So Long, 2018
Dec. 31st, 2018 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_phenyxBeen a hell of a year. Feels like it was over in a blink yet lasted for much longer than a year.
Because I can...I was writing down all the books I read over the year, to keep track and motivate myself to get through my ridiculously huge to-read pile, which is blocking my way of putting away my books.
The list, along with a summary of the book's plot and if I liked it or not (written without the intention of posting, so...) behind the cut.
Mermaids on the Moon
Fiction; A woman attempts to find out what happened to her missing mother
Did not finish; gave to Mom
The Lottery Winner – Mary Higgins Clark
Fiction; short mystery stories
Didn't care for; gave to Mom
Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms – Chis Colfer
Fiction; A map of stories allowed characters to travel between books
Did not realize until two chapters in that it is book 4 of a series. Was irritated by tone and prose. Checked ahead; ends on cliffhanger. Set aside.
Time and Tide – Eve Gladstone
Fiction; Romance; Immortal(ish) captain and researcher
Forced through, skipped to end (bored), ending didn't make sense, gave up
Georgia and the Tycoon – Margaret Way
Fiction, Romance; don't remember
Finished since it was under 200 pages. Did not like anyone in it.
So You Want to Be a Wizard – Diane Duane
Rather liked it. First of a series, should probably look up the rest.
Undead and Unwed – Mary Janice Davidson
Fiction; Betsy is turned into a vampire and finds herself the prophesied Queen of Vampires
Pretty good. Have two more books of series, will read them too. Probably won't get more of them, though. But still, fun.
Undead and Unemployed – Mary Janice Davidson
Fiction; Betsy and more Queen of Vampire duties – namely, refusing to be Queen and trying to get a retail job
Still fun.
The Naked Earl – Sally Mackenzie
Fiction; Regency Romance
Decent book, keeping it
The Marriage Arrangement – Helen Bianchin
Fiction; Romance; Two people who never communicate yet it's happy ever after time as she's forced back into the marriage
Meh. Finished but giving away. Too much lack of communication for drama (also, how many times does she need to mention the woman's wearing 'minimum makeup' holy shit stop)
The Martinez Marriage Revenge – Helen Bianchin
Fiction; Romance
Infuriating man. Might keep anyway.
A Cup of Tea – Amy Ephron
Fiction; technically Romance?; Giving a young woman a cup of tea ends with her and the woman's fiance having an affair
Decent. The review on the back & the author interview section irritate me – both seem to think the book better than it is.
The Tale of Murasaki – Liza Dalby
Fiction; Historical; the story of Lady Murasaki
My book. Mine.
The Prince & The Pregnant Princess – Susan Mallery
Fiction; Romance; Returning for a wedding means the Sultan finds out the one night stand left the heroine pregnant
Not sure. Made me tear up. He doesn't quite grovel enough for me, it's said at the end that after the big one he does...
Bartaldi's Bride – Sara Craven
Fiction; Romance; Woman is drawn into trying to get young woman out of marriage, young woman is irritating as hell and Bartaldi is possessive of heroine
Bartaldi is a Just No Hero.
Derik's Bane – Mary Janice Davidson
Fiction; Werewolf and reincarnated Morgan Le Fay have to stop the end of the world
Fun
Hidden Riches – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance; Mystery; a series of robberies and murders over seemingly worthless goods while the heroine falls for the traumatized policeman who is renting an apartment from her
pretty good, keeping
The Sheikh's Chosen Wife – Michell Reid
Fiction; Romance; Woman leaves Sultan since she “can't” get pregnant, he kidnaps his wife and drags her home, miraculous pregnancy
Meh
St. Patrick's Day Murder – Leslie Meier
Fiction; Mystery; small town murder
the wrap up was disappointing. Suddenly these characters she made us dislike are okay? Hm. I still don't like them.
Just One Sip – Jennifer Ashley, Minda Webber, Katie MacAlister (3-in-1)
Fiction; Anthology
Viva Las Vampires – Jennifer Ashley
Decent – got a little skeevy at times with the blood slave thing, but also emphasized she had to choose, yet...kept going back and forth
Bring Out Your Dead – Katie MacAlister
Reason I'm keeping it. Give background for characters from another of her books.
