Gail

Not my favorite Lynsay Sands

I've read a bunch of Sands' books in the past and really enjoyed them. But this one just wasn't for me. The book description doesn't really make this clear, but the book has secret that's kept from the Metra initially. She has amnesia and assumes he's her husband and everyone decides that for her own good, they need to let her believe that. This big secret type story line is my least favorite trope and I just didn't ever recover from the annoyance it caused. Wish this would have been clear from the description.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

The is my second Christina Lauren book and another very enjoyable read. I liked reading Macy and Elliott's story and seeing them grow up together and fall in love. I did think the ending was a bit much. I don't see how they can get past the events of 11 years ago but books can be more hopeful than really.

My spoiler alert is based on some of the negative reviews. Everyone has different tastes obviously, and you like what you like. But specifically citing Elliott's lame or pathetic excuse for sleeping with Emma just hits me wrong. Imagine their genders are reversed. A girl is severely intoxicated, to the point of being passed out at the start of the encounter. No one would care what excuse she makes, most readers responses would be, “Honey, it's not your fault, you were assaulted.” Unconscious people do not consent to sex. And in fact, Elliott was so traumatized after that he didn't sleep with anyone for years. And freaked out the first time he did. His rationalization may seem lame but I'd guess it's even harder for a guy to deal with being raped. Just something to think about.

Glad JJ is back

But I really hope we don't have to wait as long for the next one. Darn cliff hangers (ugh, just realized this is most literally a cliff hanger.)

Note to self: just read everything by Rainbow Rowell. Always. Then read it again.

I won an advance reader copy of this book. I liked it a lot and will definitely be checking out other titles from this author. The basic story is that Beret Osmundsen goes to Denver to discover the details of her sister, Lillie's murder. While investigating, whe must come to terms with the realization that the sister that she raised was not the sweet, innocent girl that she always saw her as. The characters in the book, especially Beret and Dectective Mick McAuley are very well developed. The inter-play between the two was great. They had great chemistry. This book is by no means a romance but you could feel a current between these two that was intriguing. I enjoyed reading about them and when the book was over I was looking for more. I wanted to know what the characters would be doing after the book was over, always a good sign for a book. I will be recommending this book to all my bookie friends!

This book is told in alternating timelines. Normally, I'm ok with that style of writing, but I had trouble with out in this book because the Anna Anderson timeline is presented backwards. It was very hard for me to follow. Just be warned.

Otherwise, I would say this book tries to portray both storylines as honestly as possible. And these women had some excruciatingly hard lives, so don't expect an easy read.

Beautiful people with extraordinary lives

Sin With Me is the third book in a series but is a stand alone novel. The writing is ok and the story started out well but just continued getting more complicated. Car accidents, exploding houses unbelievable coincidences. Based on the snippets from the couple's in the previous two books, it sounds like par for the series. It was just a bit too over the top for me.

DNF

DNF

I won this book through a First Reads giveaway but I couldn't really get into the story. I think this just wasn't the book for me, but if you're a reader that enjoys postmodern lit you might enjoy it.

This series gets better with every book!

This story gets more compelling with each book. Kate Daniels is my favorite heroine, strong, funny, flawed, but always trying to do what's right. Can't wait to read what happens next!

Loved it! Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorites. I was a little disappointed in the first book, Cold Hearted Rake, it was just ok. This book more than makes up for it. Great story. Loved both the main characters. Super excited for the next book, especially when I found out it features the son of my most loved couple!! Can't wait!

3.5 stars! This is the first book I've read in the Shifters Unbound series by Jennifer Ashley but based on this story, they are interconnected but stand alone novels that do not need to be read in order. This basic plot of this book is that Kenzie and Bowman have a mating of convenience (loved that phrase!) But have not developed a mate bond despite the fact that they are very obviously in love. This causes tension in their relationship and in the pack as they battle a mythical beast, meddling family, lonely gnomes and a mad killer.

