Jen

Read my review at https://novelsalive.com/2021/04/22/5-star-review-the-luck-of-the-bride-by-janna-macgregor/

  I'm always on the lookout for new cozy mystery series to try. And if the hook of the series is also something new to me, well, I'm hooked to at least give it a try. So, when I came across Final Cut by Majorie McCown with a Hollywood theme, I knew I needed to read this first book in the series.

Final Cut follows Joey, a costume designer in Hollywood. She's working on a new mega-superhero movie when things start going wrong. Very quickly into the production, an assistant director is found dead, and Joey is one of the prime suspects. Between feeling the police aren't doing their job, being stalked by the paparazzi, and being harassed via social media, Joey finds herself investigating the murder.

I liked Joey. She's a likeable character, friendly but naive, which seemed at odds for working in the film industry. But it worked for me. Joey saved the book for me as I wanted to know how she would connect the dots and figure out the mystery.

Where the book suffered a bit for me was the extensive world-building. Many first books in a series have to find that balance between the plot and world-building. I almost gave up on Final Cut, around the 30% mark, as I felt overwhelmed by all the characters and the details of being behind the scenes on a film set. Most of it didn't have a bearing on the actual plot, but in a way, it was setting the stage. Finding out the author has worked in the industry for years, the information comes from experience, making it interesting but overwhelming. Now that a foundation has been laid, any future books in the series will hopefully be less staggering.

Final Cut is a good start to theHollywood Mystery series with a satisfying mystery, main character, and the world created. I look forward to reading book two, Star Struck, once it is released. 

  I really enjoyed Death Checked OutbyLeah Dobrinska, so I couldn't wait to dive into Mayhem in Circulation, the second book in the Larkspur Library Mysteries series. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long to get my fix of the small town of Larkspur, Wisconsin, and its citizens.

Mayhem in Circulation takes place a few weeks following Death Checked Out. The town is preparing to host their annual Fall Festival with the added pressure of a popular Midwest magazine sending a writer to do a feature on the town. But there are a few acts of vandalism, and the mayor turns up dead. Greta and her library co-workers can't help but want to do their own investigation to save the town's reputation.

I'll state up front that I figured out who the murderer was much sooner than Greta, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the mystery. I appreciated all the twists and turns thrown into the story to make it more complex. The author brings in multiple possible villains. Seeing how much dirt was dug up during the investigation was amazing, and I was enjoying the ride.

I really like Greta, the lead of this series, and her two best friends, who are also co-workers at the library. They bring a Nancy Drew, Bess and George vibe that I love. Even their descriptions bring this trio to mind. They're all smart and bring something different to the table to aid in the sleuthing. And then there's the emerging romance between Greta and McHenry, the new-to-town detective. It's fun to watch the two of them circle each other, not sure who should make the first move.

I devoured Mayhem in Circulation in one sitting. The mystery drew me in, and the development of the plot and characters kept me turning the pages. Honestly, if I hadn't figured out the mystery so easily, this would have been a 5-star read for me—it was that good. I can't wait to revisit this series in the future. 

  I've been watching this trend of hockey romances being the new “it” thing in the genre, and since I'm a hockey fan, I'm all in. I saw a request to review Any Other Day by Jenna McCall and decided to give this new-to-me author a chance. And now I'm hooked.

Any Other Day is the first book in the Richland Renegades series. It sounds like a spin-off of another series, but I hadn't read it and didn't really feel like I was missing out on anything. The book follows Boh, a hockey player who is in recovery after a car crash, leaving him with a concussion and cast. And then there's Novy, a dietician and roller derby player who, through some crazy turn of events, ends up being Boh's babysitter.

Boh and Novy are both interesting characters. The author bills this as a grumpy-sunshine romance, and she's not wrong. Boh is all kinds of grumpy as he's dealing with concussion protocols and is worried his career might be at an end. He also doesn't want to deal with a relationship, but there are sparks with Novy, and she's not a one-night-stand kind of girl. Also, being in the hockey team's circle and besties with the owner's granddaughter makes her off-limits. He was fun to watch with all the conflicts going on inside his head.