Lucy and the Crypt Casanova – Minda Webber
Man Lucy is kind of dumb and stubborn. Decent book though
Princess Takes a Holiday – Elizabeth Harbison
Fiction; Romance; Princess runs off for a break and ends up in a small town, working the diner
Decent fluff.
Brazen Virtue – Nora Robers
Fiction; Romance; Mystery; heroine is trying to solve the mystery of her sister's life and who killed her
Good tension, some parts were aggravating (descriptions of the overweight woman, etc) but also was written in like 1988 so?
Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West – Anne Seagraves
Nonfiction; just like the title says
Didn't finish. Author attempted to appear neutral, had too many “surprises” (OMG she was sent to the asylum but she might not have been insane! With actual exclamation point) and still comes off as judgmental – girls who enjoyed the work were nymphomaniacs was the claim that made me quit.
Inked Up – Terri Thayer
Fiction; Mystery; the stamping club solves a murder
Clunky. Lots of telling of emotions. Gave to mum.
Bogs, Baths & Basins: The Story of Domestic Sanitation – David J. Eveleigh
Nonfiction
Interesting if a bit dry
Through the Grinder – Cleo Coyle
Fiction; Mystery; Coffeeshop owner tries to solve a mystery
Main character does some pretty bonehead things, had a few diverges into lectures. Guilty of that myself. Not sure.
Haunting Jordan – P.J. Alderman
Fiction; Mystery; heroine was suspected of murder so moves to new town for a change and finds herself trying to solve the murder of the century old ghosts in her home
95% men were infuriating – not surprising, given that they were suspects in a century-old murder. Do wish we'd gotten more rubbing-it-in that the cop for the modern murder was wrong, but eh. Still good.
Bite – Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Mary Janice Davidson, Angela Knight, Vickie Taylor
Fiction; Anthology
the Hamilton is meh, the Harris is okay if a bit hard to understand the context of, the others are fairly good.
Cravings – Laurell K. Hamilton, Mary Janice Davidson, Eileen Wilks, Rebecca York
Fiction; Anthology
The Hamilton made me want to smack Blake – I don't care if you're uncomfortable, refusing to talk about this stuff is making everything so much worse dammit – the Davidson was amusing, the Wilks and York were interesting
Love Bites – Lyndsay Sands
Fiction; Morgue worker interferes when would-be vampire hunter comes to finish the job on a corpse that is returning to life and wakes as a vampire
Not sure how I feel about this one – I like some bits, but some are a bit skeevy.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones – Seanan McGuire
Fiction; the story of Jack and Jill and how they found their way home
Holy Shit. Ho-ly Shiiiiiiit.
Beneath the Sugar Sky – Seanan McGuire
Fiction; Suri died too early, and her friends have to travel through worlds to fix it
Not as 'holy shit' as DatSaB, but still very very good.
Arthurian Legends – Marie Trevelyan
Nonfiction
Did not finish, gave up ~ halfway. Was hard to read, and I thought it would be about Arthur. Instead, out of 28 chapters, 3 are about Arthur and 1 about Merlin. One chapter says it's about Guinevere but it's about all the ladies of the court.
Things That Go Bump In The Night And Other Shriekingly True Tales of Terror – Brad Steiger
Supposedly Nonfiction
Little unbelievable...more than a little in some places. Like reading an episode of Ghost Adventures
Victorian Murderesses: A True History of Thirteen Respectable French and English Women Accused of Unspeakable Crimes – Mary S. Hartman
Nonfiction
With a title like that, you wouldn't think this would be dry, but it was – a lot of it was about the socio-economic factors that lead to the crimes and the like. Interesting, but dry.
The Lady of the Rivers – Philippa Gergory
Fiction; Historical; the story of Jaquetta Rivers
I heard somewhere her books weren't good/historically accurate. Seems accurate enough to me, and I certainly enjoyed it. The rate at which I finished it sure says I did.
