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Amber Alert (Chase Adams FBI #4) by Patrick Logan

Title: Amber Alert Author: Patrick Logan Series: Chase Adams FBI #4 Number of Pages: 255 Genre: Hard-Boiled Mystery & Police Procedurals Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Date of Publication:  July 31, 2018 ISBN: 978-1724627575

Patrick Logan’s Chase Adams FBI series was another series that I started reading in my local mystery book club. Book one we read about three years back. His books are super easy to read, a little unrealistic, but really action packed and fast reads which is why I like them.

The series revolves around a drug addicted FBI agent who is constantly looking for her sister who went missing when she’s younger. In the mix of being addicted and trying to find her sister she is finding herself in dramatic situations where she hangs on to the few people who still care about her and help her solve the cases.

In this book she is attempting to find a group of missing girls who are kidnapped and Chase believes it’s by the same group who took her sister. Her therapist and partner do not believe her and want to get her into rehab, however her partner has drug secrets of his own that are revealed, and Chase turns out to be right about the connection.

If you can get past the unreliable characters and the unrealistic storyline’s you can really enjoy the quick pace of this series. I will look forward to what happens next in book 4.5 based off of the sister.

★ ★ ★ ★

Up Next:  

 -Pine Cove Series #5-7 by HJ Welch - Hunting Adeline (Cat & Mouse Duet #2) – HD Carlton - Iron Flame (Empyrean #2) – Rebecca Yarros

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 21/75  = 28%

Page Goal: 7.3/20k = 36.8%

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First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Title: First Lie Wins Author: Ashley Elston Series: N/A Number of Pages: 340 Genre: Suspense Thrillers Publisher: Penguin Books Date of Publication:  January 28, 2025 ISBN: 978-0593492932

This was chosen in my local mystery book club as April’s read for this year. I honestly am still trying to figure out why. No murder and no mystery. First Lie Wins is about a woman who lives with her fiancé and works for a shady guy she doesn’t know doing odd and illegal activities, mainly theft. She is on her current assignment with her fiancé when she pieces out who her boss is and how to take him down…sort of.

Overall this story was okay because it was an easy read and the writing style was simplistic. The main character is okay and the characters are likeable. In the end this book wasn’t a murder mystery more like a mystery of who’s behind the mask. I think it was a little overrated and wasn’t worth all the recommendations it got.

Majority of the book is going backwards in times, going over the different identities and jobs that the main character has had with the current employer. The flashbacks were designed to help you learn the characters, explain how she got to where she is, and help you figure out who the boss is. However I found it took away too much from the main storyline in present time. It was too much of the past. Maybe 1-2 past jobs would’ve been fine but it ended up being 4-5 and currently overpowered the present storyline. It took away the main goal of the storyline so by the time you got there, you really didn’t care. The ending was also thrown together like an afterthought. ★★★  Okay to skip

Up Next:  

 -Pine Cove Series #5-7 by HJ Welch - Amber Alert (FBI Chase Adams #4) – Patrick Logan

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 20/75  = 26.6%

Page Goal: 7.1/20k = 35.5%

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Pine Cove series by HJ Welch (Books 1-4)

Title: Safe Harbor (1), Troubled Waters (2), Homeward Bound (3), Bright Horizons (4) Author: HJ Welch Series: Pine Cove Number of Pages: 298, 282, 342, 366 Genre: LGBTQ+ Romance Publisher: Helen Juliet (1), Independently Published (2-4) Date of Publication:  May 17, 2019 & August 13, 2019 & September 16, 2019 & December 15, 2019 ISBN: 978-1916027244 & ‎ 978-1686181337 & 978-1693575129 & 978-1671854680

I had been listening to a lot of KC Wells’s books on Audible and HJ Welch came up in my recommendation. This is the first series I have read by them. So far I have read four books and they are okay, the writing is a little amateur and I do not like some of the characters. I will finish it out but will probably choose a different author for this genre next.

