Kathrine

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.

Nice little prequel to book 2 (which comes out in a couple of weeks). Probably not the author's best writing, but I still wished it was longer. Evan Smoak was very much in character, though I didn't like the constant references to him as “the watcher”. Still, I'm looking forward to more of the Nowhere Man.

Me while reading this: Nothing had better happen to the dog. Nothing. Not even a small scratch on his nose.

I am happy to say I had nothing to fear (which I knew...this is one of those between the novels short stories...but still).

This is the first James Rollins book/story I've read. I figure a novella type read is a good way to feel an author out, especially one who has a multi-novel series going, before making the decision to pick up book 1. This one definitely works as a stand alone. I didn't feel like I was missing any background or key past events. I liked Tucker as a character - he seems to fall into my collection of likeable main characters in thrillers. Adored Kane (the dog), even if the dog point of view moments felt a little awkward. The transitions between POVs could have been a little smoother. The story flowed easily, if a little a abruptly, but there was some great sentence imagery. Definitely looking forward to picking up another book by this author.

This time of year I have a habit of going looking for short, sweet and cheesy holiday stories. Kinda like how I get sucked into those ridiculously sappy, tooth rotting movies on the Hallmark channel (I know I'm not the only one with this problem). This story hits every single one of those requirements. Even with that, it's still kinda meh. Nothing special about Eve or Mr. Realtor Guy (who's name I already can't remember). Basically the equivalent of the last little bit of spun sugar - sweet but easily forgotten.

Edited to add: Christmas Eve and Christmas Music are NOT the same short story even through Goodreads shows them as different editions of the same story.

So, so ridiculous. Had to suspend my disbelief even more than normal for a Reacher book. Here, he is supposedly a young 17 yr old with little experience and lots of attitude and yet he talks, acts, and moves like the Jack Reacher of the present. While these short stories/novellas are not the author's strong point, it wasn't terrible and certainly could have been worse. At least it made me roll my eyes in an entertaining way.

This series is starting to feel like one of those where I dislike just about every character for one reason or another, but continue to read the next book just to see what kind of train wreck the characters get themselves into (and whether I can hate them enough to finally put the series down).

I think I'm glad I found H.P. Mallory's books through the Jolie Wilkins series. Because if I'd started with Dulcie? Not sure I would have continued. apparently Dulcie is absolutely amazing at everything she does. Being a cop (ANC Regulator)? Yep, best there ever was. Being a writer? Oh look, first draft and the agent is clamoring to represent her. Being the bestest friend ever? She'll risk addiction and then not sleeping for days, just for you. Yet her decisions are never well thought out, often dangerous (see not sleeping for days) or just idiotic.

I thought the basic case she was working on - theDreamstalker thing - was vague. Or at best shallow plot. There wasn't detail as to who or why. I get wanting to save Sam andam perfectly fine with that, I just still don't quite believe the villain would target Dulcie to begin with.

I do appreciate that there so far appears to be a lack of a love triangle. With so many love interest possibilities in the first book, I was concerned about this one. And Dia absolutely makes me laugh. Often out loud

So, while this was a decent follow up to book 1, there were so many ways that it could have been better.

Bleh. That's the best way to describe this one. With a large side of stereotypical sexism and characters. The bad guys twirled their mustaches. The “hero”, if you can call him that...

Wait.

No. I can't. I can't call him that.

The main protaganist, (I'm not sure he'd know what that word means, but he's not reading this review) was all muscle-y, macho, tough guy schtick. I'm surprised my eyeballs didn't roll out of my head in reaction.

The females - all 2 of them - were at opposite ends of the character trope spectrum. One was all bimbo, use her body to get what she wants, wants the bad guy/idiot to love her, etc. The other was all zen tough girl. Probably carried a taser and pepper spray while being a black belt. She even owned a dojo. Oh, maybe there were 3...I'm not sure...if there was a 3rd female, she was about as memorable as what I had for breakfast last Tuesday.

The plot was your typical shallow something stolen and there's a race to get it back. Honestly it's not worth anymore time than it took me to type that sentence.

And in case you hadn't figured it out by now, this book is one to skip.

I was looking for fun and fluff and that's just what this book is (just as the author's other series are).

