Tag Archives: Book Review

To Infinity and Beyond! A Review of Infinity by Jus Accardo

I read my first Jus Accardo book a few years ago, and she instantly landed on my auto-buy list. Accardo writes with a sense of urgency and a pacing that doesn’t let up. 28220742Infinity is not an exception to this rule.

Infinity deals with parallel dimensions, and a killer hopping from dimension to dimension, killing the same people in every dimension to wipe them out of existence.

Why, you ask?  Because he’s stinking nuts! Well, sort of, anyway.

The bad guy is a great tortured soul, and you have to feel a little sorry for him, but not too sorry, since he is jumping around and killing people for no reason.

33509081Our heroes in this story are two guys from the same dimension as the bad guy, trying to track him down and stop him.

Our female lead is his next target, and our heroes do their best to try to protect her (but they kinda don’t do a good job, because things get worse before they get better.)

I wanted to get Infinity when it was first released, and now I’m kinda glad I waited, because book three just came out. And not to spoil anything, but Infinity ends on a big cliffhanger. It’s not one of those “I wanna throw my book at eh wall” cliffhangers.36314053 I did feel satisfied with the story as-is, but you don’t get closure here, or any sense of a happily ever after.

If you want to know what happens, you will have to keep reading. But that’s okay, because the entire series is now available. Now I can plow through the next few books without waiting.

(Well, I might wait for my book club to catch up, because we’re probably going to want to read the series together.) I might not be able to wait though.

 

 

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Excuse me, there’s something on your face. A review of An Ember in the Ashes

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Ebook) I was a little surprised how much I enjoyed reading this book. I was also surprised how disappointed I was in the end of this book.

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I loved how we start out in a gut-wrenching high action scene as our main character loses her family and sets off to find the resistance. I enjoyed watching her find the resistance and what she was willing to do get their help in freeing her brother from prison. The second lead in the story is a guy who is training to be one of the ruthless Masks who took her family away. He never had a choice, though, and he’s not very happy with the person they want him to become. I really loved everything about this book until the end. I love series books, but I expect at least part of the story to finish at the end of the book. I like it when the initial plotline closes, and a new one opens at the end. This is one of those books that feels like it ends at the end of a chapter with no satisfying feeling of closure. I hate that. But I really did enjoy watching these two characters grow. This is a very well written fantasy/dystopian that really draws you in. It is worth the read, just be prepared and maybe buy both books at the same time.

 


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You can find the Fire in the Woods series at all these awesome bookish places!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | iBooks | IndiBound | Google Play


 

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You gotta admit, Navy SEALs Are Some Kind of Hero. (Yeah, it’s a book review)

Some Kind of Hero by Suzanne Brockmann (Audobook/Ebook) Omigosh, I’m a pretty big Suz Brockmann fan, but seriously, she outdid herself with this one. I was a little wary because I didn’t think that the plotline of a guy trying to find his runaway daughter and the pretty neighbor helping him out was going to be exciting enough to hold my interest, but I was turning pages with reckless abandon.

23303664One thing I totally enjoyed was the neighbor is a romance novelist, and she helps by analyzing everything like it is a scene in a book, and she also has one of her characters stuck in her head and talking to her like a conscience. It’s pretty darn funny. Of course the dad is a Navy SEAL, so when the daughter turns from runaway to kidnapping victim, the bad guys are in for a whole lot of whoop-ass. The situation is believable though. I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes in the action scene at the end. The only thing I might subtract a star for happened in the beginning. Dad calls the police because his daughter is missing. The police blow him off and tell him she’ll probably come home. Say what? The first 24 hours are the most important in a missing child case. Statistically, after 24 hours the chances of ever finding a missing child drop at a heart-wrenching rate. I do understand that we needed no police involvement so Dad and the nice neighbor-lady could set off on their adventure together, but the lack of police support left me feeling like the start of the novel seemed forced. So, prepare to suspend your disbelief on that one point. After Dad gets in the neighbor’s car though, and the adventure begins, you are in for a really fun time. This might be my favorite Troubleshooters book yet.


 

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You can find the Fire in the Woods series at all these awesome bookish places!

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Reading a book come Hell Or High Water (A review) Okay, maybe that’s not my best pun. Whatever.