The Kingmaker's Daughter – Philippa Gregory
Fiction; Historical; the daughters of Richard Kingmaker
See comments on The Lady of the Rivers
The Gunpowder Plot – Alan Haynes
Nonfiction
All the reviews on the back were how riveting and compelling this was...well if he didn't keep going into side stories maybe. He was trying to tie the plot into everything else that was going on, but there were so many people introduced to explain that that it was confusing and I had no clue what was going on.
Spindle's End – Robin McKinley
Fiction; Fairy in training is given the raising of the princess
Good Sleeping Beauty retelling, liked it
Plain-Jane Princess – Karen Templeton
Fiction; Romance; Princess Kate needs a break and ends up 'housekeeper' for a home of five kids and their adoptive father
Okay, not spectacular or anything but solid.
The Sheikh's Bartered Bride – Lisa Monroe
Fiction; Romance; “Plain” woman finds herself in arraigned marriage with a sultan – but no one is to tell her it was set up
Meh. Didn't buy a lot of it, didn't like most of the men.
Never Seduce a Scoundrel – Sabrina Jeffries
Fiction; Romance; Historical; Heroine wanted an adventurous spouse
Not bad, a little frustrating at time
The Lancelot Murders – J.M.C. Blair
Fiction; Mystery; Historical; It's Guenevere's birthday, and she and her lover Lancelot have invited envoys to their court – to gain alliances with them, not Arthur. Then the murders began.
Not my favorite portrayal of Arthur etc., but good
Princess Nevermore – Dian Curtis Regan
Fiction; YA; Princess of magical kingdom travels to Earth
Meh
Cat on the Edge – Shirly Rousseau Muphy
Fiction; Mystery; Joe the cat finds he can suddenly talk – and he's just witnessed a murder
Not bad
The White Queen – Phillipa Gregory
Fiction; Historical; Pre-tudor women
Good – feel bad for the woman
Cat Under Fire – Shirly Rousseau Muphy
Fiction; Mystery; Sequel to Cat on the Edge; Kitty Dulcie is sure something is wrong at the old folks home and is dragging Joe into it
Interesting
Return to Avalon: 30 Original Stories – Edited by Jennifer Roberson
Fiction; Anthology
Most of the stories were good, one I didn't care for nor did I care much for the couple of 'appreciation' pages in it praising M.Z.B (believe it was written before certain info came out) but the stories themselves are worth keeping it
The Devil of Dragon House – Janis Susan May
Fiction; Historical; Mystery; When Heroine realizes she's being set up to marry, she heads north to find her cousin – only to find her cousin is missing
(Set just before Civil War) Heroine is perfectly fine with slavery until it's her and her cousin captured. During she's all “the situation is not the same at all”, it's not until the last page that she decides she can never go back to the South and a slave based society. But she's not going to do anything about it. Am ambivalent about book as whole.
The Other Boleyn Girl – Phillipa Gregory
Fiction; Historical; the story of Mary Boleyn
almost painful to read – the writing itself is good, it's the subject matter and watching it all go down, even if it's a fictionalized account of it. Good book itself.
The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires – Katie MacAlister
Fiction; one of the “Dark Ones” books
Did not care for just about any character. Interesting premise, but still.
The Red Queen – Phillipa Gregory
Fiction; Historical; story of mother of first Tudor king
Wow, that woman was a sanctimonious cankle of a JustNo. At least, in this interpretation, been awhile since she was alive and all.
Night Shift – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance; Mystery; Radio show host is being stalked
Pretty good – they're both 90s books and it shows but good
Night Shadow – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance; Mystery; Sister of radio show host of previous book is caught up in mystery through her job as prosecutor
same as Night Shift, save suddenly the hero has a superpower? Thought these were straight romances without that so that was odd
The Fall of the Dynasties – Edmond Taylor
Nonfiction; for some reason thought it was about Asian Dynasties but was about pre-WWI European
So very dry, very textbook. Was a bit hard to get through
Shadow Spell – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance; Continuing fight against ancient evil
Book 2 of 3 of the O'Dwyer Trilogy. Need to get the last one and see how it all ends.
