Kathrine

Not my favorite Rusty Fischer short story. Better than the other one I read right after this (Snowfall), but still not that great. Really, it's probably because I hated Grady from the moment he walked into the bar.

The end was a bit of a let down - mostly because I figured out who did it very, very early on. Steffi spent way too much time accusing all the other female characters.

A quick, easy read. Liked both David and his father as characters and felt they were the most well drawn in the book. Some of the other though - particularly the grandfather - were more caricature. The story was simplistic which fit with the idea of a 12 year old being the narrator but it never became anything more than that to me. Instead of being drawn in, I felt like I was watching all the events through the window in the Hayden family living room.

Not a big fan of the author's style, but I could have dealt with that if she'd stopped trying to hit me over the head with her sledgehammer of a metaphor comparing storms with mental illness. It was a good comparison, she just over used it.

The first section was pretty good - it held my attention for the most part. She obviously did her storm chasing research (as evidenced by the acknowledgments at the end). After that though things started to fall apart. By the time she got to the big reveal in the second section, I was bored and didn't care. I honestly didn't get why they didn't go to the police to begin with. The last section basically fumbles along until the author ties everything up in a pretty little bow. I prefer that my books have “endings” but I don't need them to be all cute and happy.

Oh how I had high hopes for this one. It actually started out pretty good. I was thinking teen psycological thriller but as it went along, it quickly became obvious that it was aimed more at the tween segment. Ok, I could live with that. It had some little moments/hints of Dorian Gray so I thought there was still some kind of possibility of good story. And then the story fell off the cliff, tumbled through some undergrowth, rolled past some tumbleweeds and lay in a heaping mess at the bottom of a canyon of vampire-ness. Ugh. I have no issues with ya books containing vampires; some are actually pretty good (no, not the sparkly ones). But to suddenly take a story that is supposedly about phobias and fear and make it all about an immortal being? I didn't know whether to laugh or throw the book across the room.

Speaking of phobias. How about our illustrious, super smart, main character/supposed hero, Will Besting. When we finally find out his fear, what is it? People. More specifically crowds, but the author apparently doesn't see much difference. So looking back, how in the world did Will ever manage to get in that van with 7 other humans he didn't physically know, drive for hours and yet not have even 1 small panic attack? Um. yeah. Ok. Since his fear is apparently more of a relapsing-remitting type fear rather than a crippling one, perhaps the adults in his life should have been more concerned about his stalker like tendencies. Perhaps if the author has given more info about how Will's little brother died, like if he was involved or if it was a horrific accident, this would have made more sense

On top of all that the author apparently felt the need to have Will explain why the author made some of the writing choices he made. Not once. Not twice. But THREE times. Who writes what basically amounts to 3 epilogues? Why encourge ya readers to read The Pearl for themselves, when you can just explain it all in an epilogue. Want to appear oh so smart to your readers, bring up Edgar Allen Poe and then explain why you decided to bring him up after the story was done. Apparently the author was following a mantra of why have less, when you can have more. Kinda like those AT&T commercials with the little kids. In this case, less is more would have been a better way to go.

Hallelujah! I'm finished. Finally.

Glad I stuck it out and finished but now I know I am not a Tolstoy fan. Tolstoy's writing wanders all over the place with tangents. I admit there were a number of times I zoned out but kept going. It was like a soap opera. I still knew what was going on even if I missed an episode. And as if the all the tangents weren't enough, at one point, Tolstoy thought it was a brilliant idea to hear/read the dog's thoughts. Yes, the dog.

Thank god for Levin and Kitty - at least when she wasn't being a whiny, lovesick girl and he wasn't yapping about farming with the peasants. Without them I would have wanted to throw the whole book under the train with Anna.

Easy, fun, light-hearted read. At times Heather got on my nerves, but for me that's typical of the lead female characters in contemporary chick lit.