Book one of the Pine Cove series is called Safe Harbor. It follows the cliché of a gay guy named Robin who has a room open in his apartment and rents it to a guy who he thinks is straight. In the end Dair accompanies him to a high school reunion where he will run into his ex and Dair will be the model fake boyfriend. A trope that has been done before so I was not too impressed with the storyline. These two are at least likeable and the storyline was entertaining.

Book two of the Pine Cove series, Troubled Waters, was probably my least favorite of the four I’ve read so far. Unfortunately I did not like the characters. Scout and Emery have a hookup in a bathroom of a bar and then end up getting stuck with each other as Emery needs a body guard and Scout gets hired. Scout to me, was not a strong character, and for some reason seems enamored by Emery right away. Emery is probably the most annoying gay character I’ve ever read and thinks he’s some sort of gay influencer online. The storyline was a little over the top as he somehow has a group of gay haters attacking him, breaking into his house, bombing him, kidnapping him….very unrealistic. There seems to be no character development between the two and the romance was subpar. Wouldn’t recommend.

Book three of the Pine Cove series, Homeward Bound, was my favorite so far. I actually liked the characters and thought the storyline was alright. Micha gets in a spot of troubled with the law and ends up needing to return home. He reunites with his childhood friend and crush, Swift, and together they overcome Micha’s past as it attempts to catch up with him. Swift is strongly family oriented and has a child that Micha helps raise. The development between the two progresses nicely and the storyline never tired.

Book four of the Pine Cove series, Bright Horizons, was a yikes. This so far has been my least favorite, and I really didn’t care for book two. Honestly this book felt more like a standalone or spinoff to the Pine Cove series. The two characters were not really tied to the original Pine Cove characters, more like mentioned in the first three books briefly. The book itself was not even based in Pine Cove. It starts in Pine Cove and then they go to London for the entirety of the book. Because of the two characters not really having ties to the rest, it didn’t connect well with the series. The storyline was okay, Ben inherits a giant amount of money and estate in the UK and somehow has a lawyer regular at his coffee shop that’s willing to up and leave his job for two weeks with no notice to go to Britain…(laughable, you can tell the author isn’t American, because realistically we can’t just do that.) Ben isn’t really a strong character and is easy to run over so he has issues coping with his new family and power. The character development between him and the lawyer, Elias, is pretty much nonexistent…Welch can leave these two in Britain behind. I hope book 5 goes back to Pine Cove….

★★★ Alright for a quick listen on Audible if you’re bored.

Up Next:  

 -Pine Cove Series #5-7 by HJ Welch - First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 19/75  = 25.3%

Page Goal: 6.7/20k = 33.8%

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Black Diamond by Martin Walker (Bruno, Cheif of Police #3

Title: Black Diamond Author: Martin Walker Series: Bruno Chief of Police #3 Number of Pages: 299 Genre: Police Procedurals Publisher: Vintage Date of Publication: July 10, 2012 ISBN: 978-0307744630

Back to the murder mystery genre. I started reading the Bruno, Chief of Police series for my local book club a few years back. It is a bit slow and lengthy compared to other series. It is based in France and the author likes to throw in a lot of history and be very descriptive with his settings.

Black Diamond is a quick thriller about a friend of Bruno’s who is murdered and how he ties in to terroristic attacks that keep happening around the town from Asian foreigners. There is not much character development for Bruno in this book. It is mainly plot based.

I will continue on with the series but it is not high on my recommend list. Bruno seems to be losing personality in these books and he can’t hold relationships unless they’re friendships with guys he’s known for years. The two women they brought into this series as his love interests, aren’t really interesting and have caused his character to stall.

★★★ I will hope book four is a little more character focused and less historical

Up Next:  

 -Pine Cove Series by HJ Welch - First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 15/75  = 20%

Page Goal: 5.4/20k = 27.4%

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Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver (Ruinous Love #3)

Title: Scythe & Sparrow Author: Brynne Weaver Series: Ruinous Love Trilogy #3 Number of Pages: 416 Genre: Romantic Suspense Publisher:  Zando Date of Publication: February 11, 2025 ISBN: 978-1638931812

Scythe & Sparrow is the happy ending to the Ruinous Love trilogy by Brynne Weaver. The series is dark romance / serial killer romance. It is comedic and fun, yet dark and gross with multiple trigger warnings. The trilogy focuses on three brothers who are quite different from each other despite one thing….a pension for death and an attraction to lethal women.

