Monthly Archives: June 2013

by

Hot Button by Kylie Logan

I purchased this at a used book store.  I just finished it sitting at Starbucks waiting for my daughter.  I still like the main character, Josie but I have to say that I did not enjoy it as much as the first book in the series.  This is unusual for me.  I often find the first book not as good as some of the later ones in a series.  I think my lower opinion of this book is due to the fact that the button theme has become much more prominent and quite frankly,  I’m just not all that interested.  This book was not set in Josie’s store but rather at a button convention and perhaps that led to more of the   technical button details.   Some of the plot was very obvious, the documentary filmmaker and the sabotage story lines for example.

As I said, I do like the recurring character and the main murder mystery had an interesting twist to it.  The author makes use of red herrings to misdirect the reader pretty successfully.   There seems to be an interesting love triangle developing, like the Hannah Swenson series.  The writing is well done.  After all this, there is enough good about this series  that I am going to give it another try with Panic Button.  I am hoping that book  is set back in Josie’s store.

On another note, I just started:

 

I am loving this so far!  I put my name in at the library and it came in really quickly.

“They believed in him!  They had looked at him in his yachting shoes, and listened to what he said, and they had made a decision in their hearts and minds to ignore the evidence and imagine something bigger and infinitely more beautiful than the obvious.”

I can’t wait to pick it up and finish.

 

by

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your tease

“You.”  The single syllable rumbled from his throat like a growl.  It echoed in the emptiness, replete with undeniable menace.

From Every Trick in the Book by Lucy Arlington.  This is the 2nd book int he Novel Idea Mystery series.

by

Walking and Wine….

 

Tonight’s wine for relaxing after my walk, Middle Sister’s Forever Cool.  My daughter didn’t care for it so I guess I’ll have to finish it off myself.  The walk was great tonight, cool with a little breeze.  I am going to try to start running again tomorrow.  I made an attempt about a week ago and survived so I think my heels have recovered enough from the plantar fascitis to hit the track.  Decided on a plan of attack for reading this week.  Finish off all my other library books so I can return them and dive into Stephen Kings doorstop – Under the Dome.

by

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

 

This is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey

I am finishing:

.

and then moving on to:

This may not go according to plan though because I have a whole pile of books to distract me.

 

by

Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman

I had read about this book on several blogs so I was really happy that my library had it and I finished it early the other morning but didn’t write anything about it…and as is my problem, if I don’t do something right at the moment I forget about it.  Anyway, I was sorting out my library books and saw this in the pile to return and realized I hadn’t posted about it.  So here goes…

“I don’t much care where I go when I die, as long as it’s where the animals are.”   ~ Josh from Looking for Me  Beth Hoffman

This was a wonderful book, full of southern charm and characters.  Teddi Overman plays the strong survivor southern woman to a T.  All the characters are well drawn and Beth Hoffman manages to paint vivid pictures of characters through skillful use of dialogue and scenes.  The premise is a woman returning to her roots.  Her childhood had ended with the disappearance of her brother, who she believes never died and keeps hoping to find.  The disappearance of her brother fractured her family irreparably and she spends the book dealing with the fallout of this and acknowledging the impact this has had on her life.

This was a well crafted book with no cardboard cutout characters or tired plot lines.  The characters are multi-layered people and the author uses dialogue and the interactions between the characters to peel away the layers.  I really enjoyed this book and was sad when it ended and what an ending…. it was perfect in keeping with the book.  I won’t say more and spoil it for anyone.

by

The Submissive by Tara Sue Me

Book received for free at BEA from the publisher.

Best erotica I have read. Note: I did not say the most shocking. I said the best. This is not BDSM for the shock value, like some that I have read. This is a tale of a Dom and sub working together to figure out what works for them.

The romance is well done. The characters are fully fleshed out and likable, despite their flaws. Nathaniel is your usual tortured soul. Abby has one scene in which I didn’t really get what she was thinking. The BDSM elements are realistic. The plot is well crafted, the beginning, middle and end flow naturally. Even though it shares some elements with the much read, 50 Shades of Grey, the uber rich Dom and the lifestyle associated with that kind of money, this is  a much, much better book..

I do find it curious that most of these books involve a billionaire Dom, Are poor people not kinky? What about the middle class? Hmmmm… anyway if you do like erotica, I’d recommend this over many of the others that are out there.

by

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty


I received an uncorrected proof of this book for free from the publisher at BEA.

I have read one other book by Liane Moriarty and that is why I was looking forward to this one so much. I came right home from BEA and sat out in the backyard and read it in one sitting. The book is about forgiveness, grief, secrets and regret. The characters, with the possible exception of Felicity and Will are fully fleshed out (That couple is more of a catalyst than characters until the end anyway). The stories of all the different characters weave together seamlessly. There is no sense of the story having to forced to bring them all together. The characters have very real personalities with flaws, some of them tragic.

The plot uses a “what if’ device, whereby possible pasts and futures are explored. the purpose being to point out how fragile our existence is and that every choice we make has long reaching consequences, many of which we could not begin to predict.

I really enjoyed this book even though I cried in a a couple places. Very moving, well thought out book.

Image by

Book Expo of America

image

 

 

Going to BEA was a great experience and I came home with great books to read and I will probably write about them here. I  I will say that I was surprised about the heavy emphasis on YA fiction.   It is not a genre I generally read but I did recently read a couple of Marcus Sedgwick’s books on another blogger;s recommendation, so I picked up a couple more today.  The book in my stack that  I am most looking forward to is The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriary.  I may have to put aside my current read and dive into it.