Jane Litte's Blog, page 23

REVIEW: Four Thousand Paws: Caring for the Dogs of the Iditarod: A Veterinarian’s Story by Lee Morgan

An intimate account—the first from a trail veterinarian—of the canines who brave the challenges of the Iditarod.

Few sporting events attract as much attention, or create as much spectacle, as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Each March, despite subzero temperatures and white-out winds, hundreds of dogs and dozens of mushers journey to Anchorage, Alaska, to participate in “The Last Great Race on Earth,” a grueling, thousand-mile race across the Alaskan wilderness.

While many veterinarians appl...

Review: My Fair Brady by Brian D. Kennedy

My Fair Lady meets the classic teen film She’s All That in this charming and swoony new rom-com from Brian D. Kennedy, author of A Little Bit Country. Perfect for fans of What If It’s Us and She Gets the Girl.

Wade Westmore is used to being in the spotlight. So when he’s passed over for the lead in the spring musical, it comes as a major blow—especially when the role goes to his ex-boyfriend, Reese, who dumped him for being too self-involved.

Shy sophomore Elijah Brady is used to being overloo...

REVIEW: Once Persuaded, Twice Shy by Melodie Edwards

When Anne Elliott broke up with Ben Wentworth, it seemed like the right thing to do . . . but now, eight years later, she’s not so sure.

In her scenic hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Anne is comfortable focusing on her successful career: filling her late mother’s shoes as town councilor and executive director of her theater company. She certainly keeps busy as the all-around wrangler of eccentric locals, self-centered family members, elaborate festivals, and the occasional attacking goose. Bu...

REVIEW: At First Spite by Olivia Dade

Note for Readers: The author and I follow each other on social media and have been friendly for some years. Regardless, this review is my honest opinion.

Content notes: Grief, depression, death of a child (off page but recalled in the book).

Dear Olivia Dade,

I look forward to your books every year – it’s not unusual for them to turn up in my best of lists – and you are a reliably good author for me. I know I’ll always like a book from you, possibly even love it.

At First Spite is a book I lik...

REVIEW: Texas Cowboy Sweetheart by Rebecca Crowley

The land they love might tear them apart…

Josie Star knew one day she’d step into her father’s boots and take over the Lone Star Ranch, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. When her father collapses, she trades her corporate desk for a dusty tractor to shoulder the legacy of generations of Jewish Texans. She’s ready to take her place in the Lone Star’s history – with a little help from Easton McKinney. The ranch foreman is her lifelong best friend – and a man for whom her feelings onc...

REVIEW: How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi edited by Chris Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski

In the vein of acclaimed popular-science bestsellers such as Atlas Obscura, Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry, The Way Things Work, What If?, and Undeniable, the co-founders of the global science organization Nerd Nite bring readers a collection of wacky, yet fascinating STEM topics.

For 20 years, Nerd Nite has delivered to live audiences around the world, the most interesting, fun, and informative presentations about science, history, the arts, pop culture, you name it. There hasn’t ...

Review: The Royal Curse (Twilight Mages #1) by Elliot Grayson

Dawn mage. Twilight mage. Cursed, useless, damaged, dangerous…

His birth magic leaves Prince Nikola with nothing but bad choices: live as another man’s possession, subject to his whims and his desires, or remain dependent on a potion that stunts his powers and prevents him from knowing love.

Andreas vows to protect the prince with his life—whether Nikola wants him to or not. After all, the queen pays his soldier’s wage. Nikola’s nothing but a job to do.

But when they find themselves stranded, wi...

REVIEW: The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman

In an exuberant post WWII New York City, a young woman is forced to reinvent her life and choose between the safe and the ethical, and the men who represent each…

Set in New York City in the heady aftermath of World War II when the men were coming home, the women were exhaling in relief, and everyone was having babies, The Trouble With You is the story of a young woman whose rosy future is upended in a single instant. Raised never to step out of bounds, educated in one of the Sister Seven Co...

REVIEW: Sleeping With Friends by Emily Schultz

This was an Amazon First Reads offering. Blurb time:

When Mia Sinclair-Kroner wakes from a coma, all she can remember are the movies she’s known and loved. Her college friends quickly assemble for a weekend party, in an effort to help her remember. But with old friends come old wounds, and it soon becomes clear that Mia’s accident might not have been an accident at all.

Was it Agnes, driven by her unspoken resentments? Or Zoey, who covets everything Mia has? Have the years apart only fanned the...

Review: The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat (Perry Mason series book 7) by Erle Stanley Gardner

WHEN THE CAT’S AWAY THE MURDERER WILL PLAY….

In his will, Peter Laxter guaranteed his faithful caretaker a job and a place to live… for life. But Laxter’s grandson Sam says the deal doesn’t include the caretaker’s cat—and he wants the feline off the premises by hook, crook… or poison. When Perry Mason takes the case, he quickly finds there’s much more at stake than an old man’s cat—a million dollars or more to be exact…

Review:

Dear readers,

For years Perry Mason books had been some of my favori...