Reading Fanatic Reviews
Books to Add to Your TBR list... or Not!Hey, ya’ll! I’m VERY behind getting my reviews up on the website! I’ve increased the reading and reviewing, leaving less of my leisure time available to update this website. I’ll do weekly posts with links to my reviews at Amazon; you can also check out my Amazon and Goodreads profiles.
By the way, I’m now a top 50 Amazon.com reviewer (#12 currently) and the top 8 US reviewer of all time on Goodreads (and top 9 in the world)… and the #6 US reviewer and #8 in the world in the past year. Cool stuff!
I hope to make updates to this site soon!
Snow Mercy by Wendy Meadows
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Snow Mercy*
Of Murder and Muggings
Sarah and Amanda are just out shopping when they are accosted by a short man who wants to mug them. They don’t take him too seriously, and soon they decide to get him a bite to eat and perhaps buy him some better clothes. Soon, a man is murdered, and the would-be mugger is suspect number one. The ladies don’t believe he’s guilty and set out to protect him and figure out what actually happened. Manford’s past comes back to haunt him.
I’ve read quite a lot of books by Wendy Meadows, and I don’t quite recall the problem that I’m seeing in this book being in the other ones I’ve read. For whatever reason, in this book, she does a lot of head hopping. Scenes, to me, flow more seamlessly if they’re in the head of one character for discrete chunks of time. At times in this book, the viewpoint character shifted from paragraph to paragraph, which is disconcerting and jarring. There is a lot of humor in this book; the first scene of the near mugging is actually quite humorous as the women just will not take him seriously. The book has sufficient suspense and mystery surrounding Manford, with good twists and turns that kept me turning the pages to see how it would turn out.
Woozie (Grandmother) Wisdom by Lynn Hubschman
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Woozie (Grandmother) Wisdom*
Life, Sex, and Love Advice from Therapist and Grandmothter
The author is both a grandmother and a professional therapist with a career spanning 30 years focusing on relationships and sex. As the subtitle suggests, the book is divided into three sections: life, sex, and love. Each section is further divided into short, vaguely interrelated articles headed by an interesting quote. The author shares her personal experience and professional wisdom about each topic. The life section looks at things from parenting to stress to grieving. The sex section looks at the emotional meaning and relationship enhancing aspects of it as well as sexual practices. Finally, the love section covers such topics as dating, control, and how men and woman can perceive each other wrong.
There were some issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. The author seems to have an eclectic style with a love of semicolons that sometimes impeded meaning or impact. Word choice was at times odd or wrong. For instance, I believe there was a place where she meant to say that a man was concerned about being virile rather than virulent.
The author frankly discusses all these topics, so if you’re a little squeamish about reading about the details of sex and sexual practices, this aspect of the book may make you feel uncomfortable. She discusses some generational differences with each of the topics as well. Imagine It must be interesting to grow up with a mother who was a relationship and sex counselor; I wonder if it is as surreal for her grandchildren as I imagine it would be!
His Second Chance at Forever by Lynne Marshall
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
His Second Chance at Love*
Love after Loss and Betrayal
Claire is a nurse practitioner who is new to a practice in Santa Barbara. She was hired by most of the other doctors for overflow patients and patients with simple chronic disease. The man who owned the practice, though, wasn’t a part of the hiring decision. He is a widower who lost his wife and child in a bad accident some years ago. Jason hasn’t recovered from this, and his practice is his life. Claire is divorced with a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Claire has lupus, and her husband seeing her as an invalid is part of what led to their divorce. Claire has used alternative therapies to help her manage her lupus. She and Jason are at odds over the use of complementary medicine. They eventually develop an attraction for each other, which they both fight given their histories.
I am an RN myself, so I found the look at a small medical practice and integrating the use of complementary therapies fascinating. The author seems to have a good sense of how a small clinic works as well as a detailed knowledge of complementary medicine. She also did a good job portraying Jason’s inner angst about his past, especially his first conflicting feelings about Gina, Claire’s daughter. I can understand how that would bring up memories and feelings about his own daughter that he lost. I like the romance of the story, even though the transition from adversary to interested didn’t fee wholly realistic. But as they grew to have more feelings for each other, that seemed honest and real for two people who had been hurt and were hurting because of their past relationships. I liked all the images of sailing, and I felt like it was used as a metaphor much of the time. I enjoy literary devices when they are well done as they are here.
