Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme is books with a certain word in the title, but you get to choose the word. As I was perusing my bookshelves for ideas and inspiration, I noticed that I own a lot of books with 'shadow' in the title. So, here's my list of  TEN BOOKS WITH THE WORD SHADOW IN THE TITLE. (All of which I've read, own and love.)

When Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris

Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer

Out of the Shadows by Kay Hooper

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Shadow Land by Adam Wright

The Shadow Girls by Dawn Merriman

The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene

Happy Reading!

A Whisper of Death by Darcy Burke

 

Setting: Victorian London, 1868

Main characters:

HADRIAN BECKET. The intelligent and curious Earl of Ravenhurst is determined to find the man who stabbed him and left him for dead. The attack left him with something else--psychic visions of past events when he touches certain objects; visions that he thinks might be others' memories. And some of those memories are from the man who tried to murder him.

TILDA WREN. 25 and a self-proclaimed spinster. She lives with her grandmother and works as a private investigator with the skills she learned from her father who worked for Scotland Yard. Hadrian hires her to help him find his attacker; she's even more invested in their investigation when they discover the same man might have also murdered her grandmother's cousin.

My thoughts: Despite their different backgrounds, these two characters work really well together. (Something that probably would not have happened in real life.) Hadrian is deferential to and respectful of Tilda and her investigative ablilies while he struggles to understand and make use of his own new psychic gifts...or curse, as he calls them. And Tilda is down-to-earth, clever, and unshirking. I liked them both. I also really like that Victorian time period! Burke includes fun historical details, and her novel is well-paced and suspenseful. It's an entertaining mystery and I look forward to reading the next book.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Haiku reviews...

 

A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney

Necromancer and 

Hedge witch. Can their love defeat

a common enemy?

Fantasy .... 311 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(I found the characters, the magic, and the nod to the myth of Persephone enchanting.)

Get Lost With You by Sophie Sullivan

Levi Bright is back.

Jilly has a second chance at love....

if she's brave enough to take it.

Romance .... 293 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(This is a quirky small town, single mom, brother's best friend, low angst, charming romance.)

Scorpio by Marko Kloos

Colonists from Earth

struggle to survive against

the monstrous Lankies.

Science fiction .... 274 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(I've always liked stories of space colonization and survival; and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out in August.)

Happy Reading!

In Good Company by Jen Turano

 

Everett Mulberry has recently, and very unexpectedly, been named the guardian to three young children, which is severely curtailing his courtship of the elegant Miss Caroline Dixon, and his latest nanny just quit. Now what is he going to do? He could hire the fun-loving Millie Longfellow, who was just let go from her latest nanny job, but the thought of taking Millie to Newport with his three wards for the summer has him hesitating. 

"...and it had absolutely nothing to do with her lips. It all had to do with the lady's eyes. That they were a perfectly ordinary shade of green was not in dispute. But that ordinary green, framed by dark lashes, always held a distinct trace of...mischief."

"That mischief exactly explained why he wouldn't, or couldn't, consider hiring Miss Longfellow to watch after his wards, because everyone knew that where there was mischief, trouble was certain to follow. (And) ever since he'd become the unlikely guardian to three unruly children over five months before, Everett had witnessed more trouble than he'd ever thought possible."

This is a delightful romance! Turano's books are cute and clean and always have a lot of humor in them; and I love that Gilded Age time period. The banter between Everett and Millie was fun, and the way she handles his three wards had me laughing out loud. There's even a nod to Pride and Prejudice in their romance that I enjoyed. Plus, Millie carries a pocket dictionary around with her and is always looking up words like execrable and disparage. What's not to love?

Happy Reading!

Head Cases by John McMahon

 

First lines:  Riddles. Those are my specialty. That is, when I'm not studying patterns. Or decoding enigmas. Some might say that solving puzzles is all I'm good for. That leaving my desk in the Jacksonville office of the FBI to interact with real people is not the best use of my time or talent. And I would agree with them. 

The plot:  FBI agent Gardner Camden is a genius, except when it comes to his social skills. And he's just one of the quirky agents that make up the FBI's Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit. They get called in when a recently murdered man is discovered to be a serial killer the FBI thought died years ago. The death of a second serial killer who was just paroled makes Camden realize they have a unique killer on their hands:  a serial killer of serial killers. And one who leaves behind a trail of enigmatic clues and riddles. Let the cat-and-mouse game begin.

My thoughts: When I check out a book like this I'm always hoping for a thriller that's both riveting and unexpected. And this book blew me away! I loved Gardner Camden with all his quirks and amazing analytical abilities. The other members of PAR were also engaging and likable. I was drawn in with those first lines and could not put this one down. It reads so fast, and the mystery is so compelling! I loved how McMahon wove all the threads together...and how Camden figures it out. This will definitely be on my favorite reads list at the end of the year. And I really hope McMahon writes a sequel.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Happy Reading!

April's Bookish Art...

 

Hugues Merle -- La Contemplation

"It's not that I don't like people. It's just that when I'm in the company of others--even my nearest and dearest--there always comes a moment when I'd rather be reading a book." 

