Vanessa’s Comments (group member since Jun 15, 2017)

Vanessa’s comments from the Read, Reading, Planning to Read and More group.

Final Heir came out today. The grand finale, or is it? I suspect that I will be up way too late tonight reading.

On another note, I loved Ruby Fever and Soul Taken. I think both authors did a fine job this time around.
I read a book to complete one of the Kindle Summer Challenge "badges".
The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis. This is set in both WWII 1943 Paris and in mid 80's Boston. The premise is that a young woman, Aurora, (Rory), Grant is well off, contemplating a masters in fine arts, and is waiting on word of her fiance "Hux" who while working with Doctors without borders is kidnapped with 2 others and there has been no word of him for months. Depressed and continually fighting with her Mother, she comes upon a building that sparks something in her. The building has been unused for 4 years and because of a fire needs repairs. As an artist herself, she had been encouraged to follow her dream of opening an art gallery for unknown artists and decides to move forward with it.
The former shop owner, Soline Roussel, came to the US in the 40's,and started a very successful bridal gown business, (her family was famous in Paris). Her back story is similar, she was engaged to an American who was an American Field Service ambulance driver. After the Nazi's came to Paris, she also volunteered to help in the Red Cross war hospital. He sent her to the US for her safely and soon after they got word that his ambulance was found abandoned and covered in blood.
Similar stories formed a bond between the 2 women, but their friendship was growing before they knew each's back story. This is a sweet and emotional read, I would rate it 4.5 stars.
I'm finishing up the Dirty Deeds 2 compilation by Faith Hunter, (she has 2 stories), RJ Blain, Devon Monk, and Jennifer Estep. I'm almost done & I have to finish, Monk's story and read Esteps'. So far, all are pretty good.
On audio, I have been sporadically listening to The Dark History pod casts. These are sometimes amusing. crazy, horrific, and like potato chips, you can't just listen to one. The host Bailey Sarian is at times immature, irreverent, and just plain old goofy, but her team digs up some wild tales. I take some things at face value, and others are conjecture. These are entertaining, one of the negatives are the commercials but you can skip ahead to get back to the story. They're if nothing else, entertaining. Warning, she swears and says outlandish things at times.

I understand what you say about rentals. I've rented many times to travel and have only had 1 really bad vehicle. it smelled like pot & we couldn't get the smell out of the car. When we reached our destination we made them give us another vehicle. It stunk! I should also add that many businesses rent trucks and take the lease cost off as a tax write-off. My truck was one of those. I paid over $6,000 less for my truck, (taxes and registration included), than a comparable one that was at a dealership and was 3 years old.
I think if you do your homework then you can get a great deal. I should also mention than a new truck like mine was almost $60,000. I'm too cheap to buy new. Good Luck I know how hard and time consuming finding a new vehicle can be.
I'm glad that the FIL wasn't duped and the bank was looking out for his best interest.

Thanks Melindeeloo... I have the Old World War but I was unaware of the Spellbound book. I found these books to be easy reads, there are a lot of side characters and they are usually tied together at some point in one side of the series or the other.

TINNGG... When I was looking a couple of years ago for my latest vehicle, (a ford pickup truck), I travelled all over our area looking for a used one and I finally bought one from Enterprise. It was one year old and well maintained. They must have sent me 40-50 pictures of it and the mileage was pretty reasonable. Once you pick out a vehicle you have to pay to transport it to your local rental center that deals with vehicle sales, (not all of them do). With today's current situation there might not be anything that strikes your fancy, but it is worth a look. Also, I could only find 3 year old vehicles at the dealerships, (their leases were up), and the truck that I bought was 1 year old. Circumstances might be different, but it worth keeping in the back of your mind. Just look up Enterprise vehicles for sale.

Congrats, Congrats, Congrats to Kristi and BJ I wish you both wonderful travels and much time with those that you care about!

Silly me. I married a guy who is 7 years younger than me and owns his own business. I carry the insurance so it's off to work I go for quite a few more years! :-)

I can't wait to read Ruby Fever .
I feel like I have been waiting forever for this book. I read the excerpt about the compound it feels like ages ago.

Patricia Briggs also has a book coming out on Tuesday Soul Taken This is the next adventure in the Mercy Thompson series.

If anyone reads the B.R. Kingsolver Crossroads Chronicles series, book two, Night Market comes out next Sunday August 28th. (Apparently there isn't a link for this on GoodReads yet).

LAB... I hope that everything is well with your husband. Hugs and prayers to you all!

