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TS
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This jumps us right back into the story after the end of the first. If you have not read the first book one should really begin there.
In the second book we get a new voice along with Bel and it is a refreshing addition. New threats are gained just as old are defeated. Petra is added as the second voice. I had thought it would be Col her fiance but I found having Petra was better. She sounded a bit like Bel as the author didn't do a great job of differentiating the differences in personality but it was still refreshing to see a different POV.
As with the first book you need to hang in there for the first part in order to get to the fast paced action. That happens later in the book. I understand why two POV were needed as the book continued. Bel became quite hard to follow by the end of the book.
A good addition to the series that revolves around politics, marriage, and friendship.
  
SO
Scandal of the Season
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An absolute delight to read. Nothing pleases me more than a couple who genuinely loves each other. It’s so hard to put into words how I feel about this novel. While it’s not groundbreaking or revolutionary, Scandal of the Season is a lovely read filled with mutual love built upon friendship. It’s such a change from the romances where the couple fight the entire time or fall in love because they are forced into each other’s presence for extended periods of time (a.k.a soulmates trope).

I am not sure what I can say about this book. It had a simple but enjoyable storyline, entertaining characters, and a tender love story. The writer also has an easy style that make the story a pleasure to read. The only negative comment I have is that the title is a little misleading. I am still not sure what the scandal was…

  If you are a fan of historical romance, this should definitely be on your TBR list.
  
Wedding planner Kelsey McKenna takes on some clients planning a Napa County wedding a month before their big day. While Babs, the wedding planner they had been using, is very professional about these clients leaving, her assistant, Stefan, isn’t. Still, Kelsey is shocked to find a dead body in the office when she comes to pick up her new client’s file. With her reputation on the line, Kelsey has to find a way to clear her name.

I loved the first in this series, and this book is just as wonderful. Kelsey, her friend Brody, and her assistant Laurel, make a wonderful trio, and their friendship and banter is a pure delight. The suspects introduced here are just as strong, and make it hard to distinguish clue from red herring until Kelsey figures it all out at the end. This is a wedding you’ll be glad you crashed.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-review-dying-on-vine-by-marla.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
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Lindsay (1779 KP) rated Thief of Glory in Books

Feb 15, 2018  
TO
Thief of Glory
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This a story about a young boy. He thinks his family is good. When the Japanese come and take over by putting all the mother and children in a camp. Jeremiah is the one who need to watch over his siblings and mother. His older stepbrothers and his father are hauled away to work for the Japanese. This all starts shortly after his tenth birthday. It also when he see his love for the first time at a marble game. He also meets Charles (American).

Jeremiah see what goes on and want to help Dutch out at the camp. He has his adventures. Though things start to happen with his mother. He find out the truth of what his other was doing to each of his siblings. Jeremiah does something and his little brother. Things happen and Jeremiah and Laura start a friendship of hardships and many other things. To know what all went on in Jeremiah life you will need to pick this book up to read.
  
Ready Player One
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.9 (161 Ratings)
Book Rating
A love letter to the 80s and all things geek!
I love this book more than I can say. I think this is one of my favorite books of all time, to be honest. Ernest Cline did a great job at giving much needed kudos to the 80s and all things geek.

I have the physical, electronic, and audio editions of this book. I can’t get enough.


This book is fantastic for many reasons: the fact that there is something for the techy, the geek, the pop-culture guru, the romantic, or even the adventure seeker.


Set in the future where our world is lived in VR, Ernest Cline takes us on an adventure that teaches many of us to sit and think “Oh, man! Do I spend that much time with technology!?”, “What would I do with more cash than any sane person should have??”, or even “What would you do for love and friendship??”


This is an easy and fun read and I think that almost anyone would get some type of joy from reading(or listening) to Ready Player One.
  
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Sue (5 KP) rated The Art of Healing in Books

Aug 13, 2018  
TA
The Art of Healing
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Julianne has been betrayed by the person she loved. She was in the dark that her husband Clay was no longer happy in the marriage and is blindsided to come home to a completely empty home. Because of her Catholic upbringing, she is in no hurry to divorce but after encountering the woman Clay left her for, she realizes she has no choice.

Jokob has lost the love of his life to cancer. He doesn’t know how to go on without her, so he spends his time immersed in his work as a photographer.