--Maureen Corrigan

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

 

From the blurb:  "Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitue teacher living with his two cats, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle, Jake, dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had a lot of enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie."

My thoughts:   John Scalzi knows how to write inventive novels that will make you laugh out loud. And Starter Villain is uniquely fun. I loved the whole idea of an average guy like Charlie inheriting his uncle's supervillain business. And I loved how he dealt with everything from super smart spy cats to assassination attempts with self-deprecating humor and aplomb. I especially loved his interactions with his cats. (He handled the surprisingly snarky dolphins well, too.) Charlie is smart and nice, and not exactly supervillain material. Which made for some very funny moments. Fast-paced and full of action, this whole book was awesome. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

P.S. I also really enjoyed Scalzi's book The Kaiju Preservation Society.

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS WITH SPRINGY COVERS. And nothing says spring to me more than the first flowers that come up every year. They were my inspiration for this list.

Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach

Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

Daffodil Season by Melanie Lageschulte

The Lilac Bouquet by Carolyn Brown

Amaryllis by Jayne Castle

Her Unexpected Second Chance by Laura Ann

Dinner on Primrose Hill by Jodi Thomas

Happy Reading!

Out of Air by Rachel Reiss

 Five friends.

One last summer diving adventure.

A spectacular hidden underwater sea cave.

And a curse.

My thoughts:  This novel is immersive, unexpected, and compelling. I really liked Phoebe and her four friends--Gabe, Will, Lani and Isabel--who call themselves the Salt Squad, and who love to spend all their free time diving and exploring the ocean. And I quickly got up caught up in their unbreakable friendship and all their underwater adventures. Especially when they discover that cursed cave, and strange and scary things start to happen to Pheobe and Gabe. It made for an unputdownable read. And all the scuba diving parts felt so real! I could tell Reiss has a lot of experience diving herself.  And I loved how Reiss builds tension throughout the story. She kept me guessing about what was going to happen to Phoebe and her friends right up until the end, and I loved that. I'm so glad I won a copy of this book from Goodreads! It's a fast-paced and fun book.  If you're looking for an entertaining summer thriller, grab some popcorn and a beach chair, and check this one out!  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Quick book recommendations...

 

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro

London, 1855. A disturbing murder of a lovely young woman on All Hallow's Eve, and another suspicious death on All Saint's Day, bring police inspector Sebastian Bell and Crimean nurse, Gemma Tate, together. They're both grieving personal losses; and they're both determined to bring a killer to justice. This Victorian mystery is riveting and intricately crafted. I loved Bell's outrage on behalf of the murdered young women, and his willingness to listen to Gemma and her thoughts on the case. And I loved that she didn't go off doing stupid, reckless things all the time. I also loved the atmospheric setting and all the historical details. It's one of my favorite time periods to read about. And this gripping novel is one of the best mysteries I've read this year.  5 stars! 

Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong (A Haven's Rock Novel)

Murder. A blizzard. And Casey's risky pregnancy and imminent labor. The stakes are high in the isolated town of Haven Rock as Casey and Eric realize there's a murderer in their small community. Who is it? And who will they target next? Can I just say that I love this series and these characters? This is another fast-paced and suspenseful mystery. Though I didn't love it quite as much as her previous novel, The Boy Who Cried Bear. Maybe because Casey and her pregnancy, and subsequent struggle to still be independent and investigate everything, took center stage, pushing Eric and the other characters to the periphery. (Except for their Newfoundland, Storm, whom I love.) But even with that, this book is a very fun and enjoyable read. 4 stars! 

(Murder at Haven's Rock is the first book in Armstrong's Haven's Rock series, which is actually a continuation of her Rockton series. You can read more about those first books here. )

Happy Reading!

Randomness...

Recently finished reading:  Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn

And I'm happy to say that it was just as fun as the first book. Billie, Helen, Mary Alice and Natalie are the best characters! I love their banter and snark, as well as their intelligence, toughness, and unorthodox skills. 

I also saw this amazing must-see movie:  Rule Breakers.

It tells the true story of Roya Mahboob and the robotics team comprised of four young women from Afghanistan that she started. Their struggles and achievements are inspiring. (Though the ongoing plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, and how hard they have to fight for even the most basic of human rights, continues to break my heart!) Everyone should go see this movie. 

My glad things for last month:

• Listening to (and loving!) Disturbed's new song: I WILL NOT BREAK. It's awesome!
• Chickadees singing outside my window every morning. (They're my favorite little bird.)
• New recipes that weren't too hard to make and that tasted really yummy: Pear & Broccoli soup, Pesto Whirls, and Orange Creamcheese Cake. 
• Getting caught up on AJ Pearce's Emmy Lake Chronicles, and finishing Jennifer Estep's Black Blade series. Both of which I can definitely recommend. 
• Watching a murder of crows hopping around the playground like they own it; and watching all the elementary kids' delight at their antics.
• Getting together with friends for a night of playing games (Wingspan) and catching up.
• And my former boss, who's also a good friend, reached out last week to see how I was doing.