Novy is sunshine personified. She's very much anti-conflict and will do everything she can to smooth things over—except on the roller derby ring. Watching her deal with Boh's swinging emotions was interesting and made me root for them to find their happily ever after. I also really enjoyed the derby subplot, especially when it was so much about who Novy was, and I wish it had been explored more.

Any Other Day was a wonderful read. I appreciated the concussion aspect of the book as it's so important in contact sports these days, and exploring the ramifications, especially after a player's playing days are over, is critical. I was sucked into the story and couldn't put it down since I had to see Novy and Boh find their happily ever after. This was my first Jenna McCall book, and it won't be my last. 

When I agreed to review Mayhem in Circulation, the second book in the Larkspur Library series, I knew I needed to read Death Checked Out first to get the lay of the land.  What I got was a bunch of interesting characters, an idyllic small-town setting and a library!  Ok, and a pretty darn well-crafted mystery.

I found Greta quite likeable and a pretty capable amateur sleuth.  Yes, she bumbled around a little, but as it was her first foray into sleuthing, I wasn't too bothered by it.  As a librarian, she has a pretty organized mind and loved flexing her researching muscles.  I liked her interactions with her co-workers and friends, and I'm interested to see if anything comes of the sparks between her and the new detective in town.

The mystery was pretty solid.  I figured it out before the reveal, but only in general terms, I didn't get the whole why of the situation.  That said, as I often complain in cozy mysteries, I wasn't a fan of the reveal.  Greta was close to solving it and then is being confronted by the murderer.  I just wish she figured it out first.  But in the end, it didn't matter since it still made for a good mystery.

This is my first book by Leah Dobrinska, but it won't be my last.  I enjoyed the characters, setting and mystery.  There was just enough world building, but the murder plot wasn't lost in the shuffle and for that I was thankful.  I'm looking forward to reading Mayhem in Circulation.

I don't generally pick up thriller books.  They tend to be more graphic and disturbing than I want in my reading.  But I wanted to read something out of my comfort zone, and I had Trust No One in my Kindle library, so I gave it a try.  What I got was a well-crafted story that I was just sucked in to the tale.

Trust No One really challenged my mind as I was trying to solve the mystery right alongside Devlin and Falco.  The twists and turns took me on such a wild ride.  And then the couple chapters when the reader jumps into the mastermind's head is just so truly disturbing, but I had to keep going to see how it all wrapped up.

The character of Kerri Devlin took a little warming too.  She was just so overwhelmed between the murder mystery, breaking in a new partner and then turmoil at home that she was just rubbing everyone, this reader included, the wrong way.  While the series is called Devlin and Falco, at this point, Falco felt more like window dressing.  I mean, he had some uses, but I didn't feel like I really got to know him very well.  So hopefully that comes as the series advances.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up Trust No One, but I ended up enjoying the book.  I'm still not sure if I'll continue this series and I can't say that thrillers are a new favorite... but I liked this one and would recommend it to fans of the genre.

I was looking for a palate cleanser after having read a non-fiction book, so I decided to fall back on my favorite trope: marriage of convenience.  And so, I picked out A Bride for Ross for my next read.  Cynthia Woolf is a new to me author and based on this book, it looks like I have a backlist to start exploring.  Ms. Woolf created a story that drew me in and I read the book in one sitting.  Yes, I wanted to smack both main characters upside the head with their miscommunication or rather, lack of communication. But that's pretty common with marriage of convenience as they have to work around not really knowing each other to find their happily ever after.  I also really enjoyed the premise of The Prescott Brides series, of which this is the first book.  The idea of female inmates being sent off as mail order brides was interesting to me and rather makes me want to continue this series to see how the other ladies find their HEA.  All in all, I enjoyed the book and can't wait to read more from Cynthia Woolf.

