Born to the life of a
Southern gentleman, Dr. John Henry Holliday arrives on the Texas
frontier hoping that the dry air and sunshine of the West will restore
him to health. Soon, with few job prospects, Doc Holliday is gambling
professionally with his partner, Mária Katarina Harony, a high-strung,
classically educated Hungarian whore. In search of high-stakes poker,
the couple hits the saloons of Dodge City. And that is where the
unlikely friendship of Doc Holliday and a fearless lawman named Wyatt
Earp begins— before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral links their names
forever in American frontier mythology—when neither man wanted fame or
deserved notoriety. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
He began to die when he was twenty-one, but
tuberculosis is slow and sly and subtle. The disease took fifteen years
to hollow out his lungs so completely they could no longer keep him
alive. In all that time, he was allowed a single season of something
like happiness.
This
book is an historical fiction book. There are many things that are true
historical facts wrapped around some great fiction by the author. There
are a couple of mentions of Tombstone in the book, but this is mostly
about Dr. John Henry Holliday's (Doc) life as a child and then growing
up to become a great dentist and living in Dodge City.
I really
enjoyed all of the things I learned about this man and I can't help
myself in picturing Doc and the gang in Tombstone. It's still one of my
favorite movies, because of Val Kilmer's role. In reading THIS book, the
parts that had Doc conversing was a dead ringer for him in the
Tombstone movie.
I felt really bad for Doc (or anyone) having
tuberculosis. All Doc wanted to do was to be a wonderful dentist.
Although, he became a card man, a gunfighter, and whatever else you want
to call him, he was a very respectable acting man in real life.
When
he arrived in Dodge City in 1878 Dr. John Henry Holliday was a frail
twenty-six-year-old dentist who wanted nothing grander than to practice
his profession in a prosperous Kansas cow town. Hope-cruelest of the
evils that escaped Pandora's box-smiled on him gently all that summer.
While he lived in Dodge, the quiet life he yearned for seemed to lie
within his grasp.
I was hoping there was going to be
more about Doc and Wyatt's friendship. Well, Doc was friends with all of
the Earp's but it's mostly about Kate and Doc. I just didn't like her
in this book at all. There are some scenes with Wyatt but I would say
more with Wyatt's brother Morgan.
One of Doc and Wyatt's good
friend John Horse Sanders was burned up in a barn fire in the book. Doc
identified him for sure by his dental work. But Doc also found a blunt
force trauma to the back of his head and he knew that John had been
killed. No one would look into it though, until later when Wyatt came to
town. Doc eventually finds out what happened and it's a shame, but
those were the days. 
Doc was a very interesting character and a very nice man to the people most made fun of or just plain ignored. He didn't put up with any stupidity either though. 
Overall
I enjoyed the book and really loved reading about Doc, I think there
should be more books written about him. "You will always be a daisy,
Doc."
"Let
us consider the plight of the rattleshake," Doc suggested softly, eyes
on the cards. "The rattlesnake is feared and loathed, and yet he has no
claws, no legs. He does not look for fights and gives fair warning if he
is threatened, but if he is attacked, he cannot flee. All he has is his
mouth . . ."
Partly, it was the fancy way he talked. Partly, it
was the slow, slurry sound of Georgia. Mostly, it was just that the
dentist didn't think like anybody else. Wyatt looked away and back
again. "I don't know what in the hell you're talking about, Doc."
GOODREADS REVIEW:
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
A masterful,
intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a
reclusive writer goes far too far—a book about the power of
storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King
introduced in Mr. Mercedes
“Wake up, genius.” So begins
King’s instantly riveting story about a vengeful reader. The genius is
John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy
Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is
livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but
because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in
advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes,
but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one
more Gold novel.
Morris hides the money and the notebooks, and
then he is locked away for another crime. Decades later, a boy named
Pete Saubers finds the treasure, and now it is Pete and his family that
Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson must rescue from the
ever-more deranged and vengeful Morris when he’s released from prison
after thirty-five years.
Not since Misery has King played with the notion of a reader whose obsession with a writer gets dangerous. Finders Keepers
is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also King writing
about how literature shapes a life—for good, for bad, forever. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
Did anyone else notice the little smiley used as the dot after Mr. on
the front of the book? I have had this book for a couple of months and
been reading on it for a few days and finally noticed it. I thought
something spilled on my book and was trying to rub it off until I
figured it out! Lol, I thought it was cool, the smiley, not thinking
something spilled on my book! 
