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The Heart of Things: Book One of the Lakeland Series
The Heart of Things: Book One of the Lakeland Series
Leigh Macfarlane | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Romance
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Kept me guessing till the very end (0 more)
This is a good, easy reading crime book. It would say if anyone is trying to get into crime books this is a good one to start of with. It would be a book I'd recommend.
I love crimes books and I'm usually good at discovering the killer and sometimes the motive before it is revealed in the book but this one I couldn't guess at all. I enjoy when a book has me stumped as it keeps me reading. This was definitely a book I couldn't out down and needed to find out the killer.
The author really made the characters come to life and gave them their own voice and personality. They got each person spot on which might sound a weird thing to say but it helped the book and get an upstanding of each character.
Although it was a crime book there was a slight romance story to it. I like when a story has two stories ongoing as long as they don't intertwine too much and put one story into the background.
The blurb caught my attention but didn't give too much away.
I would read the other books in this series.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.
  
Mother, Mother
Mother, Mother
Koren Zailckas | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Joint review with Sylvia Crabtree.

Well this isn't our usual book at all, we usually stick to romance, but when mum won it in the Goodreads First Reads/Giveaways we thought we'd give it a try. And surprisingly, we liked it.

We think it was the suspense, wondering what had happened that night at dinner that caused Violet to be sent to the mental hospital. Had she really been that out of it that she couldn't remember hurting her brother? And if so, why couldn't anyone else remember? And what of Rose, the eldest, how did she fit into the story?

Trying to piece together what had happened to lead up to that night by seeing viewpoints of the youngest child, William, and the middle child, Violet: one who doesn't get on with their mum and one who does anything for a bit of motherly affection.

We found ourselves being drawn into the story the more we read and we cant say we were expecting what happened to Rose.

Josephine, the mum, came across as crazy at times and we felt sorry for her children. She could be so cruel to them at timesif they did something she didn't agree with.

Like we mentioned previously this was not our usual read but we have to admit it was a nice change from the norm.
  
Flawed
Flawed
Cecelia Ahern | 2016 | Children
1
8.5 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
*I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I'm sorry but I can't do it. I can't carry on reading this strange book. DNF @ 22%.

When I saw Cecelia on Lorraine Kelly talking about this the other day I decided to give it a go after humming and hawing about it for a long time. I've only ever attempted to read one book by the author before and the way it was written put me off.

I think the same happened for me with this. It wasn't smooth and was often repetitive, which annoyed me a little. The info overload and lots of inner turmoil over her sudden realisation that the flawed were not being treated right also pushed me to my limit.

If I'd had enough time to get to know the characters I might have cared a little more about what was going on but we didn't so I...didn't. The situation Celestine found herself in didn't bring me any feelings at all. There was one small bright spark on the horizon (the guy in the cell next door--bear in mind I'm a sucker for the slightest hint of romance) and even THAT couldn't persuade me to keep reading.

It seems me and this author are just not destined to get along.
  
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
1969 | Action, Classics, Western

"I think I gotta go with that old stand-by, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Love Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Love the — you know, it’s the two guys. It’s what me and my brother specialize in, the two guys. Well, in the Three Stooges‘ case it’s three. But the relationship between two guys like that, I don’t think it’s been done any better than with Butch and Sundance; particularly with Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The way they worked in so many different things, from comedy to romance to action and the way it’s so beautifully shot and, you know, a great story. And they didn’t pull the punches at the end. If you made that movie today, I’m sure that you’d do the test screenings and somebody would raise their hands and say, “We want them to get away at the end!” But they didn’t get away at the end. Today you’d have to re-shoot the ending where the guys go off on some secret beach somewhere and live happily forever — ’cause that’s the way audiences kind of demand it. But with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, of course, they met their demise at the end of the movie, and they had it coming ’cause that’s who they were. I just think it was a beautiful movie."

Source
  
Angels and Demons
Angels and Demons
Dan Brown | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.7 (64 Ratings)
Book Rating
First published back at the turn of the century (in the year 2000), this - while the second of the two Tom Hanks starring Robert Langdon movies, after The Da Vinci Code - is actually the first book in that particular series, albeit less well known than its sequel (the aforementioned The Da Vinci Code).

And, like, I'm sure, many others, I actually read that sequel first, only later discovering it was such (although, admittedly, not a direct sequel) and going back to read the first on the series.

This is the one largely set in and around Rome, with a high-tech ticking time-bomb counting down in Vatican City as the Cardinals all meet to elect a new Pope following the death of the previous incumbent of that role. It also makes lots of the (supposed?) divide between religion and science, drawing on lots of conspiracy theories and bringing back into the realms of popular culture that old secret society, the illuminati.

I have no problem with any of that, and I do like a bit of derring-do, mystery and romance, but even I found it hard at times to swallow some of the outlandish scenarios and set pieces of this novel - I think, for me, the icing on the cake was the surviving-a-jump-out-of-a-helicopter-without-a-parachute bit towards the end!
  
