Week in Review #49

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

This new puppy is going to give me grey hair! So stressing me out, now I remember why I don't have kids! Poor Dresden is still not a fan, I am hoping that Rascal will soon calm down but he wants to chew on and eat everything he sees and I get tired trying to make sure he isn't into things. UGH. I really hate puppy phase. Getting a lot of audiobooks done while chasing him around and taking him outside. :)

This week was so HOT, I love summer but not when the feels like is 121. I am not ready to say goodbye to summer yet though and we get a cool down this coming week so yay!

Have a great week and happy reading!

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of My Kind of Christmas

Books I have added

 Nothing!

Books read last week

• Murder on Union Square - The 21st book in the Gaslight series and I really enjoyed it. This is one of my favorite historical mystery series.
• The Gilded Web - I have mixed feelings about this one, I enjoyed it but there were a lot of things that I got annoyed with and it didn't feel very romantic. I am curious about the other two book in the series though.
• Once Upon a Winter's Eve - Novella in the Spindle Cove series, just needed something quick for a readathon and it was decent.
• In Bed With the Devil - First book in the Scoundrels of St. James and I really enjoyed it. My second book by this author and liked both so far so she could become a favorite. :)
• Bellegarde - Disappointing YA historical romance as the author put to many modern type things into it. I do think that Teens might like it if they don't read historical romances like I do, but different social classes did not mingle together in a high school in 18th century France! Or have parties. I did like the retelling of the movie She's All That aspects of it though.

• Pencilvania - I had been working on this one but put it aside for other books and came back to it as I could use it for a readathon...lol. I thought it was decent.
• Set Up in the City - I have been on a B.J. Daniels kick lately as this is the third book by her this month. Always enjoy them as you can't go wrong with cowboys and mystery. 
• Remnants of Murder - This is the 8th book in the Southern Sewing Circle and I really want to like this series more but it's so far only been an average series. 
• Twas the Knife Before Christmas - A reread to refresh my memory for the live talk we had about it on Wednesday.  

Currently reading

• The Black Lyon - I just started this one and it's one of my print books. So I am currently on page 22 of 276.
• The Titan's Curse - Continuing my reread of Percy Jackson to prepare for the new PJ book coming out! :) I also want to continue on with the other spin off series and needed a refresher.
• Terror in Shadow Canyon - This one will be a super quick fun read that I haven't exactly started yet but will tonight. It's kind of like Goosebumps, this is the third one that just came out.

What might be up next

 Not sure.

How was your week? What did you get?

Two Bloggers One Series ~ My Kind of Christmas by Robin Carr (Virgin River #18)

 

It's so fun to be back in Virgin River, I am really sad that we only have one more to go and we will have finished this series buddy read. Once you seen my review go and check out what Barb thought at Booker T's Farm. 

Patrick Riordan always thought that nothing could match the adrenaline rush he gets from his job. But this Christmas, Patrick’s pulse is really racing...

The Riordan brothers may have a reputation for being rough-and tumble, but Patrick has always been the gentle, sweet-natured one. These days, his easygoing manner is being tested by his high-octane career as a navy pilot. But for the Riordan brothers, when the going gets tough…the tough find the love of a good woman. Except the woman who has caught Patrick’s attention is Jack Sheridan’s very attractive niece.

Angie LeCroix comes to Virgin River to spend Christmas relaxing, away from her well-intentioned but hovering mother. Yet instead of freedom, she gets Jack Sheridan. If her uncle had his way, she’d never go out again. And certainly not with rugged, handsome Patrick Riordan. But Angie has her own idea of the kind of Christmas she wants—and the kind of man!

Patrick and Angie thought they wanted to be left alone this Christmas—until they meet each other. Then they want to be left alone together. But the Sheridan and Riordan families have different plans for Patrick and Angie—and for Christmas, Virgin River–style!

I think we might have finally got to the last Riordan! There are a lot of brothers! Out of all the brothers Patrick is the most easy going one but now he is having a rough go of things. Patrick is a navy pilot and on a mission his best friend was shot down. Patrick is on leave while he reevaluates things and he is also seeing to his best friends wife and son. His friend wanted him to take care of them and he has been contemplating what that exactly means, that maybe he should marry her as they know each other well and get on fine.

Angie is Jack Sheridan's young niece who was in medical school but had a bad accident while with some friends and has been recovering. While recovering she has been thinking a lot about her life and if she wanted to go back to medical school. Her mother who has been helping her during this time has become a little to stifling for her and she decides while she is trying to figure things out she needs to get away from her mother and heads to Jacks in Virgin River.