I
enjoyed this book with the new and old characters. I thought it was
well written and all of the characters were nicely played.
**** MILD SPOILERS****
The
story is told in two time lines and ultimately makes its way to present
day. In the 90's a nutcase named Morris Bellamy kills a famous author
named John Rothstein. He then steals his money from the safe and a
collection of Rothstein's books that have never been published.
Morris
panics and hides all of the stuff away in an old trunk at the back of
his family house in the woods. Then Morris goes to jail on a totally
different charge where he gets what he deserves from his cellmate in my
opinion.
Jump ahead to 2010 and you have a family living in
Morris old house. The parents are having a hard time financially when
Mr. Saubers was hit by Mr. Mercedes in the City Center Massacre. Now
Mrs. Saubers is the only one bringing in a little income. They have two
children named Pete and Tina.
One day Pete is out in the back
woods and ends up finding the truck with all of the money and novels in
it. Pete proceeds to send anonymous envelopes to his family over the few
years and it helps them out of their money issues. He keeps and hides
the manuscripts in the house. 
When
the money runs out, Pete tries to find a away to sell the manuscripts
without getting caught. Well, this doesn't go over too well, especially
after many years, Morris is let out of jail.
Pete's little
sister, Tina gets in touch with Holly and Mr. Hodges at their place of
work called Finders Keepers. They decide to help find out what is going
on with Peter. It was nice to see some of the old gang back together.
Even Jerome comes home from Harvard to visit and he gets in on the hunt
for answers. We get an appearance of Odell, Jerome's dog. :-) I have to
mention that because I love dogs and I loved Odell in the first book.
Anyway,
things finally get figured out and some peeps die and some craziness
happens and more peeps die but mostly it works out.
Also Mr.
Hodges keeps going to visit Mr. Mercedes in the hospital. Hodges thinks
he is faking his craziness or veg state, whatever you want to call it.
I'm really hoping something more happens with that in the next book!
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1246799751
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Finders-Keepers-Novel-Hodges-Trilogy/dp/1501100076/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1469967694&sr=8-1
A psychic gypsy. A demon hunter living in the shadows.
Tyler Wade’s entire life revolves around hunting down and killing the things that go bump in the night.
Shay
Evernight embraces everything Tyler fights against. She talks to
ghosts, she has terrifying visions of his future, and she’s determined
to help Tyler's mother. His long-dead mother.
When the truth of
his mother’s disappearance comes to light, demons start popping up
around town, and Shay’s visions get more terrifying. Can two people who
have spent their lives in the shadows of their secrets come into the
light together as war clouds gather? @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
Okay, I have had a "judge a book by its cover" moment! I couldn't help myself :-D. It sounds good though!!
7-29-16 99 cent on kindle, also on kindle unlimited.
Well this book was a lot of fun. I needed some fun today =)
Tyler
Wade is a demon hunter and he has been called back to his home of many
years ago to find out some information about his mother. Shay Evernight
has visions and talks to ghosts and she has been talking to Tyler's mom.
Shay is the one that brings him back home.
Apparently there are some evil things brewing in his old home town.
Shay
has a very bizarre family, they deal in magic and other things. People
in the town are a little wary of them, but they love Shay. She is a nice
person and not like her family at all.
Tyler and Shay do not hit it off at first. Tyler just wants to find out what's going on and get out of town.
Not
long after being there, Tyler runs into a demon. Such fun right? He can
sense them around. And it shows up at the pub in the middle of everyone
having a grand time. 
Tyler makes short work of that one and people are freaked out of course.
Deacon
is the chief of police and he knew Tyler from a child. But now he's all
freaked out too with demons being around. Even though, he still helps
Tyler get to the bottom of things because Deacon has a love interest in
the book too that he wants to protect. We come to find out the demons
are sent after Shay. And no, I can't tell you why because you can read
it yourself. Tyler does get some help from a couple of this other demon
hunters at the end. I'm hoping we will see some stories involving them
as well in the next books.
And you all know that Shay and Tyler finally get over themselves and get together. YEP, there are some sexy scenes in the book. 
I
thought this was a great little book to read when you want something a
little different for the day. And um, yeah, the cover =) I couldn't help
myself and at least I enjoyed the book!