In all, I enjoyed this medical romance, as a reader of romance, and as an RN, I enjoy a peek into the medical world in fiction. The two main characters are definitely compelling in their wounds, fears, and their ultimate resolve to move past where they are to where they want to go.
Mini Style Guide by Denise O’Hagan
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Mini Style Guide*
OK as Far as It Goes
I’m an editor myself, so I was curious about what this book would have to say about style. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is the largest and has to do with good writing—like how to write in plain English, commonly misused words, and copyright—as well as a punctuation guide. The second section looks at manuscript presentation while the final section gives a brief look at the publishing industry today (traditional vs. self-publishing). The appendix at the back has letters and forms that were mentioned in the main text.
The author is Australian. There are sections in the front that discuss British vs. American English, not just the one that is entitled that. I am an American myself, so I found her examples of American English sometimes to be inaccurate, like the discussion about sneakers and gym shoes. At least where I live in the western United States, we rarely call them sneakers; we are more apt to say tennis shoes or tennies. In one example that I thought was rather amusing, she stated that Americans are more prone to turn brand names into verbs, but then the example she gave of such a transformation is one that is never said in America; it’s a British term.
As an editor, I had hopes that this book would be something I could recommend to my clients to help them understand how to approach style and good writing better. I thought the initial sections of the book didn’t directly apply to what most writers want or need today. In the parts that would be most applicable, the descriptions were either too wordy or not explanatory enough. I would have liked this book to have been something an author could just pick up, flip to a particular question about style and find a quick, easy, and applicable answer to get them going on their way.
I think, too, that Americans could be confused by the style used in this book itself. Perhaps we need a streamlined guide similar to this but written by an American editor so that the gap between what the writer should be going for and what the writer reads in the guide isn’t so large.
For a book about style that has been edited, there were inconsistencies about punctuating the examples. Some of these examples seem like complete sentences but didn’t have periods, or full stops as this author would say. I thought that the sections on manuscript presentation and publishing were too short to be of much use.
The Shadow Falls by K. S. Marsden
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
The Shadow Falls*
Not Alone in the World
After the decimation of the witch hunters at the end of the last book, Hunter is on his own and trying to learn more about his unique skills. He has vivid, detailed dreams of what his life with Sophie might have been or could possibly be. Hunter isn’t as alone as he thinks.
I read the three books in this trilogy in rapid succession. I found this book to be better paced than the last one. Hunter was much more active as opposed to being in waiting mode as he was in much of the previous book. I like the addition of the dream sequences; not only were they so different from what was actually going on, but it made you wonder if they were what could have been or what may yet come. I’m not sure if I’m 100% satisfied with the end. I do like some new characters that were added to this book; they had to be added after so many were lost in the last one. This book had some issues with grammar and punctuation, especially in the later part of the book. I also thought the text was strangely formatted, making it hard to read. Most fiction books are formatted with the first line of a paragraph indented while non-fiction books often have block paragraphs with visual space between them. Unfortunately, this book had block paragraphs with no spaces between them, making them appear to run all together, which was hard to read.
If you enjoyed the other books in this series, you would most likely appreciate the culmination of it.
The Little Book of Self Help Quotes by K. N. Ormond
No Universal Book Link
Available?
Review Left On Amazon,
Then Couldn’t Find Page
The Little Book of Self Help Quotes*
Unattributed Quotes in Book Riddled with Errors
This book compiles 365 days’ worth of self-help quotes ranging from happiness to communication to success. With each quote, the author gives a line or two which is meant to assist you to think about the quote.
The quotes themselves range from inspiring to not so inspiring. The short line or two that the author gives I think is revelatory of what the author personally thinks of the quote; many of these quotes could be taken in multiple ways, and you could actually do a deep dive on many of them that aren’t really reflected in what the author states. Some of these quotes did sound familiar, so I wondered who actually said the quotes. Unfortunately, the author does not give any sources for all these words of wisdom. I looked up a handful, and several were from Helen Keller, at least one was from Dr. Wayne Dwyer, and another was from a business guru from the last century named Napoleon Hill. I find myself wondering at the legality of this book where such a large part is quotes from others that are unattributed. Is it plagiarism? On another unfortunate note, the book had many issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. Periods were often missing at the end of sentences, both within the quotes and the author’s write up. For the quotes themselves, the author used both single quotes and double quotes; no consistency. Commas were not used appropriately.