Julianne and Jokob meet at an exhibit of his photography and begin a friendship that starts to turn into much more.

The Art of Healing is a story of two individuals that have found love, encountered loss, and been dealt with great hardship. It is more than a love story or romance novel, but instead a look into the lives of Julianne and Jokob and how they work at healing deep wounds. Can they find love again?
  
RM
Read Me Like a Book
8
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
⚢⚢⚢⚢ <b>4 'Be True To You' Stars</b> ❤

This was such a beautiful book, inside and out (just look at this gorgeous cover art) I could of done with having this book years ago!
Here we have our wonderful MC Ashleigh who is on a journey of self-discovery in the world of love. When things start to fall flat with her current boyfriend she turns to her teacher Miss Murray for help and support...little did Ashleigh know that friendship would turn into love.

A wonderful 'coming-out' story split into 3 sections following Ashleigh's bond with her teacher, the warm fuzzy feelings to ice cold heartbreak, this book will put you through the wringer...but in a good way!

I liked all of the characters and I found that it some ways I could relate to the story. The only downside for me was everyone 'knew' Ash was gay before she knew herself. This didn't sit too well with me...stereotyping maybe? Perhaps.

Overall, a great read!
  
A Fine &amp; Private Place
A Fine & Private Place
Peter S. Beagle | 1988 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
imagery (1 more)
characters
slow pacing (0 more)
Set in a the Yorkshire Cemetery in New York City A Fine and Private Place if doing it's job correctly; will make you think about both life and death. Michael Morgan is a man who doesn't want to be dead and will hold onto his lost mortality for all he is worth, Mr. Rebeck is an eccentric who lives in the cemetery forgotten about by the outside world, has food brought to him by a raven and converses with the recently dead. All three form an unusual friendship.
This book isn't in a hurry to get anywhere taking its time to get where it wants to go. The trip that you go on is beautifully described. There is a mystery behind the happening of Morgan's death, not hurried and at times easily forgotten.
It is a witty read and challenged me a great deal. I enjoyed the slow read so I could digest some of the concepts and think them over. A good read, if a slow one.
  
Animals (2019)
Animals (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Drama
It's well shot and Holliday Grainger is great (0 more)
Hateful characters that acted in depressingly negative ways that I couldn't relate to. (0 more)
As sponsored by Jacob’s Creek.
Laura (Holliday Grainger) and Tyler (Alia Shawkat) are two late twenty-somethings partying their way to an early death through drink, drugs and lack of sleep in Dublin. They are co-habiting best friends, with Laura a hugely unsuccessful part-time novelist and Tyler a barista. But these “professions” are just to fill the day and provide cash (SURELY not enought!?) to fuel their nights. They are swimming against the current of convention, but when Laura falls for concert pianist Jim (Fra Fee), and ‘settling down’ starts to look like an option, then this begins to put a terrible strain on their friendship.

A well made film, but I just found all the characters hateful and unrelatable to. Didn't enjoy it.

For the full review, please visit One Mann's Movies on https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/07/18/one-manns-movies-film-review-animals-2019/.
  
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Diva (60 KP) Dec 17, 2019

I agree with you - I didn’t have any emotional connection to the protagonists! I had been looking forward to this film all summer, the trailers made it look like a comedy. But it was more of a dark, tragic tale.

Sleeping with Other People (2015)
Sleeping with Other People (2015)
2015 | Comedy
7
7.0 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Old Movie Revisited: Sleeping with Other People. Yea most rom coms suck balls, but this one did not. It's an IFC production so that might explain some of it. I dunno, a good cast might help a tad too. First and foremost it stars Alison Brie, and fuckin A, she is hott! Also stars Jason Sudeikis, Amanda Peet, Jason Mantzoukas, Andrea Savage, Adam Scott, and a bunch of smaller pop ins from a bunch of todays funny people: Adam Brody, Billy Eichner, Natasha Lyonne, but anyways...Sudeikis and Brie play friends who a long time ago at college they lost their virginity to each other, and seperated ways and only bumped into each other years later at a sex addicts meeting. And so its about them finding friendship and not falling into bed together, and this is a rom com so you can see the ending a million miles away, but it's the journey that counts...and this journey includes Alison Brie being scantily clad, several times, so for that alone its worth it. Go ahead watch it!