The last book focused on the youngest brother, a doctor who thinks they’re more morally stable then their brothers, and his patient who broke her leg and is staying with him during her recovery. It turns out that she was hunting down abusive men and killing them off so their significant others could safely escape the abuse.

As much as I liked this series I am glad that they ended it with this one. The chemistry between these two were not as strong as the relationships in the first two novels. Three books was enough for this concept and I’m glad she didn’t do more as the series would’ve gotten drawn out. I am interested in seeing what else Weaver will write in the future.

★★★★ Fun series. Definitely recommend listening to the audible version.

Up Next:  

-Black Diamond by Martin Walker (Bruno Chief of Police #3)

-Pine Cove Series by HJ Welch

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 14/75  = 18%

Page Goal: 5.1/20k = 25.9%

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The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

Title: The Last House on Needless Street Author: Catriona Ward Series: N/A Number of Pages: 340 Genre: Domestic Thriller Publisher:  Tor Nightfire Date of Publication: September 20, 2022 ISBN: 978-1250812643

The Last House on Needless Street was the March book of the month at my local mystery book club. I found this book to be more of a horror / psychological thriller versus a mystery. I quite enjoyed how bizarre the story was.

The storyline and characters in this novel take a few minutes to get down. There are multiple points of view throughout the story and they eventually mold together. The main character is an odd guy who lives in an old house with a girl and a cat. The girl and the cat also have their own chapters as does the new neighbor next door.

The mystery part of this comes in where a girl went missing on a beach. The new neighbor is the girls older sister who thinks the main character had something to do with her disappearance. Overall I think this entire storyline could’ve been cut from the book. The novel was interesting enough with the weird main character and others in his life.

I did see the plot twist coming though. I figured it out quite early, which I think helped with understanding each character and how they fit.

★★★★ Little bit wacky, but worth it.

Up Next:  

-Scythe & Sparrow – Brynne Weaver

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 13/75  = 17%

Page Goal: 4.7/20k = 23.8%

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A Flicker In The Dark by Stacy Willingham

Title: A Flicker In The Dark Author: Stacy Willingham Series: N/A Number of Pages: 357 Genre: Serial Killer Thrillers Publisher:  Minotaur Date of Publication: January 10, 2023 ISBN: 978-1250803849

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham was the book choice for February at my local mystery book club. I already had the book on my TBR shelf and was already interested in the storyline. Unfortunately it turned into a disappointment for me.

The storyline was tired very quickly. The main character suffers trauma as a child as her father is found guilty of murdering several young girls in her home town. Unsurprisingly, she becomes a therapist and pops pills like that will solve her childhood problems. Not sure why authors always think they have to become doctors….Honestly all the characters in this book were not likeable. The brother…the boyfriend…the journalist…all were quite bland and didn’t flow well together.

She tries to make a small twist at the end but most of the book was so boring it just turned out to be the only interesting part of it and overall was a flop. I would not recommend.

★★★ Skip

Up Next:     -The Last House on Needless Street – Catriona Ward

-Scythe & Sparrow – Brynne Weaver

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 12/75  = 16%

Page Goal: 4.4/20k = 22%

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Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (DCI Erika Foster #3)

Title: Dark Water Author: Robert Bryndza Series: DCI Erika Foster #3 Number of Pages: 387 Genre: Murder Thriller Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing Date of Publication: October 1, 2019 ISBN: 978-1538749760

Two years ago my local mystery book club chose the first book in Robert Bryndza’s DCI Erika Foster series. My group gave it pretty mixed reviews. They thought Erika was a little bit rogue for a detective, but I loved it. I decided to keep going with this series and it definitely doesn’t disappoint!