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1712475395
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Undone-Hunters-Willow-Creek-ebook/dp/B01F2J6MAA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469811720&sr=8-1&keywords=hunter+undone
When their too-adult
lives lead them down self-destructive paths, these broken teens find a
way to heal in this YA novel perfect for fans of Ellen Hopkins.
With
her impossible-to-please grandmother on her back about college and her
disapproving step-dad watching her every move, Tessa would do anything
to escape the pressure-cooker she calls home. So she finds a shot of
much-needed power and confidence by hooking up with boys, even though it
means cheating on her boyfriend. But when she's finally caught
red-handed, she’ll do anything she can to cover up what she's done.
Jack
is a prankster who bucks the system every chance he gets—each
transgression getting riskier and riskier. He loves the thrill, and each
adventure allows a little release because his smug smile and suave
demeanor in the face of authority doesn’t make life at home with his mom
any less tough. He tries to take care of her, but the truth is he's
powerless in the face of her fragile mental health. So he copes in his
own way, by defacing public property and pulling elaborate pranks,
though he knows in the end this’ll only screw up his life even more.
As
they both try not to let their self-destructive patterns get the best
of them, Tessa and Jack gravitate toward one another, discovering the
best parts of themselves in the process. An honest portrayal of the
urges that drive us and finding the strength to overcome them. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
OMG! This book was painful to read at times. The things the people go through in this book, I can't even!
This is a story about Tessa and Jack.
Tessa
lives with her mom, stepdad and little sister Willow. Tessa's stepdad
is an alcoholic. Things are not all that great. Tessa's grandmother (who
is the mom of her biological dad that walked out on Tessa and her mom)
is rich and owns a business called Leighton Custom Homes. She wants
Tessa to go to the U of M and work at LCH and take over one day. Tessa
wants to be an artist, but she feels forced to do what her grandmother
wants because of reasons I won't say due to no spoilers. 
Jack
and his mom move in next door to Tessa and her family. Jack's mom used
to be a big attorney and still does some tiny cases. She was always an
alcoholic, but now she's worse and she has schizophrenia. Jack's father
left after a tragedy happened and caused Jack's mom to lose it. Jack's
dad wants him to come and live with him but Jack needs to take care of
his mom. He goes to school, gets in trouble, is very smart though, and
he works a few different jobs to try to pay the bills. He also plays the
violin. 
Tessa
has a boyfriend on the football team and his name is Seth. But Tessa
does some terrible things to try to make herself feel better. They are
not good things and she knows it but for now she feels that is all she
has got.
Jack is a trouble maker. He doesn't do really bad
things, mostly funny stuff that does get him into a lot of trouble. It's
sort of a way to get his mind off all of the bad things in his life.
But he's also a good guy, he plays his violin for the nursing home. He's
just stuck.
Tessa and Jack find each other and can be honest
with each other with their most terrible secrets. They don't have to be
afraid of each other. This does take some time to happen but it's nice
to find a true friend and they do have a love interest with each other.
But this isn't a big time love book. It's about people going through
things and helping each other. It's really bittersweet.
There is
a moment in the book when something else bad happens that I should have
seen. I am usually good at that, but it slipped right by me. One of
those parts that breaks your heart for so many people and almost gets
someone killed! This is why I like reading with other people so we can
talk about the OMG moments!
Anyway, I thought the book was
really good. I loved most of the characters even with their flaws. Well,
okay the not so good characters were very well played as well.
I
also like that the author put in some websites at the end concerning,
sex, alcoholics and mental health. All of these things are real and need
to be addressed and people helped if they can be. 
For guidance with alcohol/drug abuse and mental disorders contact: samhsa.gov*I would like to thank Penguin Books and The First Reads Program for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1711915172
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Heather-Smith-Meloche/dp/0399175903/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1469747913&sr=1-1
Today is Leonard
Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack.
Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then
himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.
But first he must
say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey
Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate, Baback, a
violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on;
and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the
Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets
as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.
In this
riveting look at a day in the life of a disturbed teenage boy, acclaimed
author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that
must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
3 STARS
I
had this idea that I would love this book a lot, but I just didn't. I
love these kinds of books because they touch on real things in life, sad
things. I just didn't feel it with this book.
