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The Star (Charleston Condors #1)
The Star (Charleston Condors #1)
Beth Bolden | 2023 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
loved that there is no real drama!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian,I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 1 in the Charleston Condors series, and I will admit that I only read it, because I was offered book 2 via the blog, but said I would read this one too.

I'm glad I did!

I really rather enjoyed this. The thing I loved, and I mean LOVED, the most was: there really isn't much drama in this book!

Oh there is some, don't get me wrong, but it's mostly around Riley's big brother, Aidan, being an overbearing twatwaffle! I get it, to some extent, but Aidan took the "bringing my brother up" thing to the extreme and became . . . difficult. Landry, as Aidan's best friend, was kinda stuck between them, but I loved that Landry stood up for Riley against Aidan, even before Landry was fully aware of his feelings for Riley. But there is no DRAMA, you know? There is not nutty ex, no massive break up/make up, none of that, Just one man falling in love with his best friends little brother, when he thought he was straight, and that little brother acting on his long time crush! And it made for a wonderful read.

My only niggle, and it really is just a very personal, none-US citizen thing. There is a lot of detailed football play. The majority of the terms used, and what they mean, went straight over my head and I mostly glanced over those scenes. I have no clue about what American football entails, or what a play is, or any of those terms, so on that point, I didn't like it.

BUT!

Now I know what to expect, I can brace myself for the second book, The Game. I am aware of the football scenes coming, and I can make peace with them :-)

4 wonderful Stars!

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Catch and Kill : Shadow Operatives Thriller 2
Catch and Kill : Shadow Operatives Thriller 2
J. D. Lasica | 2019 | History & Politics, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What I liked best was that the plot line was well thought out. The plans of Incognito and Lucid were explained in a way that made them completely believable. (0 more)
Naturally, I did not like the idea of Lucid and Incognito being missing at the end. However, with this being only the second book in the series I have faith that they will be found (0 more)
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Catch and Kill – Shadow Operatives Thriller 2 by J. D. Lasica came recommended to me because of people comparing it to works by Michael Crichton. I am pleased to confirm that all the people comparing the two authors were correct. J. D. Lasica also informed me that I did not need to read the first book to understand this one and that turned out to be true as well. There are not many books that are part of a series that can also be read as a stand-alone. On that same note, this book was so good that I want to go back and read the first book as well.

Action packed right from the start, A woman by the name of Kaden is attacked in an attempted kidnapping at a celebration where she was originally a person of honor. After returning home and finding that it has also been broken into Kaden receives messages from a mysterious man called Bo. Bo wants her help in investigating The Disappearance, and reluctantly Kaden agrees. At the same time on Samana City, a place called Fantasy Live is doing its soft open, and Alex, a reporter for the Axom is doing an undercover story on it.

Fantasy Live uses augmented reality to bring the patron’s deepest fantasies to life, within reason. Alex finds out some disturbing information about Samana City and Fantasy Live and sends word back to Axom. As it turns out Kaden and Bo’s investigation is already leading them to Fantasy Live and they team up with some other Axom employees to infiltrate the island. Things do not go very smooth for them on Samana City. Kaden must trust in her teammates, both familiar and new if they hope to escape. In the process, they are going to try to bring the girls from The Disappearance home and save the world from a surprise bio-warfare that no one is prepared for, but the creator of Fantasy Live is ready to kill to make sure no one interferes.

What I liked best was that the plot line was well thought out. The plans of Incognito and Lucid were explained in a way that made them completely believable. While it does take place in the future the technology used is not that far from what we use every day now. Naturally, I did not like the idea of Lucid and Incognito being missing at the end. However, with this being only the second book in the series I have faith that they will be found. I still do not completely understand how The Disappearance was able to happen without anyone noticing something before it was too late.

