Reading Fanatic Reviews
Romantic FantasyThe Cursed Key by Miranda Brock and Rebecca Hamilton
Available at Amazon (currently paperback only; eBook Jan. 14, 2020), Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
The Cursed Key*
Nice Paranormal Aspects; Other Elements Off
I am not quite sure what to make of this book. There are elements of it that I enjoyed, but there were definitely some issues with it. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect and the idea that such a paranormal world existed was unknown to the heroine at the book start, but I didn’t feel like the MacGuffin, the key, was explained well enough so that the reader would know why it was so important to everyone. We weren’t really given much background about it to understand its significance nor were we told what exactly it did. I thought that the two main characters had grating personalities, which sometimes made them annoying to read about. I also thought the heroine acted unprofessionally and unethically at times. The opening jungle sequence was a good start to the story, but then the pacing slowed down to a crawl when the heroine returned to the United States; luckily, it did pick up again towards the middle of the book. Some of these flaws may be overlooked when you’re reading because the author actually has a good writing style. It is engaging, especially in the action parts, and easy to read. But then only when you start thinking about the story do its flaws truly become apparent.
As Sweet as Honey by Anna Klein
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
As Sweet as Honey*
Light, Lovely Contemporary Romance
What a sweet and lovely little romance! You could feel for the heroine immediately with the troubled morning she was having. Right off the bat, the hero and the heroine had very good interactions and banter. The heroine definitely couldn’t stop her mouth to save her life, but endearingly so, and at times her statements were very funny, cringe-worthy, or insightful. The hero was definitely much more buttoned up, but as the book went along, he loosened up some. A lot of books call themselves romantic comedies these days and quite a few miss the mark, going over the top and trying too hard (which falls flat for me). This book, however, hit all the right comedic notes, both in what actually happened in the story itself, like one of the problematic situations that the hero and heroine find themselves in, as well as with the characters themselves–mercy, some of that girl’s thoughts! The book hit all the romance notes, too: the hero did perfectly swoon-worthy things right from the start, and some of the settings were very romantic. All in all, an entertaining, light read.
A Knead to Kill by Chelsea Thomas
Available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
A Knead to Kill (in Summer Snoops Unleashed)*
Too Short for Much to Happen
NOTE: I was given a review copy of just A Knead to Kill by Chelsea Thomas, which is only in this collection at this time; this review is just for that story.
I have read other books in this series, and I have quite enjoyed the adventures of Chelsea, Miss May, and Teeny. I did enjoy the interaction of those characters in this novella as well, but the book was too short to really develop much of a mystery with all the elements I love. I know it’s all the rage these days to have super-short fiction that people can read in less than an hour or two, but I don’t think that format really works well for mysteries. Red herrings and bad leads take time to develop fully. I’ve only seen short-form mystery work well once. I will keep reading this series because I do enjoy the characters and the delightful setting that the author has created, but I don’t think this one added much to the series.
Dark Genius by H. Peter Alesso
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Dark Genius*
Cool Nerdy Characters… and Science!
I found the characters of this story to be quite engaging, especially the hero and the heroine. I liked the interaction between them and their group of friends. While some reviewers thought the science was a bit much, I’m enough of a science nerd and science fiction aficionado to appreciate the digressions into the scientific aspects of this story. If you find them too burdensome, you can mostly just gloss over them. They do add to the story, but they are not integral to it. I felt like the language was overloaded with adjectives and adverbs that didn’t actually add anything to the story; they more told rather than showed. Calling something alluring, when it’s not a character saying it, doesn’t really speak much to me; show me why it is alluring and why that matters!
Also, I think this book has a bit of an image problem. The cover on Amazon looks like a light and breezy summer romance story; I would call this a science-based technothriller with a tiny romantic element. The headline of the blurb is nothing that really happens in the story, or at least to any appreciable degree. It feels like the author is trying to recast the story into a YA romance… most likely because these are popular. I actually prefer the old cover that you can still see on Goodreads; it more accurately reflects what the story is actually about.
Who Shot the Serif? by Daisy Robyns
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Who Shot the Serif?*
Jamie Sticks Her Foot In It… Literally
This is the second book I’ve read in this series, and I quite enjoy it. I love the character of Jamie Lang. She’s the professional hand letterer mentioned in the series title, and she just seems to get herself mixed up with trouble! In this book, she literally stumbles upon the dead body of a woman with whom she had an argument the day before. When town suspicion about Jamie’s involvement starts to cut into her business, she knows she has to help try to help figure out who actually murdered the woman. I like Jamie because she actually has a very detailed eye, which would seem very typical for her profession, that allows her to see things that may be others wouldn’t. She’s a good character for an amateur sleuth. The author has done a good job creating the quirky community of the story; that is so important in a cozy mystery. I just hope in the next one, which I am looking forward to, that Jamie herself is not a suspect!