Leonard is going
to kill his ex-best friend and himself. We don't find out until near the
end why he wants to kill Asher and then himself. I feel like it would
have been better if we got some more insight into the bad things that
happened with these two boys. I would have felt more connected to
Leonard that way.
Leonard goes throughout the day giving gifts
to his friends and teacher. Maybe some are not necessarily friends, but
people that touched him in some way. Although, I didn't like his story
line with Lauren. He was pretty much an a••hole with her.
I
liked Leonard's teacher Herr Silverman. He was a kind teacher and he
understood a lot more than people would think. But, I really couldn't
stand Leonard's mother, she was horrible to him. That just had to be a
sad existence with her.
Leonard has so many things going on in
his head. And he picks the day to kill Asher and himself on his own
birthday that his mom didn't even remember. 
Overall
I liked the idea of the book and the character of the teacher. I just
wish there was a little bit more to the story. But I'm so glad there are
many more than can love it and get more out of it than I did because
that's what it's all about ♥
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1711743969
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Forgive-Leonard-Peacock-Matthew-Quick/dp/031622135X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469723421&sr=8-1&keywords=forgive+me+leonard+peacock
No one expects a
princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since
she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their
homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the
Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to
survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an
unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes
them special also makes them targets.
Lada despises the Ottomans
and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can
return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a
place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and
lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and
Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But
Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight
against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and
Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty
to the breaking point. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
5 STARS
Vlad Dracul's heavy brow descended like a storm when the doctor informed him that his wife had given birth to a girl.
Oh, little did he know that he would have one of the most brutal, bad@ssed girl known to man!
Lada waved the knife at him in answer to the question she did
not understand. Vlad raised an eyebrow. He was wrapped in a fine cloak,
an elaborate hat on his head. It had been nearly a year since Lada had
seen her father. She did not recognize him.
"Lada!" the nurse whispered. "Come here at once."
Lada stood as tall as her short, stocky legs allowed. "This is my home! I am the Order of the Dragon! I kill infidels!"
I am totally in love with the character of Ladislav
Dragwlya (Lada). She is beyond bad. She just doesn't care and she will
attack anyone. She wants to be equal with men. She doesn't care to be
married off. She doesn't care to do women stuff. She trains to be a
soldier, a warrior woman. She bad to the bone from the get go.
Radu had braced for another blow when Aron's shout made him
open his eyes. Aron was spinning in a circle, trying desperately to
dislodge Lada. She was not supposed to be here, but somehow her presence
was unsurprising. She had jumped on the boy's back, clasping her arms
around him and pinning his arms to his sides. Radu could not see her
face through her tangled drape of hair until Aron twisted to the side,
revealing Lada's teeth sunk into his shoulder
I wish I could have been like her with all of the bullies in school :-)
Radu
is Lada's younger brother, but she doesn't coddle him or give him
comfort like a normal sister. She will take up for him but she will
smack him around as well. Although, when they get a little older she's
not as bad to him.
I was thinking this was going to be a cool
book about the awesome Vlad and his kids but Vlad is like a little sissy
compared to his daughter Lada. They sort of switched places.
This book took a lot of time building up to what I'm hoping is going to be an awesome saga. With that ending I do believe so.
Vlad
let Halil Pasha take Lada and Radu to the Ottoman Court. He turned them
over to an enemy. Although, he wasn't bad to the kids. He gave them
schooling and decided to marry Lada off when the time came. Oh and that
decision went down well, so she got sent off to another place with one
of the sultan's sons to do more schooling with the son, Mehmed and her
brother Radu.
Lada spoke with a quiet, clear voice, and the room hushed in
surprise. No one expected the girl to speak. She was probably not
allowed to. Radu knew Lada would not care either way. "On our wedding
night," she said. "I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both
tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be
wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own
blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife
and therefore not a widow to be pitied.
There is no one like her. To be that brutal and not take no sh*t in those times is just beyond coolness!
Lada
eventually started training with the Janissaries. They are a form of
soldiers that are paid a good wage. She became friends with them when
she didn't take crap from them either. She eventually got her wish of
becoming one of them, but oh so much more.
"Not very pretty for a whore." The soldier behind her tugged
on a strand of her hair. She ducked under his arm, grabbing his wrist
and twisting it behind his back to pin him. It was a trick she learned
under the harsh tutelage of Mircea and perfected by practicing on Bogdan
and Radu. The soldier shouted angrily and tried to pull away, so she
twisted harder, pushing up against the joint. He yelped in pain.