Happy Belated Birthday to Carol! I hope that you had a great day!! :-)

I'm almost finished listening to Darius. I am loving this book, poor Darius falls in love with a human woman. There are small scenes with a few of the original brothers, V, Rhage, Z (who is downright scary) and Phury, the king who isn't a king, and Tor & Wellsie, (insert sad face here).

LoveYourShelf... I'll let u know just how sad the ending is. We know what happened, we just don't want it to be personal.

Hi Everyone, I pop in to read the posts nearly everyday, I just don't get a chance to post.
I finished Jana DeLeon's latest audible book for the Miss Fortune series. Flame and Fortune. I love these in audio. Her next book in that series is out this week, I think. She's always behind on audio books, she never used to be but now it's about a month or 2 before the next book comes out that the audible for the last book is available.
I continued on my quest to listen to or read series that I have been wanting to read, and I started DeLeon's Shaye Archer series. I'm on book 4. Wicked now.

Lisa, I loved both the Veronica Speedwell and the Lady Julia series.
I think that those of us who still read the BDB series and do audible should know that Ward did an audible only book on Darius. It's available now and when I finish Wicked, I'm going to start that. It is the story of Darius and the love of his life, Beth's mother. I kind of can't wait to start it. The book is almost 7 hours long, and costs a full credit so I don't feel too bad that it's an audible only book. I hate when an author places a book on audible only and it's 3 hours long for a full credit. Happy Reading All!

Feel better soon TINNGG.

Kristi... I'm so happy for you, an actual countdown to retirement! Good Luck!
Both places sound wonderful for a vacation. Is your hubby going also?

I just returned from a short vacation in Maine. I ate lots of great seafood. We drove to a couple of costal towns that we haven't explored before. We stayed in a new to us hotel. (They're pretty much all mom & pop motels on the coast, with very few corporate hotels). I took an open cockpit bi-plane ride & took a friend with me who enjoys it just as much as I do. The weather was awesome, & the travel was easy for a change. I would move to coastal Maine if I had my way. It's not any colder, in fact it's sometimes warmer because of the ocean.

On kindle I finished reading all of the Codex Guild books that are currently out. I have also read a couple of contemporary novels, Lessons in Chemistry. Set in the 1950's it's a crazy mix of oddball humor and outright discrimination. The main character is a rather obsessive personality who just wants to make her mark in science. Elizabeth Zott has been attacked. her work copied, and her work and ideas have been published by her boos under his byline. They say that there is someone for everyone and her "someone" is brilliant scientist Calvin Evans. They have such and unconventional relationship. Eventually, Elizabeth must find another means to support herself, and she accidentally falls into a cooking show. She makes this show a sensation by using examples of chemical reactions in cooking. She tends to use the scientific name for common items and in the ends she encourages many women to explore more than what would have been expected of their lives. It ends up being a interesting mix.
I don't know if you folks have ever read a book that has a kind of cadence or rhythm to it. Especially in the beginning chapters it flows with a kind of beat to it.
I started this book as one of the "badges" in this summer's kindle reading challenge.

I started reading the BR Kingsolver's Dark Street trilogy. Gods and Demons. I really like the action and the main characters. I have really liked some of her series in the past and I'm sure that if the 2nd and 3rd books are like the first that I will be counting this series as a favorite too.

On audio I have been listening to a mix. The Bodyguard was just as good as others have said. The narration was good, the storyline, the angst, the humor, all of it! I agree it was a 5* read.
I'm still popping in to listen to the Oxford Tearoom Mysteries in between other novels.

After the Apple Strudel Alibi, I'm going to listen to Where the Crawdads Sing. It's going to be a movie so I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and give it a listen.

Hi Everyone. I've been stopping in to read posts but I haven't been posting myself.
On kindle, I have been reading the Annette Marie Guild Codex books. I am almost done with all that she has out. I am really liking the Druid books in that series, and I look forward to more of the Magipol agent Kit's books as well.

I have been listening to a sometimes sweet and other times awkward little series, The Oxford Tearoom series, and decided to take a bit of a break so I am listening to
The Murder of Mr. Wickham

I was looking forward to this who done it with nearly all of Jane Austen's characters at a house party where Wickham gets murdered and everyone is a suspect. Sadly, it is drawn out, every couple is in distress, no one is talking to each other and the indecision is grating. Good thing I got this for free or I would have returned it . I just want to know who did it.

Kristi... I like the Firebird Chronicles, and I love the Chronicles of St. Mary's on audio. It is one of my favorite series to listen to.

