Not My Favorite

Legacy by Nora Roberts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This just went on and on and the main focus for the plot was pretty thin. I kept reading hoping for more substance and less changing points of view. OK for Nora Roberts fans. For me it was something I started skimming through trying to get to the meat of the story.

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Final in Series

The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has been an interesting series. The Doom took so many and magic came back into the world. Magic both light and dark. A old theme put in a new setting. I loved the characters and enjoyed their journey as the world changed and had to be put back together. A good series for any who love post-apocalyptic stories.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 340 - Between You and Me by Susan Wiggs, Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts

Between You and Me by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a thought provoking story as two cultures meet. Each of the main characters want to be true to their family but each has to come to a decision about what is most important to them. I loved the book and the set up. Both Caleb and Reese should have never met but events bring them together and the attraction is immediate. I think my only problem with the book is wondering why Caleb waited as long as he did to pick up and leave.


Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This continues Fallon's story as she prepares for the battle to come. We see her first on her 13th birthday as she has to leave her family and learn the many things she will need. I liked following Fallon and the other side characters. I got to see how things were progressing in New Hope and other parts of this new world. Many things are set up in Of Blood And Bone but there is much more to come in book three The Rise of Magicks out in November of 2019.

Julia Whelan does a great job with the voices in Of Blood and Bone.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 167 - The Pines of Winder Ranch by RaeAnne Thane, A Cowboy's Courage by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Year One by Nora Roberts

The Pines of Winder Ranch: A Cold Creek Homecoming\A Cold Creek Reunion by RaeAnne Thayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. My copy only contained A Cold Creek Reunion. I though it was a nice story but I kept wondering why the two really broke up ten years ago. The reason seemed a little contrived. Other than that there were cute kids, a nice dog and two people who belonged together but were having trouble trusting because of the past. I did like that one of the kids was special needs and this showed how loving she was.


A Cowboy's Courage by Vicki Lewis Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Trevor McGavin and Olivia Shaw have a lot to overcome. Olivia is still loves her husband who died three years ago. She finds Trevor very attractive but does not see how she can love another. Trevor is the last McGavin to find his HEA. I loved how patient Trevor was giving Olivia space to decide if she could give in to her attraction. There was an event that helped Olivia see that she could love her late husband and love Trevor. I thought it was a nice way to open her eyes.


Year One by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What happens when most of the people in the world die and some who live are changed. That is what Nora Roberts addresses in Year One. The book follows several different groups as the Doom changes the world. Each has to follow a different path but they do finally meet. Then after being invested in some very interesting characters something happens and the book follows only one character. There is a lot of foreshadowing in the story line. The world Roberts builds is pretty grim. While some people just want to build a new life others turn to evil. It was interesting enough that I want to see what happens in the next book. I got this as an audio book.

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What Else I Read in July

Here are the books and audio books I read but did not review this month.

Books:  

Treasured (Secrets of the Loch #1) by Candace Camp - Another

familiar trope.  Brother loses home in card game and his sister will have to find another home.  Solution!  To keep a place to live the sister needs to marry the winner of the house.  I loved Jack Kensington.  He won Baillannan fair and square and really feels bad that Isobel is losing her home but that does not mean he is going to change his ways even if Isobel is very appealing.  Look for attraction, romance, danger, and attempted murder before Jack and Isobel reach their HEA. 


Peanut Goes to School by Thea Harrison - Peanut Goes to

School is the last short story in a three story arc. It can stand alone but is better if you read the previous two. Peanut or Liam is a very precocious child. In this cute story we follow Peanut as he eavesdrops on his parents, starts his first day of school and finds himself in trouble. Trouble that he handles with a great deal of maturity. Liam is a great character I could tell from the story that he will be both powerful and wonderful when he grows up.

The Collector by Nora Roberts - I had not read a Nora Roberts book for a long time and then I read Whiskey Beach and really liked it. I wish I could say the same for The Collector.  I could not warm up to Lila who thought looking in other peoples windows was OK.  The book is 483 pages and that was much too long.  The story just moved at a snails pace.  It would have been much better if edited down to 300 pages.  I made myself finish but was tempted to quit more than once.  Probably died in the wool Nora Roberts fans will love the book but I did not.

American Craftsmen by Tom Doyle - American Craftsmen

is a different take on the history of the US. After the Europeans came to America they found that some families had magical gifts. Those were called Craftsmen and they have been a secret part of the US military every since. This requires a lot of world building and back story to work. Tom Doyle does good job of working both into the story. It does take the entire book and an Appendix and Brief Notes at the back to get everything in. The book is written from several POV's and at times the jumps were a little disorienting. Even so the story line is very good and seems to be a set up for this to become a series.

