premise of the story is basically a paranoid fever-dream; oddly, some people interpreted the film as being anti-feminist and actually misogynistic, when it is actually about male objectification of women and fears of the same (maybe also has stuff to say about consumerism too). Perhaps a bit overlong, but the slow aggregation of details adds a lot to a convincingly unsettling atmosphere. An entertaining horror fable.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2520 KP) rated City of Darkness and Light (Molly Murphy, #13) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
When a case Daniel is working on turns dangerous, Molly and Liam leave New York to join Sid and Gus in Paris. But when her reception is not what she expected, is Molly in more danger now than she was before?
More than any other book in the series, I felt this one had a large number of real people popping up in Molly's fictional world. The plot was good with some twists I didn't expect and the characters are so real by this point I just love visiting them. All told, it was a great trip back to 1905.
NOTE: I was sent an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2014/03/book-review-city-of-darkness-and-light.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
More than any other book in the series, I felt this one had a large number of real people popping up in Molly's fictional world. The plot was good with some twists I didn't expect and the characters are so real by this point I just love visiting them. All told, it was a great trip back to 1905.
NOTE: I was sent an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2014/03/book-review-city-of-darkness-and-light.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Full Disclosure - this was an unedited, pre-release Goodreads win.
This is book 3 in the "Me Before You" trilogy. Not sure if there will be another one in the series. This book picks up Louisa's (Lou) story after she stops caring for Will Traynor and dealing with her emotions and feelings afterward. It continues with her relationships built from the previous book, "After You". In this book, Louisa reunites with Nate in New York working for a wealthy family as an assistant to the wife. She discovers that, while this life in NY is totally different than her life in England, she really enjoys it but misses home and her family. She is seeing everyone around her (both in NY and England) moving on with their lives and, by the end of the book, it is her time to move on.
This is book 3 in the "Me Before You" trilogy. Not sure if there will be another one in the series. This book picks up Louisa's (Lou) story after she stops caring for Will Traynor and dealing with her emotions and feelings afterward. It continues with her relationships built from the previous book, "After You". In this book, Louisa reunites with Nate in New York working for a wealthy family as an assistant to the wife. She discovers that, while this life in NY is totally different than her life in England, she really enjoys it but misses home and her family. She is seeing everyone around her (both in NY and England) moving on with their lives and, by the end of the book, it is her time to move on.
Carma (21 KP) rated The Avengers (2012) in Movies
Jun 17, 2019
Great first collaboration movie
The Avengers first go at the group ensemble is a win in my books. Who knew all those years ago what the MCU would become. This movie combined all the heroes, and their beginning backstories, together well. The heroes must come together to go against Loki and his intergalactic strike team. The team comes together after a brief hiccup of inner fighting, to save New York from the Chitauri and more importantly, Thanos. We get our first glimpse at the purple faced titan and what is to come from him and his army. Loki and the Tesseract play center stage in this first Avengers movie, but I don't think it will be the last time Loki plays center stage.