Smoke Screen (The Blue Trilogy #2)
Book
She was a distraction. He was a mistake. Now they’re in each others’ way. Rookie...
Contemporary Romance Suspense
Filey: A History of the Town and Its People
Book
Filey is known as ';The Unspoilt Hidden Gem of The Yorkshire Coast' with its glorious wide golden...
We Are The Ghosts
Book
After her estranged brother suddenly dies, a girl embarks on a road trip to rediscover who her...
Contemporary Young Adult
When We Walked Above the Clouds: A Memoir of Vietnam
Book
The mythology of the Green Berets, of their clandestine, special operations, has been celebrated in...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Sherlock Gnomes (2018) in Movies
Jul 8, 2019
inspired story of Romeo and Juliet, but with two clans of gnomes at war
with the main destruction being to each other's gardens. Two star-crossed
lovers, Gnomeo & Juliet fall in love and after all the chaos, hate, and
near death experiences, both "gnomes houses" seek a truce and learn to
co-exist.
In the sequel, the gnomes move to London. Juliet (Emily Blunt) is so
preoccupied with rebuilding the garden, she fails to notice Gnomeo's (James
MacAvoy) needs and feelings. In other parts of London, Sherlock Gnomes
(Johnny Depp) and his faithful companion Watson (Chiwetel Eljiofor) are
investigating the disappearance of several gnomes throughout London. One
day, Gnomeo attempts at a romantic gesture goes awry when he tries to steal
an orchid for Juliet from a flower shop. Juliet ends up saving Gnomeo,
causing them to bicker and squabble and not realize all their gnome friends
and family were kidnapped. One thing leads to another and they find
themselves teaming up with Sherlock and Watson to track down all the clues
in hopes of saving their loved ones.
From the director who brought us "Kung Fu Panda," this was a major misstep
for John Stevenson. The movie was fast paced, but the story line was very
disjointed. I understand what angle they were attempting to hit here:
Don't take your loved ones for granted, but I just could not connect with
the characters. In the first film, they really focused on the
relationships between Gnomeo and his mother, Juliet and her father, and both
Gnomeo and Juliet. Those relationships were lost in this film. From the
adult perspective, the movie lacked depth, but was still entertaining.
However, the kiddos on hand loved it. They enjoyed all the high flying
suspenseful moments, the potty humor, and over the top one liners.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Sep 15, 2021
Merissa (13792 KP) rated Jamison (Maxim #1) by A.N. Waugh in Books
Jun 7, 2022 (Updated Jun 13, 2023)
Six years ago, Jamison left love behind because he was told it would hold back his dream. He, and the rest of the guys, worked hard to make Maxim a hit and now, their dream is within their grasp. Vance is one left behind, courtesy of a Dear John letter. He followed his heart and got a degree in PR, ending in the same town as Jamison. Vance makes no bones about the fact he has always loved Jami, and Jami loves him back. But, sometimes, love just isn't enough.
Out of the two characters, I liked Jami a bit more than Vance. He took advice from people in the business and lost his way a bit, but once he found it again, he went for it. Vance was full of martyr complex, choosing his career because of Jami, but then making choices and decisions that affect both of them without talking about it.
Most of the story takes place on tour but not a lot is mentioned about performances, apart from the one at the end. Also, Marcy seemed to be heading somewhere but then disappeared, although she was mentioned in the epilogue by one of the other band members, so maybe she will reappear in future books.
On the whole, this was a quick and easy read with no real surprises, just a question of 'when'. I look forward to reading more in this series and seeing the pairings hinted at here. Definitely recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* 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!
Jun 3, 2022
She Can't Stop: Miley Cyrus: The Biography
Book
Miley Cyrus first shot to fame at a young age playing Hannah Montana but she has long-since said...
Becs (244 KP) rated The Wife Between Us in Books
Oct 2, 2019
The first 30 pages were interesting enough to keep me wanting to read The Wife Between Us, but as I drew closer and closer to about the 70 page mark I kept losing interest, falling asleep, and just finding anything and everything to do besides reading this horrid of a novel. The story became confusing and I’m generally not a person that tends to really get confused or lost within a novel.
Reasons why I rated it 1 star:
1. The story became boring very fast.
2. The story was confusing and seemed like the author just threw snip-its of ideas together.
3. There was a plot and then in a matter of 70 pages, there seemed to not be a plot.
4. I became generally frustrated with all of the characters. They lacked depth and meaning.
“This could be the case in every relationship, that we think we’ve entered into a union with another person when, in fact, we’ve formed a triangle with one point anchored by a silent but all-seeing judge, the arbiter of reality.”
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Knife Edge in Books
Aug 29, 2020
The start was brilliant and had me hooked but it just went a bit "bleh" for me in the middle and although the ending was as good as the start, it just didn't make up for the middle because by that time I had lost a lot of interest and just carried on reading because I hate not finishing books. The characters were interesting but not particularly memorable enough to connect with me so I didn't really care what happened to them either way. The themes and plot of this book are up to date and you can certainly see them playing out in the real world unfortunately but it felt a little over complicated at times.
As usual, I am likely to be in the minority on this one as there have been many 4 and 5 star reviews given; maybe I was having a bad week! so I suggest you give a go for yourself. I have to say that this won't put me off reading Simon's books in the future purely based on the start and end of this particular book.
Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.