Falls Ende: The Oath by Paul W. Feenstra
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Falls Ende: The Oath*
Engaging Medieval Story
I love to read fiction set in the medieval era, and the author did a good job making this story feel authentic to those harsh and brutal times. The characters are well drawn, especially Odo. I could sense his frustration about being so low in the social pecking order as well as his occasional desperation about his plight. I thought the book fell victim to overlong narration. In fact, the entire first 10% of the book is all description of a hunt without a whisper of dialogue. I like to have my fiction more balanced between dialogue and narration. Some of the descriptions within the longer narrative sections are a bit long and too detailed, slowing down the forward motion of the story. That said, I did find the story arc interesting and engaging.
To Love a Duke by Diana DeHaven
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
To Love a Duke*
Too Short Cinderella-type Romance
I wasn’t wild about this book. For one thing, I thought all of the characters sounded alike. I couldn’t distinguish their tones or word choice enough to make them individual. Some language choice seemed a bit over-the-top, even for a historical romance. For instance, the butler at one point actually uses the phrase “commence swimmingly” when referring to the progress on the duke’s birthday bash. This story is a spin on Cinderella, with a seamstress as the heroine. After a very haughty Lady Josephine, whom the dowager duchess wants the duke to marry, accidentally dropped her invitation to the ball in the seamstress shop, Emma and her friend decided that it would be fun if Emma pretended to be a lady and went to the ball. This is a novella, so there wasn’t much time for the romance between the duke and the pretend Lady Emma to develop. This story needed more room to breathe. Probably in just this little bit I’ve told you, you can imagine what was the big black moment in the book. So, it felt a little predictable.
Sisters in the West by Janessa Suderman
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Sisters in the West*
Good Characterization; Flawed Delivery
The author successfully managed to create two very different sisters. She sets this up when the book opens. As one of five sisters myself, I quite enjoy the interaction between these two ladies. In fact, I think the author’s greatest strength is characterization in this novel. All The characters felt distinct. I wasn’t as enamored with the plot. The blurb seems to promise one thing, but the book delivers another. Also, the book is billed as a western romance, but it seems more heavy on the western revenge plot than the romance part. There were some problems with grammar, punctuation, and usage, especially with dialogue. The author didn’t seem to understand how to punctuate or capitalize dialogue, and that was a little distracting. She also likes to use some very emotive dialogue tags, which can be distracting as well; I’d like to think the sisters weren’t truly exclaiming or demanding as much as the author said they were! I rarely see westerns that are based in Canada, so that was an interesting variation from the typical western.
Special Agent Charli by Mimi Barbour
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Special Agent Charli*
Loved Gramps; Good Suspense Plot
I thought there were good points and bad points to this book. The beginning was arranged a little strangely, starting chapter one with a very exciting scene where a young girl witnesses a murder and then going into Chapter 2 to something that happened a week earlier. It reminded me of certain police shows where they show you the inciting incident (or an exciting one), and then the screen shows something like “24 hours earlier” or “16 days ago.” I don’t think it works as well in novels. Perhaps make it a prologue. I think prologues are perfect for out-of-time-sequence scenes. When I finish a prologue, I have no expectation of where the timeline starts. I didn’t quite buy the romantic aspect of this story. I did like the suspense part of it; I thought it was well paced, which is so important for suspense. The author did a good job of describing character and setting. I can feel the young girl’s terror as she witnesses the murder and realizes what could happen to her. I thought there was a little too much profanity, though it did seem to have be contextual for the most part. I especially liked the character of Poppa John, and I found the author’s explanation for his character in her dedication to be quite sweet and heartwarming. I imagine, if the character is any indication, that he was a wonderful man.
Assertiveness Training by Keith Coleman
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Assertiveness Training*
Big on Assertiveness, Not So Much on the Training
This is a relatively short book that purports to be about assertiveness training. I thought the book was heavy on the assertiveness, but not quite as focused as I would have liked it to have seen on the training aspect. The author seems to spend much of the book talking about many aspects of assertiveness, like why we may not be assertive or about how confidence impacts assertiveness, but not a lot of time until the end of the book on specific practices one can use to exude confidence and be more assertive. I didn’t find that first part of the book too terribly helpful, but I did like the practical suggestions at the end. I think if someone were having issues with assertiveness of self-confidence, they might find some of the tips and techniques of benefit.
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