Glossed and Found is the third book in the Bath and Body Mystery series by India Ink. I am one that just simply has to read books in the order they ar...moreGlossed and Found is the third book in the Bath and Body Mystery series by India Ink. I am one that just simply has to read books in the order they are meant to go in, but as I read this book, parts of the story seemed familiar, like I had read them before, but yet other parts of the story I knew I hadn't read before, and I know I didn't read the second book before a couple of days ago. I am thinking I might have picked this book up at one time, not realizing it was book three, and then maybe read parts of it, but even if I did, it was a book worth reading again!
Auntie and Persia run Venus Envy in small town, Gull Harbor, WA. It is an upscale bath and body shop that recently added a hairdresser and a makeup artist. Persia has been gifted with a sensitive smell that allows her to pick up on subtle undertones in a fragrance, and so she creates custom blends for her clients, along with all the fragrance blends for Venus Envy's line of bath and body products.
The day of the Thanksgiving Gala in Gull Harbor, Lisa Tremont, the makeup artist at Venus Envy, ducks out early leaving a note that she had to meet someone about the suspicions that she had regarding her late fathers estate. Persia is mad at Lisa for ducking out, but she also knows Lisa wouldn't do it if it wasn't important. Lisa had a date for the Gala, but she never makes it to the Gala, and never calls her boyfriend to cancel. Her sister Amy is worried sick, but there isn't much her boyfriend, the chief of police can do, since Lisa is an adult.
When no one has heard from Lisa in a couple of days, Amy files an official missing person report, but that isn't good enough for Persia and Amy. With the police budget already stretched to the limits and more cuts in the future, Kyle, the police chief can only do so much, especially since there isn't a ransom note and no clues as to what happened to Lisa. Persia is always checking things out on her own, usually to the chagrin or Kyle, but this time she asks his permission to talk to Lisa's clients, as the owner of the shop where she works, and report back to Kyle. This time kyle is glad to have thee help, because he just doesn't have the resources available to do alot on this case.
Another well-written and enjoyable book. I felt pulled in and routing for Persia to find Lisa, and for Kyle to get more money from the council, although that issue is still left hanging at the end of the book, some of the things mentioned in the book about what to do about the council were brought up and I look forward to the next book to see which ones come through and what help it does give the town. I find myself enjoying the town of Gull Harbor and wishing it was a true place that I could visit, but for now I will just have to keep reading about it in this series.(less)
The James Potter series is a fan fiction book written by Norman Lippert in response to the Harry Potter series, taking up after it and following the...more
The James Potter series is a fan fiction book written by Norman Lippert in response to the Harry Potter series, taking up after it and following the next generation.
I have enjoyed the James Potter series, enjoyed catching up with the characters. I still liked this book, and although I thought it was well written, it was more of Mr Lipperts own though. This book took place in the United States at their wizard school, and I found that even as it was good, I really missed Hogwarts, there is just something magical about Hogwarts and England that the USA can't convey.
Still it was a great adventure and school ending, and it fulfilled a need to continue on with the story. (less)
Bonded is listed as the Prequel to The Mating, which is listed a the Lycan Law Series, so if I figured this right, Bonded should be the first in the L...moreBonded is listed as the Prequel to The Mating, which is listed a the Lycan Law Series, so if I figured this right, Bonded should be the first in the Lycan Law Series.
For the first in a series, it introduced us to the Lycan culture and the groups and exteremists very nicely. It gave us brief glimispes into normal life, but mostly focused on a law enforcement agency that grew out of a need many, many years in the past, and had grew and developed as the times had changed. Again, as with in a number of paranormal, or werewolfe and vampire novels, we find the term "rogue" being flung around. It's used to describe the uncontrollable or thestrongest, even those with the highest sense of honor and duty and it is made to make them feel on the edge of insanity.
Reno is an Enforcer, one of those on the edge of rogue, that takes his job seriously, maybe a little too seriously, but then again that is what makes you like him so much. He truely cares about what he is doing and he wants to make a difference, even if he hides it in a gruff exterior.
Brandi is a student at the academy, trying her best to do everything in her power to get out of normal pack life and build a career for herself, to be something more, to make a difference. A chance meeting with Reno, who is visiting the academy as an instructor alters her life in an instant and leads them both on one wild ride!
I haven't read many werewolf books, but I really liked this, it mirrored ideas in real life that we can all relate to in one way or another and it makes it easy to feel for the people in the book, to route for some, to dispise others, to want one faction to secude and others to fail, and it really, if you listen and take of the blinders of the the fiction tells a story that all need to listen to, but many will never see that, they will only see the story on the surface and that will be enough for them. Great book!! (less)
Not long ago I discovered the author Harlan Coben through the First-Reads program here on Goodreads, and I was blown away by his writing and story-tel...moreNot long ago I discovered the author Harlan Coben through the First-Reads program here on Goodreads, and I was blown away by his writing and story-telling abilities. So much so, that I began a mission to find more books by him and to read them. I found this book at my local Goodwill store and was so excited, I was thrilled to read another Harlan Coben book.
Let me start by saying that this book did not fail to live up to my high expectations! I was engrossed in the book from the very beginning, and haunted by the innuendoes and twists that this story took, never realizing the final outcome until I read it, and even then, I went back to re-read some places to see if I had missed something that would have lead me to the ending, which I never found. It was so well-written and encaging. I can't say enough about the author and his ability. I have recommended this book to a number of people already.
Grace and Jack Lawson seem to be a normal, average middle American couple with two children until the day that Grace picks up some pictures at the photomat, and in the pictures is an old pictures, maybe 20 years old, that seems to have her husband in the group. Where did that come from? And why? The picture changes everything, recalling a time about 20 years earlier when Grace was involved in a life changing event, and somehow, this picture seems to be mixed up with that. As Grace questions, Jack disappears, and as an investigation continues, the former lives of Jack and Grace are uncovered and intertwined into a wild and unbelievable set of happenstances.