Patrick is a few years older than Angie but as soon as they met there was an attraction and one thing in there way is Uncle Jack and just about all the other men in Virgin River, at least at first. Patrick tells Angie that it's just a Christmas fling that he has something he must do (Marry his late friends wife), but the more he is with Angie the harder it is becoming to leave Virgin River.

I just love this series! The romances are just so fluffy and fun, Virgin River is so cozy. I love all the side characters and they were a lot of fun in this one, especially the men! I really liked Patrick and Angie (after I got use to her) and they made a cute couple.

I am really sad that next month we will finish of this series and I highly suggest it if you like romances.

4.5 stars

Week in Review #48

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

Hi everyone! So I got the calcium score done and the results seem to say I am just fine, so I am just overweight and that is what must be causing all my problems. So I need to crack down on the foods I am eating but it's so hard with prices these days as to eat healthy is SO expensive. Need to try and do something besides just walking too but not sure what as it's hard to get this body doing much as my knees and feet hurt. Anyway enough of this stuff on to something fun!

So Dad wanted this pup my brothers in-laws found and I didn't, but he kept talking about it so I am like fine. So now I have a pain in the butt in my house also known as Rascal. Dresden doesn't like him, doesn't want anything to do with him, she keeps running upstairs to get away from him. This is going to be a long few months. I have never seen Dresden bear her teeth and bite before now. :( He is a really loveable dog and once we get through the everything including me is a chew toy phase I am sure he will be great, if I can just make it to that point without losing my sanity. :) Not the best of pictures, hopefully I will get better ones later, he is so hyper it's hard to get any that are good.

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of Finders Keepers 

Books I have added

• There's No Way I'd Die First - A spine-tingling contemporary horror-comedy novel that follows a scary-movie buff as she hosts an elaborate Halloween bash but soon finds the festivities upended when she and her guests are forced to test their survival skills in a deadly game. Sounds cool, right? :)

Books read last week

 This week I listened to a lot of shorter audiobooks. Especially after the pup got here because the audiobooks travel around my house with me better than anything else...lol. Chasing a pup is a full time job when at home. We have a training cage for when not home.

• The Dead Man in the Garden - Finished this one on last Sunday and it was cute. 
• The Dangerous Man - Finally finished one of my print books and I really enjoyed it! This finished up a trilogy.
• My Kind of Christmas - The 18th book in the Virgin River series, so sad that we only have one book left but at the same time exciting that Barb and I will  have buddy read the entire series! We will finish this series up next month.
• The Highwayman - First in the Victorian Rebel series and I am not sure if a more darker type of historical is my thing or not but will try another from this series to see.
• Unmasking the Duke's Mistress - This was an okay Harlequin Historical, I think I would have liked it more if there wasn't a secret child trope which I am not a fan of in it. 
• Fantasticland - Horror book that reminded me of a bit more brutal and gory Hunger Games and I liked it. (I didn't like Hunger Games...lol) Some people get stranded in an amusement park after a hurricane and it become a survival of the fittest. The real horror to me is that I could imagine something like this happening because of the way the world is these days even if this was set in the 70s.
• Rogue Gunslinger - I haven't found a B.J. Daniels book I haven't enjoyed. I mean we have cowboys and intrigue, it's all I need. :)
• Rogue Defender - See statement above. Enjoyed it too.
• A Call For Kelp - The fourth book in the Seaside Cafe series and I liked it. Only three more to go to finish the series.

Currently reading

• The Gilded Web - I am almost done with this print book! I have mixed feelings about it but still liking it okay. I am currently on page 362 of 449, so hope to finish tonight or tomorrow.
• The Black Lyon - Since I finished one print book and almost another I have added one into the fold. :) At least this one is shorter...lol.
• Murder on Union Square -  The only audiobook I am currently listening too and I should finish by tonight or tomorrow. I am 75% in to it. It's the 21st book in the Gaslight series. Getting closer to catching up to it as it's still ongoing.

What might be up next

• A Kingdom of Dreams - Another Print book that I would like to try and get too if I can, it's a chunky one though!

How was your week? What did you get?

Two Bloggers One Book ~ Finders Keepers by Stephen King

Barb and I are back with Bill Hodges and the gain for the second book in the trilogy. I have a feeling that Barb is enjoying this trilogy a bit more than I am...lol. So after you see what I have to say go check and see what she thought at Booker T's Farm.

Wake up, genius.

The genius is John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.