"You are prettier than I." She put more pressure on his arm. "Perhaps you could offer yourself as whore instead."
She's amazing!
Lada, Mehmed and Radu bond, as much
as Lada allows herself to bond. I really enjoyed all of that storyline.
There are some love interests in the book but they don't really go too
far with that because it's more about kicking arse and getting the story
set up.
Lada huffed, exasperated. "Very well. What exactly does a friend do?"
"I have never had one. I was hoping you would know."
"Then you are even stupider than you look. Radu is the one who makes friends. I am the one who makes people want to whip me."
"Good.
In the spirit of friendship, I must tell you that I am bitterly jealous
of the time you spend in the Janisssaries' company. I want you to stop
training with them.
"And, in the spirit of friendship, I must tell
you that I do not care in the slightest about your petty jealousies. I
am late for my training." She hooked her foot behind Mehmed's ankle,
then slammed her shoulder into his, tripping him and throwing him to the
ground.
At
some point Mehmed becomes sultan when his father just decides to
retire. There is a whole other story line going on there too, but I
don't want to give out spoilers on certain things. Lada does end up
saving a bunch of lives and there are more wars and what not.
Either way, I loved this book. I love Lada and I look forward to the rest of the books! Please be good! 
"Not Dragwlya," she said. "Lada Dracul. I am not longer the
daughter of the dragon." She lifted her chin, sights set on the horizon.
"I am the dragon."
GOODREADS REVIEW:
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
A star quarterback and a
feisty detective play for keeps in this sporty, sexy, sassy novel—a
long-awaited new entry in the beloved, award-winning, New York Times
bestselling author’s fan-favorite Chicago Stars football series.
Piper
Dove is a woman with a dream—to become the best detective in the city
of Chicago. First job? Trail former Chicago Stars quarterback, Cooper
Graham. Problem? Graham’s spotted her, and he’s not happy.
Which
is why a good detective needs to think on her feet. “The fact is...I’m
your stalker. Not full-out barmy. Just...mildly unhinged.”
Piper
soon finds herself working for Graham himself, although not as the
bodyguard he refuses to admit he so desperately needs. Instead, he’s
hired her to keep an eye on the employees at his exclusive new
nightclub. But Coop’s life might be in danger, and Piper’s determined to
protect him, whether he wants it or not. (Hint: Not!) If only she
weren’t also dealing with a bevy of Middle Eastern princesses, a
Pakistani servant girl yearning for freedom, a teenager who just wants
to fit in, and an elderly neighbor demanding Piper find her very dead
husband.
And then there’s Cooper Graham himself, a legendary
sports hero who always gets what he wants—even if what he wants is a
feisty detective hell bent on proving she’s as tough as he is.
From
the bustling streets of Chicago to a windswept lighthouse on Lake
Superior to the glistening waters of Biscayne Bay, two people who can’t
stand to lose will test themselves and each other to discover what
matters most. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
5 STARS
And to think, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book because I
don't care for football. Yeah, I don't like football, don't judge me =)
But, it's freaking awesome. I laughed and laughed some more. I thought I
was going to croak I was laughing so hard. The character of Piper Dove
is awesome! I want her as my best friend. She's full of snark, she's
kind and she can spout off one liners like no one else! and she's super
smart too! And she can kick butt! Obviously she's cool, you get it? 
She
gave him a faintly pitying look. "So rich and yet so dumb." It felt
good to see what he couldn't. "The reality is that you're so used to
everybody bowing and scraping that you don't understand most people only
show you their best side. You've forgotten how many creeps there are.
All your fame has made you a babe in the woods when it comes to living
in the real world."
••••••
Heath grinned. "I like this woman."
"No mystery why," Coop retorted.
It
was a mystery to Piper, but she had something more pressing on her
mind. "This is clearly not working," she declared as Louise went off to
gather more dresses Piper didn't' want to wear. "I'd freeze to death in
every one of these. Not to mention that I can't do my job if I'm
worrying the whole time about my . . . my cooter hanging out!"
That cracked them both up, clearly signaling that it was time for Piper to take charge. "Louise, you and I need to talk . . ."