I found some characters that I had read in another book, and yet this is not a series, it's just that the books seem to be set in nearby locations and towns, so some characters carry over from one book to another, mostly backgrounds, but others as well, and it becomes like watching real life in that you meet a person and come to find out that they know someone that you know from another event. It is actually neat, and it really makes it that much easier to connect with the books, and the story and the characters, they seem so real!
If you have never read this author, you have just got to try one book. I have found that if I have no idea what to read next, all I have to do is pick up one of his books and I have an a perfect fit. He is an amazing writer and story teller.(less)
I picked up this book at a library sale. Now when I added it to do my review, I find out that it is the third in a series, and I hate to read books ou...moreI picked up this book at a library sale. Now when I added it to do my review, I find out that it is the third in a series, and I hate to read books out of order, but I think I can manage this one.
I have read a few Tami Hoag books before and I have always enjoyed the way she writes and how she spins a story.
This was amazing, it was a well written story with lots of twists and turns that kept you guessing the whole time. The murders were intense and might be hard to handle for some, but the details and well written and give you just enough information to understand the crime without being overly gory or too intense.
The emotions of the people in the story are so easy to relate to you, and you find yourself understanding and feeling for all the people in the story, not just the good guys. Even the emotions or lack of emotions in the bad guys are understandable.
This is a hard book to review in that you don't want to tell to much about the story for fear of giving awsay too many things and spoiling the book for the next person, but at the same time you want to get enough information to spur someone into reading it.
The story follows two main detectives and other minor detectives as they try to make a case in the brutal murder or a woman and her two children. Everyone in the case, including the town, blames a drifter. The story opens with the judge in the case having to make a hard decision about the drifters past, weather it is admissable in court or not. The thing is the writer really dealves into the judges mind in making the decision, you understand her conflict and her reasoning for making the ruling, even though it makes her unpopular in a minute in town, she does what she feels she has to based on the laws.
The story goes from there and tells what happens after the ruling, how it effects certain people in the case and the unhinging of minds.
I would encourage anyone who loves a mystery to read this. It will keep you guessing and make you respect and understand the work of the police, the lawyers and the judges more too.
I have a nook app on my new phone and was searching the Barnes and Noble site for free nook books and saw this listed.
It is quite short and ends in a...moreI have a nook app on my new phone and was searching the Barnes and Noble site for free nook books and saw this listed.
It is quite short and ends in a huge cliffhanger, which I didn't like because it keeps you hanging until the second book finally gets published.
Aside from that it was a good book and did entice me and I do want to read the next book. It's just another vampire story but it is nothing like the twilight vampires, a little more real life and down to earth.
It was well written and a quick easy read that I would encourage anyone who wants to read a vampire story for the first time, this would be a great start. (less)
City of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series and involves another world of Downworlders, demons, half-humans, witches and warlocks...moreCity of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series and involves another world of Downworlders, demons, half-humans, witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, Shadowhunters and more all trying to co-exsist in a human world, the treaties and accords and uprisings and overthrows and defeats. But the main charachters are teenagers trying to understand adults and themselves in the midst of all this, with each adult twisit the truth of the history to fit themselves, making things only muddy for the the teens to figure out.
For parts of the book, I could swear I had read it before, or read something almost the same, but for most of it. it seemed like a new book. The beginning and the, here before thought to e a normal human girl Clarey is able to "see" the ShadowHunters at a club seems so familiar, and the interest between Cleary and ace, and the dislike that Isabelle and Alec feel toward her seems over the top teenage angst, but it so much feels like I have been there before.
I guess that the Shadowhunters and their marks might remind of Lara Adrian and the Breed, or many of the novels I have read, but it is more of a feeling, that although I know I have never seen this book before it feels familiar.
The twists and turns, the bist of History that Cleary learns from each adult she meets, and how each adlut twists the history and their owe involvement in it to make them look less bad, and more a victim of place or timing, than really planning to do bad, is thoughfl and well laidout. The Ultimate twist that turns Jace and Cleary's world on it's head is kinda expected and I really had that card played in t he story, but I still want to continue reading and hearing more.
I am intrigued by the world, I want to read more and see how they figure out their struggles, how they decidede who and what needs to be protected and what needs to be allowed to life free and left alone. Just keep a clean mind that you are going to be dealing with teenagers throughout and sometimes the throught processes and thinking are what you would expect.(less)
I love a good cozy mystery and something little to read, so I picked up this book at a local discount store as we were headed to the airport for a tri...moreI love a good cozy mystery and something little to read, so I picked up this book at a local discount store as we were headed to the airport for a trip to New York, figuring this would be good lite reading for the plane.
Death by Sudoku is billed as the first book in a brand new series, and after reading the book, I am not sure how the series can or will continue, but as the first book it was pretty good.
We met, Lisa, who has been a publicist in Hollywood for a number of years, but after the recent death in her family, she has left her estranged husband, moved back to the family home, and begun writing sudoku puzzles and articles about the craft of solving the puzzles, under an assumed name in that small town. She is lured back to Hollywood by a friend to compete in a Sudoku tournament, where she runs into a "washed up" actor friend, and finds that he believes someone is sending messages in a certain papers sudoku puzzles, when the guy turns up deceased the next morning, Lisa feels she has to take him seriously and discover what has happened and why.
The story is pretty well written and it does use more brain power to figure out the sudoku angle, and for plane reading i was great, especially since we were stuck in Baltimore on the way to New York and the way home both. If I find the second book, I would have to give it a try, but t the moment, I am happy with it as a single book.(less)