Morris hides the money and the notebooks, and then he is locked away for another crime. Decades later, a boy named Pete Saubers finds the treasure, and now it is Pete and his family that Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson must rescue from the ever-more deranged and vengeful Morris when he’s released from prison after thirty-five years.

So this one is about a deranged fan in the 1970s of an author who wrote stories about a man named Jimmy Gold and how he didn't like what the author did the the character so one night visits him with some friends and he kills him and takes all his money and find some notebooks containing some more stories about Jimmy Gold. Then turns on his friends and kills them, but things don't go well for Morris as after he hides them as he couldn't try and sell them right now, he gets picked up for rape, a crime he doesn't remember committing because when he gets drunk he blacks out and can never remember what he does. This gets him Thirty five years in jail. 

While bad things are happing to poor crazy Morris a teenager named Pete in 2010 is having a hard time with his parents fighting about finances all the time because his father is one of the people that got hit by Mr. Mercedes and he hasn't been able to work. One day Pete finds the money and notebooks and thinks this could solve the problems with his parents and starts anonymously sending them the money, but he doesn't do anything with the notebooks as he isn't sure how to go about selling them as he knows he should have showed it all to the police.

Fast forward a bit and Morris is out of jail and old man and all the can think about is finding his buried treasure as there will be some money and those notebooks. He never got to read them to find out what happened to Jimmy Gold, he could also sell them for lots of money, but they are not where he put them. 

Young Pete still wanting to try and help his family goes to a seller to just kind of try and see what something rare like those notebooks might be worth but finds the wrong guy, a guy who knows Morris and knows exactly what he has, it also leads Morris to the young man.

Bill Hodge isn't a cop any more but he still does a few things he has a business called Finders Keepers that Holly has been helping him with, she is very computer smart. Tina who is Pete's sister is pretty sure that her brother is in trouble and with a bit of a push from the sister of Jerome she tells Hodge about everything and it's a bit of a rush to try and save Pete and his family from the very deranged Morris.

This is told in three parts and well the first part is the two timelines of the 1970s (done forgot which year) and then 2010. So it goes back and forth about Morris and then about Pete. I was so bored. I also got annoyed with Pete calling the fights hiss parents had Arky Barky (not sure of actual spelling as I listened to this). Oh and not once was Bill Hodges even mentioned in this part!

Then part two we are in 2014 and Morris is out and Pete's a few years older and it got a little more interesting but still kind of boring. Though we did get a little bit of Bill Hodges and Holly which kind of saved this part from being a total snoozefest.

Then part three happened and that is when King kicks things into overdrive and it gets crazy and a lot more interesting as Morris is one messed up dude!! It was the best part of the book.

I like Hodges, but it's Holly who really makes this series, oh and Jerome but he wasn't in it that much. I think the first part of this book could have been cut down a bit and it would have been better, but we all know King likes to drag his books out. :) 

3 stars

Week in Review #47

 

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great week!

So Wednesday I had the calcium score done, it took longer to get into the appointment that the actual scan they did that took like 10 minutes if that. I should have the results maybe Monday or Tuesday. This will at least tell me if something is wrong with my heart or if it really is just the fact I am overweight. Either way I would like to know as I get nervous when my heart rate goes up high and breathing is hard.

I have lost weight before I know I can do it I just need to get strict with myself but eating healthy is so expensive compared to buying junk. I just need to summon the will power! 

So that is pretty much the interesting things of the week. I did watch a movie on Netflix called Missing that was kind of reminded me of a mixed media thriller book but in video format. A tech savvy teen's mother goes missing and she uses her computer skills and all the apps to figure out what is going on. So basically you watch the movie through a computer screen web cam, ring door bell, facetime, etc. It's more of a drama but the thriller part ramps up at the end with the twist which is why it reminds me of a thriller book...lol.

That is pretty much all I have so have a great week and happy reading!

Books I have added

• The Kingdom of Sweets - This is a nutcracker retelling and when I got the email about it I admit I was curious even though it's not my normal type of read.
• The Christmas Appeal - I read The Appeal by this author and it was interesting. It's mixed media and you have to read the emails, text, etc and try and figure out first who was killed, then who the killer is along side the two investigators. It's a different kind of format.

Books read last week

I am splitting up I read because of a Face Off Challenge, so basically these are the three I read before the weekend challenge.

