From the book jacket: Meet Melanie Pepper, a spirited twenty-something who lives in the scruffy end of South London, works at the world’s most boring From the book jacket: Meet Melanie Pepper, a spirited twenty-something who lives in the scruffy end of South London, works at the world’s most boring job, and spends her time lusting after a sexy, commitment-phobic, pop-star wannabe. Join her and her best friend, Fran, in the treacherous trenches of today’s singles scene as they cope with Amanda-envy, Melanie’s on again, off again relationship, the proverbial nice guy who may or may not be “just a friend,” and a wedding where she isn’t a bride, or even a bridesmaid.
My reactions Meh, trending towards dreadful. This was Colgan’s debut work and I’m glad I’ve read others by her before this one, or I’d never have read anything else she’s written.
Basically, two twenty-somethings try to sabotage their “friend’s” wedding. Yes, Amanda is a spoiled, self-serving “princess,” but Melanie and Fran are not what I’d call role models of new adult behavior.
This book just seems as if the author is trying too hard … to be clever, to be cute, to be sexy. But then, I’m way past this stage in life (and when I was in my twenties, I didn’t behave like Fran and Melanie). My nieces are in their twenties, and they don’t behave like this, either.
The jacket blurbs promise this is “witty” “compulsively comical” and “funny and insightful.” I didn’t think of those descriptions fit; I just found it tedious. I only finished because it satisfied a couple of challenges.
In the future, I’ll stick to the cozier series books I’ve come to enjoy by Colgan. ...more
Subtitle: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
This book was written some fifty years after the events Digital audiobook read by Alan Sklar
Subtitle: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
This book was written some fifty years after the events of Nov 22, 1963. Jerry Blaine was one of the agents assigned to the Kennedy Detail, protecting the president, the vice president, their wives and children. He and the other agents on the detail had never spoken about the events in Dallas to one another, nor really to anyone (other than specific testimony they gave to investigators). But none of them had forgotten. When Blaine decided to write this book, “to set the record straight,” he contacted the other agents on the Kennedy detail, including those who were not in Dallas at the time of the assassination, and verified and re-verified their stories to compile this work.
Because he felt the story was not only his, but that of all the agents on the detail, he wrote the book as a third-person narrative. It’s a detailed and informative account of the days leading to the assassination, the chaos and confusion of the event itself, and the weeks / months of investigation following.
I was in eighth grade when President Kennedy came to Texas. He was in San Antonio on Thursday, the day before he flew to Dallas, and his motorcade went right past my school. I’ve seen news reels that show my class lining the street to wave at JFK and Jackie. My mother, who worked at an insurance company across the street, actually was able to go out to the car and shake hands with the President when the motorcade stopped at the intersection. My teacher, noticing the stopped cars, also sprinted into the intersection to shake the President’s hand. The events of that Thursday and Friday, remain vivid in my memory.
Alan Sklar does a fine job of reading the audio version. I was glad I had the text handy, though, as there are many photos in that version.
Book # 10 in the Cats in the Stacks series of cozy mysteries, featuring Charlie Harris, librarian, and his Maine Coone cat, Diesel.
Christmas is approBook # 10 in the Cats in the Stacks series of cozy mysteries, featuring Charlie Harris, librarian, and his Maine Coone cat, Diesel.
Christmas is approaching and a new neighbor has invited everyone to a party. Charlie would rather stay away from Gerry Albritton; she’s aggressively flirtatious and even more aggressively promoting her real estate dealings. Also, though she claims to have grown up in Athena, no one remembers anyone by that name. When she drops dead in the middle of her party, Charlie can’t help himself and begins to investigate.
In addition to her murder (and her real identity), there are other mysteries surrounding Ms Albritton. She seems to be buying up properties, but what’s the source of her funds? She also seems to have gotten on the wrong side of several people; two women have a secret about her and she apparently has secrets about them as well, and two men have been known to argue with here, despite their both claiming to not know her.
There are a couple of subplots that really take up more time than the central murder mystery. A box full of kittens has been deposited on Charlie’s doorstep and he’s determined to care for them until he can find their rightful owner. And his daughter-in-law is struggling with postpartum depression following the birth of his newest grandchild, Rosie.
I read this out of order, so I was a little confused about some of the relationships, which I probably would have understood better had I been reading in order.