Sing the Light – Louise Marley
Fiction; Singers literally sing heat and healing and a necessary for survival, one gets caught up in a bid for power
Found out 2/3 through that it's 1 of 3, with a sequel to the trilogy. I want to find the others, I'm weak to singing stories and this was good.
Pyomancer – Don Callander
Fiction; Douglas Brightgale answers an ad for a wizard's apprenticeship and what happens next
Fun book
The Wandering Unicorn – Manuel Mujica Laine
Fiction; Historical; Melusine sees one of her descendents and is instantly in love, follows the journey
Not about a unicorn despite the title. Kind of a downer. Hard to read, muddy language.
The Duchess – Amanda Foreman
Nonfiction; the life of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
Good, easy read. Engaging
Sex, Lies, and Vampires – Katie MacAlister
Fiction; Dark Ones series; Nell finds herself the Beloved of the Betrayer
Okay book – until the end. Big showdown, Nell's unconscious, and then...boom they were having sex at Adrian's home and everything's good. No real resolution, no explanation of what happened after she broke the curse, it feels like there's a whole chapter missing
Ruby – Lauraine Snelling
Fiction; Historical; Western; Ruby and her little sister Opal set out to the west to claim the inheritance their father left them, only to find he'd left out a few important details – like how Dove House was a brothel
Was pretty good, though suddenly turned very Christian around chapter 3 or 4, with sudden bursts of it throughout the rest. Has two, maybe three more books in series
Forgotten Tales – Edgar Allan Poe
Fiction; Horror; Collection of short stories
Good stories, mildly creepy
The Dante Legacy – Dante's Blackmailed Bride – Day LeClaire
Fiction; Romance; Dante men have always been subject to The Inferno – an 'explosive desire' that overtakes them when they find their soulmate. Sev Dante is trying to rebuild the family legacy, and The Inferno has kicked in for a designer for one of the businesses he's trying to acquire.
Not sure how they come together is so healthy – he does blackmail her into coming to work for his company – but I did keep picking it back up, so there's that.
Over The Moon – Angela Knight, MaryJanice Davidson, Virginia Kantra, Sunny
Fiction; Anthology; 4 stories
Mostly enjoyed, highly questioned that the people could be that attached that fast, last one left a slightly sour taste in my mouth (bit Laurell K. Hamilton w/ the polyamory = ick despite it being the obvious solution to her loving multiple men, main character admits to being “a bit” homophobic)
Up In Smoke – Katie MacAlister
Fiction; Seems to be second or more in a series; Doppelganger May Northcott is mate to a silver dragon and been talked into being consort to a demon lord
There was enough summary I was able to get an idea of what happened before, and I enjoyed the book, but it didn't really have an ending – nothing was resolved. Must be more in the series, so that part was disappointing.
The Particolored Unicorn – Jon DeCles
Fiction; Fantasy; There are 3 things Piswyck wanted: his inheritance, his love, and the particolored unicorn. Just when he gains the third, his small country is invaded, and he and Lifesaver (the particolored unicorn) set off on an adventure to rescue his fiancee from her wicked uncle
Good book, felt like it needs a sequel since everything wasn't finished (the country & Piswyck's father still need saving).
Immortal Unicorn Volume 2 – Peter S. Beagle and Janet Berliner
Fiction; Fantasy; Anthology
Some stories better than others, some didn't seem to have anything to do with unicorns
A Rose at Midnight – Sylvie Kurtz
Fiction; Romance; Christiane had loved Daniel and had the nine year old daughter to prove it. Now suddenly he's back in her life, claiming that Armand, her mother's cousin, isn't to be trusted, but he is.
Confusing, Christiane seems to have a permanent residence on the Island of Conclusions, can't seem to decide if Armand really is dealing with the Devil or not, skips over how she comes to conclusions. Had potential, needed a bit more space
Untamed – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance; Jo Wilder is the lion tamer at the circus Keane Prescott just inherited, and he's threatening everything she holds dear by not caring about the circus as she does
Okay, so it was hard to put down, save for the few times I had to in a “Oh, are you kidding me?” way – he never indicates he cares about her save when he kisses her (fuck off with that) and she has to apologize to him? For being harsh when he demanded she not go in the cage again? Admittedly she'd just gotten clawed but she knew what she was doing. Mixed feelings on it.