A bit on the short side and not on the same level as the author's other series, but a fun read all the same. I despised Bill, the guardian angel almost from the start. Obnoxious, infantile, and crass. And then something changed and he started to grow on me. By the end I was glad he was there (though, the wisecracks could be toned down in future installments). Anytime an author can change my mind about a character, I have to give them credit. It's not an easy task. Tallis on the other hand, I'm still not sold on. Maybe if I hadn't had to “translate”/read aloud everything he said, I'd feel differently. Lilly needs more personality and hopefully that will come with additions to the series.

Well, I didn't all out hate it. However I've read much better fantasy, much better action and much better young adult-ish genre books. It was a lot of of talk and not even close to enough show. Scenes went on way too long. Pages and pages of characters telling our less exciting than a pool noodle “heroine” (using the term loosely, because she did NOTHING) that she deserved explanations and would get explanations at some point. In the future. Maybe. Eventually. When we did finally get what I think was reasons, it was all so vague it didn't much matter. After that it was a bunch of wandering around palaces, gardens, woods, and neighboring villages with no plot advancement. Reece just worried her pretty little blonde head over how her life had changed and how much she had fallen for her tru wuv all while hating on the meany royal snobbery. It felt like the author might have been going for a Jane Austen type vibe with some Mean Girls thrown in for laughs...or for propping up said heroine. It didn't work.

I was almost excited to get the big action/climatic/fight scenes. Then I thought better of it and set my expectations low. The car race had great promise. Problem was it didn't just fall flat, it cratered. There was nothing that ever showed how evil or menacing or even scary the bad guys were. We were just told that was so and should thus believe it. The great meeting in Scotland? Nothing happened there either. Alien 1 throws a fit and makes demands. Aliens 2-5 nod in agreement. Good guys burst in, take control. CEO of the good guys makes a long winded speech. Aliens 2-5 change their minds. Alien 1 vows to get his revenge all while skulking off with his tail between his legs. Everyone goes home with no blood shed or injuries. And everyone lives happily every after...for now...while the evil bad guys and the mean girls regroup and plan another way to get their revenge.

Oh and if Levi called Reece ‘my Love' one more time, I was going to start throwing things (a big pet peeve of mine. She has a freakin' name. Just because you love her doesn't mean you can't use it anymore)

On the plus side, the descriptions were nice and the horses were sweet, lovable creature.

I really don't see myself ever picking up book 2.

This one may be referred to as #19.5 in the Reacher series, but it's more like a flashback as an oxygen using Joe is part of the story. And that may be why I liked this one better than the other Reacher novella I recently read. Well, that and Neagley, who oddly has become a character I look forward to seeing. The characters all seemed like themselves and the story was tightly written.

For the most part I liked this book, even though I wasn't particularly fond of any of the characters. I say for the most part because there is a section (after the lightning strike) where I was very, very tempted to throw things. The no-name narrator was on this selfish, woe is me, I am to blame for everything so I should be the most miserable person on the planet downward spiral that she felt she needed to subject everyone else to. Not that I felt bad for any of those people in her orbit. Honestly the only one I felt bad for was Giselle, the cat. Ok and maybe a little bit for Renny - he was the one I was most interested in learning more about. And even if they weren't likable, the characters weren't simple either. They were complex with secrets and motivations/fears that simmered under the surface.

It was the last chapter that made this book enjoyable. The trip, the butterflies, our narrator finally taking responsibility for herself but also washing away the self blame she heaped on her back for all those years.

Short and cute. Liked that it just dropped the reader straight into the story, without tons of exposition or set up. Made for a slight bit of confusion, but not in a bad way. More of a where is this going way. There are links to the author's other series, but it's not necessary to read any of that to understand this one. This is the second story I've read by Elizabeth Reeves in the last week and now I'm going to have to pick up some of her full length books.