Dark Water was my favorite book in the series so far. Erika moves police forces after the fall from grace she experienced with her old team at the end of book 2. It is clear that she has issues adapting to the new setting and longs to go back to murder cases. She manages to worm her way back on to the case as her crew finds a body when they’re looking for drugs. With the help of a former DCI who was originally on the case, they discover who’s behind the cold case murder with plenty of action on the way.

I only have a few negative insights. First, it would be very unrealistic for a detective to be able to get her way into a case like Erika does, even if she was the favorited one, which she’s not. Second, I figured out who the bad guy was with their first introduction. Just waited to see how it would unfold, so it’s not an element of surprise. And finally, I was kind of hoping that Erika would not deal with her old boss after he dissed her in the last book, it was disappointing to see that she was still reaching out to him. ★★★★★ Would recommend this series if you’re looking for a good detective series!

Up Next:     -A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 11/75  = 14%

Page Goal: 4/20k = 27%

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The Southern Boys Trilogy by KC Wells

Title: Truth & Betrayal, Pride & Protection, Desire & Denial Author: K.C. Wells Series: Southern Boys Trilogy Number of Pages: 396, 252, 312 Genre: LGBTQ+ Romance Publisher:  Independently Published Date of Publication: August 2, 2018+ June 4, 2019 + June 5, 2020 ISBN: 978-1724657206,  978-1072152255, 979-8651411207

I am usually a huge fan of K.C. Wells but I was not impressed with this trilogy. It felt very disconnected. I understand she wrote the first book of her Southern Boys trilogy to be a standalone. However the addition of the other two books did not flow right and the last book had barely any connection to the first two. It was like an afterthought.

The first book Truth & Betrayal, I had a hard time getting with the storyline. The story revolves around a man who’s lost his older brother and discovering his older brother was gay like him and they hid secrets from each other. He then ends up in a relationship with the man that his brother was dating before his death. Throughout the book Wells tries really hard to emphasize that the two brothers are nothing alike, but it’s still a yuck feeling. Also she writes the main character as though he’s 16, not an adult turning 20. He asks his mom for everything and can’t do anything on his own. He asks such amateur questions that he could’ve easily found on Google. Didn’t care for these two overall. Jake’s annoying and Liam doesn’t seem likeable.

The second book was my favorite of the trilogy. Pride & Protection. This story revolves around Jake’s best friend who’s a cop. He starts dating a much older man, Del, who recently opens up a bike shop in town. This storyline focuses heavily on being closeted and needing to come out in a work and community environment. I liked this storyline overall as it seemed to have the best plot. I do wish that it had more relationship build.

The third book ends the trilogy off without much closure. Desire & Denial is about Del’s brother from book 2 coming out as gay and uncovering his traumatic past. He then becomes in a relationship with two younger men, one of them who works for him at the bike shop. His book overall did not tie in well with the rest of the trilogy, besides John being Del’s brother. It felt very off from the other two. There was not much plot. A lot of character interaction but not much build. It’s like she wanted to discuss the topic of throuples but not go too deep. The book ends on a lot of uncertainties with the characters all the way around. It’s almost like she needs to write a book 20 years later to show where all these couples ended up. The first two, Jake & Liam, weren’t even mentioned in the last book until the end. Very disconnected for a trilogy. I think she would’ve been better off leaving the first book on its own and starting a new series with Pride & Protection unrelated.

★★★ I would skip this one. Recommend Maine Men.  

Up Next:     -Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (DCI Erika Foster #3)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 10/75  = 13%

Page Goal: 3.6/20k = 25%

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Never Been Witched by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #3)

Title: Never Been Witched Author: Molly Harper Series: Starfall Point #3 Number of Pages: 321 Genre: Romantic Comedy Publisher:  Audible Originals Date of Publication: October 3rd, 2024 AISN: B0DDYCHVFH

The Starfall Point trilogy was recommended to me by Audible for my next listen and I decided to give it a shot. It’s about three women who form a witch coven and have to help ghosts move on from haunted objects within their main house.

