2 Book Lovers Reviews
Soon the Light Will Be Perfect
By Dave Patterson
March 19th, 2019
March 12th, 2019
Book Review:
The Homecoming
By Andrew Pyper
The Homecoming was one heck of an attention grabber. Once I read the synopsis I knew that I wanted to read it, and the cover pulled me in with its comforting yet sinister scene. The story started off with a bang, and I was hooked.
Andrew Pyper developed an exquisite, multi-layered plot of deception and betrayal. I loved the fact that there was always another twist or turn right around the corner.
*Read my full review...
March 11th, 2019
Have you been enjoying Fox’s production of The Passage? I sure have, and my wife doesn’t mind watching it with me as long as I rub her feet…quid pro quo. You may be wondering what other great stories are out there that can give you that same feeling.
*Read the full post...
March 5th, 2019
Book Review:
A Court of Thorns and Roses
By Sarah J. Maas
Every year, my wife and I love looking at the Goodreads Choice Awards. We always find some great books to add to our overflowing TBR lists, and it’s fun to see if any of our favorites found their way onto the list. We have this ongoing joke from one year to the next: “Who will win Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction? Sarah J. Maas or Sarah J. Maas?”
*Read my full review...
February 26th, 2019
New Release & Review:
Zeus Is Undead: This One Has Zombies
By Michael G. Munz
When you kracken open a book by Michael G. Munz you have to expect the unexpected and accept the fact that conventions will be broken, you may even find yourself craving an ice cream sundae.
It has been a while since my last epic quest with Leif and Tracy. I was ready to have a few good laughs, and Munz obliged.
*Read my full review...
February 19th, 2019
Book Review:
The Boy
By Tami Hoag
There is something about a heinous crime that grabs my attention. A seven-year-old boy is brutally beaten in his own home, Hoag had my attention.
The Boy is the second book in the Broussard and Fourcade series and my first venture into the small town of Bayou Breaux. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything, the author seamlessly filled in any gaps that I may have been missing from book one.
*Read my full review...
February 12th, 2019
New Release & Review:
The Hunting Party
By Lucy Foley
The Hunting Party just seemed to hit me at the right time and in all the right ways. I guess you could say it’s just what I was looking for. The Hunting Party is one part Friends From College, with another part The Ritual and the third part…I can’t say, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
*Read my full review...
*Read Shelley's review...
February 8th, 2019
I'm always adding new books to my to-be-read list. What's a few more, right? Well, these two have definitely piqued my interest.
- The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden is releasing on April 23rd. I loved Ararat, so I am very excited to go on a new adventure with Golden.
A chilling exploration of what happens when the original Pandora's Box is discovered in an ancient subterranean city, stirring international conflict and exposing the archaeological team to curses, whispers, and the terror of a legendary plague.
*Read the synopsis...
- The Institute by Stephen King is scheduled to release on September 10th, 2019. Yes!
Check out the synopsis:
In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.
February 5th, 2019
New Release & Review:
Forget You Know Me
By Jessica Strawser
I always hate to age myself in my reviews, but sometimes an author leaves me without a choice. Forget You Know Me started off like Barney’s (How I Met Your Mother) mixtape – it started off with a BAM! I was left wondering where this story was going. I love it when an author starts their story like this. Strawser grabbed my attention – I was not going to be distracted.
*Read my full review...
*Read Shelley's review...
January 29th, 2019
Book Review:
Of Blood and Bone
(Chronicles of The One, Book 2)
By Nora Roberts
After completing Year One, Nora Roberts had me primed for book two, Of Blood and Bone, in her Chronicles of the One series. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
I’ll do my best to write this review, but this is not the type of series where you could jump in anywhere along the way. Roberts is building off of the world she masterfully created in Year One.
*Read my full review...
January 25th, 2019
I’m sorry, but I could not wait for this story to end.
The Lost Puzzler dragged on for far too long, considering the storyline. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love a long story, and at 528 pages, this book is far from one of the longest that I’ve read.
The story was an overlapping tale, consisting of a scribe’s adventure in unearthing the mysterious disappearance of Rafik (story number two).
January 18th, 2019
Book Review:
Box of Bones
By Jeremy Bates
This seems to be Jeremy Bates’ forte, the short story that quickly pulls his readers in and hits them over the head with an unanticipated ending. In that sense, Box of Bones does not disappoint.
