Category: Books

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Flight (The Texas Murder Files #2) by Laura Griffin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Flight (The Texas Murder Files #2) by Laura Griffin

I am cursing through this series in a matter of days and have already pre-ordered the fourth book which will be out in the spring of 2023. I have really enjoyed Griffin’s books and I am fully invested in reading all of her books before the year is out at this rate! I think I read this one in a day as well! Her books aren’t short either. They each run about 400 pages and within that 400 pages we have to have a believable romance, a complex mystery, and a resolution. That’s a tall order but Griffin absolutely delivers on a regular basis!

This one is probably my favorite in the series so far. The main characters felt older to me like later 30’s and I felt like I could relate to Miranda more than I could Bailey in the first book. Joel also felt older and more mature—-less hot head male ego and more thoughtful brooder. I also thought the mystery was really well done in this one and I enjoyed deciphering the clues!

If you are looking for a well done murder mystery, then look no further than Griffin’s books. Literally start anywhere with any of her series and you will be totally fine. Years ago I binged the Kay Scarpetta books and that’s what this reminds me of. Good solid characters with a twisted mystery! I love these books and cannot wait to share my thoughts on them with you guys!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Hidden (The Texas Murder Files #1) by Laura Griffin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Hidden (The Texas Murder Files #1) by Laura Griffin

The second I finished The Vanishing Tree, I ordered this one on my iPad. I loved The Vanishing Tree and couldn’t wait to get my hands on another book by Griffin. I loved the balance of romance and murder mystery and I was eager to read more by her. I debated about reading another of her stand alone books but this series is fairly short (four books so far) and if I loved the series as much as the stand alone book, then I wanted to have more I could read.

I originally felt like the Tracer series was too long (I think there are 13 or 14 books in that series) and I wanted something that seemed manageable as far as series go. In my mind I was like ok if this series is good I can binge four books no problem and then move on to something else. Well that was BS if I ever heard it as I am currently done with this series and four books into the Tracers series!

I think what I love about Griffin’s books is there is this great, easy to follow romance to break up the murder and investigating. The focus really is the mystery though but the romances are believable and don’t feel like an add on after the fact. They are thought out and well done but also don’t eclipse or over take the mystery. It’s such a good balance and they make for quick easy reads which is just want I need in my life as the holidays ramp up!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese

I have been knee deep in romantic suspense murder novels and while I am loving them, I always love a good romance. When I decided to review this one it was because I loved the cover (the girl with the sleeve tattoo spoke to me since I have a sleeve too!) and I loved that it was a Much Ado About Nothing retelling! While Much Ado About Nothing isn’t my favorite Shakespeare play, I did enjoy it and was eager to check out this more modern retelling.

I haven’t read anything by author, Chloe Liese, but I loved that she is a dedicated romance writer committed to everyone having their own unique love story. I like the inclusivity and I see that she is an established author which means that she is tried and true so I was eager to check out this latest novel by her, especially since it’s not part of a series. That way I can sample her writing before committing to reading a series if that makes sense.

I quickly scanned early reviews for this novel before reading it and was pleased to see a lot of people enjoyed it, picking up new to me authors can sometimes be intimidating—exciting, but intimidating. I have a handful of authors that I will read whatever they put out and then there are those new authors that I see around the blog-o-sphere that I think I might like, but sometimes it’s hard to pull the trigger on a new author but in this case, I am glad that I did!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood

This book has been sitting in my Amazon cart for well over a year! I had it in my cart as a paperback and just never could decide if I wanted to pull the trigger to not. This book sounded like something I would like but it was also kind of off the beaten path and from a smaller press and if I was going to spend $14 on it, I wanted to make sure I was 100% sold on it. But then one night while I was sitting with my son, waiting for him to fall asleep, I was bored looking for something new to read.

Suddenly buying the ecopy for $10 sounded like a good idea and the moment felt right. I was instantly glad that I pulled the trigger! I was sucked into this one almost immediately and by the time I was done, I was kicking myself for not buying it sooner! If you are a Victoria Holt fan or Julia Klassen, then you are not going to want to miss this one! This has all the things I love about Gothic romances! Ambiguous characters, haunted castles, and of course romance!

This one absolutely drew me in and captivated me for a few days. I found myself spending longer and longer in my son’s room well after her went to sleep just so I could finish ‘one more page’! If you love Gothic mysteries with some romance you are not going to want to miss this one. Or maybe you have this book in your Amazon cart like I did and just aren’t sure if it’s worth it—well the answer is YES! Absolutely worth it!

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Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen

How are we already at book 16 in this series?! I have only made it to like book 7 consecutively and then a few of the later ones in the series. All of the books are just so good and I have enjoyed this series so much over the years. It’s one of those book series that you can pick up and know that you are going to get a solid mystery with great characters! I have yet to read a disappointing one in this series! It’s like my go to comfort reading when I don’t know what else to read.

Sadly I couldn’t fit this one into my review schedule for this month, but I have this one queued up to read over winter break! Even though I have jumped around in this series, there have only been a few times where I felt like reading the other books in the series would have been useful, but overall I have been able to jump around with ease. But we are 16 books in to this series so naturally there are going to be established relationships and plot points that carry over within the larger series.

That said though, the author does a good job orientating readers within the story so you aren’t fully lost etc. I would say it’s relatively easy to jump around so if this one sounds good to you, then you should check it out even if you are a new reader. Now long time fans of the series will no doubt have this one on their radar! If you love cheeky historical mysteries this is an excellent series and I highly recommend this (and anything by Rhys Bowen really!) as a fun, cozy mystery with a sassy and smart heroine and a dashing hero!

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