Book Critic
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Review: Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo
When this book came out, I jumped at it! I have read the Grisha books, specifically the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and while I didn’t love every book, I remember feeling like they had a lot of imagination with ambitious characters and for a YA series, there was a lot to enjoy. But I never really read anything else from Leigh Bardugo after that trilogy. But naturally her books are quite popular and can be found on many shelves around the blog-o-sphere. When I saw this one was coming out, I wasn’t exactly ready to buy it or even put it on my TBR—-until I started seeing all these posts…
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Review: The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
When I was first pitched this book, one thing stood out that made me not pass on it—-Guatemala. My husband is Guatemalan and there really aren’t books out there that feature his culture. Trust me I am always on the look out too! So when I saw that this book would have a Central American theme in it, I was totally on board to not only feature it but also review it! I have been really loving thrillers and mysteries lately, and I have a special place in my heart for psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators. I featured this one back in early January and couldn’t wait to start reading…
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Review: Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson (Audible Edition)
When I saw this book, I absolutely knew I needed to read it! I thought the title was catchy and I couldn’t pass on it. I even downloaded a copy for Audible as well as ordering a hard copy. I was hat sure I would be devouring this book in a matter of days. In today’s modern world, so many women are fascinated by murder mysteries. I know for a fact that in my office of 10 women, 8 listen to murder podcasts while working or working out/cardio. Myself included! I love a good murder mystery. It really is the ‘time of serial killers’ and I thought that having a…
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Review: Hearts of Steel (The Blackstone Legacy #3) by Elizabeth Camden
When this book came up for review, I almost passed on it. I could see it was part of a series and I just wasn’t sure how it would go jumping into an established series with established characters. But it sounded so good, plus I loved the cover, that I just couldn’t pass on this one! Often times, I also find that romances tend to be more standalone even if they are part of a series, so in the end I decided to give this one a shot and dive into a series already three books in. To my delight, I found that all that worry was for not. This…
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Review: Edge of Surrender (Alpha Crew #2) by Laura Griffin
With book one of this novella series ended, it really left off at a cliff hanger. So naturally I had to know what happened next and here we are. This whole series appears to be mostly novellas though I think the other two books (books 3 and 4) are separate standalone novellas, books 1 and 2 are connected. Honestly I don’t know if I would have kept reading the series if it hadn’t ended on a cliff hanger. While I adore Laura Griffin and basically anything she writes, I don’t love novellas. Novellas are really a challenge for me. They seem to work better as filler stories between larger books…
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Review: At the Edge (Alpha Crew #1) by Laura Griffin
Ok I couldn’t stay away. I tried to start another book but there was something about the thick prose of another author that made me long for more quick thrilling reads by Laura Griffin! So I decided to pick this one up. I really wanted something more with a military/terrorist plot similar to some of the books in Griffin’s other series. All of Griffin’s books are so incredibly diverse in content. Some feature a serial killer, others organized crime, while some have a military/terrorist angle. So it’s kind of a mixed bag which makes things really exciting and keeps the series feeling fresh. Considering the last book I read by…
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Review: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
When I first started reviewing books, I really shied away from the horror genre. I always thought to horror as ‘slicer dicer’ or ‘zombie’ books and it just wasn’t my thing. But I quickly came to discover that the horror genre has really grown in popularity and variety over the years and I have branded out into more and more horror as time has gone one. I especially love ghost stories so naturally the title of this book grabbed my interest. Plus I have read Grady Hendrix in the past and know that his books always seem to stick a good balance between horror and something for the more mainstream…
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Review: Whisper of Warning (The Glass Sisters #2) by Laura Griffin
I think I have officially wrapped up one of my last Laura Griffin books. I might read the Alpha Crew novella series and I know there are a couple other smaller series that she wrote which I might also pick up. But as far as the principal books she has written, I think this was the last one. Some of her books have been better than others but I can fully stand behind Griffin being a five star author and all of her series being five star as well. For some readers, they might find some of the characters off putting, or maybe the chemistry between the characters was a…
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Review: Thread of Fear (The Glass Sisters #1) by Laura Griffin
Do you ever read and book and think to yourself—-wow this didn’t age well. I love Laura Griffin and have nearly read every single one of her books. I have loved them all for different reasons. Sometimes in her Tracer books, the technology has changed so much from the mid 2000’s and sometimes it feels a little antiquated or old but I still always find something to love in the mystery itself even if the technology might be out of date. But in this one, it isn’t the technology that’s out of date. I will get more into that in a minute. What made me want to read this particular…
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Review: The True Love Bookshop (Somerset Lake #3) by Annie Rains
Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of Annie Rains. But then when I looked her up on Goodreads, I found that I did recognize some of her book covers! They all look like Hallmark holiday movie covers and I am totally here for it! After recognizing her covers I was even more excited to read this book, considering I had in fact picked up one of her holiday books in line at the grocery store this year to check out while waiting to check out! So what made me say yes to reading this one? Well, when it came across my desk for review, I couldn’t wait…