Catering to Nobody – Diane Mott Davidson
Fiction; Mystery; While at the wake for her son's teacher, someone poisons Goldy's ex-father-in-law's coffee. Which is extra bad for Goldy, who catered the meal. Since her business is closed down until the poisoner is found, Goldy's going to have to try her hand at the detective business.
Ever read a book where you don't really care for any of the characters in it? I liked Goldy, but just about everyone else...meh.
Space Station Ice-3 – Bruce Coville
Fiction, Sci-Fi, Mystery; Rusty had a habit of looking in the waste disposal unit when he was bored at his job in the Waste Disposal Station. He never expected to see a body in there – and it was gone completely by the time he could show anyone. And with everyone on the colony accounted for, only one person believes he might have seen anything. So it's up to Rusty, an eccentric scientist, and his two assistants to get to the bottom of it
First thought – it's set in 2018. It was supposed to be space travel! The mystery is good, and it's an easy, quick read. Good book.
Another Fine Myth – Robert Asprin
Fiction; Fantasy; Skeeve is a magician's apprentice, until an assassin kills his master, leaving Skeeve alone with Aahz, a powerless demon the old magician had summoned as a demonstration.
A bit odd, not quite sure if I liked it or not.
Myth Conceptions – Rober Asprin
Fiction; Fantasy; Skeeve has been offered the position of Court Magicition of Possiltum. Unfortunatly for everyone, he got the job.
Still interesting, if odd. Had to do less exposition this time so I guess that's why it seemed more enjoyable, I'm not sure.
The Mistress of the Jewels (Lady of Light & Lady of Darkness combo volume) – Diana L. Paxson
Fiction; Fantasy; Faris has been chosen to be King Jehan's bride and help him wield the Jewels of Power and keep the Covenant between humans and nature, now if only she had the self confidence for it
Depressing. Our main characters end up dead, and Faris only finds her confidence in times of crises, one of them leading to her death. Apparently first two books of a series as nothing really is resolved.
The Molly Maguires - Wayne G. Broehl, Jr
NonFiction; Historical; The history of the Irish secret society “The Molly Maguires” focusing on the Pennsylvania anthracite coal fields of the 1870s and the significance of the events there in business and labor history.
Manages to make murder and secret societies about as dull as the summary sounds, but still, an interesting read.
Great Adventure Stories – Watermill Classics
Fiction; Anthology; The Man Who Would Be King – Rudyard Kipling, The Sire de Maletroit's Door – Robert Louis Stevenson, How the Brigadier Saved an Army – Arthur Conan Doyle, The King's Stratagem – Stanley Weyman, The Sin of the Bishop of Modenstein – Anthony Hope
Only really enjoyed the last – too many were of someone getting themselves in a fix through gambling or 'honor', and just...not fun
The Rose – Jennifer Baker
Fiction; Fantasy; Beauty and the Beast. It's beauty and the beast.
Not only is it Beauty and the Beast (which is fine! I've read good interpretations of the story!) it's...kind of close to the Disney version. Her dad's an inventor? Gary is pretty much Gaston? Wolves in NE America? Virtual Reality that's way, way too advanced for the time the book was written? Also things moved too fast. She went from 'friends' to 'I love you' quite literally overnight.
My Sister, the Vampire – Nancy Garden
Fiction; Horror (?); Thanks to an emergency, Sarah, Tim, and Jenny are left on their own at the summer cabin. Children around town are getting sicker and sicker, and when first Sarah, then Jenny and Tim, get the same thing, they have to get to the bottom of it before any of them become vampires.
Pretty good – the back makes it sound like Tim does it all himself, but he needs his sister and best friend to save all of them. Aunt Claire, who appears in the last two chapters, has my eternal hatred though. Waking everyone up at 6:30 am in the summer? Fuck that!
I Sailed With Columbus – Miriam Schlein
Fiction; Historical; The voyage of Columbus told through the diary of ship's boy Julio.
