Murder Most Malicious by Alyssa Maxwell

4 out of 5 stars

It's 1918. Nineteen year old Phoebe Renshaw and her family celebrate the end of a difficult year at their beloved estate, Foxwood Hall. The war is over and the family’s eldest daughter is engaged to the Marquis of Allerton. The peace doesn't last long though when on the morning of Boxing Day, the Marquis goes missing. When macabre evidence of foul play turns up in gift boxes and Julia was heard having a heated exchange with her fiancé the night before, Lady Phoebe takes a personal interest in the mystery. When the local Inspector suspects the family footman, Phoebe and Eve, the lady's maid, follow to clues to find the killer. Hopefully before the killer finds them.

I received this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I have to say that I wasn’t sure what to think of this book at first. There were quite a few characters to keep track of and I continuously kept getting Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, confused. But once I got passed the first few chapters, I was able to sort them out and enjoy the story. Which I very much did.

Lady Phoebe and Eva were the perfect balance in a sleuthing team. I liked both of them almost instantly. One more careless and the other more reserved, I enjoyed their back and forth investigating and the excitement they exhibited as they shared their news with each other. They worked well together as a team and were believable in their pursuits to find the killer.

Most of the other characters were interesting and well written. The Inspector was, of course, inept in his job and a very easily unlikeable character. You also have the Constable, who does everything the Inspector should be doing and a group of characters that could all be considered suspects. The only one I really disliked though was Lady Phoebe’s sister, Julia. I’m not sure if we were supposed to like her or not, but I didn’t not care for her at all and I almost found myself wishing that she was the murderer.

The mystery itself was engaging and the fact that there wasn’t a body pretty much throughout the entire story, made it even more intriguing. Although it was pretty much suspect that the Marquis was dead, you never really knew for sure and that kept you wondering. I did not figure out who did it until right before the reveal and I’m happy to say I was surprised. With a cast of likeable and not so likeable suspects, it made it difficult for me to guess. I look forward to more books by this author.

Available on Amazon a the link below:
Murder Most Malicious

The Ghastly McNastys Fright In The Night

4 out of 5 stars

I won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Gruesome and Grisly McNasty, the pirate twins, will stop at nothing for treasure. They hijack a fishing trawler and force the crew to walk to plank. They then head out for Little Snoring where the treasure of the legendary Captain Syd is rumored to be buried. Tat and Hetty, who are best friends, realize the pirate twins have returned and plan on giving them the fright of their night.

This is the third book in the series. I did not read the others, which I think in order to understand who all the characters are, would have been helpful. However it was still a fun and quirky story. A middle-grade chapter book, its geared towards children ages 7-10. Filled with silly and gross humor, it is sure to entertain children of all ages. I found the book to be enjoyable and humorous. The pirates are disgusting and nasty (hence the last name McNasty) and the heroes, Tat and Hetty, are smart and savvy kids. There is a cast of other unique characters including, Dog, their pet cat, and Peg Leg Polly, a talking parrot. The illustrations are great and the warnings about leaving the book unattended are funny and give a nice, quick break from the story. A great book for children and adults alike.

Available on Amazon at the link below:
Fright In The Night

Keep Me Posted by Lisa Beazley

4 out of 5 stars.

I won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Sisters Cassie and Sid Sunday don't really keep in touch. The once close sisters went on to lead very different lives. It also doesn't help that Sid absolutely can't stand all forms of social media while Cassie spends lots of time on her Facebook. Sid decides to issue a communication challenge to her social media addicted sister, and also hopes to bring them closer together again. Her challenge? Old fashioned letter writing. The experiment seems to go really well, that is until Cassie makes one of her infamous lapses in judgment. The letters end up on the Internet. See what happens when the intimate secrets you shared with your sister suddenly goes viral.

I enjoyed this story much more than I thought I would. The description definitely made it sound interesting since most people utilize social media in one form or another and the idea that something so personal could end up on the internet for the world to read is more of a reality than fiction so I entered the giveaway and ended up winning. I’m glad I did. The book was engrossing and I had a hard time putting it down. I actually looked forward to the letters they wrote to each other and while I read them, would pick out which parts would make me wince the most if other people had access to them. When comparing the sister’s letters, Cassie’s were far more personal than Sid’s. Which I think is why I found myself really rooting for Cassie and hoping everything would work out for her. I admit that at first I really didn’t care for her character much. Once the letter writing with her sister began, I started to dislike her even more. She just complained too much and never seemed satisfied even though her life seemed pretty good for the most part. The more I read however, the more I began to “get” her. After years of marriage and children, life can seem boring for some. I think most women can relate. Cassie’s thoughts and feelings aren’t really shocking or any more surprising than most women when things start to get too routine or stale. The only real difference being that those thoughts and feelings aren’t usually broadcasted through a not so private blog for the whole world to read, which did make for some uncomfortable and also, humorous moments.

Sid, Cassie’s sister, was a little harder for me to relate to. Her character seemed too perfect and, as I stated above, her letters didn’t quite seem as personal. Of course in all fairness, the story is Cassie’s so you get to know her better than her sister. At least that’s how I felt.

