Book Review: Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

Book Review: Miracle on 5^th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

Publisher: Harlequin

            HQN Books

Cold weather? Check. Romance novel? Check. Warm blanket? Check. Cup of hot chocolate? Check. I was in the mood for a little light hearted romance and I found it in this book. Apparently this is the third book in a series but from my perspective this is a perfect stand-alone book. The characters are so well developed that you are drawn right in and my hot chocolate was soon forgotten and cold by the time I remembered it.

                                                

The leading lady in this book is a bright, sunny woman named Eva. She is one of those people that are a friend to everyone they meet and always find the positive in every situation. She’s struggling a bit with the anniversary of her grandmother’s death and being alone for the upcoming Christmas holiday. She’s hired to decorate a penthouse for Christmas by the grandmother of the owner while he is away on holiday and she feels the job will be a perfect distraction.

Lucas Blade, the famous thriller author, has other plans. He is not on retreat in Vermont finishing his next book. He is penthouse, hiding from the world and the memories of his deceased wife as well as suffering from a crippling case of writer’s block. His and Eva’s first encounter had me laughing out loud. I won’t spoil the details except to say I could almost picture it in a romantic comedy on the big screen.

Lucas is dark and moody and Eva is sunny and happy. The two polar opposites of their personalities make this fun and engaging story. They have the perfect example of a love/hate relationship. Eva begins to change Lucas and she doesn’t even realize that he begins to change her too. She falls for him but he takes longer to get there. Typical man. J

This is a quick, light hearted read but don’t mark it down as a piece of fluff. It has heart and characters that you will fall in love with. Sure, it’s a romance but it’s also a story of two people mending their broken hearts. I hope you give it a chance and love it as much as I did.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

You can find this review and more at:

http://shiningstarreviews.blogspot.com/

Book Review: Girl Number One by Jane Holland

Book Review: Girl Number One by Jane Holland

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Eleanor Blackwood was six when her mother was murdered in the woods. She was there as a witness but for some reason cannot describe the killer to the police. Eighteen years later, and on the anniversary of her mother’s death, she finds a body of a woman in almost the exact same spot where her mother was killed. After going for help the police arrive and the body is gone.

You would think that this would be setting up a nice mystery but you would be wrong. Eleanor is a cold, detached character. Most people would break down when they see a dead body but Eleanor treats it like any other day. People accuse her of being nuts and instead of being crazy I believe she had some other kind of mental problem.

Her father is an alcoholic and even hits her at one point in the story. She sleeps with men that are no good for her. She even sleeps with a guy that she thinks might be the murderer. She has an “oh well, no big deal” attitude about the whole thing. Eleanor takes absolutely no effort to keep herself safe or out of trouble. Even when she gets proof that the killer wants her to be his “number one” she still runs head on into danger and puts herself and her friends at risk.

I couldn’t connect with her in the slightest. The men all treat Eleanor as a pretty object to be protected and ogled. She never quite gets to stand on her own two feet even though she is a gym teacher and skilled in martial arts.

This book was just “okay” for me. It was nothing spectacular and while it was a quick read and somewhat enjoyable there were none of the twists and turns that I would have liked to see. I guessed who the killer was about halfway through but I wasn’t that excited to find out that I was right. The ending was tied up a little too quickly without enough explanation.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Next by Stephanie Gangi

Book Review: The Next by Stephanie Gangi

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

I requested this book because it said that it as a tale of love, revenge, and ghosts. That seemed to be right up my alley because I am such a horror nut. I’m disappointed to say that this is not what I got at all.

We start with Joanna DeAngelis who is at home dying from her second bout of Stage 4 cancer. As someone who’s had a mother with cancer this hit close to home. You would figure that at this time she would be home amongst her two adult daughters and trying to soak in their love while she still can. Instead she is obsessed with her phone, social media, and her ex-love Ned. Ned went out for groceries one day and never came back. When he turns back up he has a new celebrity girlfriend and a baby on the way and has become a minor celebrity himself.

When she passes away, all the rage and anger about her loss of Ned brings her back as a ghost. She’s a nasty ghost. She is selfish and heartless and bent on revenge. She is not a likable character at all and it makes me dislike the book that much more.

Instead of checking in on her adult daughters and basking in a second chance to get some more love from them she is intent on destroying Ned. It gets exhausting and draining to read.

I’m not going to spoil the ending of the book and will only say that I was dissatisfied. The last chapter or so did not redeem the whole of the book like it could have.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Cover Me in Darkness by Eileen Rendahl

Book Review: Cover Me in Darkness by Eileen Rendahl

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Amanda Sinclair is an escapee from the cult that brainwashed her mother and caused her mother to murder her younger brother. She’s changed her name and taken a boring job as a lab tech at a cosmetics company in an attempt to avoid the spotlight. She’s thrown back in to the public eye when her mother commits suicide around the same time that the cult leader is due to be released from jail.

After examining her mother’s possessions, Amanda quickly concludes that her mother did not in fact kill herself but was murdered. Soon there are two mysteries to contend with as someone is falsifying documents are her job. This error could cause the possible deaths of thousands of customers. Was her mother’s death really a murder? Is the cult involved? Are the document errors at her job intentional or accidental?

I requested this book because of the cult aspect and I was left disappointed. The information about that cult is only garnered through flashbacks into Amanda’s past. There weren’t really enough details to keep me interested. The information about her job was a lot of scientific terms that just left me bored.

The story was extremely fast paced and to that end I felt it could have been fleshed out more. The conclusions to both mysteries felt rushed. When I was done with the book I felt like I had just read an episode of Law & Order.