40x40

William Sadler recommended Unforgiven (1992) in Movies (curated)

 
Unforgiven (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
1992 | Western

"With my friend Morgan [Freeman]. It’s so funny, these movies, the ones that I’m pulling out, they all have the same element. They feel perfect. I can’t find a false note, I can’t find a scene or a moment that you could lose and the movie would still be as good. There’s not a wasted breath. I think that Unforgiven is some of Clint Eastwood’s best work. I love westerns — I grew up on them — watching them and playing them around the barn in Buffalo. This is a different western, again, this is a broken guy who’s hanging on by his fingernails. He’s been a dirt farmer, he’s lost his wife, this is his last shot. That’s funny, it’s a little like The Verdict in that respect. None of it is pretty. It’s not slick, it’s not the balletic gunfighting that you see in some movies. It’s ugly and awkward and it’s not easy to kill a man. That was one of the themes that just stuck out like a sore thumb. This is not an easy thing to do, kill a man. For all the glamour and all the romance of the old west and the gunfights and so on, this is awful work, guns. They brought that to life. Gene Hackman can do no wrong. He’s sort of an acting god."

Source
  
Quantum (Red Rock Alien Mail Order Brides #1)
Quantum (Red Rock Alien Mail Order Brides #1)
Erin Kellison | 2016 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Quantum is the first book in a new science fiction romance series by Erin Kellison. The story is fast-paced and full of information on how the galaxy actually works, and what some of the species look like. There is a lot to take in, but it is definitely worth it.

Raider has stolen a Quantum Stone. Using this stone in a wormhole enables time to move backwards. He wants to sell the stone to past to buy himself a future, for reasons that you find out as you move along the story. Sophia is on a mission - to find her missing brother. She will do just about anything to find him, but when she opens a can of worms, she definitely gets more than she bargained for, especially when she finds out there is more to her brother than she realised.

Very well written, with a smooth flow to the story, like I've already mentioned it is fast-paced, but this is in no way a bad thing.With no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow, this book was thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely recommended by me, and I'm looking forward to reading further on in the series.

* I received this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries
Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries
Helen Fielding | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bridget Jones is back! With new story to tell us. It is impossible not to love this witty, silly, clumsy, unbelievable woman. I think the reason why she is a Global phenomenon is that she is very relatable. Confusion of which one to choose, fear of being single and wish of a family, there are many women and men who feel exactly the same. This book is continuation of previous Bridget Jones’s adventures, continuing war between Mark and Daniel and a nice ending filled with lots of pain and happiness. So if u expect something very new and exciting, I will have to disappoint you there.
This book is very easy to read and it is kind of one sitting read. I had a chance to see the movie based on this book as well and I was pleased to see that book and movie are quite different. That allows living same story twice, with different twists and turns. Let me tell you one thing, there is never enough of Ms Jones and her adventures (at least for me) . In conclusion all I want to say is if would like to have a great laugh with a bit of romance, grab this book and after that definitely see the film, and enjoy this great woman and her adventures twice.
  
Weak for Him (Weakness, #1)
Weak for Him (Weakness, #1)
9
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was so undecided on how to rate this...4 star?...5 star? So I'll settle for 4.5 stars. Maybe it's the whole obsession I have with books associated with the sex industry--escorts, prostitutes, strippers, porn stars. I just like to read them finding romance with someone who can crack their cold interiors.

And that is pretty much what happened in this. You could see that there was something between Jennifer and Finnley, some spark that could become great if they both gave in. But nope. Not that simple. Finnley had the whole I-won't-(not can't)-have-you-but-no-one-else-can-either thing going on, which I must say is totally unfair to Jennifer.

That being said, the way he paraded around his conquests at times I wanted to smack him and don't blame Jennifer for trying to find love somewhere else.

The continuous back and forth between Finn and Jennifer was at times annoying and at others I melted a little towards him. This was definitely a couple I got emotionally involved with.

That epilogue was very insightful and I am so glad that the author wrote it. It added an extra element to see it all from Finn's eyes.

I am very interested in reading the rest of the series.
  
The Princess
The Princess
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The author got in contact with me last year and asked me if I'd like to read and review one of her books. I agreed, wanting to help her get the word out and picked The Princess and she gifted me the book.

I started reading it almost straight away and at the start I got caught up in it. But after a while I lost interest in the storyline because of how slowly it was all playing out. A quarter of the way in (out of 306 pages) and she was just marrying him.

I have this thing where, unless I'm really into the story that I don't like long books. I'm almost not a fan of a lot of description (I know most readers ask for it, but not me. I tend to skip over whole paragraphs if it doesn't interest me).

That's not to say it was bad, the book has four 5 star reviews on Goodreads. It just isn't really my sort of book. If I'm going to read something intrigue-y, I want something to be happening all the time. If I'm reading a romance, I want to fall in love along with them and I didn't.

After giving it another try about ten minutes ago, and still not getting into the story I'm finally giving in at 27% and DNF'ing.