I'll be perfectly honest.  I grabbed this book for free on Amazon at some point and I only really read this book to finish a prompt in a reading challenge.  I don't see myself continuing the series, even though I know the books are by different authors.  I just wasn't really captured by the whole idea of a “magical” love cruise.

But as for I Saw Him Standing There... I really had a hard time liking Siggy, the main female character.  What was supposed to be a romantic comedy didn't really make me laugh or smile.  It wasn't very deep and was a super quick read.   It was just OK, just a middle of the road read for me.

Death by Windmill is the third book in the Travel Can Be Murder Series.  I thought by this point in the series I'd be move invested.  But I'm not.  In this installment, I figure out who was going to be murdered pretty quickly, even though it took forever for it to happen.  I even really knew who was the murderer and why.  It wasn't tough to sleuth out... which bothered me.  I don't like the mystery to be that easy.  The only reason I really gave this 3 stars is that I like the whole travel aspect and all the descriptions of the locals in The Netherlands.    I'm still undecided if I'm going to continue with this series and I've been underwhelmed so far.  

This wasn't a bad book.  But I felt it was too short and rushed.  The premise was promising, but all too quickly for my taste, Darcy and Cameron were declaring they were in love and I just couldn't believe it.  I enjoyed the characters and the writing was good.  I just wanted more, and not in a good way.  I'll give this series another chance as I already have the next book and hope that it's a little more well-rounded.

When I finished reading book 1 in the series, To Bedevil a Duke, I was left wanting more.  I jumped into To Madden a Marquess hoping that I'd had a more well-rounded story and character development, and I'm happy to report that I got it.  I think that the story was too short and could have been expanded a bit, but at least there was both character and romance development that I felt I didn't get in the previous book.  I especially liked the inclusion of the alcoholism subplot, one that I haven't seen before in a historical romance.  It really helped with the growth of the characters and their relationship.  Now I'm hooked on the series and need to know who is going to be paired off next.

I've really been enjoying the Mythos Academy series and Midnight Frost is another great installment.  This book pretty much picks up right after Crimson Frost as Gwen is struggling with the events at the end of that book (trying not to give away any plot here).  While there is a nice recap of events, this series really needs to be read in order to get the full effect.

So that said, my biggest gripe about this series is that we're in book 5 and over the course of these five books, about 4ish months have elapsed.  In these four months, Gwen has learned about this mythological world and finds out she's being hunter by Reapers.  She's become Nike's Champion, accidentally helped release Loki.  And she's gone from being the weakest person at the school to actually being able to fend off Reapers (albeit still not as good as her friends and classmates).  I guess what I'm saying that a whole lot is happening in these 4 months and it seems a bit exaggerated.  I can't imagine Gwen being that good, that fast.  However, if you set aside the timeline, it's nice to see her growth and not being quite so foolhardy and annoying.

I loved the trip to another of the Mythos schools, this one in Colorado.  The introduction of yet another character, Rory, and I can't wait to see how she figures in to the final book. I'm glad that Gwen is finally holding her own in battles, and boy where there a couple of great fight scenes.  Gwen's friendships are strengthening and we're still kinda in the dark when it comes to Logan.  And oh my goodness, the gryphons! 

I can't wait to see how this series ends and have already picked up book 6.  Well done, Ms. Estep!

I have a love-hate relationship with the Kitchen Witch Mysteries series.  I love this paranormal world that Lynn Cahoon has set in a small-town in Idaho.  I love Mia and her friends and family.  I love the magical aspect of this series.  But I always seem to come away from the books in this series a little disappointed by the mystery.  And as I finished Five Furry Familiars, I had that same sense of wanting more.

Now don't get me wrong, I love getting to know Mia better as she's trying to figure out her magical abilities.  And her friends and family are a hoot and totally band together to solve the mystery, since a couple of their number are suspects.  But at the same time, so much time is spent detailing their day to day lives with a little sleuthing thrown in.  And then we get to the last chapter and all of the sudden there's a little overview of how the mystery was solved and the motive and I've just left shaking my head.  