Jim’s story is an interesting one, and one that is not completely absurd. He gets himself in over his head in a foreign country to find himself trapped in a coffin. Is there any good way for this to end?
*Read my full review...
January 11th, 2019
Book Review:
White Stag
By Kara Barbieri
And now for something completely different. White Stag is a Norse mythology-based YA novel that is filled with goblins and a cornucopia of other unique creatures. I love it when an author promises something new that goes outside of the norm of what is out there.
Unfortunately, White Stag was filled with many distractions. I kept thinking of Netflix’s Friends from College while I was reading it.
*Read my full review...
January 8th, 2019
Book Review:
Seven Days
By Patrick Senécal
I’d heard quite a bit of praise for Patrick Senécal, even before I knew that the English version of Les Sept Jours de Talion was going to be released. To be honest, I’m surprised that it took this long for one of his books to come to the English audience. With the comparisons to King and Nesbo, my expectations rose even higher.
*Read my full review...
December 28th, 2018
At the end of the year I always find it fun to take a look back at the fantastic books that I had a chance to read over the past twelve months. It's never easy putting a list like this together, there are so many great books that I read, some just have to be there, then there are some others that I ask myself, how can that not be on the list? But I suppose that is the challenge, picking the cream of the crop. I hope that you had a great reading year, and here's hoping that 2019 is filled with more amazing reads!
*See my list of top books of 2018...
Sadie
By Courtney Summers
This week's list of new and
upcoming releases is posted
below. Enjoy!
New Releases!
By Jessica Hawkins
In the de la Rosa family,
brothers. And I’m the prize.
I was born a princess
- In the Blink of an Eye – By Jesse Blackadder
- Glass Castle Prince - By Nicole Williams
A glass castle shatters as easily as a glass house—all it takes is one stone.
Prince Edward has known this all of his life, and taken staunch measures to ensure he doesn’t give the public any reason to pick up their rocks. Or torches. Or pitchforks. As a twenty-two-year-old in line to ascend the throne, he lives more like a cloistered monk than his college-aged peers. Restraint is the tone of his life, resilience the theme.
That is, until he meets a young woman who couldn’t care less about his title—unless she’s poking fun at it. Charlotte Everly grew up a stone’s throw away from the royal family’s summer house, but her life was, and is, entirely different from the prince’s.
They clash at each turn, disagree on every topic, and bear a general contempt for one another. Until . . .
One night, accompanied by one proposal, leads to one lapse in judgment . . .
Results in a nationwide scandal neither of them will escape.
- Rebel Saint – By Adriane Leigh – Forbidden romance!
She found herself on the steps of St. Michael's seeking
shelter, what she didn't expect was temptation so sharp and sweet concealed beneath one snow-white collar.
He rescued her from rock bottom, desperate people
squeezed together by the desperate cracks of life, but
their relationship was never innocent. The thinly-veiled
attraction combustible, magnetism so explosive it rattled the very foundations of their belief.
But can their unholy love story withstand the fall?
- Twisted Tales of Mayhem Anthology - 27 stories full of twisted mayhem! The proceeds raised by the MMM19 anthology will be donated to the Patriot Guard Riders
- Story of Us – By Jody Holford
- The Hookup Handbook – By Kendall Ryan
My love wand is on a strike.
As bad as that blows, pun unintended, it’s ten times worse for me. I’m a male escort, but not just any escort, I’m the escort. The one with a mile-long waiting list and a pristine reputation that’s very well-deserved.
Only now, I’m on hiatus. Because after years of pleasing women all over the city, my man missile decides to get finicky. And the only woman he wants? Someone I can never have—my best friend’s younger sister, the nerdy and awkwardly adorable Sienna.
She’s working at the agency this summer, keeping me organized, handling paperwork, and most importantly, keeping me on track to finish writing my book about sex and intimacy, which is due to my publisher in thirty days.
She thinks I hate her, that I don’t want her here. The truth is much more twisted. I get hard every time she walks into my office. Her wide blue eyes and pouty mouth drive me wild with desire, and if she stays, I’m not sure how much longer I can stay away from her.
Little Miss Overachiever says she’s here to help? Fine. I’m going to put her nerdy, curvy tush to work.