The story drew me in right away and was a fun, fast read. The characters were likable and I was pulling for their HEA pretty much from page 1.

I won this book as a First Reads giveaway.

The Swans of Fifth Avenue is the story of the rise and tragic fall of Truman Capote. It centers on the befriending of Truman by the beautiful and privileged elite of New York, especially William S Paley, the founder of CBS, and his iconic wife, Babe. Truman was taken into the group as a novelty and he called them his swans. I don't imagine these people had met many openly and proudly gay people up to that point, though the were whispers about some. And he was a story teller and entertainer. They befriended him, trotted him out like a favorite toy and told him all their secrets. Babe Paley is the tragic figure in this story. She truly loved Truman and cherished his friendship. She was also the one most betrayed when he published a short story in Esquire, laying out the dirty little secrets of so many, including a very embarrassing story about Babe's cheating husband. The names were changed but it was obvious who was who. After the story, Truman was ostracized. He never finished published another book.
I enjoyed this book very much, though it mad me sad. In Cold Blood is one of my all time favorite books and though I never believed that Capote was a great person, I didn't know he was such a sad person. He longed to be loved, but couldn't stop himself from being mean. And Babe, she was a good friend, a true friend, but even that couldn't stop him from making his tragic mistake. And sadly, the short stories he published about his swans weren't even that good. That seems the most tragic part to me.
The book is a work of historical fiction. The characters are all real and the author stayed as close to the known facts as possible. But as she says in the Author's Note, so many of the characters were such liars, it was easy to take some liberties. It is a very good book. I highly recommend it, even though it is a bit sad.

Best book you'll ever read about hedge funds and tax fraud!

The heroes of this story are a tax attorney and a billionaire hedge fund manager. And heroes they are. This book tells the story of Bill Browder's career and life, and the crime that turned him from business man to human rights crusader.

Sergei Magnitsky was killed in police custody in Russia. Held for nearly a year on trumped up charges, his real crime was whistleblower. He uncovered a massive tax fraud committed in Russia. Despite his horrible treatment and his failing brotherhood in custody, Sergei never backed down and continued to tell the truth of what he had uncovered.

Browder tells this story with such heart and feeling. It reads like a political thriller, an excellent one. Read this book. You won't regret it!

The Truth According to Us tells the story of a small depression era town in West Virginia and a once prominent family that has fallen from grace. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Through most of the book, I thought I new exactly where this was going, and though it was a good read, I was loving it. The last 100 or so pages turned it from an ok story to a really good story in my mind. The ending was happy and heartbreaking at the same time and I just thoroughly enjoyed it.

I won this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

I,Ripper by Stephen Hunter tries to be a fresh take on the many Jack the Ripper stories. The book is told through two perspectives, the diaries of Jeb,a reporter covering the Ripper case, and of Jack himself. Jeb does eventually discover his Ripper, but not until his mission is mostly complete.

The story was ok. I was expecting a Ripper story to have a more sinister mood but didn't feel that here. The most interesting part of the book for me was the revealing of who Jeb would become and what he did with Jack's story than the identification of this book's Jack. Unfortunately, that didn't come until late in the book.

I give this book 2.5 stars.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

Predictable but enjoyable

This book tells the story of a liberal former Secret Service agent (Reeder) drawn into the investigation of the murder of a supreme court justice. The story is set in the near future, about 10-15 years from now in an America that is ultra conservative and has greatly expanded police powers and repealed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Reeder, our hero, is a gifted people reader that sees important clues in the behavior of the perpetrators that no one else's picks up on. This lands him on the task force working the murders and puts him in the crosshairs of the killers.
I liked the story over all but did find it a bit too predictable. I felt like I saw were the story was going as easily as Reedes should have been able to. The ring leader is easily pegged pretty early on tho he isn't revealed for certain until the last few chapters. The story also felt a little choppy at times. On the positive side, the story was fast paced and drew me in quickly and I really liked Reeder and his task force partner Patti Rogers. The characters were easy to relate to. Overall, I found this book to be a fun, easy read.

