Book Review - Tide & Tempest

Book Review

Tide & Tempest (Edge of Freedom #3) - Elizabeth Ludwig

Bookshelves: Adult, Romance

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Romance, Murder

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly had no idea that this book was the third in a series. It was quite a shocker because this book does great as a stand alone. Now that I know it's a series, I might have had a few unanswered questions answered and will now be seeking out the first two in the series. I enjoyed the characters, and their immense stubbornness only irked me slightly. It was a good historical romance. There wasn't too much of the sea setting in this one. I think my favorite character was Cass, so light-hearted and carefree. This book is very clean romance. There was a good share of action and intrigue involved. I got a little lost with a couple of the smaller characters, but perhaps that's because they are set up earlier in the series. The only issue I had, and this may be because I received this as an ARC, is all the combinations of "ff", "ffi" and "ffl" were entirely missing. It is written with Irish slang so when it said "o" it took me awhile to realize letters were actually missing. Hopefully this error was fixed prior to actual print.  If you are looking for a clean historical romance with some mystery and suspense, I recommend this book and will be keeping my eye out on this author in the future.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Troop

Book Review

THe Troop - Nick Cutter

Bookshelves: Adult, Horror

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Language, Death, Torture, Animal Abuse, Mental Health, Creepy, Gory

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Ok, so I don't do horror books. I don't like them. I have seen enough to give myself nightmares at night, I don't need to read books to create new nightmares. So when I was provided a free copy of this book for my review I didn't think I'd even finish it honestly. But then I started it, and that was it. I could not put it down. It was like looking at a horrific car crash or something you know will give you nightmares, but you still can't look away. I could not stop reading. And then I was already going to have the nightmares so I just had to finish it to see who survived, if anyone and how they did it, and how they got rid of the nightmare! The story was riveting and I would tell myself just one more chapter, but I could never stop there. 
I liked the small excerpts about scientists journals, the interviews, the change of point of view throughout. It really hooked me and at one point, I really thought how it would end because I thought something was given away, but it wasn't. The action is really what drove me through this one. 
The characters were not my favorite. There was something about each one of them that kind of bugged me, but I'm not a teenage boy, so I probably could never identify with any of them. Because of this, I wasn't heart broken as the story progressed, but it was pretty disturbing since you wouldn't want anyone to experience what they did. I thought Shelley was a little over the edge. He was full bent sociopath right there. All the tendencies. Part of me felt that he was too much. That it should just be normal typical teenage boys, but then if Shelley wan't who he was, the story would've ended differently, wouldn't it? There was some really disturbing descriptions about him abusing and murdering animals. There's some experimenting and torturing of animals. If you can't do animals suffering, I would steer clear of this book. I had to skip a scene or two because it was just too detailed. 
Aside from that there is a lot of language and just some very creepy disturbing scenes. I wouldn't recommend this for kids. But if you are a horror lover, I would definitely recommend this. It's incredibly disturbing, but certainly draws you in and holds you tight for the ride.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - Glitter & Glue

Book Review

Gliitter & Glue - Kelly Corrigan

Bookshelves: Adult, Memoir

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Language, Drinking, Minor Romance

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable memoir focusing on mother-daughter relationships and mothers as a whole. I really enjoyed this book. I liked how her views on motherhood really changed while she was in Australia. I really loved seeing how her small part in the Tanners family really changed her views into motherhood and family life. To me, the Tanners was really the best part of the book. I was somewhat disappointed to see that even though inside she had changed the way she thought about mothers, particularly hers, she still didn't really change their relationship much after that. I guess that's the stuff of fiction though. I liked how even though she and her mother didn't see eye to eye on a lot she still needed her when things got hard. It was good to see how she saw another side of her mother through their working together. The flashbacks and links of her own life to her current situation with the Tanners were done well. As a mother and daughter I enjoyed seeing another viewpoint on mothers and how perceptions can be altered through experiences or lack of them. I really liked how she tied in Evan's explanation of chess (as the queen being able to move anywhere and was the most important piece and without her, you were lost) to the role of a mother. This book was pleasantly deeper than I was expecting. There is some language, drinking and some minor romance.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Burning

Book Review

The Burning (Maeve Kerrigan #1) - Jane Casey

Bookshelves: Adult, Crime, Mystery

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Serial Killer, Rape, Language

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. I've took a break from mysteries and serial killer type books lately and I love that coming back I've really had some good authors reintroduce the genre for me. 

