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Wild Irish Rose
8.0
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New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen, now writing in partnership with her daughter, Clare...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Wild Irish Rose in Books
Mar 2, 2022
Molly’s Back!
It’s February 1907, and Molly Murphy Sullivan’s life has settled into the busyness of everyday life for a wife and mother. However, she feels the desire to return to her old life as a detective when her husband, New York Police Captain Daniel Sullivan, comes home with tales of his latest case. Seems a young woman newly arrived from Ireland has been accused of murder on Ellis Island. Molly can’t help but make the connection to when she first arrived several years before. Can she find out what really happened?
It's been years since we last visited with Molly, and I have missed her. Within pages, it was like no time had passed. Unfortunately, some of the bad remained, like how Daniel can run hot and cold, especially when it comes to Molly’s investigation. I get that it is accurate for the time, but can he grow out of it, please? However, there are other times I loved his character. Molly is her usual strong self, and the supporting players are as fun as always. The pacing was a little uneven early on, but it got much stronger as it went along. The solution was perfectly logical and wonderfully page turning. I hope we haven’t heard the last of Molly.
It's been years since we last visited with Molly, and I have missed her. Within pages, it was like no time had passed. Unfortunately, some of the bad remained, like how Daniel can run hot and cold, especially when it comes to Molly’s investigation. I get that it is accurate for the time, but can he grow out of it, please? However, there are other times I loved his character. Molly is her usual strong self, and the supporting players are as fun as always. The pacing was a little uneven early on, but it got much stronger as it went along. The solution was perfectly logical and wonderfully page turning. I hope we haven’t heard the last of Molly.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Devil's Due in Books
May 15, 2022
86 of 230
Book
Devil’s Due ( Red Letter Days book 2)
By Rachel Caine
⭐️⭐️⭐️
WITH HER SECRET BACKGROUND AND STREET SMARTS, LUCIA GARZA HAD FEW QUALMS ABOUT TAKING THE DEVIL'S DEAL...
The money Lucia and her new partner received to open their detective agency had come with strings: any assignment delivered via red envelope had to be top priority. No sweat. No one could make Lucia do something she didn't believe in--right?
Wrong. Lucia soon learned that every choice she made meant life or death for innocent people. No one could be trusted, not even the ex-cop she'd hired--and fallen for. In fact, Ben might be her fatal weakness, if the powers warring to control the future used him to control Lucia....
So this was the second in a duology and this time it’s more from Lucia’s point of view and her journey where book one followed Jazz. I enjoyed but got a little bored in the middle which is so unlike me with a Caine book. It was good to get to know Lucia though and figure out maybe she’s not so rigid Overall it was a good read but just not past a 3 star.
Book
Devil’s Due ( Red Letter Days book 2)
By Rachel Caine
⭐️⭐️⭐️
WITH HER SECRET BACKGROUND AND STREET SMARTS, LUCIA GARZA HAD FEW QUALMS ABOUT TAKING THE DEVIL'S DEAL...
The money Lucia and her new partner received to open their detective agency had come with strings: any assignment delivered via red envelope had to be top priority. No sweat. No one could make Lucia do something she didn't believe in--right?
Wrong. Lucia soon learned that every choice she made meant life or death for innocent people. No one could be trusted, not even the ex-cop she'd hired--and fallen for. In fact, Ben might be her fatal weakness, if the powers warring to control the future used him to control Lucia....
So this was the second in a duology and this time it’s more from Lucia’s point of view and her journey where book one followed Jazz. I enjoyed but got a little bored in the middle which is so unlike me with a Caine book. It was good to get to know Lucia though and figure out maybe she’s not so rigid Overall it was a good read but just not past a 3 star.
Breathing Betrayal (Elemental Evidence #1)
Bellora Quinn and Sadie Rose Bermingham
8.0
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Every breath brings them closer to love, and a killer. Jake Chivis is the descendant of Fire...
MM Urban Fantasy Romance
Murder on Madison Square
7.0
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Sarah and Frank Malloy must catch a scheming killer in this latest gripping installment of the USA...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Torn Asunder in Books
Apr 25, 2024
The Murder of the Uninvited Guest
Julia Snowden is happy and nervous to be hosting the first wedding in years on Marrow Island. The wedding is between her friends Zoey and Jamie. The rehearsal dinner the night before has one man that Julia doesn’t recognize at it. Part way through the meal, he collapses. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that he was murdered. Fortunately, Julia’s detective boyfriend, Tom, is on hand. But if no one knows who the man is, who would want to kill him?