I enjoyed the book and will continue to read this series because I find it fun.  But I keep hoping that the author will beef up the mystery a little while keeping the charm of the characters and setting.

I was looking for a book that to complete a reading prompt and I came across Montana Untamed in my ebook library and decided to give it a try.  I enjoy historical western romances and hadn't read Ramona Flightner before and I was pleasantly surprised.

Montana Untamed is the love story for Annabelle and Cailean.  Annabelle arrived in Montana alone and searching for her sister.  Her first day in town, she runs into Cailean and while their initial interaction was not friendly at all, there was some attraction.  Annabelle opens a bakery, to great success, while Cailean owns the local livery with his brother.  They circle around each other and after they share a kiss at a local celebration, they end up in a marriage of convenience.

OK, I love the marriage of convenience trope and I was hooked at that point.  I didn't want to put the book down because I had to see how they'd get past the convenience to find their happily ever after.  Was it perfect?  No.  It got repetitive quite a lot.  BUT, I was totally drawn in and am curious enough to try more of the series.

As most of America in my age group, I was a fan of Full House growing up.  And recently, I binge watched Fuller House on Netflix.  And somewhere along the way, I started following Jodie Sweetin on Instagram.  But never having been one to pay attention to the tabloids, I have to say that unSweetined was a huge eye opener for me.

Jodie's memoir was raw, emotional and yet at time humorous.  She states up front that as of the writing of this book in 2009, she's still newly sober.  Then she delves into her time on Full House and then the spiral down after the show wrapped and she tried to be a normal teenager in school and college.  I honestly didn't have a clue that Jodie had an addiction problem or how series it was.  And in unSweetined, she doesn't pull many punches when she talks about all the drinking and drugs.  I'll admit that I can't imagine that lifestyle and even while reading it was hard to wrap my head around it.  But she's open about how she fell into addiction, the reasons why she kept falling off the wagon and finally what (hopefully) has turned her life around.

While the topic is hard to read, I was hooked on the story and was hoping Jodie would find some sort of peace in the end.  Seeing as this was written 15 (woah, what?) years ago, I'd be interested to see an honest update to her recovery story.

Tight Hold is the second book of the Vegas Aces: The Tight End series and most definitely does not stand on its own.  The book about Ben and Kaylee is divided into 5 parts and there's a cliffhanger in each of the first 4 books.  I've read the previous two Vegas Aces series and was curious about Ben, so I decided to pick up The Tight End series.  

This story picks up where Tight Spot ended.  Kaylee and Ben are faking a relationship for the public in order to do some damage control on Ben's reputation.  They're keeping the fact that they're starting to have feelings for each other, and are in a physical relationship, from her family, especially her brother who happens to be a teammate of Ben's.

I'm usually a huge fan of the fake relationship trope.  But something about this one isn't sitting well with me.  I mean, it's not a bad book, but how many roadblocks and complications can be thrown into the mix?  And it's probably the whole celebrity angle and how they're using social media and the press... I guess since I just finished reading Spare (by Prince Henry) the whole paparazzi angle in fresh in my mind and bothering me.  It could be a timing thing.  

But all that said, when the book ended, I didn't find myself wanting to jump into the third book in the series.  I probably will eventually, but I'm not terribly invested in what's happening with Kaylee and Ben at the moment.

I jumped right into Spartan Frost after reading Crimson Frost and boy, it was nice to be in someone else's head for a change.  This is a short book from Logan's POV rehashing the end of Crimson Frost and then a snippet in time following those events.  You really should read at least Crimson Frost to get the full effect of this story.

At under 50 pages, it was a short, quick read.  But it was so action packed that I gobbled it up.  I think while it's partially an epilogue from the prior book, it also seemed to give some clues as to what is going happen in the next book in the series.

I enjoyed this novella for what it was, just a little extra in a series that I've been having fun diving into.