• The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie - I wanted to love this book but it just ended up being okay for me, it's a very popular book and my first romance from the author (I have read her historical mystery series Kat Holloway which I love). I just didn't care the the characters much in this one.
• Finders Keepers - I was bored with most of it but the end picked up and it ended up being okay for me.
• Nightmare Island - This was a cool middle grade horror book that will be great for the fall season that is approaching. It is about Caribbean folklore and creepy kids with no faces!

Okay so I am participating in a readathon on Youtube called the Amazing Readathon and it's based on the Amazing race and this weekend has been a face off where each team has to try and read as many books as they can in a 48 hour time period. It started at 7 cst Friday night for me and we had to spin a wheel that the host made for us and what ever country we landed on our books had to have the colors of that countries flag on it. So between Friday night and Saturday night I listened to 6 short books. The longest one out of the group was Thirteens. the shortest ones were only a couple hours long. 

• Scare Me - This author writes some pretty creepy middle grade. This one was about a haunted house and a contest to see who could decorate their floor the best, but something goes horribly wrong. I liked it.
• Thirteens - The first book in a trilogy about three kids who are all turning thirteen on Halloween and the town who is not so nice and pretty much wants to give them to the January Man to keep their town the way it is. This happens every Thirteen years. I am curious to see how the trilogy will go.
• Night of the Living Dummy - Twins who are rivals get two different dummy's and well one might be a bit possessed. It was decent.
• Deserts, Driving and Derelicts - This is book two of the Campers and Criminals series and it had been a while since I have read book one but my group of cozy loving friends talk about it enough that I had no problem going into book two and it was okay.
• Gettin' Witched - Book 12 in the Witchless in Seattle and I am not sure why it was not just a .5 in the series as it has no real mystery, no murder, I figured out why everyone was acting strange just trying to get Stevie to figure it out. It was only a few hours to listen too and was just okay.
• I Even Funnier - Sequel to I Funny about Jamie the kid comedian and it was okay.

Currently reading

• The Dangerous Lord - Was hoping to finish this one this weekend but the face off threw me off as I didn't know that was going to happen. I am enjoying this one and should finish soon as I am on 291 of 376.
• The Gilded Web - I am half way through this one and to be honest I am just not real sure what I think of it, part of me don't like the other part just wants to keep reading...lol. On page 243 of 449.
• The Dead Man in the Garden - Such a fun series about Aggie Morton (a young Agatha Christie) and her friend Hector Porot who solve crimes. It's a fun historical mystery for middle graders and adults as I love it. Only one more to be caught up (hope it's not finished yet).

What might be up next

 One of my historical romances I just don't know which one.

How was your week? What did you get?

Week in Review #46

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

So thanks to all who sent prayers and possi vibes but it was a bust. So I went to see the Dr. and evidently my other doctor never sent him anything, so he didn't know why he was seeing me, so I sat in the room forever and thought they forgot me. Then his nurse practitioner came in telling me what was wrong and asked me all sorts of questions so I had to explain what my doctor has done regarding my heart and why I was there, then she left and was gone forever!

Then finally he came in and talked with me and then said he finally got my info and doesn't think anything is wrong with my heart but that I am just fat (my term not his, his is fancy like deconditioning), sighs. He said he doesn't like doing stress test but if I wanted he would set up a calcium screening as it's suppose to show how much is in the heart as that is what causes blockages, so I said better safe than sorry and wanted to know if anything was wrong so I have an appointment for it on Wednesday. So hopefully all goes well.

I also need to just crack down on the eating but it's so hard. I hate cooking for one thing and living with my father who likes to eat out doesn't help. We go walking but I need to start some other exercise, but it's hard when my body doesn't cooperate!

So other than that I don't have much to report.

Have a great week and happy reading!

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of The Paris Agent

Waiting On Wednesday - Finch House

Books I have added

• Slime Doesn't Pay - I was excited to get approved for this one as I have tried for R.L. Stine books before and got denied...lol.
• Finch House - Featured this one on my Waiting on Wed. post and now I have it! :)

Books read last week

• The Paris Agent - Historical Fiction book that I thought was okay, just not a fan of WWII setting and was hoping there would be more of a mystery surrounding the double agent.
• To Sir Phillip With Love - I LOVED this one! I am really enjoying the Bridgerton series, I haven't decided if I want to watch the show as I know it will be different...lol.
• The Murder of Mr. Wickham - This was really fun, it's centers around all the characters from Jane Austen's novels and the author seems to be killing off the villains from the books...lol.
• Five Survive - I thought this was decent, liked Good Girls Guide to Murder more though.
• The Counterfeit Scoundrel - Loved this one! It's my first by this author but not my last. I may have to get to book two in this series soon. :)

Currently reading

• The Dangerous Lord - The third book in the Lord Trilogy and I am 100 pages into it and enjoying it. It's my print book.
• The Gilded Web - First book in the Web series and I am enjoying this one too but not as far only about 8% into the ebook.
• Finders Keepers - The second book in the Bill Hodges trilogy and like most King books it's slow to start and I am about 22% into it and it's just meh...lol.

