Category: B reviews (Page 13 of 74)

The Little Library by Kim Fielding

December 22, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy via NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Elliott Thompson was once a historian with a promising academic future, but his involvement in a scandal meant a lost job, public shame, and a ruined love life. He took shelter in his rural California hometown, where he teaches online classes, hoards books, and despairs of his future.

Simon Odisho has lost a job as well—to a bullet that sidelined his career in law enforcement. While his shattered knee recovers, he rethinks his job prospects and searches for the courage to come out to his close-knit but conservative extended family.

In an attempt to manage his overflowing book collection, Elliott builds a miniature neighborhood library in his front yard. The project puts him in touch with his neighbors—for better and worse—and introduces him to handsome, charming Simon. While romance blooms quickly between them, Elliott’s not willing to live in the closet, and his best career prospects might take him far away. His books have plenty to tell him about history, but they give him no clues about a future with Simon.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): The Little Library is a fairly quiet book, gentle rather than action-packed and told from the perspective of Elliott Thompson. Elliott has a habit of buying books on Amazon when stressed and given his recent history he’s stressed a lot. He was in a closeted relationship with a professor at his previous university and that guy, it turned out, was embezzling funds. Elliott was accused by association but eventually exonerated – he really didn’t know anything about it. He exited the university and moved back to his home town of Modesto in California, where he teaches online community college courses as an adjunct. His ex is in prison. He is looking for a tenure-track position at a research university but the field is a tough one and his reason for leaving his last job works against him.
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A Fallen Lady by Elizabeth Kingston

December 17, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: The book came up in a recent #RomBkLove discussion about unlikeable heroines. Apparently some people thought Helen was unlikeable. I have no idea why. I didn’t find her remotely so.

Content Warning: Sexual assault (not by hero).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Six years ago, to the outrage of her family and the delight of London gossips, Lady Helen Dehaven refused to marry the man to whom she was betrothed. Even more shockingly, her refusal came on the heels of her scandalous behavior: she and her betrothed were caught in a most compromising position. Leaving her reputation in tatters and her motivations a mystery, Helen withdrew to a simple life in a little village among friends, where her secrets remained hers alone.

For reasons of his own, Stephen Hampton, Lord Summerdale, is determined to learn the truth behind the tangled tale of Helen’s ruin. There is nothing he abhors so much as scandal – nothing he prizes so well as discretion – and so he is shocked to find, when he tracks Helen down, that he cannot but admire her. Against all expectations, he finds himself forgiving her scandalous history in favor of only being near her.

But the bitter past will not relinquish Helen’s heart so easily. How can she trust a man so steeped in the culture of high society, who conceals so much? And how can he, so devoted to the appearance of propriety, ever love a fallen lady?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Helen Dehaven has been living in in the small village of Bartle-on-the-Glen for the past six years after scandalously breaking off her engagement after she had clearly been “ruined” by her fiance. It is clear that she was raped by him but that hardly mattered in terms of society’s expectations. Unfortunately Helen did not get any support from her brother, who did not believe her story. So Helen has been fending for herself, using a small trust left to her by her grandmother. It is barely enough for her to live on.

Stephen, Lord Summerdale (he’s an Earl) comes to Bartle-on-the-Glen to find out the truth behind the scandal, on a commission of sorts from her brother. He quickly comes to believe that Helen’s brother, Alex, wants to reconnect with her and is using a business deal as an excuse to do so. It is also clear that Alex’s wife, Elizabeth, is a big factor in compelling action in this regard. Stephen has a reputation among the ton for knowing everything. He can ferret out secrets and know all the gossip but he is not a gossip. He is the epitome of discretion. If he says something is kosher, then people believe him without further explanation, such is his reputation. Stephen doesn’t like gossip but he does have a passion for the truth and the fact that Helen does not want to tell him her story nags at him like an itch which cannot be scratched. Continue reading

Ain’t She A Peach by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi

November 19, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This is one from my own TBL.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) An Atlanta ex-cop comes to sleepy Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet—but he hasn’t bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he’s ever met.

Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything—but it seems rude to embalm them and not at least say hello.

Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie’s eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett’s embalmer and county coroner, Frankie’s goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she’s not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family. Led by Great-Aunt Tootie, the gambling, boozing, dog-collecting matriarch of the family, everyone looks out for one another—which usually means getting up in everyone else’s business.

Maybe that’s why Frankie is so fascinated by new sheriff Eric Linden…a recent transplant from Atlanta, he sees a homicide in every hunting accident or boat crash, which seems a little paranoid for this sleepy tourist town. What’s he so worried about? And what kind of cop can get a job with the Atlanta PD but can’t stand to look at a dead body?