•••••
He jutted his jaw. "You're riding high right now, but once the boss stops boning you, he won't even remember your name."
A
fireball exploded in her head, and she dug her finger into the middle
of his chest. "Meet me in the alley after closing, you scumbag. Then
we'll see who has the biggest set of balls."
She'd finally pierced his swagger. "Are you serious? You want to fight me?"
Not
exactly. But just because he was big didn't mean he was quick, and
maybe she'd get lucky. Probably not, but maybe. She curled her lip at
him. "Why not?"
He puffed out his chest. "I'm not fighting a chick."
"Afraid I'll get you pregnant?"
He stepped back, as if she were contagious. "You're a lunatic, you know that?"
She grimaced as he stalked off. He was quite possibly right.
OMG! I could sit and write excerpts on this book all day, but I will stop.
So
Piper is a private detective and Cooper is a retired football player
that owns a nightclub. Through some crazy circumstances, Piper gets
hired to watch Cooper's employee's. She also ends up being a body guard
in a sense. 
It
seems there are some things going on at Cooper's club right under his
nose and wonderful Piper is on the case. As you can figure they end up
having a love connection but it's actually a really good one. It's not
some (lets put the whole book on the sideline so we can have sex every 5
minutes) it's an actual story line with wonderful characters and a
great plot.
Piper is staying in one of the two apartments over
the club. Jada and her mother live in the other one and I just love
Jada. She is funny and does some crazy stuff. Of course there are a lot
of crazy stuff in the book. There is also good deeds, sex, love, snark,
bad guys, guns, fights, and some other stuff that I probably left out.
As
far as I know, since I'm crazy, this is the first book by the author I
have read but if all of her characters are as cool as Piper than I want
to read many more books from her! *I would like to thank William Morrow for a print copy of this book for my honest review.*
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1704884132
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/First-Star-See-Tonight-Chicago/dp/0062405616/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469554320&sr=8-1&keywords=first+star+i+see+tonight
The powerful story of
two teenagers finding friendship, comfort, and first love in the days
following 9/11 as their fractured city tries to put itself back
together.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, sixteen-year-old
Kyle Donohue watches the first twin tower come down from the window of
Stuyvesant High School. Moments later, terrified and fleeing home to
safety across the Brooklyn Bridge, he stumbles across a girl perched in
the shadows. She is covered in ash and wearing a pair of costume wings.
With his mother and sister in California and unable to reach his father,
a New York City detective likely on his way to the disaster, Kyle makes
the split-second decision to bring the girl home. What follows is their
story, told in alternating points of view, as Kyle tries to unravel the
mystery of the girl so he can return her to her family. But what if the
girl has forgotten everything, even her own name? And what if the more
Kyle gets to know her, the less he wants her to go home? The Memory of
Things tells a stunning story of friendship and first love and of
carrying on with our day-to-day living in the midst of world-changing
tragedy and unforgettable pain—it tells a story of hope.@goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
On
the day of 9/11, Kyle is trying to hurry home to Brooklyn. They let out
school so everyone can try to get home. On the way he sees a girl
looking over the bridge. He thinks she's going to jump. He grabs her arm
and makes her come with him. She's wearing white angel wings. 
The
story is written in two different views. One from Kyle and the other
from the girl which is written in bits and pieces. Fragments of memories
she can't quite grasp. She doesn't even know her name. She feels like
she's falling apart, but doesn't know why. 
Kyle
does the best he can for a teenager. He has a girl to take care of that
can't remember anything. An uncle that was in a accident and pretty
much paralyzed. His dad is in the middle of the chaos trying to find
survivors. His mom and sister are stuck in another state. So it's up to
Kyle to take care of all three of them all the while worrying about what
it is going to happen to his dad.
Kyle finally gets the girl to
talking and watching tv. He gets her to eat and she seems to get along
great with Kyle's uncle. And slowly, over time, with Kyle's help and the
tv, she remembers who she is and it's pretty heartbreaking.
This
is a beautifully, sad story about coming of age in a world that has
went so wrong. The strengths that each person has to go through and help
others. The fear of no seeing family members again. Many, many fears.
I
thought this was a heartfelt book and I loved all of the characters.
They were beautifully written and I cared for each one of them.