Obviously, Julia begins to make connections soon, and this book gave me major Agatha Christie vibes. I do mean that as a compliment. The suspects were strong, and I had a hard time putting the book down until things came to a logical and surprising climax. I love the characters in this series, and it was great to spend time with them again, even if some of the regulars only had cameos. There are five more recipes at the end of the book to enjoy later. I laughed and teared up a time or two as I was reading this book. Series fans will put this one down very satisfied. If you haven’t started the series yet, you need to fix that today. This is a great series.
Obviously, Julia begins to make connections soon, and this book gave me major Agatha Christie vibes. I do mean that as a compliment. The suspects were strong, and I had a hard time putting the book down until things came to a logical and surprising climax. I love the characters in this series, and it was great to spend time with them again, even if some of the regulars only had cameos. There are five more recipes at the end of the book to enjoy later. I laughed and teared up a time or two as I was reading this book. Series fans will put this one down very satisfied. If you haven’t started the series yet, you need to fix that today. This is a great series.
Twist of Time
8.0
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A fast-paced thriller by Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter, producer, and director Gy Waldron ...
Thriller
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Lake House in Books
Mar 15, 2018
<b>All spoilers hidden.</b>
The Lake House sounded really interesting to me because of its weave of three stories that make the one mystifying disappearance of young baby Theo. Our first of the three stories comes from the perspective of young Alice during the earlier years of the 1900s, the second comes from current day, now serial author, Alice in the early 2000s and the last from troubled police detective Sadie. But wait there are more stories given to us in this book? But I thought it claimed there were only three? Well no there are at least 4 as we also get a very in depth tale from Alices mother's perspective too.
To begin with I really enjoyed this book and I looked forward to my travels everyday to give me a bit of down time with the opportunity for a good read too however when we got to about half way through I started to get a bit bored. I definitely feel that the story could have been cut down by quite a lot, it seemed in places that Morton was just rambling away, trying to add substance to the story that it could have easily done without. By the time the mystery was being solved I was actually quite fed up of all of the characters and just wanted to know what had happened to Theo so I could get on with my life. I wasnt even surprised by the time we got to the resolution of the mystery as Id already guessed it, so it was a little anticlimactic.
Lets talk about the characters for a minute shall we?
OK, so Alice. I understand that she lost her brother, <spoiler> and believed for most of her life that she was the reason he had gone missing,</spoiler> but I dont understand why that made her so cold and harsh? <spoiler> She made the choice to keep her secret to herself so it was her own fault she felt so guilty all the time, but there was no need for her to turn that bitterness onto everyone else.</spoiler> She changed so much from the young, spritely young girl she once was, to a boring old woman who ate bloody boiled eggs <i>everyday.</i>
Sadie was such a cliche. A police detective with such a strong connection with a previous case that she was asked to take some leave? A police detective with some underlying issue that makes it difficult for her to focus on her tasks without stepping back into the past each time? A police detective who just couldnt let go of the case in front of her and would do everything she possibly could to solve something that had been unsolvable for 70 years? <i>Well my god, Ive never seen such a character in a book before!</i> <spoiler> Can someone explain to me how this woman can come along and solve a 70 year old cold case just like that? And whats the fucking betting her grandad is the missing baby Theo! What an amazing and unpredictable end to the novel!</spoiler>
Eleanor was the only character in the book I couldnt decide if I liked or not. She was such a lovely young girl but had to turn into the strict Mother for her young children while Daddy was away which almost made her dislikable. But then we find out all that shes going through so much to keep her family afloat that we can forgive her for her stony personality. <i>But then,</i> we find out shes doing something morally questionable, <spoiler> her stupid affair,</spoiler> behind her family's back purely for her own pleasure with almost no regard for how it might make her children and husband feel. Now I have to say I didnt feel any sympathy for Eleanor once her actions were made known to the reader, and as soon as they were I knew what the end of the novel was going to be.