Well, it took me 5 months to finish Spare.  Honestly, it wasn't the narration.  Prince Harry did a nice job reading his own words, and it was nice to hear those words in his voice.   The pacing could've been a little better (or I could have listened at a faster speed) and sometimes I wished for more emotion.  But I was okay with the narration.  

Really the issue was the story.  There was so much in this book that really could have been edited out.  It was just a slog to get through it.  It was hard to feel sorry for Harry, in his younger years when he was drinking and using drugs.  It was easier to feel sorry for him in more recent years with the issues with the press.  And while I know he was telling his side of the story, his perceptions on how things occurred, in the end, the book often just sounded like an opportunity to whine and hopefully gain some sympathy.  

I'll admit that I've never really been a royal watcher.  I was too young for the Charles-Diana drama, but I do remember Diana's death.  I watched both William and Harry's weddings and also watched Queen Elizabeth's funeral, all well after the fact and mostly out of curiosity of traditions.  I most definitely don't seek out any stories about the royals, only seeing those that may show up on the national news, and was pretty much unaware of a lot of the issues Harry brings up during Spare.  So, I can't speak to how accurate any of his story is, but rather it has to be his perception and I take it at that face value.

The book wasn't bad, but it also wasn't good and I don't think I'd recommend except maybe to the most hardcore fans of memoirs or the royal family.  

  After finishing Doomed by BloomsbyAnna St. John, I was ready to dive into Clocked Out, the second book in the Josie Posey Mystery series, and I wasn't disappointed.

Clocked Out follows Josie as she tries to solve the murder of a local watchmaker. She has a varied list of suspects and motives, and she has the approval of the police chief to investigate on her own. With her friends, she dives into trying to solve the mystery.

Let's start with what I don't like and what ultimately keeps this from being a 5-star read. I honestly can't understand why the police chief actively goes to Josie to help him investigate. He has a police department, so why go to a retired journalist? I get questioning her to get her thoughts, but then to have her question suspects at the station? That seems to go too far. It feels contradictory when the chief constantly tells her to stay out of it but then asks for help. I think this aspect needs to get cleared up better in future books.

What I do like is Josie and her circle of friends. I am glad to see that they're an active, older group of ladies and their partners. They do volunteer work together, play mahjong weekly, and work together to solve mysteries. They are actively investigating, and Josie does figure things out and doesn't just stumble into the solution. I enjoyed the whole horology—the art of clock making—aspect and all the details the author included that enhanced the story.

I'm enjoying the Josie Posey series, and Clocked Out is a solid addition. I got caught up in the story and had fun on the ride. I highly recommend this book for fans of small-town cozy mysteries. 

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for years and finally decided to read it.  And now I know why it sat so long and I remember why Presents was never my favorite Harlequin line.  I had a hard time liking either Estella or Ramon and the romance was non-existent.  The two of them fought like cats and dogs and while there was lust, all of the sudden they were in love.  I didn't enjoy 99% of their interactions and mostly pushed through to see if it could redeem itself... and it didn't.  Really not my cup of tea, but I do thank the author for sending me the book all those years ago.

I've been on my decluttering journey for a couple of years.  I've never been a collector at hoarder levels, but there are definitely areas of my life that need decluttering as I can tend to want to hang on to items “just in case”.  Books are by far the biggest offender for me and as I start to take a critical look at my print library, I decided to read Decluttering at the Speed of Life.  I've seen a few of Dana K. White's videos on YouTube and someone I follow on social media had recently read this book, so I picked it up on Kindle Unlimited.

Ms. White's process is pretty simple.  And she repeats it over and over during the course of the book so that it sinks in.  Get rid of the trash, donate the “duh”, put things in their place and if it doesn't have a place would you know you have it.  If not, get rid of it.  Then she talks about the container being your limit for your stuff... such as, you have a sock drawer, if it's comfortably full, then you need to get rid of a pair of socks to put in a new pair.  That sort of thing.