Re: The skipping of sex scenes, I prefer that we have discretion and maturity, (and bull...). I like a good sex scene as well as anyone, but when their whole existence is to have sex, I give them a pass and jump through the scenes.

Demetra.. I read the first book on the ice home series. thanks for reminding me about the second book/series.

Georgiana.. That's a lot of re-reads. I'm more of a twice through kind of person. I do think that it's about time that I give the Kate Daniel's series another walk through.

I can't remember, are there going to be anymore "Julie" books anytime soon?

So sorry Waverly, I agree with TINNGG, terrible alternatives for sure.

melindeeloo... I liked the Beechwood series, it was light and sweet. I also liked the Dragons Are a Girl’s Best Friend. books. I like the premise that Lyra can "steal" someone's magic.

I'm still reading the Guild Codex books and have been listening to a couple of books that I got on sale, The Oxford Tearoom Mysteries Box Set Collection I The lead character, Gemma moves back home to Oxford, England after spending the last 8 years in Australia working in the corporate world, to open a tea shop in one of the small hamlets near Oxford University. The MC is a bit of a dishrag and so not a modern woman at first, but as the books continue she gets a little bit better. These are easier reading murder mysteries, with nothing too complicated to follow. She is not my favorite character and at times I have to shake my head at her clumsiness, inability to stand up for herself, or apparent stupidity, but all in all she's not too bad. As I said, she is getting better with time.

I sorry for all of the folks here that have pet issues. We have 2 ten-year old kitty boys who are brothers. One is developing cataracts and I can see that he is operating on smell and touch more. TINNGG good luck with the new puppy. What kind is it?

On the reading front... I have been reading Annette Marie's Guild Codex books. I'm really loving them and I really love that they are on KU.
On audio I finished up the second bookk in the Fred the Vampire Accountant series, Undeath and Taxes . These are funny and quirky. Fred is so not what you would expect in a vampire. These are a nice "breather" between heavier series.

HappyBookWorm... I just finished all of the St Mary's series on audio. I hadn't read the latest Time Police either so I finished that too. I couldn't remember all of the details of book 11, Plan for the Worst, so a re-listen was necessary. Another Time, Another Place and A Catalogue of Catastrophe were all that I expected; fun, heart wrenching, full of interesting historical facts, and a twisting and turning plot. Max's adventures are always changing and unpredictable.
Hard Time and Saving Time have Max and Leon's son Matthew, his friends and squad members, Luke and Jane (Team Weird), saving the day as only they can, accidentally. To be fair they are actually very smart and are just the right people for their missions. I look forward to the next Time Police series book, About Time which is due out on October 13th.

I just started the second book in the Fred the Vampire Accountant series, Undeath and Taxes These are funny and quirky, Fred is so not what you can expect from a vampire. He's bookish, mousy, and definitely not a fighter. Vampire strength is rather wasted on him, but in the end Fred finds a way! The audio is great, narrated by Kirby Heybourne and Fred has just the right nerdy sound.

On the kindle side I have been knocking off books. Heroic Hearts
This anthology was pretty good as far as anthologies go. The only dud was the Holder story, it was a bit trite and amateurish. Butcher's and Harris' were a bit weak, but I did like all of the rest and of course especially the Patricia Briggs story about Asil's fourth date.
I read a couple of Sandra Sookoo's What the Stubborn Viscount Desires and What a Wayward Lord Needs All of these are strong women, (Not historically accurate), each with their strong suits, mathematics, science, etc. but fun to read anyway. The men are smitten and frequently unaware of their true feelings. In these books the heroine is part of their mission. (They are "King's Men" spies for the Crown).

I listened to/read a Laurann Dohner series starter, Drantos I had to switch over to for the second book, Kraven because the narrator portrays the 2nd sister who is supposed to be a strong ruthless LA lawyer as a screeching banshee. It was too much for me. Easier to read. It might prefer her New Species series. I got these on an Audible sale.

Because of the Amazon Kindle challenge, I read a contemporary romance, Dial A for Aunties This is a cute book, an overly controlled young woman goes on a blind date that her Asian mother accepted for her on an online dating service, and consequently she ends up tasering him and they have a small crash and she realizes that she killed him. Add 3 more overbearing aunts to the mix and sibling rivalries among the "Aunties". and you have a charming little book. Nothing spectacular but fun.