Hell or High Water by Julie Ann Walker(Audiobook) This is book one in the Deep Six series. I was introduced to Julie Ann Walker with an ARC of book two in this series, Devil in the Deep last year, and I was instantly hooked, chowing down on all of her Black Knights books. But when those started to get a little stale for me (After many, many books), I decided to check out the rest of the series that drew me in in the first place. 23510148Hell or High Water instantly drew me in. I think This is because I enjoy the setting of the sea and islands in the Deep Six books a little more than I enjoy the bike shop setting of Black Knights. Anyway, Hell or High Water is about a team of retired Navy SEALs that have become salvage-guys. They are searching for the fabled wreck of the treasure ship Santa Christina. But their history comes to haunt them when a CIA agent that worked with them on a past SEAL job comes to them for help. A group of terrorists have stolen a stash of Chemicals that can be turned into horrific weapons. The CIA managed to sink their ship, but now the CIA needed to get to the chemicals before the terrorists come back to get them, and the Deep 6 team is the closest salvage team with government connections, and the only team that can get there in time. Of course, everything goes wrong or there wouldn’t be a story. Terrorist are horribly unpredictable, making for a great high-octane thrill ride to save the world. Hell or High Water had everything I loved in the second book, and it was great seeing the characters featured in Devil in the Deep meeting for the first time. I give this one two enthusiastic thumbs up (and an adult content warning. One of the SEALs has a heck of a thing for the Female CIA agent, and SEALs aren’t afraid to go after what they want, if you get my meaning)


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You can find the Fire in the Woods series at all these awesome bookish places!

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Sometimes a book gets Under The Skin – A Review

Under the Skin by Michel Faber (Audiobook) This is kind of a weird book to get my head around. I picked it up because it was mentioned in a podcast as a book that transcended genre… that the characters were so great that even people 123063who hate science fiction could get into it. Overall, I have to agree with that, with a few caveats.

One, I would not label this science fiction, even though there are aliens in it. Overall, it feels very literary to me. Literary science fiction? Yeah, like I said… it’s hard to get your head around. The main character is, if effect, a serial killer. She picks up hitchhikers and decides which will live and which will die in a horrific manner. Don’t judge her though. She’s just doing her job. That’s the weird thing… you are so centered in this girl’s head that you do feel like you are doing this horrible job with her. The author does a great job of removing empathy and mercy from this character’s psyche (after all, she is not human) and you really bond with her and are along for the ride (not as her hitchhikers, thank goodness.)

What I found a bit odd, though, was the ending. I guess that I expected something fantastic because this is science fiction at heart. But instead… Well, I don’t want to ruin it, but this is one of the reasons this feels literary to me. In some instances, I feel like maybe the author had developed this amazing character, but then didn’t know what to do with her. So instead of developing more of an arc, the story ended. Either that, or the story is literary, thus making the ending absolutely brilliant. Again… tough call. Overall, though, despite the great characterization, this story left me pretty unfulfilled. If you like literary, give this a try and let me know what you think (Don’t worry, it does not read like a scifi AT ALL.)

Crawling out of the pit of despair. A review of NIGHTINGALE by @JocelynAdams

Nightingale by Jocelyn Adams (Ebook) I am a pretty big Jocelyn Adams fan, and while this is not my favorite book by her, I think it will stand out as an ambitious, thought-provoking effort to those who enjoy deep themes and slow-36359941burn romance.

Micah is a rich former playboy who has been brutally disfigured after being held captive by a Columbian drug lord. Darcy is an ambitious reporter who nails the interview of a lifetime when Micah finally agrees to reveal what happened, and how he and a small group of captives escaped. She finds herself falling for Micah over the week-long interview, and ends up questioning which is more important to her… printing a story that rockets her to fame, or protecting the secrets of a man who used the horror of an unthinkable experience to refocus and devote his resources to saving people’s lives.

I really liked how Darcy didn’t take the easy way out and sleep with him right off the bat to get him to talk. I enjoyed watching them get to know each other, and how their very different lives had so many similarities that I could actually believe they would fall for each other despite the class lines.

There’s not really anything to complain about here. If you enjoy a more realistic romance, where people take the time to fall in love before falling into the sheets, this book should be a winner for you.

There’s one of these Raffle-Copter things associated with this book’s release. Here it is if you are the contest-type. $25 Gift Card up for grabs.

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Catch you later!

Gearing up for a Hot Pursuit – A review of Julie Ann Walker’s latest Black Knights book

Hot Pursuit by Julie Ann Walker (Ebook) This book is part of the Black Knights series, where a team of ex-military guys are undercover in a motorcycle shop, and actually working for the president as independent contractors. The 31676242books are all self-contained, but interwoven with the same characters. Each book centers on not only a special op, but on the romance between one of the operatives, and a girl we’ve either seen in other books, or one that just pops up. For several books, we’ve been watching Ex-UK special OPS Christian Watson spar against Emily, the office manager. (Kind of annoyingly so, IMO) Hot Pursuit is their story.

I had a little trouble with this one, because while Christian has been a favorite character of mine through these books, Emily has always annoyed me. While I knew this matching was inevitable, I guess I hoped he’d find someone else. By the end, I must admit, I’d grown a little fonder of Emily, but I’m wondering if the story being about her is what stopped me from getting completely engrossed.