Frankie has other questions that need answering first—namely, who’s behind the recent break-in attempts at the funeral home, and how can she stop them? This one really does seem like a job for the sheriff—and as Frankie and Eric do their best Scooby-Doo impressions to catch their man, they get closer to spilling some secrets they thought were buried forever.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I read Peachy Flippin’ Keen in May. It is a prequel to Ain’t She a Peach and does not stand alone. As an adjunct to this book, it’s fine. On it’s own it was… incomplete. That said, I think I did get a better picture of Frankie and Eric from having read the novella first so I do recommend it for that reason alone. I’m sure it will be much more satisfying if one can read or listen to the full length book immediately after.

I also recommend having read or listened to the earlier books in the series first too as there are developments in Margot and Kyle’s relationship which will be better appreciated that way. Continue reading

October Round Up

November 2, 2018 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Strong by Kylie Scott – B- It’s been a very long time since I’ve read any of the Stage Dive books so I admit it took me a while to remember Martha and her history with the band but after a chapter or so it all came flooding back. Martha is Ben’s (the bass player’s) sister and former publicity assistant to the band as well as former girlfriend of David Ferris (hero from Lick). Martha was not a great person in Lick; she tried to split Ev and David up! (Boo! Hiss!) However, it is nice to get see a different side of a character and for a “bitch” to get a HEA. Martha is still prickly; she hasn’t had a personality transplant, but she has matured in the years since she left Stage Dive’s employ and enough time has passed that she’s put away the hurt she felt over her failed relationship with David.

Sam, the bodyguard and head of Stage Dive’s security has had a thing for Martha for a decade. He’s a very patient man. But the time is now right. Martha has returned to the fold. She’s staying in Portland and looking after Ben and Lizzy’s toddler son, Gibson, while Lizzy attends college. The nanny gig is temporary but she needs to be away from New York and around family for a while. She was mugged and assaulted (not sexually) in New York and doesn’t feel safe there anymore. Continue reading

House of Cads by Elizabeth Kingston, narrated by Nicholas Boulton

October 18, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy via the author.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Vivez la vie pleinement…Live life to the fullest.

That’s always been Marie-Anne de Vauteuil’s motto. As a Frenchwoman of highly questionable upbringing, she was shunned by genteel society when her fiancé died years ago, leaving her a penniless, fallen woman. Almost married, almost a widow…She retreated to an isolated village where no one knows or cares about her sordid past. And with no one to answer to, she will do as she pleases, including eating cake until her corset strings pop if she so chooses. But then, an invitation to London on a mission of mercy from the very family that cast her aside lands Marie-Anne back in society—and into the arms of a man who can be nothing but trouble.

When life gives you lemons…Make petit fours.

Wealthy American businessman Mason is a) accidentally engaged, b) desperate to get out of it, and c) neither wealthy nor a businessman. Marriage is the last thing on his mind. Money, however, is always of utmost importance. He’s only in London to gather material for the gossip pamphlets he illustrates, his scheme to make as much money as he can before he’s found out and skips town. But when he meets the irresistible Marie-Anne, she makes him rethink his life as a fraud, and for once consider his true talent as an artist. Her carefree attitude about life in general—and sex in particular—has Mason hoping for something he never believed possible: A proper life with a not-so-proper wife.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Unlike the other books from Elizabeth Kingston I’ve listened to, House of Cads is much lighter fare. It’s not angsty or tortured. It’s a charming confection, with a dash of farce and a huge dollop of sizzling chemistry.
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Love & Other Wild Things by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi & Jonathan Davis

October 6, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a fan of this author/narrator combination and I enjoyed How To Date Your Dragon recently.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Welcome to Mystic Bayou, a tiny town hidden in the swamp where shape-shifters, vampires, witches, and dragons live alongside humans. The town formed around the mysterious energy rift in the bayou, which helps keep the town’s magic in balance. But lately the rift has been widening and destabilizing – threatening to send the town’s magical population into chaos.

Energy witch Danica Teel has been sent by the League to figure out what’s going on, with the help of bear-shifter Mayor Zed. While working on the case, Zed falls head over paws for Dani, but she’s reluctant to engage in anything beyond a roll in his cave. Dani’s family is counting on her to get the job done, and she has no time for distractions. But when an ominous presence begins stalking Dani through the bayou, they’ll need to band together to make it out alive.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I feel like all I really need to tell listeners is that instead of a rubber ducky for his bath, bear-shifter Zed has rubber fish. I mean, really, why would one not want to listen to a hero who has a bath with rubber fish toys for non-sexual fun?

But I suppose I should give more reasons for my opinion so… Continue reading