Never Been Witched was a good conclusion to the trilogy. The final two characters were likeable and had strong character development. I actually think this was the best book of the trilogy. The storyline was well rounded and gave it potential for a spinoff series if she wishes.

★★★★ Would recommend for a light listen

Up Next:     -Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (DCI Erika Foster #3) -Southern Boys Trilogy by K.C. Wells

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 7/75  = 9%

Page Goal:  2.7/20k = 18%

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The Secrets of Haunted Scotland by Ryan O'Neill

Title: The Secrets of Haunted Scotland Author: Ryan O’Neill Series: N/A Number of Pages: 153 Genre: Ghosts & Hauntings Publisher:  Independent Date of Publication: November 20, 2024 ISBN: 979-8300314668 I received this book for Christmas by a family member. They know I love to read and love everything paranormal. I have seen many shows but unfortunately I’ve never seen Spooked Scotland so I didn’t know who this guys was but that was okay.

I liked this book, it wasn’t a difficult read at all and the layout was nice. For someone who hasn’t seen the show or knows really anything on Scotland it was nicely arranged. Each chapter focused on a specific site they investigated, recounting the history and then mentioning what happened to the investigators. I also liked that he wasn’t overly pushy on his ideologies like some other investigators and their books.

I do wish there were more pictures of the actual locations (especially the castles)! Here in America we don’t have ancient castles, so that’s always fascinating for us. He also needs someone to help edit on his next one, there were some typos and the spacing on some of the pages was odd. Not sure if that was done with the printing accidentally or if it was intentional. Other than that it was a good read, I will consider finding the show and watching it.

★★★★ Would recommend for a quick read if you’re interested in the paranormal & history.

Up Next:     -Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (DCI Erika Foster #3) -Hunting Adeline by HD Carlton (Cat and Mouse Duet #2) -Never Been Witched by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #3)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 6/75  = 8%

Page Goal:  2.4/20k = 12%

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Unseen by Nancy Bush (The Colony #2)

Title: Unseen Author: Nancy Bush Series: The Colony #2 Number of Pages: 376 Genre: Psychic Thrillers Publisher:  Zebra Date of Publication: April 1, 2009 ISBN: 978-1420125894 I found the Colony series a few years back, read the first book and didn’t know if I wanted to continue it. The first book is by Lisa Jackson, then the second is written by Nancy Bush. The two collaborate somehow on this series. However, the second book didn’t really follow the first book at all.

I decided to continue with this series with book two, Unseen, after being disappointed by book 1 as this book had really good reviews and people mentioned there were multiple twists and surprises. Unfortunately I did not agree, it was an entertaining storyline but I didn’t find anything surprising. There was one twist at the end that was okay but not shocking.

The story follows a woman named Gemma who wakes up in a hospital with memory issues. A police officer named Will suspects of her running down a guy with her car in a murder attempt. Gemma and Will have to work together to piece back her memory and solve the murders.

Much like the first book I found the characters bland and there’s a lack in character development. The storyline had enough action that it wasn’t a boring book and the ending was interesting but it doesn’t feel like a part of a series. I will give book 3 a chance which is also written by Bush sometime in the future.

★★★ Interesting read and creative ending.

Up Next:   -The Secrets of Haunted Scotland by Ryan O’Neill -Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (DCI Erika Foster #3) -Never Been Witched by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #3)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 5/75  = 6.7%

Page Goal:  2.2/20k = 10.2%

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Doctor Dealer by George Anastasia & Ralph Cipriano

Title:  Doctor Dealer Author: George Anastasia & Ralph Cipriano Series: N/A Number of Pages: 284 Genre: True Crime Publisher:  Berkley Date of Original Publication:  September 8th, 2020 ISBN: 978-0593097762

It’s that time of the year again…True Crime Month for my local mystery book club. I’ve never been a fan of non-fiction so historically I dread this month. And for good reason, this year’s pick was not any better than the last.

