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ClareR (6129 KP) rated The Queen of Fives in Books

Sep 30, 2025 (Updated Sep 30, 2025)  
The Queen of Fives
The Queen of Fives
Alex Hay | 2024 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Queen of Fives is another exciting read (listen, in my case!) from Alex Hay. I really enjoyed The Housekeepers, so was very excited to see this come up on Xigxag audiobooks.

I loved this: it’s pacey, rip-roaring, the historical detail is on point and the story itself is unputdownable. The characters were fascinating, and I was cheering from the sidelines for Quinn, the Queen of Fives, even though her goal is to rip off the landed gentry (not such a bad thing, surely?!). The moral greyness of this is at peak level!

The narrator, Polly Edsel, is perfect and brings the cast of characters to life.

There’s dishonesty, family honour, independent strong women, peril, love, lies and fraud.

Highly recommended!
  
PP
Plain Perfect (Daughters of the Promise, #1)
Beth Wiseman | 2008 | Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A wunderbaar Amish novel set in the quaint Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Beth Wiseman combines love, faith in God, friendship and family in a way that captures the reader and holds them to the very end!
 
Lillian Miller, trying to escape a life of lies and a relationship she doesn't need, flees to her Amish grandparents' home in Lancaster County, knowing all along that she will never fit in with her modern style. While there, she discovers truths about her past...things her mother never told her.
 
Samuel Stoltzfus is a young Amish widow, trying to raise his young son. He meets the young Englischer, the granddaughter of his close friends. He knows the rules of the Ordnung, but can he truly deny what he feels in his heart???
 
She's forced to choose between two worlds...one of lies and abuse, and one of simple, family oriented, Godly, plain living...and a life with a wunderbaar, caring man.
 
What will happen to Lillian and her perfect, modern life and Samuel, with his plain living? Will they face the truth of their feelings, hearts and God and become Plain Perfectin this amazing inspirational novel?
 
Grab some coffee and a copy of Beth's novel, sit back and enjoy this first book in a wonderful series, Daughters of the Promise! You'll be glad you did! This book truly deserves to be highly praised and I think you'll agree once you,too, have read Plain Perfect by Beth Wiseman!!!!! Two thumbs up and five stars to Mrs. Wiseman!!! <a href="http://cafinatedread.com/2009/09/16/review-plain-perfect-by-beth-wiseman/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads</a>
  
Forget You Know Me
Forget You Know Me
Jessica Strawser | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have to hand it to Jessica Strawser--not sure what's happened to her in her life (ha), but she can come up with some tangled plots. As always with her books, you have to go in expecting more women's fiction than suspense/thriller, and that helps set expectations up front. Still, I have to say, that there are a surprising number of suspects for the black-clad figure who pops up on Liza's web cam. For a suburban neighborhood, it sure is a tangled web of secrets and lies out there!

So I found the plot on this one kind of baffling at first: I think it could have done without Liza and Molly's fight, honestly. Their fighting was awkward and uncomfortable and didn't seem really necessary. But I quickly warmed to Molly and Liza, who were very real characters with flaws and genuine traits. For Liza, much of her life is ruled by her anxiety, while Molly's by her chronic pain. I felt for both of them. Despite being best friends, they are on separate tracks for most of the book, making you wonder where things are going to wind up.

With everyone keeping secrets, telling lies, and basically just being dishonest--both to others and themselves--the book really does keep you guessing about what happened that night. As it does, you're treated to a very realistic look at marriage and friendship. I felt parts of it were overblown and it was a very different sort of read, but I enjoyed it overall. The descriptions and portrayals of Molly and Liza are what really drew me in. 3.5+ stars.
  
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