- Risky Play (Red Card #1) – By Rachel Van Dyken
What else can a virgin do when she’s ditched at the altar? Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.
Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.
Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.
- Play to Win: A Wynn Hockey Novel – By Kelly Jamieson
After an injury forced Théo Wynn to give up professional hockey, he turned to his second love: numbers. Now, as the general manager of his grandfather’s NHL team, the Los Angeles Condors, Théo is dying to prove to the rest of his family—especially the brother who betrayed him—that he’s just as successful as the rest of them. If only Théo had a gorgeous woman on his arm to complete the picture. . . .
Lacey Olson needs to get out of Las Vegas right now, thanks to her no-good, crooked brother. When a handsome stranger who’s out partying with friends comes to her rescue in the cocktail lounge where she works, they strike up a conversation that leads to a crazy plan: her leaving with Théo for L.A. tomorrow. A few drinks later, the idea gets even crazier: a quickie marriage that works for both of them.
But back in California, Lacey immediately turns Théo’s precise, well-ordered life into one big beach party. And before long, she’s tempting him with her smart mouth, sexy body, and sunny charm. The last thing Théo needs is a real relationship to distract him. Because he only plays to win. . . .
- Hissy Fit (Southern Gentleman Series #1) – By Lani Lynn Vale
He is the one that never looks her way.
He is handsome and strong.
He is rough around the edges and mean.
He is everything she’s ever wanted.
He doesn’t even know she exists.
Her life is a joke.
***
She doesn’t step on cracks in the sidewalk.
She laughs at inappropriate times.
She talks when she shouldn’t.
She is clumsy and trips on air.
She is finally on his radar.
God help her now.
- The Boyfriend Experience (The Boyfriend Experience #1) – By Carly Phillips & Erika Wilde
- About Her - By Kimberly Adams - Psychological thriller!
- Misadventures in a Threesome - By Elizabeth Hayley
- Trust the Push - By Kaylee Ryan
- March 20 – The Five – By Lily White – Dark suspense!
This is not your average love story...
Every man who meets Rainey wants her. Having lived a life of sex, drugs and manipulation, she is a temptation with far too many secrets.
When psychologist, Justin Redding, is assigned to Rainey's case, he has no way of knowing the tale of debauchery he will encounter.
On a twisted path of love, loss and murder, Rainey leads Justin through the events of her life.
Death follows Rainey...
Justin fights to discover her secrets...
But will he discover the secret of THE FIVE in time to resist Rainey's ultimate seduction?
- March 21 – The Shadow Between Us – By Carol Mason
What is it about the coast that attracts people running from their past?
When Olivia moves to Port Townsend, her marriage is floundering, and her life is in pieces. She doesn’t know if things with her husband Mark are truly over, or quite why the phone call she longs for on her daughter’s birthday will never come.
Joining a letter-writing club seems like a harmless decision. But when she meets Ned, an ex-soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan, this unlooked-for friendship revives unexpected emotions and memories she’d rather forget.
- March 21 – Advice From A Jilted Bride – By Piper Rayne - Romantic comedy!
What’s a girl to do after being ditched at the altar by text message? That’s right. Text. Message.
How does she pick up the pieces and move on? I’m no Dear Abby but here’s a little free advice…
Advice #1 – First, purge your apartment of all things him—by tossing his belongings off the balcony.
Advice #2 – Do not, I repeat do not, throw anything out into the hallway because you’ll injure your hot new neighbor.
Advice #3 – When said neighbor brings over Chinese Food do not let him stay and keep you company. It’s awkward when you realize he’s your boss.
Advice #4 – Accept his offer to help you with your side business but think twice before using a date to his sister’s wedding as collateral.
Advice #5 – Investigate who your mystery neighbor really is. Don’t trust his word even if he’s the world’s best kisser.
If you listen to nothing else, pay attention to that last one. It’s the most important and will save you a lot of heartache.
Xo,
LOVESICK IN LAKE STARLIGHT
Happy Reading!
March 19th, 2019
I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but Nora Roberts is one hell of a writer. She continues to amaze me with her ability to develop storylines and seamlessly tie them all together.
Shelter in Place is a story of love and hate; where love is the glue, if used properly, can fix anything. The synopsis doesn’t do the story justice, there is so much more beneath the surface.
What he's reading!
Greg's Dailyish Blog
Shelley's Daily Blog
What she's reading!