I think this book needed a short introduction. Perhaps the author could have shared his or her personal relationship to these quotes (has the author’s life been changed by them?), what the author hopes the reader will gain from it, basic instructions how to work with the quotes as well as perhaps ways to dive deeper if you want to. I think the need for basic instructions on an introductory page is crucial for this book because the instructions to “record your answer” were repetitive and unnecessary in the beginning and then missing at the end (again, consistency issues). I think that the simple instruction of record your answer doesn’t add much value for the reader. It might have been better to suggest in an introductory section to keep a journal of your thoughts about these quotes: looking back, looking forward, applying to your personal life or job, etc. The author could have set the framework for interaction with these quotes. I also thought that each quote needed more than a line or two to help draw the reader to gain inspiration. The author could have easily written a couple of paragraphs about each quote. She or he could have gotten personal, saying what this quote has meant in his or her life. Or he or she could have suggested a surface interaction with the quote and then a deeper dive into what the quote means or could mean in a person’s life.
Death of a Debtor by Jenna Harte
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Death of a Debtor*
Coming Home Again is Not Easy
Sophie Parker has returned to her hometown with her tail between her legs and barely two dimes to rub together after her father and brother were imprisoned for running a Ponzi scheme. Sophie isn’t finding much forgiveness from people she knew all her life even though she had nothing to do with her family’s criminality. She works as a pirate wench at a theme restaurant to pay the bills, and it’s barely doing that. Right when she’s about to suffer some embarrassment about not being able to pay for her groceries even though she has coupons, her old crush from high school steps in, pays, and helps her save face. Soon, however, things go from bad to worse when that crush is murdered, and Sophie is suspect number one.
I loved Sophie’s character. She lived life in the highest echelons of society, and now she’s doing what she has to do to survive. She’s resilient and resourceful and still has an honest pride and self-esteem despite what life has thrown at her and what others think about her. Like all good cozies, this book had a cast of quirky characters, including the Sophie’s Aunt Rose, whom she promised her father she would help take care of, and a diverse group of people in a couponing group who help her figure out the murder. I think it’s a fun idea to use couponing as the basis of a series of cozy mysteries. I love cozies, and I don’t think I’ve seen that particular spin on a cozy before. The dialogue is snappy, and Sophie’s interior monologue shows both her humor and her desperation, making her a real character. The book has some odd problems with grammar, punctuation, and usage. She had more creative comma issues than most. But this didn’t detract from the story, and I feel like this is a great start to a fun new cozy mystery series.
Alice is Not Lost by Isadora Brown
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Alice is Not Lost*
Alice in Once-Upon-a-Time Wonderland
Alice’s sister has been missing for three years. She has not given up hope, and she checks in with the detective every day to see if there is any news. Soon, however, Alice finds herself not in her small town of Bayside but in the Wonderland Forest. Who will she meet here? Who are potential allies? What are the potential dangers? Why is she here?
I was drawn to this book because of the cover, which definitely reminded me of the last season of Once Upon a Time; I was a fan of the show for a long time. This book has elements of that TV show as well as the original Alice in Wonderland—the White Rabbit even makes an appearance. The author also did a good job of showing how disoriented a person would be when thrust into an unknown world. At times, the book did feel a little derivative, but interesting things kept happening to Alice, and new opportunities arose for her which were fascinating to follow.
I believe this is meant to be a prequel to a series, and I look forward to seeing what the author might do next with this interesting cast of characters and very different world.
Coming from California by Catherine Bilson
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Coming from California*
More Romance and Mystery in Old West Nevada
Daisy is a half Chinese, half Caucasian young woman from San Francisco who is taking a job as a school teacher in Nevada. Because of her biracial status, she had had a hard time finding a job in the city. She didn’t disclose her racial status or her young age when she applied for the job, so she was fearful that they might send her packing back to California. While she runs across some with prejudice, she is soon approved to be the teacher by the town council. Just moments after she arrives in town, she looks out the window from her boarding house, and a handsome cowboy shouts up a compliment. Daisy is a little insulted to be spoken to in such a way, but she soon comes to realize how decent and honorable Luke really is.
