Two Bloggers One Series ~ I'll Be Home For Mischief by Jacqueline Frost

Reading this one together was a no brainer as we both enjoy this series and have read several of them together. Once you read what I have to say, go on over and see what Barb thought at Booker T's Farm.

It’s Christmastime in Mistletoe, Maine, and the Historical Society has launched a widespread campaign to celebrate the town’s 150th anniversary. Descendants of the founding family, the Snows, have returned for the first time, and Holly is determined to make the family’s visit magical. In an attempt to put Mistletoe on the map, Holly’s mother, a respected local baker, attempts to break a record by baking the world’s largest gingerbread man, but her plans are whisked away when Mr. Snow’s body ends up in the batter. 

When Mr. Moore, the local mistletoe farmer, is accused of the crime, Holly reprises her role as amateur sleuth to protect the sweet older man. Between hosting the inconsolable Mrs. Snow and other guests at the inn, receiving threatening messages telling her to stop her investigation, and preparing for her first wedding anniversary with Sheriff Evan Gray, she might need a Christmas miracle to survive.

When someone breaks into Holly’s office and scratches a warning into her desk, she knows she has little time left. Can Holly uncover the killer before someone else gets burned, or is her involvement a recipe for trouble?

If you want an whimsical Christmas cozy mystery that is just full of Christmas fun with a side of murder mystery then you need to read this series.

In this one the town of Mistletoe is getting ready for the towns 150th anniversary and they are going all out. Decked in Victorian clothing and Holly's mom has decided to try and break the gingerbread world record. She is going to make the largest gingerbread man ever but things don't go so well when someone is killed and left in the giant gingerbread man cookie cutter.

Descendants of the founders are in town and not everyone is happy about it and so it was interesting to see who might have been the killer. 

With this one I found Holly to be a bit selfish in her sleuthing or a bit annoying. Her friends and family wanted her to be careful and she would kind of shrug things off as if she has never been in any near death experiences which she has been, in almost all the books. I know most sleuths think they don't get in any trouble but I felt like she was kind of rude about it.

I really read this series though for the atmosphere of mistletoe, and the side characters. I love the reindeer games that they put on at the  Christmas Tree Farm and the side characters like Cookie, who cracks me up. 

So overall I enjoyed this one.

4 stars.

Week in Review #108

How was your week? What did you get? 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.

I totally missed last weeks post so your getting two weeks worth of book which isn't really much...lol. 

The weather has been up and down but it's not been to terribly cold and I am very happy. Hope those dealing with snow or anything else are doing okay, but please keep that nasty stuff up north. :) 

I can't believe that Wednesday is going to be Christmas! I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah since that starts on Christmas this year.

Books I have added

Nothing

Books I Read

• A Christmas Carol - It was a reread and still a good one. 
• A Merry Little Murder Plot - The latest in the Library Lovers series and enjoyable.
• Spy School Goes Wild - The latest in the Spy School series and a lot of fun.
• The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year - This was a nice blend of rom-com and cozy mystery and I really liked it. 

Currently Reading

• The Sherlock Society - First book in a new series! I was excited when I found this as I didn't know this author had came out with a new series. I am almost finished and enjoying it. 
• To Hell With Hallmark - This is a horror book making fun of Hallmark movies and it's kind of fun.
• A Holiday by Gaslight - A Victorian historical romance and so far it's okay. 

Have a great week and happy reading!

Two Bloggers One Series ~ Fractured by Karin Slaughter

So it has taken us a while to circle back to Will Trent as we both were not huge fans of book one. We figured we would give this one a try to see if we wanted to continue. This one was surprisingly better than book one. After you see what I have to say go on over to Booker T's Farm and see what Barb thought.  

When Atlanta housewife Abigail Campano comes home unexpectedly one afternoon, she walks into a nightmare. A broken window, a bloody footprint on the stairs and, most devastating of all, the horrifying sight of her teenage daughter lying dead on the landing, a man standing over her with a bloody knife. The struggle which follows changes Abigail's life forever.

When the local police make a misjudgement which not only threatens the investigation but places a young girl's life in danger, the case is handed over to Special Agent Will Trent of the Criminal Apprehension Team - paired with detective Faith Mitchell, a woman who resents him from their first meeting.

But in the relentless heat of a Georgia summer, Will and Faith realise that they must work together to find the brutal killer who has targeted one of Atlanta's wealthiest, most privileged communities - before it's too late...

So I wasn't a huge fan of book one, so it's been a while since Barb and I read that one as I think we just put if off, but it was time to bite the bullet. Surprisedly I liked this one a lot more. 

It starts off with the action as a woman walks in on a man kneeling over a body, she has to fight him and ends up killing the intruder. She finds out the girl killed (besides the dead man) isn't her daughter and so her daughter is missing. 

Will Trent has to work this case with a young female officer and he is not thrilled. He is not in the good graces of the department because of what happened with his previous assignment. 