The book is also full of great characters but alive and dead. My final word. Very interesting concept.

Her Temporary Hero (Once a Marine Book #2) by Jennifer Apodaca - I don't read many excerpts when they arrive in my email.  I have too many books on my TBR pile to add more but I did read the excerpt from Her Temporary Hero and it hooked me so I purchased the book.  This is a very well written story with some interesting characters.  Becky Holmes and Logan Knight need each other.  Becky to keep her baby and Logan to keep his land.  A marriage of convince is the solution but it brings additional problems.  I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it enough that I purchased book #1 in the series.

Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by M.C. Beaton - Agatha

has another hard to solve mystery.  Not only is it hard to solve but it also puts Agatha and several of her friends in danger.  In spite of looking Agatha does not find a man this time however James is around.  Both still have very mixed and confused feeling about their relationship.  This was not the best book in the series but still a quick fun read.

Audio Books:

Transcendental by James Gunn - Transcendental is a different

Science Fiction novel.  It starts with a ship load of crew and passengers looking for the transcendental machine.  There is a mix of human and alien  on the ship and as the voyage progresses several share their stories.  The two main characters, Riley and Asha, have their own agendas.  It was an interesting book to listen too.  There was a conclusion to the journey but I was left wondering if Riley and Asha would show up in a future book.

Musing Monday's - July 7, 2014

TC is in the sun musing about the chipmunk she sees out the window.
Hopefully that is all she does.  So far this month she has presented me
 with two chipmunks - one alive and one dead but both in my bedroom.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week.…Musing Mondays is sponsored by Should Be Reading.

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Have you ever read a book where you have very mixed feelings about one or

more of the main characters?  I just finished two books like that. The first one is Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X) by Richelle Mead.  Justin March is the main male character.  He drinks to excess, takes drugs and picks up a different woman each night.  But every now and then he can be very understanding and caring.  He just is not like a traditional hero.  By the end of the book I still had not warmed up to him even though he took down the bad guys.

The other book is The Collector by Nora Roberts.  Lila Emerson is a writer and

professional house sitter.  She sits mostly in New York.  Why did I not warm up to her?  One of her hobbies is using her binoculars to look at what other people are doing in their apartments.  She does not call it spying but I almost quit reading the book when she arrived at a new house sitting job and almost immediately picked up the binoculars to see what was going on in the near by apartments.  It was just a behavior I did not like and I never got over my dislike of what she was doing. 

Stacking the Shelves, July 5, 2014

Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I added to my shelves this week. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their 

shelves.

From the Library:

The Collector by Nora Roberts

Dirty Magic by Jayne Wells

For Review:

American Craftsmen by Tom Doyle

The Garden of Stones by Mark T. Barnes

Innocent Prey by Maggie Shayne

Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn

Purchased:

Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X) by Richelle Mead

Treasured (Secret of the Loch ) by Candace Camp

Teaser Tuesday, January 7, 2014

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 teasers.

It has been quite a while since I read anything by Nora Roberts.  Last week when I was at the library Whiskey Beach was on the new books shelf and I picked it up.  Here is my teaser from Whiskey Beach:

"I'm not sure that part matters.  If this guy hunted me down who knows who else he's talking to?  It's all getting stirred up again."

Page 73

Stacking the Shelves, December 4, 2014

Some of the Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I am adding to my shelves. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves.

From a trip to the Library:


Storm Front by Richard Castle
Fire With Fire by Charles E. Gannon
Alien Hunter by Whitley Strieber
Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts


From the SciFi Sizzle tour I won an $25.00 gift certificate from Loose ID.

Won from Sunny Days Book a copy of If I Loved You by Jean C. Joachim.

Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb

Futuristic Suspense

I just finished Salvation in Death published by Putnam and written by J. D. Robb. For those who do not know J. D. Robb is a pen name for Nora Roberts. This is the 28th book in the in Death series. If you have never read this series I recommend that you start with book one. Most libraries have this series and all but Salvation are available in paperback.

While performing the sacraments at a funeral mass Father Flores drinks the wine from the Chalice and dies of poison. Homicide cop Eve Dallas draws the case. It turns out the priest is not Father Flores and is not even a priest. All of these events happen in the first few pages of the book. The suspense is drawn out, red herrings are placed, and a fast pace is kept up throughout the book. As the story plays out many of the previous character make an appearance and of course no story will be complete without Roarke, Eve’s sexy billionaire husband. Read Salvation in Death. You will not be disappointed.

A complete list of the book in the series is on the J.D. Robb website.