It was a fun, at times light hearted and at other times heavy, read. The characters are relatable and the story believable. Thanks for the opportunity to read it.

Buy your copy from Amazon on the link below:
Keep Me Posted

Haunted on Bourbon Street (Jade Calhoun series, Book 1) by Deanna Chase

1 out of 5 stars.

This book is about an empath, Jade Calhoun, who moves from Idaho to an apartment above a strip bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. She starts making friends, including her sexy landlord, Kane, but being an empath isn't easy when trying to form relationships. She tries to keep her gifts secret, but when a ghost starts terrifying her friend Pyper, it's up to Jade to use her unique abilities to save her. She needs Kane's assistance as well, but when he betrays her with a secret of his own, she is not sure she can trust him.

I totally loved the idea of this story which is why I decided to read it. Unfortunately it wasn’t what I thought it was. I was under the impression that it was a ghost story with a bit of romance. What it ended up being was a paranormal romance with a bit of ghost story. Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy a good paranormal romance book, especially when they are well written with well-developed characters and an interesting plot. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case here.

So what was wrong with it? Simple. Everything. The characters were one dimensional and never developed. Their basic descriptions were incredibly lacking and not once did I feel like I “knew” them. They felt like strangers to me and to each other throughout the whole book. Jade, the main character, especially irritated me. She was annoying and quite honestly, a hypocrite. An example: Her relationship with Kane gets tarnished when she finds out that the sexy dreams she’s been having about him are in fact, actually him, dreamwalking. She gets upset and feels violated. She mentions how intrusive it is and tells herself that she hates him for it. Bare in mind that she regularly reads people’s emotions and feelings, quite often without their consent, which I imagine if people knew that, they would feel violated. It was almost laughable. She really has no reason to get mad. I wasn’t a big fan of her to begin with and really ended up disliking her after that.

The other problem was the location.  Supposedly the main character lives in New Orleans, but so little was mentioned about it that I kept forgetting that’s where it was taking place. Given the fact that Jade is an empath, I would have thought the city would be more incorporated into the story and Jade’s gifts would be used to, I don’t know, do something. But sadly, it wasn’t and they weren’t, which I feel was a real missed opportunity on the author’s part.

As far as the ghost story, that never made any real sense to me. The ghost that haunts Jade is apparently too stupid to realize that she is not his wife and the love of his life. I had an issue with this because I would think you would remember what your spouse looks like and wouldn’t confuse some random stranger for them, but whatever. There was also so much focus on Jade’s feeling for Kane that the ghost part kind of became more of a distant secondary part of the story that never fully came to light.

The romance part of the storyline, which was the majority, was awkward and weird. There was no connection between Jade and Kane. It seemed to progress very quickly but without passion. Plus, since the characters weren’t really developed as stated above, it seemed forced and kind of creepy. Because of this, when it came to the sex scenes, they were uncomfortable to read and I ended up just skipping over those.

I did end up finishing the book, but just barely. Some paranormal romance readers might enjoy this quick read, but I cannot say I am one of them.

If you read this book, I'd love to hear your opinion on it! What did you think? Love it? Hated it? Let me know.

Available on Amazon at the link below:
Haunted on Bourbon Street

The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Spreads by Liz Dean

5 out of 5 stars.

I won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I have had an interest in tarot cards for a long time. I have a few decks, each one I bought myself and was drawn to. I also bought a couple books to help me get an understanding of how to read them. Most of these books were well written and had lots of information, but as a novice, they still seemed to be geared towards someone who already had a feel for tarot or who had worked with them many times already and kind of knew what they were doing. Now, I know your own intuition is important when reading, but someone new to card reading still needs a starting place and although I am not knocking these books by any means, they just didn’t seem to click with me.

While entering giveaways on Goodreads, I saw this one and decided to enter. I was excited when I got the notification that I was a winner (I always get excited when I win books). It arrived almost immediately and when I opened the package, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it a beautiful book, but it was exactly what I had been looking for! The amount of information in it was far more in depth than any other book I had on the subject. It also simplified things and gave more options of spreads than I had ever seen, going into detail as to which type of spread goes best with what type of questions or purpose. The other part I like is that it doesn’t just talk of the card in terms of what you drew, but also what symbols and colors are present in them and what they mean. It helps to get a feel for them a little more.

But the best part for me was the examples. Examples are my best friend! The author would do the spread, layout the cards, and then tell you how she is reading them based on what she drew. This is something I have found lacking in some other books I have looked at on the subject. It really helps people like me get a general idea of how to read the cards as a whole rather than just individually, something I struggle with the most. In addition to examples, she also provides little tips here and there to assist.

The book also has some quick reference guides on card meanings and symbols. These are extremely helpful and give just enough detail without overwhelming the reader. There is also a reading list of other books that may be of interest on the subject of tarot as well as other things. I have a strong feeling that I will be relying on this book heavily as I try to work with my cards more and get a better knack for reading them. I am so glad I won this book!

Available on Amazon at the link below:
The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Spreads