Target readers for this book are adults. This is due to the content and topics surrounding sex, forced surrogacy, and human trafficking. People who enjoy action-packed thrillers in a slightly futuristic setting will enjoy this book. I rate this book a 4 out of 4 because I got exactly what I was promised with this book. Each character clearly has their own personality that plays into how they respond to the situations presented. Everything was so believable that it was almost scary to think about how these events could actually happen.

https://www.facebook.com/nightreaderreviews
  
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Return to Fear Street #3)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Return to Fear Street #3)
R.L. Stine | 2019 | Horror, Young Adult (YA)
6
7.2 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great pacing (1 more)
Interesting plot
Cheesy Characters (1 more)
Not enough backstory
Cheesy but an Alright Read
I grew up reading R.L. Stine books especially his Fear Street series. When I heard there was going to be a new Fear Street series, I knew I had to read it. I loved the first book in the series, You May Now Kill the Bride. I was not impressed with the second book in the series, The Wrong Girl. I thought the latest book in the series, Drop Dead Gorgeous, was just an alright read.

The plot for Drop Dead Gorgeous was fairly interesting. Morgan Marks is the new girl at Linden High. No one knows where she came from, and her answers to everything are vague. She has a magnetic pull over all of the males in and around Linden. When I found out that Morgan was a vampire (not a spoiler, don't worry), I rolled my eyes and thought I wouldn't like this book. I'm not a big fan of vampire books (or films) since they've over-saturated the market. However, Drop Dead Gorgeous turned out to be alright. Anyway, someone is killing off the residents of Linden and draining their blood. Is it Morgan or could be be someone else? The world building was written to be believable enough even if some of the characters weren't believable. There were a few plot twists. A couple of them I didn't see coming, but I did predict a major plot twist.

All of the males in Drop Dead Gorgeous were beyond annoying and immature. All they could talk about were hot girls it seemed. They were really one dimensional, and I found myself not caring about Liam, Winks, and Zane. They would all brag how great they were, especially Winks. I'm sure there are some people like this, but I felt like it was a bit over the top having all three males in the book being so vapid and conceited. The females in Drop Dead Gorgeous had a little more depth to them thankfully. I still didn't care much about Delia, Amber, or Julie because there was no back story, so it was hard to connect to them. Out of the three girls, Delia seemed to feel the most real. Morgan was a good character. I enjoyed her backstory even if it was short, but hey, at least she had some backstory. The dialogue between the characters was extremely corny in some places, and I know I haven't been a teenager in many years, but I've never heard any teenage conversations like the ones in Drop Dead Gorgeous.

I will say that the pacing was done fairly well for Drop Dead Gorgeous. The first few chapters are a bit slow, but the pacing definitely picks up not much longer after that. I found myself immersed in what was happening in Linden.

Trigger warnings for Drop Dead Gorgeous include violence, death, murder, some gore, older man and underage girl kissing, and underage drinking.

Overall, Drop Dead Gorgeous was just an alright read. It wasn't great, but it wasn't a bad read either. If you can look past the overly cheesy characters, this is a good read. I would definitely recommend Drop Dead Gorgeous by R.L. Stine to those aged 15+.
  
AP
A Perfect Manhattan Murder
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Nic and Nigel Martini are back in Manhattan for the Broadway premier of their friend Patty’s play. While Nic is happy to see Patty and their mutual friend Harper, she is less enthused about seeing Harper’s husband Dan, a Broadway critic who is as boorish in real life as his reviews are harsh. The morning after the play’s premier, Dan is found dead, and the police quickly zero in on Harper as their prime suspect. Nic is certain that her friend is innocent, but can she prove it?

Once again, we are treated to a fantastically fun story. We get to know Dan and meet the suspects before he dies, which means we don’t waste any time diving into questioning suspects. I didn’t see the ending coming at all. The characters are a little on the thin side, but I don’t mind. The quips and banter flies fast here, and I was constantly laughing. This series continues to be a wonderful homage to The Thin Man.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/11/book-review-perfect-manhattan-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.