The writing was smooth and easy to read. The setting lands us in England, so if British spelling and slang bothers you, beware. It doesn't bother me, especially when it comes to most of the bad language. This is mostly from first person narrative from a detective, Maeve. There is a little bit of jumping, but not so much you get confused as to who's POV we are in. Maeve is strong and somewhat stand-offish. I warmed to her even though at first she seemed pretty cold. I really enjoyed Rob's character and wish we could've read more from his POV, but there's only one small part about 3/4 of the way through. I properly despised Gil and Louise gave me the creeps. 

Reading the summary one might think that this book is mostly focused on a serial killer and his crimes. If you are expecting that, you might be somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong, there is a serial killer, but it is not the main chunk of the book, more of a back burner fire that is eventually put out quickly and neatly. This book is mostly about the fifth murder which doesn't exactly fit with the others, particularly with the small tidbits of info the police didn't reveal to the press. Usually with serial killer books, you might get a copycat, but the copycat killer is found and the serial killer continues on. This is the same way, but parts reversed. Does that make sense?

Anyway, the book is pretty much police protocol, follow the detectives footsteps kind of book. There is some questioning, but I figured out the ending pretty quick. This isn't one with a major plot twist. I did like how the ending was all summed up. Everything was explained down to back story and motive. Overall I was really pleased with this book, I would've given five stars if there was a little more mystery to it and I couldn't narrow down the killer. I will watch this author in the future and other Maeve Kerrigan novels.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - Above

Book Review

Above - Isla Morley

Bookshelves: Adult, Psychological Thriller

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Kidnapping, Rape, Deaths

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

So it was really hard to rate this book. Because it's not really one book. It is, but it shouldn't be. It's two books put together and one I loved and the other I didn't. Had it been a second book completely I might have loved it like the first. 
I completely recommend the first half. Wow, o wow! What a psychological thriller! I couldn't put it down! I found myself vacuuming with one hand just so I didn't have to. I usually don't love these kinds of books because I am all about the happy alternate reality type of books. I didn't completely identify with our protag, but I saw my girls in her and that hit me hard. I held them a little tighter while reading this book. I was actually talking to the book often as well, proof that I was hooked. 
Dobbs was disturbingly real. I wish I could reach through the book to smack him. I was so impressed with how real this book seemed. There were some pretty deep and dark situations which would normally turn me off but I just had to know how it ended. 

I can't really review the second half without giving away some major points, I will say, I really would've preferred the end of the first half have one final chapter summing a few things up and leaving it at that. Then the second half being a completely different book, not even as a series, but with a chapter or two intro as to why they walked into the second half the way it was and have it's own book. I wasn't as driven during the second half. Found myself a little annoyed more than compassionate with the characters and when I put the book down, I wasn't as eager to pick it back up. 

I would definitely rate this for adults as there are some very serious and deep issues throughout the book.

I can't review much more without giving away most of the book, but I will definitely keep an eye out on this author. I haven't been hooked like that in a long time. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read this one.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - Killer

Book Review

Killer (Alex Delaware #29) - Jonathan Kellerman

Bookshelves: Adult, Mystery

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Murder, Language, Sex and Drug References

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, as surprising as it might be to many, this was my first Alex Delaware novel. I had no problem jumping right into the series as this book can be read as a stand alone. I didn't feel like I was missing something by not reading the first 28 books in the series. I have read Kellerman before and I am still very much a fan. 

I have been on a young adult and fantasy kick lately and wasn't searching out a new murder mystery, but after finding this on Netgalley I knew I had to give it a try.

Killer is a good read. We start out with Dr. Delaware devoted psychologist who finds himself getting pulled into the court side of things and observing and giving his expert opinion in custody cases. He gets thrown into a case that involves two sisters having a custody battle over baby girl. One sister, Cherie, is a free spirit who plays groupie to a small time band and single mother to Rambla. The other sister, Connie, is successful, methodical, controlling and cold and has decided she would make a better mother than "Ree," and even though she has no claim, she does have a lot of money.

Dr. Delaware sides with the mother, and immediately after, all things begin to go haywire. Delaware gets an unexpected greeting from Connie which results in an ambiguous threat. Once he notifies his old pal Milo from the LAPD the investigation makes a fast turn when they discover Connie brutally murdered. 

The book unfolded methodically, there wasn't a lot of action, but there were a lot of twists and turns. I knew the way Milo was investigating just wasn't fitting and wouldn't be the ending, but I certainly did not expect that last turn. I'm glad I read this one and will definitely keep my eyes out for more Delaware books in the future.

Thank you Ballantine Books for this opportunity.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - Wake

Book Review

Wake - Anna Hope

Bookshelves: Adult, Depressing, Historical Fiction

Rating: 3 of 5 stars (It was ok)

Recommended Age: Adult

War, Death, Grief, Language, Sex & Drug Use

I received this book from Negalley in exchange for an honest review.