Yawn. Is it over yet? Thankfully yes. I'm not quite sure how this book is classified as “romantic suspense”. Sure I get the romantic part - there's the prerequisite future true love couple who are both introduced early on, one of whom does the hate you side of the relationship while the other does the whole brooding hero with a heart of gold side. Typical and eye roll worthy but understandable. It's the suspense part I don't get. For long stretches nothing happens, except pages of expository chatter that doesn't move anything forward. There were pointless conversations and characters. (Seriously, just about every Dan and Felicity scene could have been cut without harming the story.) Not to mention the fact that Ghost!Nina haunted everything. And by everything, I mean Ellie and every thought and action. If Ghost!Nina had been an actual ghost, that might have actually helped. Sadly she wasn't. She was just another plot device to slow down the story. When the action finally settled in at a decent pace, I found I just didn't care anymore. Besides, it was pretty obvious where the story was headed (I'd figured out very early on that the events were set in motion because Nina was an idiot).

I have a huge amount of dislike for the “yes, you deserve answers, but I just can't tell you right now. I will. Someday. Maybe. You know when the story has to quickly wrap up” plot devise. Rarely is that used in a good way. Most of the time I find it a lazy way to stall story, romantic or otherwise. Especially when you use that excuse for 3/4 of the book. Then it's made even more irritating by the fact that the one character who could have cleared up so much of the romantic entanglement mess - dear old dad - was purposefully kept way off finding himself (or whatever) by the author.

On a side note, I thin the story at some point stated that Shadow, the dog, was a doberman? Yeah. Not even close to what I pictured in my head. Since this was set in Australia, I pictured something more like a Cattle Dog or a Kelpie. Or even a shepard/ border collie-ish mutt type dog for that matter.

I wanted to like this one, really I did. Instead it made me want to go take a nap.

Interesting concept. A bit of a Ground Hog Day/Time travel mash up. Most of the characters were likable, but as always there is usually something about Kate Atkinson's books that just doesn't sit well in my mind. I was pretty ok with most things in the book until the whole Third Reich/picnics with Hitler section. It was too Forest Gump (I kept waiting for Jenny to pop up and tell Ursula to Run!) and pulled me out of the story. From that point on I was mostly reading just to finish.

Also wish they'd cut the last couple of lives/do overs. I didn't think they really added much other than to add some confusions about what the correct direction Ursula's life was supposed to take.

Like this installment in the Pepper Martin series, but I wish the overall plot had moved forward even just a little bit. Everything was status quo with 95% of the characters. Pepper is still seeing ghosts and flirting with Quinn and he alternates with flirting and rolling his eyes. Dan is still a huge mysterious black hole who occasionally hangs out with ghost hunters. Ella is still a chipper, over-protective boss. We did get to meet Pepper's arse of an ex-fiance. He lived up to his reputation. Speaking of - I did love Ghost!Grandma Panhorst. She was a riot.

The basic mystery was fun and with a tiny amount of adrenaline (only a small car chase in the cemetary and one close call with death). I could have done without the ridiculous Pepper falls for the hot if only he wasn't 40 years dead former rock star part. It felt like it was wedged into the story to create drama or angst or something. Whatever it was supposed to do, it didn't work. still like the series and hopefully the next book has more forward momentum.

I had high hopes for this book starting out - mostly due to the positive reviews I read. Instead I was very disappointed. While I was aware of the speculation/accepted views that Dodgson was a pedophile, I was not prepared for that to be what the author used to propel her entire story. I really didn't like how the voice she gave Alice. She wasn't just a sweet, mischievous 7 yr old who had a very large crush on an adult in her life but that she was lusting after him at age 7 and age 11. And then she was a 20 something and then an 80 something woman who had done her best to block out that 7 yr old.

I was confused as to who the narrator was. Was is 80 yr old Alice remembering what happened all those years ago? Or was it Alice as she was at whatever age she was supposed to be during each period of time in her life? 7 yr old Alice sounded exactly like 11 yr old Alice who sounded exactly like 80 year old Alice. Yet most of that didn't read like 80 yr old Alice remembering things.

