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Network of Deceit
Network of Deceit
Tom Threadgill | 2021 | Crime, Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great Deductive Reasoning
Detective Amara Alvarez from the SAPD (San Antonio Police Department) Homicide brings us a great new case in Network of Deceit. From the first page, I was hooked on this story. I was a big fan of Collision of Lies the first book in this stand-alone series, for the character development Tom Threadgill uses, and how he walks us through the case just as if we were there asking the questions to figure out the case right along Detective Alvarez. Detective Alvarez has a light sense of humor, and she is a bit of a quirky character take this for instance: “[Detective Alvarez] heading home to Larry, her three-foot-long pet iguana”. I also love Tom Threadgill’s use of dry sarcastic humor and wit in the conversations between Detective Alvarez and Detective Jeremiah “Starsky” Peckham is it fun to read and adds another layer to the story.

This particular case was rife with speculation, suspense, and unanswered questions that left me guessing until the end. A true mystery in every sense of the word. We are shown every step in the case and it is not tv fast paced, it is realistic. Tom Threadgill gives accurate timelines for the turnaround on things like autopsy reports and toxicology reports, unlike most tv shows. I also really enjoyed the cybercrime aspects of the story and I thought that it was explained in an easy-to-understand way for anyone, even if you do not have any previous knowledge of cybercrimes.

I would suggest that you go back and read Collision of Lies before this one as it gives you more background on the characters and you would have a better understanding of the case the previous book covers that is mentioned a few times in this one. But this one can be read as a stand-alone since the whole case is started and wrapped up in this book. Overall, I truly loved this book, and the way Tom Threadgill moved the case along, and I am looking forward to what other adventures that Detective Alvarez takes me on. 5 out of 5 stars.
  
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
1942 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Well, it has a lot of what makes Citizen Kane amazing; you know, the incredible camera angles and perspectives, and the sense of history — American history — great performances. But to me, it’s a much juicier story. So it’s from a Booth Tarkington novel — which I’ve never read — and it’s the story of a young man who’s played by Joseph Cotten — who you know is also in Citizen Kane — who will go on to become the man who invents the automobile. But at the time, he is the ruler of our heroine, and he does not win her hand because he’s not a big deal enough — not from her point of view, but from her family’s point of view. Because they are the magnificent Ambersons; they are the richest, most important family in town. And instead she marries someone that she doesn’t love and who’s not as impressive a person. So she takes all that love she doesn’t really have for her husband, and pours it onto her son, who becomes a spoiled nightmarish brat. And it is the downward trajectory of the Ambersons — as Joseph Cotten’s character, in his ingenuity, makes all these important scientific advances, and he gains money. And the Ambersons spend their money terribly and they’re dissolute. And all this tragedy ensues — finally, finally, finally at the end. When he’s a baby — when he’s a young boy — he’s so spoiled. And they’re all waiting for the day when George Amberson will get his comeuppance. And finally, everything horrible that could happen to a person happens to him. But by the time George Amberson got his comeuppance, the people who had so longed to see it were no longer around. And in the end, he finally, finally, finally comes to his senses and embraces his mother’s true love and accepts help. It’s just a beautifully told story of star-crossed lovers; but also how when everything is going for you — and you think you’re so great, because you come from people who’ve told you that you’re great — but actually, if you can’t fend for yourself you’re gonna float to the bottom pretty quickly."

Source
  
Under the Southern Sky
Under the Southern Sky
Kristy Woodson Harvey | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A heartfelt romance set in North Carolina
Amelia Saxton, a journalist, has just published a personal story in "Modern Love" discussing her own modern marriage with her husband Thad, talking about how happy they are in their life filled with travel and their decision not to have children. That same day she discovers Thad is cheating on her--with another man. Devastated, Amelia's life is completely upended and she wonders if she can ever trust again. While researching another story, she finds out that some embryos belonging to her childhood friend Parker and his late wife, Greer, have been deemed "abandoned." Parker had a love for the ages with Greer, but Amelia--the literal girl next door--was his first love. He had forgotten about the embryos, but once he hears Amelia's news, he wants to become a single father via surrogate. As Amelia and Parker each return home to Cape Carolina to deal with their own grief, they find comfort in their friendship.

"People always think being loved will change them. But that's not true. It's really, truly loving--with the kind of love you couldn't take away even if you wanted to--that turns you inside out."

This book had an interesting plot idea--the whole embryo idea has the possibility to become icky, but overall Woodson Harvey pulls it off. I have been through IVF and dealt with frozen embryo decisions myself, so the book certainly hit home. The story is told via Parker and Amelia's present-day perspectives and interspersed with excerpts from Greer's journals. The North Carolina setting is atmospheric and takes on a life of its own.

At times, this tale is kind of silly and all over the place, but it's a very easy read. The characters are also easy-to-like, and I grew to care a lot about both Parker and Amelia. It's a fun and romantic tale, with just about everyone tied together in various ways. There are meddling moms, family secrets, and drama with Parker's brother. All of this makes the book quite a page-turner, which is at turns sweet and heartbreaking. 3.75 stars.
  
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Merissa (13696 KP) rated Severus (Fueled By Lust #2) in Books

Apr 6, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)  
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Severus (Fueled By Lust #2)
Celeste Prater | 2014 | Erotica, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am LOVING this Fueled by Lust series. Drusus started off with a bang (quite literally), Severus has more of a gentle build-up. This is because Cassie and Severus have already met and spent some time together, thereby negating the need for a quick pesky 'get-to-know-you' session. Cassie is already attracted to Severus although she's been trying to put him off as she thinks he is too good for her. Severus already knows that Cassie is something special but refuses to think that it could be anything else and he's too damn stubborn to put his necklace on. Yeesh, that man had me shouting at my Kindle!