I felt this book could have been more. It was a decent read, but as a historical fiction of the aftermath of the war it was rather depressing. The story was written well, however I had a hard time with connecting with any of the three women we are following. We have Ada, a mother distraught by the loss of her son, finding herself seeing him on the streets and grasping onto the chance he may still be alive. Then there's Evelyn, who is left bitter and broken after her one true love is killed. And finally Hettie whose brother returns alive, however broken and family responsibility is then placed on her shoulders. I could see the characters, but I had a hard time being in their shoes, if that makes sense. The rushed sex scenes with Evelyn seemed disjointed and could have easily been left out. It took me some time to get through this one.

I didn't think about the characters after I put the book down. I did however think more about war and it's aftermath, which may be the author's intention. I do not mind thought provoking works or deep themes, I do, however like hope tied into the ending, a shining light. If you are looking for that, this book isn't it. The ending gives a bit of closure, but that's about it, like a band-aid on a stab wound. If you are seeking a realistic depressing WWI aftermath historical fiction, this is written well.

This book contains the obvious war, death, grief, language, sex, and drug use.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for this opportunity.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - City of the Sun

City of the Sun - Juliana Maio

Bookshelves: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult (WWII, Sex Scenes, Murder)

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  

This was an impressive debut novel.  I love historical fiction and I thought the idea of Egypt during early WWII was quite intriguing.  We meet Maya, a Jewish refugee from Germany stopping on her way to find sanctuary with her family and Mickey a new journalist looking for the story that will make his career.  I really enjoyed Maya.  I felt she had just the right amount of rebellion in her well-guarded heart after all she had been through.  There were only a couple points I felt she went out of character and that threw me.  I didn't really love Mickey or hate him.  He was just there.  I did love how Egypt was brought to life at the time and how real historical figures were used.  I also enjoyed how at the end, the author told which characters were based on real figures and which were fiction.  I definitely learned another side to WWII I didn't know much about.  There was a lot of description and quite a bit going on, so it wasn't a quick easy read, but it was done well.  I don't know that I would consider this a thriller, it did have spy/mystery intrigue going on and I was curious but it didn't really have me on the edge of my seat type of excitement for what comes next.     

The two sex scenes in the book really threw me.  There was a flow and the writing was done well, I enjoyed the description, but the sex scenes just didn't really add to the story.  I didn't really get the first one at all, it just was kind of there.  The second, I get the throw caution to the wind moment she was trying to establish with Mickey right before she left but I just felt it was too much, or perhaps too descriptive?  I felt that if there was going to be a sex scene it should have glazed over it more because of her personality, it just didn't feel right.  Almost like it was thrown in just to throw it in, it didn't really add to the story.     

The ending felt sort of rushed to me.  I enjoyed how things worked out in some ways, but others seemed hastily wrapped.  Considering this is a debut novel I am really impressed. I will definitely be watching the author in the future.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Heist

The Heist (Fox & O'Hare #1) - Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

Bookshelves: Adult, Adventure, Crime, Laugh Out Loud Funny

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

So now I've got a new Evanovich series to follow. This series completely reminds of White Collar where the dashing conman with a soft heart finds himself caught but turns around and convinces the FBI to use him to find bigger criminals. I love the idea, I love some of the characters. Kate's dad is one of my all time favorites. I'm a fan of Kate, but she certainly seems to dominate the narration. I'd like to hear more from Nick. I think his character is supposed to stay mysterious, but it makes me keep him at a distance more. Boyd and Willie are good characters I think we will see often. The others don't have very much character development. I want to see some more characters I can't live without like Lula in Plum books. If you are picturing a realistic ex-seals experience, you won't get it. But you will get fun and laughs and a kick butt heroine who spills ketchup and any form of sauce on whatever she's wearing (anyone else picture Sandra Bullock from Miss Congeniality here?) complete with a dad who protects his daughter with a rocket launcher. It may not be cars, but stuff will get blown up. A series I will definitely continue with and probably read each in less than a day, giggling all the way.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Chase

The Chase (Fox & O'Hare #2) - Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

Bookshelves: Adult, Adventure, Crime, Laugh out Loud Funny

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a little faster than the first, and it hooks you in and takes you along for the ride. And quite the ride this one is. Around the world in 80days has nothing on the geography Kate and Nick seem to cover in this book. Kate is really starting to grow on me. She's not a blundering fool, but has her faults and her strengths. I love her loyalty and dedication to what's right. I find her a good ying to Nick's yang, they make good partners. I'm not really feeling the sexual tension between Kate and Nick, but that's not what I'm reading the series for anyway so the lack doesn't change much. I love Kate's father, one of my favorite characters. Willie's a fun character I hope we keep seeing more of. I'm on the fence about Nick right now. I like the humor and the dad jokes. I love how a book can be funny and not filled with language and sex to remind its audience how its geared toward adults. I found myself laughing out loud like many Evanovich favorites, however it was much more mellow than the Plum novels. I'm hoping to get more depth to Nick in the future. This adventure was complete with rocket launcher and crap getting blown up. Definitely a series I will be continuing with.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell!