Sanitized, of course – it's a lighter retelling. Not bad overall
A Wrinkle In Time – Madeleine L'Engle
Fiction, Sci-Fi, Meg, Charles Wallace, Calvin, and the fight to find Meg and Charles William's father and fight against the Dark and IT.
One of those books where parts of them stick with you for a long time afterward.
A Wind in the Door – Madeleine L'Engle
Fiction; Sci-Fi; Meg, Calvin, and principal Mr. Jenkins have to fight on fields both galactic and microscopic for the life of Charles Wallace and the rest of time and space
Sometimes a bit confusing, but still good.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet – Madeleine L'Engle
Fiction; Sci-Fi; Nuclear war has been threatened, and Charles Wallace is on a journey with the unicorn Gaudior through time to change the future. Meg, now expecting her first child, goes with in in spirit through Kything.
Again, a bit confusing at times. But good.
The Barefoot Princess – Christina Dodd
Fiction; Romance; Jermyn, Marquess of Northcliff, has been kidnapped. His ransom is meant to pay for the repairs to the village of Summerwind, which his neglect has left on the verge of collapse. Holding him in the basement is proving temptation to exiled Princess Amy.
Honestly, some of the motivations are unclear to me...another sign I'm probably ace. Got pretty annoyed with how stubborn Jermyn was more than once, but overall, decent.
Bride of Tancred – Diane Pearson
Fiction; Gothic; Miriam Wakeford is illegitimate, and never allowed to forget that in her small Quaker village, so when the chance comes to have a job at Tancred Hose, she takes the chance. But there are secrets and horrors at Tancred she is unprepared for.
For once I could understand how someone could end up in a situation, though I didn't understand Miriam claiming she was in love with John Tancred. Still, it was a good read – pity the typeface is so small and hard to read.
Blood Debt – Tanya Huff
Fiction; Mystery/Horror; Henry Fitzroy, writer, vampire, and bastard son of Henry VIII, wakes one sunset to find a ghost at the end of his bed. Each night it appears and he is able to ask one question. If the answer is no, than someone will die. He has to call in private investigator and new vampire Vicki Nelson and her partner for help – and hope they all survive.
Turns out it's the fifth in a series, but I still understood who everyone was and what was going on. Good mystery, well written book.
Daddy Long Legs – Jean Webster
Fiction; Judy Abbott is an orphan with no hopes until a mysterious millionaire steps in and offers to send her to college. Dubbed “Daddy-Long-Legs” by Judy for the fleeting glimpse she had of him, he insists his identity is to be kept a secret.
The novel is a series of letter from Judy to “Daddy Long Legs”. It was published, it turns out, in 1912 which explains a lot of it. I'm a bit uncomfortable with it as Judy and “Daddy Long Legs” end up falling in love (he turns out to be her roommate's uncle, who she knows before she finds out who he is to her). It feels...squicky. Especially when it's clarified that he's fourteen years older than her. I'm his age, and the thought of dating a twenty one year old...ech.
The Raven and Other Poems – Edgar Allan Poe
Fiction; Poetry
It's Edgar Allan Poe, what can I say? Poetry's hard to sit and read still.
Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions – Ralph Lee Smith
NonFiction; History; A short history of the Appalachian dulcimer
Surprisingly entertaining, lots of pictures as well.
Tuesday's Knight – Julie Kistler
Fiction; Romance; Kally's daughter Tuesday has a new book, all about the Golden and Dark knights. But suddenly the knights are out of the book and Kally's ordered life is spinning out of control.
Meh, didn't care much for it – not much for fish out of water type stories.
The Prince of Darkness – P.C. Doherty
Fiction; Mystery; Lady Elinor, the former mistress of the Prince of Wales, is banished to a nunnery. When she is found dead, rumors of murder abound, and chief clerk and spy Hugh Corbett is sent to clear them.
The ending was a twist, but one I didn't see coming and can't seem to find good reasoning behind even though I do believe it.
