Reading
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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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Special Feature: River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
In honor of Black History Month beginning today, I wanted to share an up and coming novel from a debut author that promises to be moving, emotional, unique, and beautiful. Author Eleanor Shearer is a mixed race author with roots in the Caribbean. She has been drawn to Caribbean history and her love of Caribbean history is evident in this hot new release! Many Black history books focus on the slavery happening in the South, but this book promises to look at a new region and a new approach too the topic by beginning at the end. In this book the Emancipation Act of 1834 has been signed and implanted, but…
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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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Special Feature: The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone
As a little girl, I grew up LOVING my doll house. I had both the Barbie Dream House and a small miniature dollhouse with tiny little doll furniture. There was something so satisfying about setting up my dollhouses. I loved decorating it and I think I even painted the interior rooms occasionally. I loved picking out the furniture and adding little personal touches room by room. The as childhood faded away, so did my love of dollhouses. Until I saw this book. I started thinking about what it was that I loved about dollhouses so much? For me it was the satisfaction of creating a house exactly like I wanted…
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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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Special Feature: A Love by Design (The Secret Scientists of London #3) by Elizabeth Everett
In the last few years I have been really noticing an upswing in STEM based romances! They seem to be everywhere and I love reading about academic romances. But I feel like most of the STEM based romances are contempo romances with young hot upcoming scientists showing just how excited and sexy science can be. This is one of the reasons this book series stood out to me—it’s a historical fiction series with science at its heart! I love that these books are all set in the Victorian age, that period is ripe for stories about science and technological advancement! I am really excited to read this series and honestly…
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Special Feature: The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao
Before the film Crazy Rich Asians came out, I tried to read the book before watching the movie. But I didn’t like it, not even a little bit. I actually liked the movie so much better. I loved the movie so much though that it actually made me want to go back and try to read the book again plus it made me so excited for other books that might be coming out similar to Crazy Rich Asians. Enter this book. I read the description and noticed that it was frequently recommended to fans of Crazy Rich Asians—-so naturally I wanted to check it out! I love books that take…