Also, this special Ops part of the story fell very flat for me. While most of the books made sense, I felt like this one was forced. I completely understand the story, what happened and why (I don’t want to spoil it) but for the first time in a Walker novel, I found myself rolling my eyes at the action-part of the novel. I guess I just didn’t buy the bad guys or their reasons for doing what they did. I suppose when you’re writing a series that is as long as The Black Knights you’re going to throw a ground ball once in a while. I just wish it wasn’t in Christian’s story.

Then again, I’d have to admit that my bar was set pretty high where Christian is concerned, so that might have a lot to do with it as well. We still see the great writing, wonderful flow and super-readability that I expect from Walker. I’m looking forward to the main plotline picking up again in the next book to re-hook me with Black-Knight goodness.

Ummm, why am I holding a gun? A review of Project Pandora by @AdenPolydoros

Project Pandora by Aden Polydoros (Ebook) Wow- what an opening chapter! This book immediately drew me in. 31450642Our main characters are all about 17 years old. They are normal kids attending school, but every once in a while a phone rings, someone speaks some keywords, and these kids are hypnotized into triggering skills they don’t know they had, and they are forced to assassinate people. Once the job is done, they forget and return to their everyday lives. Such a creepy premise!

As we move on, one of the characters starts to lose his programming, and begins to remember his other life when he shouldn’t remember.

I loved this book all the way through, with a slight falling at the end. This is obviously a book one. However, we aren’t given closure to any part of the story in this first installment. I feel like with just an extra chapter the characters could have come full circle and completed something, even if it was an emotional part of the journey.

31450642One character was left up in the air as to their survival. I think this might be the missing element that left me feeling unsatisfied…Not hanging like a cliffhanger, this is different. I think if maybe we either saw that character’s funeral, or experienced their emotions once they woke up… Yeah, I think that is the problem for me… If that one character got closure (and sorry, I felt like there was not closure) I think this book would have rocked it until the end.

So, all this to say, this was a super fun, exciting read. I would suggest, however, waiting until the next book comes out and counting on reading both books back to back if you don’t want to be frustrated with a too-open ending. Otherwise, this feels like you are reading the first half of a book, and then being forced to wait before you can read the second half… if that makes sense. But that is NOT enough reason to miss out on this one. I really enjoyed it a lot and will be looking for the next book.

Four stars, subtracting one only for the almost-an-ending [She twiddles her thumbs, wondering when she can get a copy of the next book]

Rapunzel with a modern day twist. A Review of The Distance Between Stars by Nicole Conway

The Distance Between Stars by Nicole Conway (Ebook) This was a nice, sweet read reminiscent of Rapunzel.

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In this story, a dancer suffering from a severe allergy to the sun is locked away in the top floor of a large home (complete with a tower to be saved from) in order to keep her safe.

The new groundskeeper is an ex-soldier suffering from a form of PTSD that leaves him unable to talk. He can only communicate through gestures and writing on a pad that he keeps with him.

I really enjoyed how the relationship develops between these two characters. The dancer sneaks downstairs and steals his notebook, writes a note to him, and then he responds the next day. They become good friends without even seeing each other, and eventually, once they meet, they become something more.

Again, this is a nice sweet romantic tale with a HFN ending. My only quibble is I wish there were one or two more chapters.

[Extremely minor spoiler ahead] The whole vibe of the story is how these two characters will save each other. While we see one saved, I think we could have spent a little more time seeing the HEA for the other character as well.

But other than that, this left me feeling all warm, cuddly and gooey inside.

It was one of the best, Until… A review of Consolation by Corinne Michaels

Consolation by Corinne Michaels (Audiobook) I have extremely mixed emotions about this book. From the first page to the last page, I was about to

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place this book on the top of by “Best Contemporary Romances” list. But then I read the last few lines.

This book is about a pregnant woman whose Navy SEAL husband dies overseas. We feel her heartache through the first chapters, and then we begin on a very realistic journey of healing. Her husband’s best friend stays local after the funeral, and tries to help her get her life back together (While she raises a newborn). And yes, this is a romance, so a relationship develops between the two of them.

I loved pretty much everything about this story. I found it perfect, haunting, and believable.

HOWEVER my bubble burst in the last few lines of the book. There is the MOTHER of cliffhangers. There is absolutely no closure, and you have to get another book to fish the story. I should have been prepared, because I knew there was another book, but I expected SOME sort of closure. So, my suggestions would be to definitely read this book, but don’t read the last chapter. Give yourself the wonderful, happy ending that you are supposed to get in a romance novel by NOT reading all the way to the end. Take out that last chapter, and this is a five star book.