Cute story but I want more!

A nice little story about Julia, Brisbane and the crazy March family but I'm left wanting. I wish there was a new full length novel in the works!

DNF this book. I got about halfway thru and gave up. Not really any story, just a bunch of crazy situations for Don to get out of. Big disappointment!

This book examines the post-enlightenment philosophy the both created the Nazi's and made it possible for them to gain power. It's a difficult read, especially if you have not studied much philosophy, but worth the extra effort. Piekoff dismisses the usual causes for the rise of Hitler in favor of a deeper look at the common philosophy of the German people. A philosophy nihilism, complete obedience and distrust or dismissal of logic. The result is the most complete explanation of how the Nazi's happened.

I won this book through a First Reads giveaway.

I won this book on Goodreads and I wasn't very familiar with Kim Philby or the Cambridge Spy Ring before starting the book. The book is non-fiction but Ben Macintyre's has a storytelling writing style that increased my enjoyment of the book. In brief, Kim Philby, along with a handful of college friends all working for MI5 and MI6 during WWII were in fact spying for the Soviets. Philby is probably the most successful and most highly placed spy ever to have been uncovered on either side of the Iron Curtain and his spying lead not only to strategic wins for the Soviet Union but to the deaths of countless agents and pawns that he felt were a danger to the USSR. But the real story here is about his friendships and the way that he manipulated some very powerful people in both MI6 and the CIA. According to him, it was his ability to compartmentalize that allowed him to repeatedly betray his close friends while earning their unwavering loyalty. That is the part of the story that was most upsetting to me and made this book one that I couldn't put away easily. He considered himself as true to the ideals of Communism above all else but it seemed at many times that the high of getting one over on all these powerful people was the real draw for him. He's a cold, unfeeling, and I thought, unlikable person but a compelling character all the same. Fans of spy books and the Cold War period of history will especially enjoy this book.

Disappointed

This is a DNF review. This is my first Kindle First read and I have the book longer than I normally would have in the hopes that it would eventually grab my interest. I read nearly 50% but the book never grabbed me. There's nothing to hate about the book, I just didn't find the characters interesting and the story didn't progress.

I got this book as a First Reads thru Goodreads and it is only the second graphic novel that I've read. I am a fan of the Dresden series and I felt that this graphic novel was true to the Harry Dresden character. The humor and style of the character were brought to life in the new format. It was a good story and the new character's brought in were fun. The art was great and I think the artist did a really great job of creating Harry's world. I'll know have a better picture in my head of Harry when I read future books.

Burned by KMM

I liked this book much more than I wanted to. I've been a fan of KMM since her Highlander series. Kiss of the Highlander was my first highlander book and remains one of my all time favorites. And the original 5 book Fever series was fantastic. Dark, twisted, at times both hard to read and impossible to put down.

And now here we are, Fever 7. Mac is back. Dani is back-seated. The story is engaging from the start. Drew me right in. I needed to know what happened to all my favorite characters. I needed to know if they were getting any closer to fixing their world. I was excited. And if it wasn't for the assault on feminism that is Mac and Barrons, I would have given this book a much better rating. Mac should be a strong woman, she's certainly a capable woman. But it's growing more obvious to me that she's also an abused woman. And it makes me mad. I read a blog post just today defending romance against the claim that it teaches women that being abused by the alpha male is ok. I don't buy that for one second. But I also can see that Mac and Barrons don't exactly send the best message. This is not a relationship of equals. If you follow KMM, you'll know that this is completely intentional. Mac is not equal to Barrons, and won't be until she suffers some more. A big part of me hopes Mac comes to her senses, drops Barrons (no matter how hot the sex is) and finds herself an honorable MacKeltar to settle down with.

So I guess my advice to readers is this. If you are fans of the Fever series, you'll probably like the story. But if you're like me, you'll also be angry and disappointed.