Can we also quickly talk about Ben Munro please he was such a hippy idiot.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/CK3smvJ4EJlug/giphy.gif"; width="442" height="249" alt="hippie"/>
<spoiler> There was nothing appealing about his character in the slightest and it makes me wonder why Eleanor fell for him so hard. There was nothing spectacular about his choice to live as a gypsy. He was a deluded, drippy loser who was terrified commitment, even to a fucking kettle. Why couldnt he have taken his son? Why did he choose to live his life in his caravan rather than looking after his son that he so apparently adored and treasured? Selfish, selfish, selfish!</spoiler>
Apart from all my annoyances with the characters and the lack of excitement I felt by the end of the novel, it wasnt the worst thing Ive ever read and I even thought I enjoyed it. But as its been over a week since Ive finished this and Ive had time to think about it, the more Ive realised how bloody annoyed it made me.
The Lake House sounded really interesting to me because of its weave of three stories that make the one mystifying disappearance of young baby Theo. Our first of the three stories comes from the perspective of young Alice during the earlier years of the 1900s, the second comes from current day, now serial author, Alice in the early 2000s and the last from troubled police detective Sadie. But wait there are more stories given to us in this book? But I thought it claimed there were only three? Well no there are at least 4 as we also get a very in depth tale from Alices mother's perspective too.
To begin with I really enjoyed this book and I looked forward to my travels everyday to give me a bit of down time with the opportunity for a good read too however when we got to about half way through I started to get a bit bored. I definitely feel that the story could have been cut down by quite a lot, it seemed in places that Morton was just rambling away, trying to add substance to the story that it could have easily done without. By the time the mystery was being solved I was actually quite fed up of all of the characters and just wanted to know what had happened to Theo so I could get on with my life. I wasnt even surprised by the time we got to the resolution of the mystery as Id already guessed it, so it was a little anticlimactic.
Lets talk about the characters for a minute shall we?
OK, so Alice. I understand that she lost her brother, <spoiler> and believed for most of her life that she was the reason he had gone missing,</spoiler> but I dont understand why that made her so cold and harsh? <spoiler> She made the choice to keep her secret to herself so it was her own fault she felt so guilty all the time, but there was no need for her to turn that bitterness onto everyone else.</spoiler> She changed so much from the young, spritely young girl she once was, to a boring old woman who ate bloody boiled eggs <i>everyday.</i>
Sadie was such a cliche. A police detective with such a strong connection with a previous case that she was asked to take some leave? A police detective with some underlying issue that makes it difficult for her to focus on her tasks without stepping back into the past each time? A police detective who just couldnt let go of the case in front of her and would do everything she possibly could to solve something that had been unsolvable for 70 years? <i>Well my god, Ive never seen such a character in a book before!</i> <spoiler> Can someone explain to me how this woman can come along and solve a 70 year old cold case just like that? And whats the fucking betting her grandad is the missing baby Theo! What an amazing and unpredictable end to the novel!</spoiler>
Eleanor was the only character in the book I couldnt decide if I liked or not. She was such a lovely young girl but had to turn into the strict Mother for her young children while Daddy was away which almost made her dislikable. But then we find out all that shes going through so much to keep her family afloat that we can forgive her for her stony personality. <i>But then,</i> we find out shes doing something morally questionable, <spoiler> her stupid affair,</spoiler> behind her family's back purely for her own pleasure with almost no regard for how it might make her children and husband feel. Now I have to say I didnt feel any sympathy for Eleanor once her actions were made known to the reader, and as soon as they were I knew what the end of the novel was going to be.
Can we also quickly talk about Ben Munro please he was such a hippy idiot.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/CK3smvJ4EJlug/giphy.gif"; width="442" height="249" alt="hippie"/>
<spoiler> There was nothing appealing about his character in the slightest and it makes me wonder why Eleanor fell for him so hard. There was nothing spectacular about his choice to live as a gypsy. He was a deluded, drippy loser who was terrified commitment, even to a fucking kettle. Why couldnt he have taken his son? Why did he choose to live his life in his caravan rather than looking after his son that he so apparently adored and treasured? Selfish, selfish, selfish!</spoiler>
Apart from all my annoyances with the characters and the lack of excitement I felt by the end of the novel, it wasnt the worst thing Ive ever read and I even thought I enjoyed it. But as its been over a week since Ive finished this and Ive had time to think about it, the more Ive realised how bloody annoyed it made me.