The family of the missing teen is a bit of a mess even before what happened and this is not helping and then add in a lot of other things and it ended up being a nice fast paced police procedural.

Will Trent is growing on me, he is different as he is dyslexic and so it's harder for him to read and do his reports. I thought his quirks strange at first but learning more about him is helping. His fiance wasn't in this one much which helped as I am not a fan of hers and I think it hindered some of my liking the first book, so hopefully going forward I will continue to enjoy the series.

4 stars 

Week in Review #107

How was your week? What did you get? 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.

First week of December is down and I really don't have anything to say about it. Watched some movies, read some books. The weather has been decent for the most part.

Have a great week and happy reading.

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of Blood Rites

Books I have added

• Copycat Conundrum - I enjoyed the first book in this middle grade spy novel about a group of interesting middle graders recruited to be spies because adults don't pay attention to kids. :)

Books I Read

• Starry Night - This Christmas book from Debbie Macomber was okay but not a new favorite.
• Christmas at Shelter Inn - This Christmas one though from RaeAnne Thayne was great and heartwarming!
• The Christmas You Found Me - So different from the authors other series and has the romance kind of backwards as it's a marriage of convivence to help the mans little girl and then comes love. Has some very sad moments but so sweet!
• I'll Be Home For Mischief -  One of my favorite series but in this one Holly sort of annoyed me so this one didn't get as high a rating as the others in the series, but it was still great as I love all the side characters!
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - That is my fun copy of this book that I found and the story was cute but way different than the show we have all seen. :)
• The Night Before Christmas - I am participating in a Very Vintage Christmas and this one along with Rudolph fit prompts. This edition from 1998 was fun but a lot of things going on in each picture. :)

Currently Reading

• A Christmas Carol - This is a reread but I am listening to it with the narrator Jim Dale who is amazing and one of my favorite narrators. :) 
• A Merry Little Murder Plot - I love this series and need to get going with this one before my library time runs out! I am only 7% into it. 

How did your week go? Hope you had a great week!

Two Bloggers One Series ~ Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

Continuing our read of The Dresden Files and enjoying it so much! I love this series so this has been a fun reread for me. Once your done here go on over and see what Barb thought at Booker T's Farm. 

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there is something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film's producer believes he's the target of a sinister entropy curse, but it's the women around him who are dying, in increasingly spectacular ways.

Harry is doubly frustrated because he got involved with this bizarre mystery only as a favor to Thomas, his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can't quite figure out, until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas' oversexed vampire family. Harry is about to discover that Thomas' family tree has been hiding a shocking secret; a revelation that will change Harry's life forever.

Harry is as broke as usual and we first have him passing on a litter of puppies to someone, and one accidently gets left behind so that part is kind of cute as he has this little puppy through all the chaos. Then Thomas ask him for some help and he really doesn't want too but he needs the money. This has him going undercover at an adult film studio! There is a curse surrounding the studio and the guy that Thomas wants him to help (can't remember his name).

Of course things get a bit more complicated than a simple curse and we find out more about Thomas and why he helps Dresden instead of killing him like his sister or his entire family for that matter. While trying to protect Thomas from his own sister some revelations come to light that will change Dresden's life forever.

Okay so I really need to review these straight after I read them as I can't recall a lot of things now but it was really an awesome listen. It's always fun going on an adventure with Dresden and a lot of fun with him being very uncomfortable in an adult film studio! I also love his new puppy because even though he keeps saying he won't be keeping him I know he will. His only surprise will be that it's not going to be a small puppy for long!

I just love this series and it's just as fun the second time around!

5 stars

Week in Review #106

 How was your week? What did you get? 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.

I can't believe it's December 1st! Where has the year gone? I am not a huge fan of the holidays so I will be excited for January 1st to get here. :) Also ready for Spring already as everyone knows I don't like Winter time. 

For those who celebrated Thanksgiving, hope you had a great one! I totally ate to much and still eating leftovers. :) 

I have watched a few Christmas movies trying to get the holly jolly mood but I am more of a Grinch. :) I watched a movie called The Christmas Mystery (love the original title...lol) from 2014, I liked it probably because it had minimal Christmas...unlike the Hallmark Christmas movies which I have watched a few Jingle Bell Run, it's sort of like Amazing Race, but holiday themed and a movie not reality tv. Also watched Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, even though I live in Missouri I am not a Chiefs fan, but it started Tyler Hynes so that is all I needed to get to watch that movie...lol.

Have a great week and happy reading!

Books I have added

Nothing!

Books I Read

• North From Rome - Spy Thriller set in the 50's and it was okay.
• Blood Rites - Reread and just as good as the first time!
• The Blue Castle - This is my second L.M. Montgomery books and I really liked it. 
• Bigfoot Hunters - This was a decent creature feature horror.

Currently Reading

• Christmas at the Shelter Inn - I have really liked what I have read from this author, especially her Christmas books so starting on December right. :) 

How did your week go? Hope you had a great week!