The two parts that shined (and redeemed this book to 2 stars for me) were the sections with Leo and with Regi. Though I do wish the author had given us a little more background on Regi and Alice's relationship with him.

This was one of those books I added to my local libary hold list at the end of last year and apparently forgot to uncheck the “automatically borrow when it becomes available” box. Since it's less than 50 pages, I figured why not read it (and be ahead of schedule with my 2018 reading challenge, at least for a couple of days).

Not sure that was the best decision. This is the first book/story I've read by this author. It was most definitely the cute dog on the cover that enticed me to add this to my tbr list. Cute dogs will get you every time. The story, however? Not so cute. Honestly it was boring. And Peg, the main character? I wanted to shove her in a really deep snow bank. The little bit of research I did on the series indicated that Peg isn't usually the main protagonist, while her niece Melanie is. The problem is Melanie is barely a wine stain on a holiday themed table runner in this story. Nothing about either character or the general plot made me want to pick up another book in the series. I think if you're a fan of the author's other works, you'll probably like this. If not (or if you're like me an never really heard of her), then you're better off leaving it on the shelf.

At only 12 pages, I honestly wasn't expecting much from this one. It was a typical holiday read - lots of cheese and sap. But that's perfectly ok for a Christmas themed story. Nothing earth shattering, but I liked it.

First things first, just to get it out of the way...If you like Downton Abbey, Upstairs Downstairs, and/or Remains of the Day then you're probably going really like and enjoy this book. Though the book does less with the historical facts and world events (like Downton) than it does with the overall feel and class structure.

There is a ton of detail where class structures and ways of the time period the story is set in. Which is great for setting the scene and helping the reader get into the minds of the characters. The problem is too much of that can also slow down the plot, as it seemed to do here at times. I had issues getting into the story for the first 150 or so pages because of this. It felt like I was slogging through a swamp of nothing. Characters came and went, some added little to nothing and some were nothing but caricatures coughanyone named Luxtoncough .

I did love Grace as the narrator. Her 98 year old self was spunky and feisty and stubborn as always. Her determination to face her past and what it meant while still being accepting of the movie and its tweaks to history was true to character. Her making audio tapes for Marcus was a nice touch and a good way to transition from present to past (even with a few continuity issues). And I liked Marcus and his relationship with her. I do wish there had been more about her life after Riverton, like her decision to be an archeologist or her finding Alfred again. Those were things that shaped Grace and yet they were relegated to just a sentence or two.

What frustrated me the most was how much was implied or inferred but not confirmed. Did Hannah know/figure out that Grace was her half-sister? When did she figure it out? Was that the reason behind the safety deposit box? Or was that just for being such a close confidant? Had Grace figured out that Ursula was Hannah's granddaughter? If so why didn't she say anything - at least on the tapes she made for Marcus? Or did she not know for sure and are we supposed to assume Marcus figures it out in the future? All I kept thinking was would it kill Kate Morton to add a couple of sentences and stop being vague about things?

Liked this one pretty well, it just wasn't long enough. Which is probably an odd thing to say (but the again maybe not since it happens a lot with works by this author). engaging main characters, decent supporting characters, likeable and fluffy plot. There were just a few questions that I wish had been answered.

I knew going in that this book was going to be meh at best. It's just not my kind of book. I know I'm really not the target audience. But it was the book group pick for January, so I promised myself that I'd try to keep an open mind. Ten pages in and my brain said nope, this is gonna need rolling snark to get through. It was like a cross between a book report and a narcissistic self-marketing event. I could have started up a drinking game: every time the author mentions that other book that she didn't write (something about Miracles...I already happily dropped this book in the return slot at the library and I'm not wasting time googling), take a drink. You'll be drunk by the halfway mark, which will probably help get through all the extremely repetitive paragraphs (don't get me started about when she was talking about songs and said the same thing 4 times). Need to be drunk faster? Take another drink every time she mentions going to her website. You'll be feeling good, not worrying about the universe at all by page 50.