I like Charlie as a central character, and he has a nice retinue of friends, relatives, colleagues who help him out with life and with his investigations. I also love all the references to book, especially mysteries. But this particular episode just fell flat for me. Too much going on and not enough focus. And I really hate the “wrap it all up” device with a long treatise on what happened “off page” to solve the case. ...more
Book one in the Hidden Legacies series takes place in Houston, Texas, but it’s not the Houston we know. In this world, magic rules, and the families wBook one in the Hidden Legacies series takes place in Houston, Texas, but it’s not the Houston we know. In this world, magic rules, and the families who have the most magic are the most powerful.
Nevada Baylor runs Baylor Investigative Agency, her family’s firm, mostly focusing on cheating spouses and small-time insurance fraud. But now the firm that holds their mortgage has a very specific and highly dangerous task for her, and she has to take the case or lose her business (and home). She’s supposed to bring in Adam Pierce, a Prime (the highest rank of magic user), whose special skill is his ability to set anyone and anything on fire. To do so, she joins forces with Connor “Mad” Rogan, a billionaire Prime with equally devastating and dangerous powers.
The authors (Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym of a husband-and-wife writing team) give us a pretty complicated plot with enough action to keep the reader turning pages. Some time had to be spent building the world of magic and how the various forms are manifested. We also had to meet the rest of Nevada’s family: her Mom (formerly Sgt Baylor, an expert sniper), Grandma (whose talent is all things mechanical), cousin Bern (a computer wiz), and her younger, teenaged sisters, Arabella and Catalina. There are some interesting side characters including “Bug,” who lives in “the Swamp” and is even more tech savvy than Bern). The romantic tension between Nevada and Rogan added to the fun.
Though I really hate cliffhangers that “force” the reader to continue a series, I might consider reading more in this series. ...more
This first entry in the Emilia Cruz Mysteries introduces the reader to our heroine, the first female detective on the Acapulco, Mexico police squad.
IThis first entry in the Emilia Cruz Mysteries introduces the reader to our heroine, the first female detective on the Acapulco, Mexico police squad.
It begins when a driver is pulled over for a traffic violation; he is a Mexican citizen, but the car is owned by the Hudsons, Americans from Arizona. He’s out of jail within 24 hours and the manager of the hotel where the Hudsons stayed arrives to retrieve their vehicle as they were called back home for a family emergency. Things quickly get complicated.
This is a multi-layered mystery, involving multiple murders, drug cartels, counterfeiting, gambling, sex abuse / trafficking, corrupt officials and a possible romantic relationship for Detective Cruz. There were plenty of red herrings and subplots to keep me guessing as to who murdered whom and why. People I assumed were bad guys turned out not to be; people I thought were okay turned out to be bad guys. And I was completely surprised by the reveal as to who actually killed the primary victim.
If I have any complaint it is that Emilia is constantly second-guessing herself and saying – even aloud to others – that she is not capable of handling this investigation. That lack of confidence drove me crazy. Her actions clearly show that she IS capable. If others want to voice their doubts, let them, but why have HER voice these doubts? ...more
This is the first in the Indiana Summers series by this author. But while they are all romances set in CemDigital audiobook read by Marni Penning 3***
This is the first in the Indiana Summers series by this author. But while they are all romances set in Cemetery, Indiana, the descriptions seem to indicate that they can each be read as standalone novels.
Cemetery, Indiana is hardly a thriving metropolis, but it’s home to Yardley Belanger and her wedding planning business. Specializing in “country-chic” celebrations her display captures the attention of Sheena Long, bride-to-be. But it’s Sheena’s big brother, Travis, who captures Yardley’s attention.
Lovely, gentle “small town” vibe, with a cast of colorful supporting characters, from Yardley’s best friend Mimi to the town’s doyenne (council president, and great-granddaughter of the town founder) Betty Cemetery, to the mannequin “Kathleen” who mysteriously appears when least expected, and always appropriately dressed.
There’s a little bit of town political drama, a bit more of family drama (Yardley lives with her mother and aunt), and what we’ve come to expect of wedding-planning drama as well. But Yardley is a strong woman, a good businesswoman and is focused on what will be best for her business and the town.
Of course, the key plot is the romance between Travis and Yardley. I liked the way Foster engineered this match up.
Another great diversion during the post-surgery recovery period.
The audiobook was capably narrated by Marni Penning. There are a lot of characters, many of them women, but she managed to give them sufficiently unique voices so that I wasn’t ever confused about who was speaking. Still, I did read the last half of the book in text format.
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