Doctor Dealer by George Anastasia and Ralph Cipriano is about a doctor, James Kauffman, who started a partnership with a biker group called the Pagans. He started a pill mill ring and insurance scams with opioids, a blood lab, and a topical by writing BS prescriptions and in return the biker’s would sell it for huge profits. His wife April Kauffman figured out his dark side and wanted to divorce him, in return James figured it would be cheaper to kill her rather than paying her out in a divorce. He hires one of the biker’s to kill her and eventually gets arrested. He commits suicide in jail before he is sentenced.

The true crime story has all the interesting parts of love, murder, and drugs. But you can watch the 20/20 episode and be more entertained and get the same story across versus this book. This book was drawn out and poorly outlined. Each chapter didn’t serve a purpose and it was a lot of back and forth that didn’t need to be done. The book also goes way more in depth over the whole Pagan biker gang than really needed to be. There were a lot of extra people brought in to the book that had nothing really to do with the crime. It was like the writers wanted you to think it was a mystery but in the beginning they tell you that it was the doctor who did it so the rest of the suspense falls flat.

The statistics on the opioid sales and the other doctors that were convicted, as well as mentioning the switch in prosecution and political aspect was an interesting bonus in the storyline but overall the book wasn’t worth the read.

★★ Boring. Just watch the 20/20 episode.

~

Up Next:  

-Unseen by Nancy Bush (The Colony #2)

-The Secrets of Haunted Scotland by Ryan O’Neill -Never Been Witched by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #3)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 4/75  = 5.3%

Page Goal:  1871/20k = 9.3%

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Starfall Point #1 + #2 - Molly Harper

Title:  Witches Get Stuff Done & Never Been Witched Author: Molly Harper Series: Starfall Point #1 & #2 Number of Pages: 304 & 336 Genre: Witch Romance Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca Date of Original Publication:  September 5th 2023  & August 13, 2024 ISBN: 978-1728276793 & 978-1728276823

Found this next series on Audible. I don’t have a TBR shelf for Audible so I just listen to something that’s recommended next. Starfall Point is a trilogy (so far) about a group of witches who live on an island in Michigan who are attempting to find a set of locks left by their ancestors. Each book features a different witch and their relationships.

The first book, Witches Get Stuff Done, revolves around the main witch Riley and her librarian boyfriend Edison and how she adapts to inheriting a house that’s filled with haunted objects after her aunt dies. Riley learns about her family history, the house and meets locals who assist her on her journey. She meets two other women and they form a coven. Edison helps her with the history of the town, her home, and her family and supports the coven. Overall this was an okay set up for a series but the character and relationship development lacked. Also the storyline wasn’t very creative. This one has been done before. Especially for witches. Feels like a little bit of Charmed meets Ghost Whisperer.

The second book, Big Witch Energy, revolves around former high school sweethearts Caroline and Ben. Caroline is another witch in Riley’s coven and Ben is a doctor who returns to the island to raise his children after a divorce. This story had more backstory and character development. Caroline seeks to end a family curse that causes her family members to die if they leave the island. In the end there was a plot twist in this one and more action. It was more entertaining than the first one and felt better executed.

★★★ Okay light hearted series.

~

Up Next:  

-Doctor Dealer by George Anastasia & Ralph Cipriano

-Unseen by Nancy Bush (The Colony #2)

-Never Been Witched by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #3)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 3/75  = 4%

Page Goal:  1587/20k = 7.9%

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The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike #7)

Title:  The Running Grave Author: Robert Galbraith Series: Cormoran Strike #7 Number of Pages: 947 Genre: International Mystery & Crime Publisher:  Mulholland Books Date of Original Publication:  June 18, 2024 ISBN: 978-0316572118

I finally got around to reading the 7th book of Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series: The Running Grave. This series started off strong but I has progressively gotten longer and longer as the series continues and I hate lugging around large books.

I have always admired the characters in this series. Robin and Strike run a detective agency together and with their sub-contractors they take on challenging cases. In this installment a father reaches out to Strike desperate to get his son out of a church that he believes is acting like a cult. Robin ends up gong undercover in the church in order to get information and help extract the son.