The book is mostly about this lovely and very sweet romance between Daisy and Luke. To add interest, there is another man who is interested in her as well who is not as much of an upstanding character as Luke. There’s also a mystery around who murdered an assayer in Reno. Luke also has his own story arc about what he may do as a profession and legacies given or left for him.
I read the first book in the series and enjoyed it, in part because I grew up in California and we often went to Nevada for vacations. I’ve been to Reno, Tahoe, and Virginia City, so it is fun to read a story that harkens back to the old days in those towns. I like how the author introduced a small recurring about prejudice. From what I understand, it was certainly a real issue for people who were Chinese or of Chinese descent back in the old west. While it wasn’t a huge overarching theme, it did come up more than once, especially in the beginning and surprisingly at the end. To have this theme woven in in such a way is a gentle reminder for us to look at our own prejudice, the way we treat people whom we perceive as foreign, and the laws that those in power may adopt to codify misunderstanding and hatred. Now, just because I’ve gotten all heavy right here, don’t think that the author played this with a heavy hand because she doesn’t. It is actually well integrated and feels very contextual for the characters, the plot, and the times.
If you are a fan of Mark Twain, you will appreciate the author’s tip of the hat to him in the person of the town’s newspaperman. I won’t spoil it for you, but it did make me chuckle to see how the author added this little Easter egg.
The book did have a few strange little issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage, including one rather bizarrely punctuated and broken-up paragraph of dialogue that jarred me a little bit.
However, I enjoyed what is truly a sweet, gentle, slow-burn romance. The first parts of the book might feel too slow to you if you’re used to fast-paced writing, but I enjoyed the characters so much that I didn’t mind the slow pace or the slow burn. Since I have read the first book, I appreciated seeing some of the characters that I knew from the first book again. That’s one of the beauties of a well-done series. I loved Miz May from the last book, and I learned a lot more about her here. They are definitely some new characters as well, and I enjoyed that there were actually two romances in this book that came to fruition. I have become quite enchanted with the good people of this town, so I am looking forward to the next installment of the series.
Cadence Untouched by Dakota Willink
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Cadence Untouched*
First Chance at Love for Cadence and Fitz
Cadence, who’s taking on more of a role at her parents’ summer camp, meets Fitz on the first day of camp. He and a friend are there to do some community service. Fitz is a bit of a player and the son of a politician. He’s attracted to her when he first sees her and calls dibs on her with his friend. He is soon to find out, though, that she is not that kind of girl. Instead, Fitz and Cadence get to know each other, and a romance slowly develops into what is probably the great love of their lives. Fitz is hiding a secret, though, that changes the possibilities of where their relationship can go.
The author did an outstanding job showing the evolution of Fitz and Cadence’s relationship. Fitz actually did change over the course of the book. He became less of a player as he came to know and care her and was actually quite protective of her (until…). I didn’t like that in Fitz’s sections there was a fair amount of profanity. Looking at the book’s cover and reading the description, I expected something a little bit more gentle and sweet. I’ll admit to being disappointed with two things that happened towards the end of the book.
***** SPOILER START ******
I always hate, hate, hate when the hero seems to think that he has to pre-break the heroine’s heart by being a jerk instead of just allowing it to break on its own when he leaves her. And also, you knew when they didn’t use a condom that first time that a pregnancy was going to result, so it was disappointing when that happened. I just hate these two cliches.
***** SPOILER END *****
While I haven’t yet read the second book yet, I think the concept of having a duology that shows a couples’ first and second chances at love an interesting and even awesome idea. I enjoyed a second chance at love romances, and we usually just hear about the first round as characters reminisce with others or have memories, or it may be just revealed in a data dump. So it was interesting to read Fitz and Cadence’s first chance at love and how the characters grew and changed during that fateful summer. It will be interesting to see how these characters have turned out in book two.
Jamie Brydone-Jack
Reader, Editor, Writer
I’m an avid reader, for both fun and work/business. I enjoy a wide variety of books, including literary fiction, romance, thrillers, cozy mysteries, and fantasy for fiction and history, contemporary issues, philosophy, music, medicine, and cookbooks for nonfiction. I’m a freelance copyeditor who also does beta and alpha reading. I have two websites that are all about romance and mystery. You can also follow my reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
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