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Last Akaway

Book Review

The Last Akaway - Gary Karton

Bookshelves: Middle School, Fantasy, Adventure, Early Chapter Books

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: 8 and up

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really good fantasy book for probably 8 and up. Our protagonist is Brody Boondoggle a typical 11yo boy and the only thing special about him in the beginning is his belief in magic. Because of this belief, his grammy shows him a world full of magic which all starts with a rare bird called an akaway. Once he's bitten by the akaway.  Brody begins to realize he is very special indeed. The akaway helps connect kids to their spirit animals and after being tricked by Uncle Skeeta, Brody must set out to open the portal between the two worlds and save the special powers of kids everywhere. The magic can't be seen by nonbelievers so Brody's older brother Jake doesn't believe his brother in the beginning but with grammy's encouragement Jake helps Brody and in turn opens up his eyes to the magic. This book is a short and easy read. A lot of it is summarized and filled with goofy jokes and conversations. There isn't much detail but a lot of action so it appeals to a younger set. There's never an actual description of the Akaway other than it's a rare creature like no other, and it's an albino. Every time someone asks, 'what's an akaway?' someone always responds with, "Oh, about fifty pounds." These are the kinds of kooky jokes filling this book. In this book video games are the anti-magic and playing outside and having fun helps magic grow stronger.  There is some jealousy and betrayal by a friend in the midst of the adventure.  It was a quick easy read and I think my boys will enjoy it.

Thank you Brattle Publishing Group!

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Midnight Side

Book Review

The Midnight Side - Natasha Mostert

Bookshelves: Adult, Mystery, Paranormal

Rating: 3 of 5 stars (It was ok)

Recommended Age: Adult

Adultery, Stalking, Some romance (one sex scene), Murder

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Isa receives a phone call from her cousin in the middle of the night, her cousin is trying to ask for her help and warn her, but later that day she will find out her cousin died 2 days ago.  Isa, while mourning the loss of her lover, follows the request in the will that she fly to England and handle some loose ends.  While there Isa has more interactions with her new cousin and finds herself in the middle of a web of lies, deceit, obsession and revenge.  

This was a good read.  It's pretty detailed, but definitely more mystery than anything else.  There are some intense scenes, but I wouldn't label it as thriller.  The pacing was ok, but kind of slow.  The mystery is really what pushes you through.  You want answers.  You are given a couple of options for who the murderer/stalker is, but I wasn't too shocked at the end.  There is a nice little twist in there though that I wasn't expecting. I would've liked more on the paranormal side.  She talks about it a lot, but avoids the phone calls and dreams and we just have ideas of what "could have..." 

I do like the setting, while never having been to South Africa or London I have no idea to it's accuracy, but thanks to the description would be willing to go and find out.  

Isa wasn't my favorite character.  I didn't hate her, but I didn't love her.  She was just so easily led.  First without Alette all during their childhood, she talks of them being best friends, and all I could see is the dominant part that Alette played to her submissive.  Then again through her romantic relationships as well.  I think I would've loved Alette much more as a main character, if she wasn't, ya know, dead and all.  The men all had some level of creep to them which was a little off putting.  I didn't really want to see her with any of them.

This was my first Natasha Mostert and I heard Season of the Witch is even better.  Will be reading that one soon.  

Thank you Portable Magic LTD!

Happy Reading!

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Recipe Review - Pretzel Dogs

Pretzel Dogs

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(This picture could have been better had my son and daughter not snatch some up the second they came out of the oven!)

One of my husband's favorite things that I make is pretzels.  He loves them and always complains I don't make enough, even when I make double.  I saw this recipe HERE on Buns In My Oven and knew I had to try it.

In this case, I didn't have to change anything, she did an amazing job.

First I started by getting the yeast prepped.

Then made the dough.

After letting it rise, I cut it into 8 pieces with my pizza cutter sprayed with non stick cooking spray and then rolled my ropes out on my mat.  I love the dimensions on this thing makes it so much easier to mindlessly shape.

Once rolled, my kids helped me wrap them around the hot dogs.  

If you've ever made pretzels before or bagels, you've done the baking soda bath before.

Then into the oven.

Then prepare for deliciousness.  The only thing I change about this recipe is the quanitity.  Everyone wants seconds! 

You can print the recipe right off her page HERE.

For More of my Recipe Reviews visit:

5 Star Recipes

ENJOY!