I'll be honest, I knew most of this going into the book.  However, I found Ms. White's writing quite humorous while tackling what can be a quite serious issue.  And while reading, I kept thinking about the areas in my place that still need decluttering, like my books, and how I can use these techniques to finally get the process done.  

Decluttering at the Speed of Life was a pretty quick and easy read.  There were a few chapters that I skipped, such as tackling a loved one's house, since it doesn't pertain to me in this season of my life.  And while the information was repetitive, it was helpful that various examples were given as she moved from room to room around the house.  I'd totally recommend this book if you're looking at decluttering, not organizing, your space.

I actually liked Kiss of Frost.  Maybe not as much as book one, Touch of Frost, but it is a solid follow up.  Gwen is growing in her powers and understanding this new world around her.  Her growth was pretty good even though I had to keep reminding myself she is a teenager, so I should expect her to be completely mature and reasonable.  I'm really enjoying this world that Ms. Estep is creating.  The mythology is just different enough to keep me interest piqued, while also being familiar enough that I don't feel like I'm starting from scratch.  The mystery of the Reaper wasn't too surprising, but some other bombshells are dropped and, I'll admit, I'm curious as to how this series will continue.

I've had Touch of Frost on my bookshelf for years and in a bid to finally read some of these books, I finally decided to start the Mythos Academy series.  I really liked this book!  I've been a Jennifer Estep fan for years and ate up her Elemental Assassin series, so I was totally excited to jump into this new series that is adjacent, both being set in Ashland.  I'll admit that I was a little hesitant since it is a YA and in general, I don't read them.  But I got sucked into this mythological world that Gwen is discovering as she navigates her first few months at Mythos Academy.  Was this book perfect?  No.  Jennifer Estep is notorious for being repetitive, and it continues in this series.  And I'll agree with other reviewers that the writing did feel a bit dumbed down for the YA audience.  However, the actual plot was what hooked me and wants me to continue the series.  I can look past those “issues” (at least for now) because I want to know what happens next in Gwen's adventures.

I picked this book up from NetGalley back in 2018 and it just sat on my shelf.  It just got lost in the shuffle of all the other books I had to read.  But in my attempt to clear my NetGalley backlist, I finally read The Uninvited Corpse.  It started a little slow, but that was due to character introductions and world building.  But about halfway through the book, the pace picked up and the mystery really took off.  By that point, I was turning the pages wanting to know what happened next and how the murder would be solved.  I enjoyed the characters and the setting and am curious as to how this series will grow.

  Julia Jarrett has done it again! I loved her Dogwood Cove series and followed her into the Donnellys of Dogwood Cove and I've enjoyed every book to varying degrees. So, I was excited that One Night to Win You, the final book in the series, is being released. And let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed.

Sawyer has been a fixture in this series as each of his siblings has found their mates. He's the carefree bachelor, always cracking jokes and making fun of his brothers and sister. He's very serious about his firefighting career and feels that getting into a relationship would be a possibly fatal distraction. And then he meets Tori.

Tori is a single mom and romance novelist. She hesitates to get into a relationship because of her ex's disinterest in their son, and she doesn't want Cooper to get attached to someone only to be disappointed again. So, when a one-night stand with Sawyer is presented, she accepts. And then can't believe it when he's in the small town she and Cooper move to.

I enjoyed both Sawyer and Tori and together, there were sparks! It was so fun to watch Sawyer totally fall for Tori and fight it nearly every step of the way, making excuses for their “relationship,” all the while his family is loving it.

Tori's fall was less dramatic but just as entertaining, and Cooper was just so stinking adorable and added a nice twist to Sawyer and Tori's romance development.

I probably wouldn't start the series with this book, as all the previous couples do make appearances, but it can stand alone. I highly recommend this whole series to fans of contemporary, small-town romances.

In the end, I couldn't put this book down. I'm not generally drawn to the one-night stand trope, but One Night to Win You was so well written and developed that it had me turning the pages until I got to The End.