Book Critic
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Review: Christmas at the Chalet by Anita Hughes
I think I mentioned this earlier this month when I reviewed another Christmasy novel…..I normally hold all of my holiday reading until after October. October is all spooky, mystery novels for me and I normally don’t read or review any other holiday books until November. But there are a few authors who are known for Christmasy reads that I will gladly make an exception for and one of those is Anita Hughes. I have read all of her Christmas novels and loved them! I know what I am getting whenever I review one of her Christmas novels—-a happily ever after set in one for the most romantic cities or places…
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Review: Absolute Proof by Peter James (Audio Edition Narrated by Hugh Bonneville)
I haven’t listened to a whole lot of audiobooks during my 10 years of book blogging. I am a much faster reader so listening to audiobooks seems frustrating for me because I can speed read faster than someone can read to me. Plus I tend to get interrupted a lot during the day so having to stop what I am listening to is sometimes harder than just putting a bookmark in. However, I have been spending more time in my car lately with my little one. I am a stay at home mom and the closest form of toddler entertainment is about an hour away in Portland. So a few…
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Review: Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey
As a new mother (well new-ish mother) this book immediately caught my eye. The summary sounded so interesting….’unsure if she wants her daughter back’. Talk about chilling. As a new mother, I can’t imagine not wanting my kid back which immediately made me want to read this book, because the characters sounded exceptionally compelling if not entirely likable. Emma Grace Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes. Brown hair. Missing since June. Emma Townsend is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.
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Review: The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo
Ok you guys, this book has been on my radar for months. I love Halloween and I can’t tell you how obsessed with Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman I have been….basically since my youth. I watched the Disney movie over and over again and to this day continue to watch it at Halloween because it’s just that good! And don’t even get me started on how many time’s I’ve seen the Tim Burton adaptation…..like way way way too many times and every time I am legitimately scared of that damn Horseman! So to say my expectations were high for this book is a drastic understatement. When I opened the…
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Review: Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox
If you are like me, you probably only think of Sherlock Holmes when you hear the name Arthur Conan Doyle. I had no idea that he was like a real life Sherlock as well! When this book came across my desk for review I was immediately intrigued because the more I thought about it, I knew basically nothing about the man who created the world most famous detective. It actually makes sense that Conan Doyle was a real life detective, he obviously wrote with such authority on the subject that it’s embarrassing that I didn’t put it together before. This book caught my eye and I immediately wanted to learn…
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Review: The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
Her writing style is lyrical and her subject matter is always interesting and beautifully displayed. I adored The Lake House and I own all her other books but I usually wait to read them until the fall. There is something about reading her books in the fall that just makes them that much better it seems. When I saw that this book was coming out in the fall, I knew I had to read it. The cover and title screamed ‘read me’. In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper…
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Review: Season of Wonder (Haven Point #9) by RaeAnne Thayne
If I’m judging this book by it’s cover, the first thing that goes through my mind is ‘pass’ mostly because it reminds me of something my grandma would read. Most of Thayne’s books have a quaint cottage on the front and it just doesn’t scream romance to me. Over the last few years, I’ve tried to pick books based on what the summary says versus what the cover looks like. That was how I found Thayne in the first place. When I was pitched my first Thayne book, the image of the book cover wouldn’t load. I enjoyed the summary and agreed to read it. Then I hoped on Goodreads…
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Review: Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent #2) by Anna Lee Huber
Full disclosure, I’ve been a huge fan of Anna Lee Huber for years. I absolutely love all of her books and I can’t get enough of the heroines, mysteries, and of course the covers! The Verity Kent series is no different. I read the first book in the Verity Kent series earlier this year and I loved it! It was an interesting start to a different type of heroine for Huber. I was eager to see what else was in store for Verity in this latest book in the series. In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, many look to the spirit world for answers. But it…
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Review: Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness
I first saw A Discovery of Witches in my local bookstore when it first came out. I bought the book and then kind of forgot about it. Like a ghost, the book haunted me from my bookshelf. Eventually I picked it up to read and absolutely fell in love with the characters, story, and world that Harkness created. I breezed through all of the books and enjoyed each one for various reasons. I was genuinely sad when the series came to an end. Then I heard that Harkness was coming out with a new book that was set in the same world as the All Soul’s Trilogy complete with old…
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Review: Formula of Deception by Carrie Stuart Parks
The setting and description of this book sounded original and different which was why I decided to review this one. I loved that this book was set in Alaska and had this obscure WWII reference. It seemed like an untapped resource and caught my eye as soon as I read the description. All I kept thinking was what in the world is a WWII Quonset hut? I felt like I needed to read this book just to find that out! When her twin sister was murdered, Murphy Anderson changed her name and appearance and moved to Kodiak to avoid the press and publicity. But when local authorities discover she’s an artist…