What might be up next

 

How was your week? What did you get?

Review of The Paris Agent

 1970—In the aftermath of his war-ravaged past, Noah Ainsworth is still haunted by memories of his time as a fearless British operative in France. But a critical head injury left Noah with frustrating memory gaps and a burning question that plagues him—who was the agent who saved his life during that tragic final mission?

Determined to find answers, Noah's daughter Charlotte embarks on a quest from their cozy home in Liverpool, leading her to the incredible lives of two ordinary women—Chloe and Fleur—who transformed into fearless spies on foreign soil. But as Charlotte unravels the heroic exploits of these women and their connection to Noah, she inadvertently stumbles upon evidence of a double agent lurking disturbingly close to home, drawing her into a treacherous web of secrets and unearthing a shocking story from those final days of the war.

Once again, Kelly Rimmer takes readers on a gripping journey, one that threads the lives of two remarkable women into the fabric of history, unveiling the power of courage, family and the indelible mark left by the darkest era of human conflict.

First I am going to state that I don't read much historical fiction and that I am not a huge fan of books centered around WWII, but I thought the blurb sounded interesting and I think I might have thought it was going to be a bit more of a mystery with the blurb talking about the double agent, etc. 

So this is told with three POVs, there is Charlotte who is trying to help her father find the man who saved him and he is also hoping to remember some things he can't. Then Chloe/Josie and Fleur/Eloise who were the female spies that new Noah during the war. 

I must say that I was a bit confused listening to this one because the chapters said Josie and Eloise and it took me half the book to figure out the other names belonged to the same ladies. I also couldn't really tell you that much about what happened with them beside the fact that during this time that the book is set in there was a traitor in their midst and they didn't know who that person was till it was to late. 

I was more interested in the 1970's timeline with Charlotte who after she finds a guy to help them. Theo was a family genealogy researcher who knew the man in charge of trying to find all those who worked in the SOE, it seems they had been trying to find Noah for a long time but he swears he never got any of the letters.  Some things from this time during the war and the SOE operatives are still classified but they were able to find the guy that Noah wanted to talk to were he finds out some things he was not happy about. Charlotte could tell how upset it made her father so she wants to try and figure out what exactly happened and how it involves her father, which brings them to eventually learning about the two ladies and finding out about the double agent.

Okay so I will say that for me this was a bit of a slow story and while the end of it was very sad and emotional, I think I thought the 1970s timeline was going to be a bit more suspenseful with finding the double agent part but it wasn't, it was just wrapped up with yep this is what happened and it was a horrible thing and that is that. So was kind of a let down. 

I do think that people who really enjoy books centered on WWII will probably enjoy this much more than I did, but I did think it was okay, just not really my thing. I tried dipping my toe into just  Historical Fiction and will stick more with my Historical romances and mysteries...lol.

3 stars

Waiting on Wednesday ~ Finch House

Waiting on Wednesday has been around for a while and I know that it was taken over by Wishful Endings and called Can't wait Wednesday so will link to her.

Encanto meets Coraline in this spooky middle grade story that deals with family ties, fear of change, and generational trauma as it follows a girl who must convince an old, haunted house to release its hold on her and her family.

Eleven-year-old Micah has no interest in moving out of her grandfather’s house. She loves living with Poppop and their shared hobby of driving around rich neighborhoods to find treasures in others’ trash. To avoid packing, Micah goes for a bike ride and ends up at Finch House, the decrepit Victorian that Poppop says is Off Limits. Except when she gets there, it’s all fixed up and there’s a boy named Theo in the front yard. Surely that means Finch House isn’t Off Limits anymore? But when Poppop finds her there, Micah is only met with his disappointment.

By the next day, Poppop is nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere, Micah’s instincts lead her back to Finch House. But once Theo invites her inside, Micah realizes she can’t leave. And that, with its strange whispers and deep-dark shadows, Finch House isn’t just a house…it’s alive.

Can Micah find a way to convince the house to let her go? Or will she be forced to stay in Finch House forever?

This one sounds like a fun one for spooky season that is just around the corner! Comes out in September from Margaret K. McElderry Books.