I read the latest (14th), book in Ashley's Shifters Unbound series, Tiger's Daughter I liked visiting with the Austin Shifters, and Ben and Xander, ok so almost all of the Austin crew. The youngest of the Morrissey men Connor, goes through his transition in record time and the one he chooses is Tiger Girl. She has known, and I think that his juvenile brain knew this too, that Connor is her mate from the moment she was rescued by the Morrissey's and her father Tiger. There are a couple of storylines going on here. The romance between Tiger Girl and Connor, a weird Shifter Bureau man who kidnaps Connor, (Tiger Girl jumps in when they tranq and transport him to a warehouse). These books always have a couple of background stories. I loved Tiger Girl and Connor together. The Morrissey clan and Tiger's family are a great nurturing place for Tiger Girl and Connor.

I started the Guild Codex books, Three Mages and a Margarita . I have been meaning to read these for so long. I jumped right in to the second book, Dark Arts and a Daiquiri . A human bartender in a magical world. Need I say more?

I've been in Georgia for the last few days. My Dad was hospitalized for double pneumonia, for 12 days, (he has congestive heart failure), and my sister was here for 2 weeks, I'm here for the next 2 weeks and my brother will be here for 2 weeks after I leave. He has shown a marked improvement in just the last few days. His biggest problem is that he loves pre-made food and the sodium is sky high. He's 86 years old and I think that the hospitalization and his subsequent weakness has scared him and he's trying to make a concerted effort to walk and do the stretches that the physical therapist has prescribed. All in all, he's improving. As a side note , I think that I'm going to change my name, as soon as I'm going to do something for myself, he finds something else for me to do! LOL!! :-}

Edited for clarity!

Carol wrote: "I'm reading the and enjoying. It has 2 time lines. One takes place in Paris during the war. The heroine loves books. :-)"

Hi Carol... I listened to The Paris Library.
I liked it very much. As far as WWII Paris Resistance books go it had a different take. A more subtle approach.

Sounds interesting!

My big question today is how do I translate a book from Netgalley to my kindle fire? It doesn't have the option to download to your kindle and it is a cookbook, and I'm not going to look at a huge cookbook on my phone. (It is on the Netgalley shelf app). I'm not sure that I want to download it to my computer and then send it out to my kindle, if I can circumvent that, I would rather go directly to my fire. I know that there are apps that translate and I'm not sure which one is compatible with my older fire.

I haven't heard of Libro either. Almost all of my books are from audible or library loans. Let us know when you find out more please.

I just finished a book that was recommended here quite some time ago. What the Stubborn Vicount Desires by Sandra Sookoo. I liked it the h wasn't much of a "historically accurate" heroine, but I liked it. The premise is that the h, Sophia Wickham wants the Vicount to decide to marry her or not. He's been avoiding her for 3 years. Instructed by his father to marry her, (he won her betrothal in a card game), Jonathan, Viscount Trewellian, (who makes up these tongue twisters) is employed as a "King's Man" a spy for the crown and having suffered loss he's not interested in a marriage but he doesn't release her from the betrothal. Instead he takes her with him on a mission. Sophia proves to be a very well read and intelligent partner. This was a rather quick read and is a spin-off of another series which I have not read.

So, i was looking at other books by this author and came upon this.
Sunflower Season: Historical Romance Anthology for Ukraine. it is only $7.99 for kindle, comes out June 7th, and has 80 authors contributing. I'm on the app so I can't pop links in, but I decided that it is for a good cause, so I'm going to buy it even if I don't know all of the authors.

I just finished an ARC of Helen Harper's new series, Hummingbird

Mairi Wallace is a mute young woman who labors for a couple of shopkeepers in a tartan shop. Underfed, abused, and most certainly underappreciated, Mairi thinks that this is the life that she has been given. An orphan with no family and no understanding of her background Mairi heeds the call of an old friend to care for a very ill child at the orphanage where they both grew up. Little does she know that her life will change forever with this mission.

Harper does a good job of creating an oppressive world where mages rule, take what they want, and execute whomever they deem troublesome.

I was delighted to receive an ARC of Hummingbird, (A Charade of Magic Book 1). This story is the first book in a new Helen Harper series and I am looking forward to subsequent books in this world.

I was wondering where the Ilona Andrews' snippet about a swordsman in the catacombs is on their blog? I missed it and can't find it anywhere, maybe I didn't look back far enough, but I have read all of the previous posts and can't recall seeing it.
They did post a snippet from an unnamed story under "Meow, Meow".

On the other hand, I have an ARC for Helen Harper's latest series, Hummingbird I just got approved and I think that the book comes out today or tomorrow.