The Young Unicorns – Madeleine L'Engle
Fiction; The Austin family has moved to New York so Dr. Austin can work on the Micro-Ray, a laser that has great potential for improving medicine. But something dark is going on, and they're unwittingly right in the center of it.
I kept putting it off since she's written several novels about the Austins and I still don't know what order they go in. But this was a good book.
Stinker From Space – Pamela F. Service
Fiction; YA; When alien warrier Tsynq Yr is forced to make a crash landing on earth, his body is fatally wounded, and he has to transfer his consciousness to the closest nearby body – a skunk. Carrying important military information, he has to recruit Karen and Jonathan to help him return to space before it's too late.
This was written in 1988, and it kind of shows, but it's still kind of fun.
Going Home – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance; 3 books in 1
Unfinished Business – Famed pianist Vanessa wants answers from her estranged mother and returns to her hometown to find them. But she isn't expecting the answers she gets.
Pretty good, hero was a little too forceful and refused to listen during an important conversation so that ruined it a little
Island of Flowers – Laine just wants to get to know her father, but his partner Dillon is very protective
Dillon can suck it. I could understand the initial protectiveness but that didn't excuse the sexual assault (yes forced kisses count) and he wouldn't listen and jumped to conclusions I would NEVER have forgiven him for.
Mind Over Matter – A.J. Is her mother's agent and one of the hottest agents in Hollywood, but may have met her match in producer David.
TALK TO EACH OTHER ABOUT YOUR FEELING DAMMIT
Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie
Fiction; Mystery; A man has been murdered, and the train is stuck in the snow. It's up to Hercule Poirot to unlock this locked-room mystery.
I always liked this one. I like how all the little details add together to the final reveal.
The White Princess – Phillipa Gregory
Fiction; Historical; the story of Elizabeth of York from a year before her marriage to just after the death of the man who claimed to be her brother.
I enjoyed it, read it quickly.
Winter Kittens (3 books in 1)
Fiction; Romance
A Family For Felix – Katheryn Kirkwood
Was super cute – until they added the 'let's not talk to each other' misunderstanding (who was that man she's was hugging? Better not ask her! Spoiler: it was her brother)
Rescuing Rosebud – Judith A. Landsowne
Pretty cute, though it would be nice if the lady had the sense not to take kitten Rosebud EVERYWHERE with her or to understand that cats don't need rescued from everything
The Four-Penny Cat – Jeanne Savery
Finally, a misunderstanding that gets cleared up by the man thinking it over, finding an idea of why it might have happened, and TALKING TO HER. Like it
The Wedding Gamble – Julia Justiss
Fiction; Romance; Sarah Wellingford can't afford a London Season, nor does she want to enter the Marriage Mart, but the state of her family means she must. The Marquess of Englemere suggests a marriage of convenience, and at least they're friends – and it means not marrying the sadistic Sir James.
A little hard to read at times (no, don't do the thing! You did the thing!) but not contrived, even when the drama comes from miscommunication, it feels like it isn't wedged in. Good book.
Carolina Moon – Nora Roberts
Fiction; Romance/Myster; Victoria is returning to Progress, the place where her best friend Hope had been murdered at age 8 and everyone had ignored the abuse Tory had been suffering. But the person who'd murdered Hope had never stopped killing her, and now she was in his sights.
I liked just about everything except the final killer. There seemed to be no foreshadowing for who it was, and it came out of nowhere, so that spoiled it a bit. But otherwise it was good.
The Adventure Zone Graphic Novel: Here There Be Gerblins – The McElroys and Carey Pietsch
Fiction; Graphic Novel; It's the first arc of the Adventure Zone in Graphic Novel Form
Little sad a few of my favorite lines got cut out, but I read easier than I listen so it's nice to have a physical copy.
Married With Zombies – Jesse Petersen
Fiction; Horror; Humor; Sarah and David's marriage is on the rocks, and they've been talking to a marriage counselor. On their way to their appointment, they notice a few things off – like a lack of traffic. Oh, and their counselor eating her earlier appointment.
Not a book to read while eating (maybe I'm just sensitive but ew), sometimes funny sometimes gross, the story of the first four days of the zombie apocalypse.