*I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
And we will never forget
GOODREADS REVIEW:
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
'On what slender threads do life and fortune hang'
Thrown
in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined
to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure
hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only
to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the
destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas'
epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of
wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first
serialised in the 1840s.
Robin Buss' lively translation is
complete and unabridged, and remains faithful to the style of Dumas'
original. This edition includes an introduction, explanatory notes and
suggestions for further reading. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
5 STARS
ALL THE FREAKING FEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I
never in a million years would have thought I would love this book! I
never thought I would like something like this book. I never thought I
would fall in love with Dantes! I never thought I would have so much
anger, sadness, despair and happiness in this book! I never thought, did
I!
*********SOME SPOILERS**********
Edmond Dantes was a
wonderful man of 19-years-old. He had a woman he loved and was going to
marry named Mercedes. A loving father. And he was going to be captain of
the wonderful ship, Pharaon.
The the jealous bastards or just bastards in general ruined life for Dantes. 1. Danglars
2. Fernand
3. VillefortI hate these men with such a passion I just wanted someone to kill their evil selves. 
All of the jerks had a hand in putting Dantes in prison for 14 effing years! Yeah! For what? For NOTHING!
Dantes was in such despair he was going to starve himself to death. I can't even!
Then
one night Dantes hears a scratching sound and soon realizes someone is
tunneling. Dantes decides to tunnel as well. At some point the two of
them tunnel to each other. Dantes gets to meet Abbe Faria, the mad man
(so they say) in the cell next door. Abbe Faria thinks he's tunneling
out to freedom but he made a miscalculation. But Dantes and Abbe devise a
new plan and this takes some years to do all of this tunneling. But the
Abbe is old and sick and having seizures. He's not going to be able to
make it so Dantes waits with him. He is like another father figure to
Dantes. And who in the hell but Dantes would wait and not leave his
friend. Because Dantes is good and kind and loving.
Abbe Faria
is also the one that opens Dantes eyes to who the culprits were that put
him in jail. Poor Dantes couldn't see this at the time and he couldn't
read what we were reading so he had no clue. Abbe Faria also tells
Dantes about tons of gold and jewels that he has hidden on the island of
Monte Cristo. He makes Dantes remember everything about getting there
and where to find the treasure.
Unfortunately, Abbe Faria dies
and it was so sad. Dantes was so grief stricken over his friend. Dantes
decided to leave then as he had nothing else to stay for and he put
himself in Abbe Faria's place all wrapped up waiting to be buried. Well,
he doesn't actually get buried but thrown out to sea and luckily Dantes
managed to save himself.
We go on to read of the tale of how
Dantes get to Monte Cristo and soon he is beyond rich and he is so smart
and reading to get IT DONE!
And Dantes doesn't just run off and
kill people. He's smart. He tears down their houses, their world
without them knowing who he is until the bitter end. And all of the
riches they acquired while he rotted in jail was disgusting. Anyway,
some people did die but that's of little importance. 
Dantes
is also kind to all of the people that were kind to him or tried to
help him while he was in jail. He's such a wonderful person. Yes, I know
I keep saying that. He helps Morrel and his family when they were about
to lose everything. They even lost the Pharaon but Dantes brings him a
new one without Morrel even knowing where the ship came from. Dantes
gave them money. He helped the family even after Morrel was gone. I
cried and cried at his generosity.
And to sit and read of all the plans and all of the people crumble.
The
only person to recognize Dantes, even with his disguises, was Mercedes.
But she went and married freaking Fernand and had a kid. Dantes was
friends with Mercedes son but things could never be good for them again.
And it's so, so sad for so many involved.
Oh, and Dantes called
himself "Sinbad the Sailor" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." Of course I
guess if you own a rock and gold and jewels and many other things, you
can call yourself anything you want! :-)
I can't sit here and go
on and on about the book. It's freaking 1276 pages! I'm not that good
of a reviewer to tell you something good about that many pages. Just
know. . . THIS BOOK is freaking AWESOME! If you have been debating on
reading it and afraid of it's size, who cares, just read it. I mean you
can take two months or however long to enjoy Dantes and his adventures,
but don't let the "tome" bother you. It's not boring at all! NOT ONE
BIT!
I give it all the stars! 
Sail on dear, Dantes! ♥
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
I don't have a blurb to the book as this was an ARC and I can't find one on any resources. The back of the ARC has a blurb but it uses a different name for the boyfriend so I'm just going to leave it at this and you can read my review.