Read this way out of order, but it's only a novella and it's a Patterson so I figured it wouldn't much matter. I was right. I haven't read anything else in the Michael Bennett series, but I don't think that had any effect. We meet up with Bennett in between major cases and he does his thing to solve the crime. Like he's supposed do. It's his job after all as both a police detective and the main character of a series of thiller/suspense books. There really wasn't anything to endear me to the character and at less than 150 pages, there really wasn't much to endear me to the actual murder case either. It wasn't terrible, but it's nothing I won't forget in a week or two.

The mystery was adequate. The characters, while not very deep were adequate. The writing was simplistic and adequate. Basically the best word to describe this book: Adequate.

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?

This was ok. Ok in that it “wasn't anything spectacular but I don't feel I wasted my time” kind of way. It's been over a year since I read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore and maybe if I'd read it closer to finishing that, I'd feel differently. Then again, I wasn't a huge fan of the Google Love Letter that book turned into, so maybe not.

I do still like Ajax and it was fun to see Corvina before he was an evil mastermind. In a way this made me wish the original story had been more like this - more about Ajax and his adventures instead of bumbling Clay and stupid love interests.

That was...terrible? Awful? Horrible? Ridiculous? Offensive? Pick a synonym for bad and it would be accurate. Then add in cliche as a descriptor and you'd have this book in a nutshell. And yet I felt the need to finish it. Partially out of curiosity over whether it could get any worse (it could) and partially because at some point I was close enough to the end that I couldn't not finish. Sometimes that Little Engine that Could syndrome gets the best of me. I'm willing to admit to that.

The mystery portion of the story was mediocre and probably would have been okay if it hadn't been so cliched and flimsy. I picked out the killer the moment he appeared. Not that I ever quite understood his motivation - even after it was somewhat explained in detail - but whatever. I read a lot of mystery type books. I learned long ago that it's not a bad thing to figure out the who of the whodunit if the overall journey is fun or well written. None of that applied in this case. Instead there was a lot of character introductions combined with not much else that led to a lengthy discussion between two characters explaining the previous 300 pages.

The characters were ALL stereotypes. Name a Southern person stereotype and it was there - the fly fishing, laid back, lawyer/judge/morally decent character? Check. The almost crazy loose canon who probably carries a gun (though not always) and is missing teeth? Check. The white debutante former sorority girl who marries money? Check. The nosy, busybody mother who cooks comfort food? Check. The down on her luck, barely making ends meet lead female character who makes stupid decisions but winds up solving everything? Check. All that was missing was a banjo player named Bubba.

On a side note: I have only a little knowledge of Mormons and their religion, but holy cow were those stereotypes and portrayals offensive. It's called research. It's what good authors do instead of relying on preconceived notions and made up ridiculousness. I don't care when this book was written (early 1990s), there is no excuse for at least not making use of the library to get facts.

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.

Cute, fun story that attempts to tackle some series mental health issues and most of the time succeeds. At least as far as it can in a story that uses humor and family chaos to tell a story. This book is at it's best when it focuses on the crazy yet normal (c'mon, we've all had those moments with family where we don't know whether to run and hide or roll our eyes and laugh) events in the every day life of Audrey's family.

My one issue with this book is the giant elephant in the room - what brought Audrey and by extension her family to the point where the book begins. It's talked about/mentioned continuously but never explained. I don't know that I needed every minute detail about whatever happened with those girls at school, but a little more explanation might have been helpful. It would have let me connect with Audrey a little bit more.

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.

I really thought I'd love this one. Normally I'm a sucker for pretend/fake dating/marriage tropes in chick lit - mostly because they invite a good amount of comedy. This one lacked. It didn't help that I wasn't fond of either of the main characters. They were bland when they weren't over the top weird. Definitely not my favorite Jennifer Crusie story.

After finishing this, I feel like a need to go find a time machine and go back one of my college English Lit classes and chat about existentialism, narcissism, indifference and depression until we're going in circles.

Overall, an interesting and well written read. I get why it's considered a classic, why it's important in literature and why so many people feel so strongly about it. And yet, I was bored (that is when I wasn't depressed). Books with very little plot, lots of randomness, absurdity and no meaning to life are apparently not my cup of tea.

Started off promising and felt very Janet Evanovich-esque. Then it all kind of trickled off to the end. There were some fun and funny moments, but there were some moments that I think were meant to be funny and fell flat. Plot points that I thought were supposed to be important (like the blind date) disappeared, never to be heard from again. Why make such a big deal about something that was never going to pan out? Maybe this was an editing error, which if so indicates the book needed a better editor. Addison while an ok narrator/main character, would have been better if she wasn't so...klutzy, ditzy, ridiculous, selfish, naive, child-like...basically over the top about everything and anything. Made it really hard to like her. Good thing she had friends and sidekicks that were much more likable.