Overall I liked the storyline for maybe the last 2/3rds of the book but this was definitely not one of my favorites in the series. It was very long and drawn out with a lot of extra characters in the church that weren’t really necessary. The mystery element in it was highly lost and it caused Robin and Strike’s overall character development to stall for 900+ pages. This storyline could’ve happened in half the amount of pages. I hope the next book has more action and isn’t as long.

My favorite book in the series: The Ink Black Heart, just launched in TV adaptation on HBO Max and I plan on watching it to hopefully get my love for the series back after this one.

★★★ Kind of a snooze.

~

Up Next:  

-Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #1)

-Doctor Dealer by George Anastasia & Ralph Cipriano

-Unseen by Nancy Bush (The Colony #2)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 1/75  = 1.3%

Page Goal:  947/20k = 4.7%

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Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton (Cat and Mouse Duet #1)

Title: Haunting Adeline Author: H.D. Carlton Series: Cat and Mouse Duet #1 Number of Pages: 588 Genre: Gothic Romance Publisher:  Independently Published Date of Original Publication: August 13, 2021 ISBN: 979-8454848842

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton came highly recommended across multiple groups I’m in. Honestly it was so overhyped I am quite disappointed. This book was so bad it’s hard for me to even want to review it. I would not recommend and it I would give it 0 stars.

First, the writing style is so amateur I’m surprised someone wanted to edit it and then tell her to publish it. It reminds me of a girl bored in the back of her high school English class just writing a BS storyline in her notebook.

Second, the storyline is not consistent. It is like a series of events thrown together to try and make a story make sense. It is like she had two main concepts that she wanted to get out there (her grandmother’s death and her stalker) but wasn’t sure how to tie them in and make the story flow together right. It was noticeably choppy.

Third, the characters are unlikeable. Adeline is weak, whiny, and kind of worthless. Z is hypocritical, abusive, and gross. Even her supporting characters around the two main ones lack substance. They don’t progress in the nearly 600 page novel at all. For a romance, there’s not much romance. She writes a few nonconsensual scenes and then all of a sudden Adeline’s in love with her rapist. There’s literally no chemistry between the two.

How this book even made it big enough to get a second book I do not know. It appears to be nearly the same size. I’m not sure I’d sit through another 500 pages of crappy writing with obtuse characters. Maybe I’ll read Hunting Adeline in 2025….maybe. My TBR is huge and I feel like it might be an insult to it if I bothered.

★ Honestly, It doesn’t even deserve one.

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Up Next:  

-The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike #7)

-Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper (Starfall Point #1)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 77/75  = 102% (2024 goal achieved 12/8/24!)

Page Goal:  26k/15k = 177% (2024 goal achieved 7/5/24!)

Follow me on LibraryThing, Goodreads, and Amazon. Same handle: OMBWarrior47

[ombwarrior47]

Significant Brothers by E. Davies

Title: Splinter, Grasp, Slick, Trace, Clutch, Tremble, Wintersweet Author: E. Davies Series: Significant Brothers Number of Pages: 1568 Genre: LGBT Romance   Publisher:  E. Davies Date of Original Publication: ASIN: B08BJB7MG1

Significant Brothers is the second series I’ve read now by E. Davies and I think it was better than the Hart’s Bay collection. E. Davies does a wonderful job at creating strong character development and interesting storylines.

This collection revolves around 6 high school friends who are now adults and all finding their significant brothers and career paths. The 7th book of the collection is a novella at the end that brings them all together.

I admire this series because each character has their own personality and E. Davies does a good job at emphasizing their careers and how they shape their everyday lives. Each storyline is well developed and has a perfect mix of comedy, connection, HEA, and drama.

★★★★★ I would definitely recommend this series.

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Up Next:  

 -Haunting Adeline by HD Carlton (Cat+Mouse Duet #1)

-The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike #7)

Yearly Goal Markers:

Book Goal: 76/75  = 101% (2024 goal achieved 12/8/24!)

Page Goal:  26k/15k = 174% (2024 goal achieved 7/5/24!)

Follow me on LibraryThing, Goodreads, and Amazon. Same handle: OMBWarrior47