Her “examples” were utterly first world ridiculous. Example: “Sob. I didn't get an e-vite to that party that everyone else is going to. My world is ending. Everyone hates me.” When in reality it amounted to poor wittle Gabby being one of a handful of people in the world who don't know to check their spam/junk mail box (never mind that every company out there warns you to check your spam box if you didn't get that email you were expecting). Geez. If your biggest problem is that you didn't get invited to a party or that you didn't find the house with a view of your dreams the moment you wished for it, then maybe you need to rethink your priorities. At one point I was seriously wondering if she actually just made it all up, because who - especially an apparently self-employed editor/copywriter - doesn't put forth the effort to get paid for a whole friggin' year? I guess this person didn't feel the need to eat or pay other bills?

I really did not like how the author inferred pretty much stated that bad things happen to people because they aren't positive enough, because they aren't open to the universe and the author's shallow way of thinking. Bull. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and it's not anyone's fault. Oh and fear? It's not a bad thing. Sure maybe sometimes it's not the most helpful emotion, but it has its purpose. Humans have a natural fight or flight response. Fear is part of that. It helps us to make decisions. We also need those other emotions this author likes to lump in with fear - sadness, frustration, anger, fear. It's part of being human. So yes, try to be happy. Empathize with others. Do some meditation (there are studies out there that indicate it is helpful) if it helps you. But all that doesn't mean the non-happy, non positive feelings are something to be dismissed. Sometimes the best path through a rough situation is to let yourself feel all of it.

In other words, go watch the Disney movie Inside Out instead of reading this book.

Two stars because somewhere in those 140 pages there were some good story bones. The premise, the set up and even the who, what, where, when were if maybe a little predictable, still decent possible story. The problem is that all that was covered up with tedious, banal, unnecessary details and comments and plenty of grammatical issues. There were parts felt like they were written for a law school text book. I read my fair share of legal thrillers. I don't need legal terms explained to me ad nauseum (if there's something I'm curious about, that's what google is for). I don't need to be told the time down to the second. Say your character arrived at the coffee shop the next morning. Want to be more descriptive? Use early or late. Say it was during the usual morning crush. I don't give a damn if it was 8:35 am on Tuesday, July 12, 2014. There wasn't a bomb set to explode at that second; there was no importance to that day. I also don't need to know what a character ordered for lunch - every time he orders lunch. Is that lunch order important to the story? Does it affect something that happens down the line? Like say the character gets food poisoning or causes an epiphany that the protagonist was allergic to nuts and that's why whatever happened, happened? No? Then it's not needed. And the receptionist commenting to herself about said lunch orders is even more extraneous.

Poor sentence structure at times stuck out like a sore thumb. Simple, stilted dialog (no one talks like that on the phone). Not so great ebook formatting. And, if as the author, you're going to knock a big ol' hole in the 4th wall, then tear the whole thing down. Don't try to board up that hole and go back to how things were. Don't use phrases that make it sound like your third person narrator just tapped the reader on the shoulder and is directly talking him/her and then pretend you didn't do that. It takes the reader right out of the story. This is a good example of why self publishing authors need a good editor or at least someone who will read drafts objectively and offer constructive criticism. Oh and remember - read what you write. That absolute favorite part? Dump it. Trash it. Get rid of it. Because mostly likely it doesn't fit with everything else.

My least favorite story in the author's Snowflake series. Didn't care for either main character or the whole catering setup.

Cute, fun, and quick read. Very typical story for the author, though it being set in Frostbite threw me off a little as I was expecting Snowflake.

I was skeptical going in, but it was Christmas themed and not a gazillion hours long and it was still available at my library. It wasn't terrible, but alternated between overly sentimental and depressing. The writing was very mediocre and simplistic. The end message was nice and approriate for the season, it just felt like it took forever to get to that end.