How is it possible for a main character to get more wimpy, more helpless, more wishy-washy, more dumb? I dunno but Cesar is apparently talented enough to do just that. Everyone, and I mean everyone from the top the government food chain to the lowly sort of consultant seems to be smarter and more competent than him. And yet, he manages to bungle and crash his way through the story -with the help of a ridiculous sparkle bomb - and solve the mystery/rescue the kidnapped. And the whole Fritz thing at the end felt like it came out of nowhere. The book while maybe not the best plotted story - there may have been one too many paranormal creatures thrown at us - is a fluffy, fast read. I just wish it was a little more saltwater taffy and a little less cotton candy.

Except now I kinda want to read book 3. It only to see if the series/Cesar gets better or worse. It's like a train wreck.

It was an okay urban fantasy mystery. A fast paced and easy read, but neither the writing nor the characters were anything to write home about. This is my first book by this author and it didn't feel like she had a really good grasp of writing from a male perspective. I had to keep reminding myself that Cesar was supposed to be some macho masculine guy - even with all the mentions of him making those super strength potions (or whatever they were called). Honestly he felt a bit Stephanie Plum-ish (I like Stephanie, but no guy who is supposed to do what Cesar does should feel like her). I did like Suzy and Domingo and even Isobel for the most part. Good supporting characters are a plus is helping me get through stories that are lacking something.

All in all, this made for good, mostly forgettable fluff. I'm already almost finished with the next book in the series, so it can't be all bad.

On a side note, the dust jack blurb is just odd. It makes it sound like the main plot of the book is Cesar trying to track done Isobel. Except that's not it at all. Maybe that would have been the better story. The main plot is finding out who killed the waitress and why.

A fun read that hits all the right notes for anyone who even remotely considers themselves a marshmallow, made all the better by Kristen Bell being the narrator for the audio version. Plus it's a decent mystery, with some good twists (one of which I didn't see coming until right before it happened).

No sophomore slump with this one. Character wise, I may have liked it more than the first book because the supporting characters (especially Cookie) felt more involved, better drawn. The main investigative mystery itself felt a little meh - especially the let down of a conclusion the one guy's mom did it? Seriously? A character who wasn't even in the same state as everyone else?. I do wish we'd had more conversation between Charley and her dad and him realizing she's “special”. But all the chaos and action and chatting with the dearly departed (Angel cracks me up every time) was well done.

About all I can say is, it was ok. The mystery part of the story was decent enough, but the steps to get there were contrived and extremely predictable. The pen, the coat, the doctor - all things I picked up on immediately and knew exactly where the story was headed with them. I couldn't decide whether the main character was that naive or if she was just a moron. Either way, it wasn't good. She was like watching one of those scary/cheesy B horror movies where you spend the entire time knowing she's going to do every stupid thing she shouldn't. The dialogue didn't help. It was either stilted or silly or both.

This book was really not what I expected. It was a bargain ebook, which right away means I lower my expectations. Not that there's anything wrong with picking up a cheap or free ebook, but it's often a crap-shoot. While I've found some good books that way, I've also found a whole lot of not so great. The simple descriptive summary combined with the slightly cutesy cover art made this sound a sweet, fluffy YA romance of sorts. And while that's definitely a part of the story, it's really just a small part. This is more a grounded, contemporary coming of age that focuses on friendship. It's not of the overly dramatic, look how many social issues the author can shove into 250 pages variety.

It really was the bonds of the various relationships that made this story come together. And not just with Emmy and Oliver. The relationships with Drew and Caro and even with Emmy's parents were important too. They were real and realistic and yet awkward and honest (even when the words were lies). There was a good amount of sarcasm and humor but also an underlying understanding. The teens talked like teens, not pretentious 26 year olds. The adults were adults, not props or plot pieces or cheesy dispensers of proverbial advice.

There were two things I did kind of wish for throughout: 1) more descriptions of the characters physically. Things like hair color or nervous ticks or whatever and 2) sometimes I really wanted to know what Oliver was really thinking. I don't know that I necessarily needed his POV a lot, I just wish he'd spoken up a little more at times. Really, those are just minor notes when it comes to the story as a whole. I'd definitely recommend this anyone looking for a down-to-earth, heartfelt, contemporary YA story.

So now I many have to check out the author's other works.