Book Critic
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Review: Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon #1) by Dan Brown
Is Dan Brown’s writing terrible? Yes. Are his stories far fetched and unbelievable? Yes. Are the books poorly researched? Yes. Did that stop me from reading this book in a frenzy? Absolutely not! I will fully admit, I loved The Da Vinci Code. I didn’t care how unbelievable or bad the writing, the story itself was so good that I was reading well into the night, every night. I simply had to know what happened next. That was at least 10 years ago that I read that book, so I felt like I was long overdue for a Robert Langdon mystery. For some reason, the mood just struck me and…
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Review: The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Well it was bound to happen at some point in my literary review career…..the dreaded DNF (did not finish) tag. But little did I know that this would happen to one book that I was convinced I would love. When I finished the A Song of Ice and Fire AKA Game of Thrones series, I was longing for something similar and just as epic. I can’t tell you how many times The Dark Tower series was recommended…..countless times. I have it in paperback and on my iPad, that’s how much I wanted to read it. I even waited until the mood was perfect and I was ready to get into…
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Review: A Twist in Time (Kendra Donovan #2) by Julie McElwain
Long time readers of my blog know that I love time travel novels. I personally feel like I was born in the wrong era so I compensate by reading books on time travel and hope that I stumble upon my own vortex and end up in the castle of an insanely handsome duke to be, who just happens to be single and makes me a duchess and showers me with glittering jewels, titles, lands, oh and love of course! Wow, I digress…I got wrapped up in that daydream a little too much I think haha! In the spirit of my daydreaming, I picked up the latest Kendra Donovan novel which…
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Review: Where the Dead Lie (Sebastian St. Cyr #12) by C.S. Harris
When this one came up for review, I agreed because it sounded like a bit of a gritty Victorian/Regency mystery and I was ready for a bit of a new mystery series. However, I was hesitant because this book was number 12 in the series. Lately I’ve been jumping into a couple of new series a little late in the game and I felt like at the very least, I should read the first book in this new series so I could get an idea of where things were at, at least with the main character, Lord Devlin. London, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is no stranger to the…
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Review: The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett
I’ve been a fan of grail lore since I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when I was 8 years old. I’ve seen it at least a hundred times I feel like, so needless to say, I am a huge fan of anything related to the Holy Grail and I LOVE cathedrals. I am also a fan of Charlie Lovett’s novels, and this latest book combined both grail lore, cathedrals, and Lovett’s charming prose. This book appealed to my love of English mythology and King Arthur, so I couldn’t pass it up for review when I saw it. Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient books and manuscripts of…
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Review: What Angels Fear (Sebastian St. Cyr #1) by C.S. Harris
Later this week I have another book in this series up for review. Having not read this series before, I felt like it might be a good thing to start with the first book to at least get my barrings. The book I am reviewing is the 12th book, so obviously there is a lot I will have missed, but I wanted to at least get to know the back story of the protagonist, Lord Devlin. It’s 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III’s England. Then a beautiful young woman is found raped and savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient…
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Review: The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable
I’ve always wanted to read one of Michelle Gable’s novels and now, it’s finally happening! The first two books that caught my eye of her’s were both set in Paris so when I saw this one set on Nantucket Island, I felt kind of gypped. However, I have heard such great things about her writing style that I agreed to review it anyway. Physician Bess Codman has returned to her family’s Nantucket compound, Cliff House, for the first time in four years. Her great-grandparents built Cliff House almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Though she s purposefully avoided the island,…
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Review: Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall (Honeychurch Hall Mystery #4) by Hannah Dennison
Not going to lie, there is something about a cute little dog on the cover of a book that just makes me want to read it all the more! When this book came across my desk for review, I was knee deep in cozy mysteries (Lady Darby series) and was totally on a cozy kick. So when I saw this cozy with an adorable little terrier on the cover, I was 100% sold! Typically I hate starting a series in the middle, however I just couldn’t pass this one up….I’m a sucker for animal cozies! When the only copy of Ravished, Iris Stanford’s new manuscript, never arrives at her London…
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Review: The Half Wives by Stacia Pelletier
The first thing that caught my eye about this novel, was it was story told in one day–May 22 1897. In my mind I was thinking, how is this going to work out? One day? Will this even hold my interest or would there be enough content in that one day to keep me interested? Because this sounded like a challenge, I agreed to review it even if it sounded a little on the odd side. Over the course of one momentous day, two women who have built their lives around the same man find themselves moving toward an inevitable reckoning. Former Lutheran minister Henry Plageman is a master secret…
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Review: In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen
Rhys Bowen is probably best known for her Royal Spyness Mysteries series and her Molly Murphy Mysteries. She typically writes cozy mysteries, so when this book came across my desk for review, it sounded like something completely new for her which is why I decided to try it. I’ve been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately and welcomed a little break. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this one. The title suggests more literature, ‘A Novel of World War II’ says more literature rather than mystery to me. But yet the description sounded more mystery. Either way, I liked what I saw for the description and ultimately…