It’s a quick read and somewhat enjoyable if you are looking for something to pass the time. It’s just not as in depth and suspenseful as I had hoped.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Book Review: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Publisher: Atria Books

I enjoyed this book even though I have mixed feelings about it. Cannie Shapiro is a 28 year old woman with great friends, a job she loves, and a loving dog. She also happens to be plus sized. This part of the book pleased me because I happen to be plus sized as well. Cannie seems to be perfectly happy with her plus sized status until her ex-boyfriend writes an article about her in a national magazine. She’s embarrassed but it isn’t until later that she realizes that the article, while a little harsh, also had insights into her life that she didn’t even know that he had noticed.

I peeked at a few other reviews of this book and saw that one of the common complaints is that Cannie is too whiny about her life and being fat. While it does seem to go overboard at times a lot of her self doubts and inner commentary are common thoughts among unhappy plus size women. Unfortunately the “no one loves me because I am fat” mantra that some of us tell ourselves happens a lot. So while I feel that it was a little excessive at times I also nodded my head because there were times when I was in that mindset.

When Cannie is having a good day she is witty and sarcastic and funny. I laughed at loud when she threw a box of tampons at her ex-boyfriend’s head. She makes bad choices and ends up pregnant with the ex-boyfriend’s baby, which is a realistic occurrence. Then Cannie meets up with a movie star named Maxi who is almost like a fairy godmother. She arranges for Cannie to visit in California and pitch her script to an agent who immediately hands Cannie a check for a LOT of money. These are the unrealistic parts. It took me a little bit out of the story because while this would be a good scene in a movie, I cannot see things happening that quickly in real life.

After a show down with the cold, uncaring father that abandoned her and her family when she was a child Cannie seems to finally start developing a stronger backbone. This crumbles to pieces after an encounter in which she almost loses her baby and sinks into a deep depression. She loses weight drastically and is finally the thin she always wanted to be and is still unhappy.

She finally wakes up and starts to take care of herself. She gains some weight back and is finally able to see that she should have been happy with herself all along. This made me smile a bit because she was finally a happier, nicer person.

One of the elements that bothered me about this book was how nasty and unaccepting Cannie was to her mother for being a lesbian. I don’t have a basis for this in my own family but I understand that if you are not happy with someone else’s life choices it doesn’t matter. It is their life. There is no resolution to Cannie’s anger at her mother for becoming a lesbian. There is no acceptance of her mother’s partner. I usually can’t stand books that tie everything up in a neat little bow at the end but I really feel that not having Cannie at least accept that her mother was happy and she wouldn’t be able to change her mother’s mind would have been a decent resolution.

Despite the few issues I had with this book I did enjoy it. The characters are complex and flawed. There is a lot of humor in the story as well as some heartache. I would definitely read it again.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

Book Review: The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

This was a well done, wonderful debut novel. I can only hope that when I finish my book that people will think it’s half as good.

This book is Survivor meets the end of the world. Twelve contestants are sent out into the wilderness with no idea about they game they are about to play other than they will be tested on their survival skills. There are team challenges, solo challenges, and rewards. There is no tribe voting off contestants in this game. The only way to win is to be the last person to quit.

Story telling is told by a contestant that the producers have nicknamed “Zoo”. Zoo is a woman who is bent and determined to never give up. She wants to win. The book weaves between the past and present so you can get a feel of how the game is played before you get the dramatic events of the present.

A pandemic has hit the rest of the world unbeknownst to the contestants and the production crew. One day Zoo wakes up and notices her cameraman has disappeared. She knows that there are hidden cameras and drones supposedly watching her every move so she isn’t that concerned and continues to play the game. She is positive that the “clues” that she finds have been left for her by producers.

She runs into a young man named Brennan and despite the fact that he tells her what has happened she believes he is a trick to get her to quit. She merely tolerates his prescience and at times is a little cruel. It made me want to smack her but the fact that it evoked that response means the writing was good.

I’m not going to spoil anything on how Zoo’s journey continues. I will say that there were times I was cheering her, times I wanted to shake her to wake her up from the delusion that she was still playing a game, and times I wanted to yell at her for her poor treatment of Brennan. I also felt that at times her treatment of Brennan was needed because it kept him moving and kept him from giving up. She was one of the most stubborn characters I have read in a long time.

The emotional ups and downs in this book are well written. This book made me question myself about what if this happened for real? What if a show like Survivor was filming and a pandemic or something worse happened and the whole lot of contestants and production crew knew nothing of what happened? How would they react?

Zoo is complex but relatable. The supporting characters were an interesting backdrop. While I wish there was more time with them I enjoyed the fact that the story flowed quickly. This story is also unpredictable which is often rare. Just when you think that the story is going to turn left the author turns right. It was a delightful thing that I was proven wrong a few times while reading.

The ending was not what I expected at all and for that I am pleased. It was brought to a good conclusion that left me wondering and picturing what happens next. If this author decides to do a sequel I am all for it. On the other hand the end to this book was satisfying enough that it can safely stand on its own.

Ms. Oliva should be proud of such a wonderfully written debut novel. I am honored to have been chosen to review this book. It was a pleasure and I recommend this to anyone who reads this review. I am thoroughly impressed.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror

Book Review: Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror

Publisher: Tachyon Publications

Nightmares is an anthology of 23 short horror stores. There is an offering here for everyone. Out of the 23, there was only one story I didn’t care for at all. The rest were really good. There is something for everyone here from serial killers, to zombies, to demons to shape shifters.

My favorite was Lonegan’s Luck, which stayed with me a week later and I felt was so good I held my mother hostage and told her all about it. It’s a good example of what happens when you can get caught up in a routine and get too cocky and confident.  Best story of the whole book in my opinion.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.