Cassie has been through the mill and found a wonderful and true friend in Lina, the likes of which you look after and treasure if you're smart which Cassie is. Seeing Lina with Drusus makes Cassie yearn for the same thing but is convinced that with all the baggage she carries no one will be good enough - or too good.

I won't give away any spoilers but I will say this - one thing I really loved about this story was Marcus. He is Cassie's ex-boyfriend, the one she mentioned at the beginning of Drusus. He could have been a real 'nasty' character but instead, Celeste turned him into a likeable, heartfelt hero who, although I wanted Severus and Cassie to be together, I now want Marcus to get his HEA too.

This book has everything you could wish for - amazing characters, wit and humour all the way through, a 'baddie' that you may or may not see coming but even if you do, you won't care as the story is that good, and steamy scenes that are "out of this world" (sorry, I couldn't resist!).

Book 1 was brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Book 2 stepped up to the bar, ordered a double and raised it. I can't wait for Cato's story.
 
* 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!
September 2, 2016
  
Rebel Rose (The Queen's Council #1)
Rebel Rose (The Queen's Council #1)
Emma Theriault | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Set against the backdrop of revolutionary France, ‘Rebel Rose’ continues the story of Beauty and the Beast after the curse is broken. Belle and her Prince now have to find a way to navigate married life, rank, politics and explain a 10-year absence from the French Court of Versailles.

Controversially, Emma Theriault baits the hardcore Disney fans straight out of the gates by naming her Prince Lio (Lio, Lion, beast, gettit?) rather than Adam. In the grand scheme of things this can easily be forgiven but it still seems a strange choice. Maybe Adam was too English for a French Prince?

However, the use of first person perspective ensures that our protagonist remains firmly in Belle. Belle has refused the title of Princess upon marriage in order to stay true to her roots but is constantly hiding her true self: even referring to a trip around Europe as “one last adventure before the walls of the castle close around her”. When Belle witnesses the revolutionary sparks within the city this divides her further: how can she be part of the nobility these people rally against and an avid “commoner” at the same time?

In truth, Belle as a character divided me as well. Belle has always been my favourite Disney Princess (possibly to do with that massive library) and, in the most part, I feel Theriault wrote her well and stayed true to the character. However, in the early pages Belle felt very spoilt and selfish to me: preferring to disguise herself and explore Paris rather than support Lio in explaining his decade-long disappearing act to King Louis.

I was intrigued to know what my fellow reviewers thought and was unsurprised to see a LOT of criticism of our heroine, her shunning of the title of Princess and her lack of enthusiasm to be a leader. However, I almost felt that this made the story more realistic. Just because she broke a curse and married a Prince doesn’t mean she can automatically feel ready and comfortable leading a kingdom! Maybe she just has a fondness for hairy men?

Belle’s reluctance and tentativeness to lead also fed very nicely into her passion to improve the lives of the residents of the kingdom of Aveyon. This is common sense to her and therefore doesn’t feel like ruling. Indeed, it is not seen by any of the main characters as ruling but in the end it saves them all from a revolution of their own.

I would have liked Lio to be a little bit more developed than he was. The fact that he harboured an element of PTSD from the curse was really interesting but not explored any further than his nightmares and aversion towards roses. There was undoubtedly chemistry between him and Belle but it was just a bit lacklustre in my opinion. This may be due to his absence for a lot of the book but I felt the reader could have loved him a lot more than we did.

Lio’s cousin Bastien is the slimy villain of the tale and I would have liked a bit more mystery and suspense within his character. I appreciated that Belle didn’t like him initially as he was a powdered, wig wearing noble who was close to King Louis, basically as far away from Belle as possible. Bastien is also quite snobby towards Belle in his earliest chapters so you can’t blame her for disliking him.

  However, by using language to plainly show that Belle distrusts her husband’s cousin, Theriault instantly creates a flashing neon “villain” sign above his head. This would have been fine in a middle-grade book but within YA I think the reader could have been afforded to be misled a couple of times before uncovering Bastien’s real intentions.

**This section contains spoilers**
I also believe that Bastien’s eventual story arc was a tad unbelievable. At first I thought his revolutionary sympathies and further plots with various goons was a ruse in order to gain the throne for himself, particularly once he had established himself firmly with the advisory. Emma Theriault’s decision to keep Bastien true to the revolution seemed rushed, and a bit odd to be honest. This is a noble who lives in the lap of luxury and attends to King Louis himself but who then turns on his own kind after basically forcing the kingdom of Aveyon to break away from France? It didn’t seem plausible to me.


Rebel Rose is an easy to read continuation of one of our favourite Disney tales. It reintroduces us to old favourites such as Mrs Potts and Lumiere as well as introducing new characters such as Marguerite and Bastien. Belle’s journey to staying true to herself and following her gut is one anyone can empathise with and her discovery that she does not have to appease to outsider’s expectations will never cease to be important.

The magic contained within this novel is a perfect springboard for the rest of the novels within the Queen’s Council series: the next one is based on Mulan and will be written by Livia Blackburne before Jasmine’s story by Alexandra Monir follows in 2022. The majority of the action within this novel does take place towards the end so it can be a little slow paced and politics focused but I enjoyed seeing Belle and Lio break free of their fairytale life and become a little more real.

Although this isn’t my favourite Disney novel, I do appreciate the break away from the retelling genre and the move towards bringing these well-known characters into the real world. For a debut novel I think Emma Theriault should be immensely proud: the research for the historical context alone must have been a mission!