MY REVIEW:
3.5 STARS
3.5 Stars
*I won this book in the GOODREADS FIRSTREADS giveaway*
***Mild Spoilers***
I
love Fear Street, I read them like crazy growing up and I'm hoping I
still have some old books in boxes around here. This one was good and
made me think of my old crazy old school books where I yell at everyone
in the book because they are being stupid. 
I liked the end and I didn't like the end.
1. B/C that ending would be so cool if you take out your thoughts of "it can't work that way."
2. B/C there is no way someone could die and you put out a book about it and someone not go to jail.
Caitlyn
is the main character of the book and she's a nut! She is crazy in
everything she does. She has two best friends that try to keep her in
hand, but NOT. Then she meets some guy at the mall named Blade and
immediately has a connection to him. I don't mind insta-love because I
have that in my fantasies in my head, but this is just cray! And then
some randomness happens to Caitlyn after work and she goes and buys a
knife, which her friends tell her is dangerous. 
Then
we have cray number 2 which would be Deena Fear. She's all about spells
and making people do things and some other stuff I won't even get
into.. plus she thinks that Blade is hers and Caitlyn's. For real?
Then
Blade gets into a mortal accident and he's out of the picture... or is
he? Bring out the creepy Deena Fear and let her get her spell on. 
So
without giving out any more mild spoilers, I'm just going to say I did
like the book because it's Fear Street. And be for real, what is not
crazy in a Fear Street book. People are dying, screaming, killing,
driving like nuts, doing spells, seeing ghosts and dead people. You name
it, Fear Street will have it.
Anyway, it was a fun little ride
and made me think of my childhood reading some spookies and that's all
that matters. Well, this isn't spooky but I digress!
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1704791553
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Boyfriend-Fear-Street-Novel/dp/1250058953/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469227806&sr=1-1&keywords=the+dead+boyfriend
In this stunning,
fantastical debut novel from a bold new voice in the bestselling
traditions of Christopher Moore and Jasper Fforde, a ferryman for the
dead finds his existence unraveling after making either the best
decision or the biggest mistake of his immortal life.
Ferryman
Charlie Dawson saves dead people—somebody has to convince them to move
on to the afterlife, after all. Having never failed a single assignment,
he's acquired a reputation for success that’s as legendary as it is
unwanted. It turns out that serving as a Ferryman is causing Charlie to
slowly lose his mind. Deemed too valuable by the Ferryman Institute to
be let go and too stubborn to just give up in his own right, Charlie’s
pretty much abandoned all hope of escaping his grim existence. Or he
had, anyway, until he saved Alice Spiegel. To be fair, Charlie never
planned on stopping Alice from taking her own life—that sort of thing is
strictly forbidden by the Institute—but he never planned on the
President secretly giving him the choice to, either. Charlie’s not quite
sure what to make of it, but Alice is alive, and it’s the first time
he’s felt right in more than two hundred years.
When word of the
incident reaches Inspector Javrouche, the Ferryman Institute's resident
internal affairs liaison, Charlie finds he's in a world of trouble. But
Charlie’s not about to lose the only living, breathing person he’s ever
saved without a fight. He’s ready to protect her from Javrouche and
save Alice from herself, and he’s willing to put the entire continued
existence of mankind at risk to do it.
Written in the same vein as bestselling modern classics such as The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde and A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, The Ferryman Institute is a thrilling supernatural adventure packed with wit and humor. @goodreads
MY REVIEW:
4 STARS
Charlie Dawson has been a ferryman working for The Ferryman Institute
for many years. He gets assignments from his manager and gets them set
up from his navigator and off he goes with his special key. This key
takes him to the person he needs to talk into going through their door
once they are dead. It's a very heartbreaking job that Charlie has to do
and he's the best the Institute has at completing. 
Charlie
is tired, very tired. He has tried to transfer out for years now but
they keep turning him down. They just can't let their best man go. But
geez, it's making him crazy. It's been over 200 years! But one day
Charlie gets a letter from the president of the institute that says "Be a
ferryman or save the girl."
Well this is a no brainer. How many
times has Charlie wanted to save a life, too many to count. The woman he
is going to save is Alice Spiegal. The way they meet is totally off the
wall and crazy and funny.
I loved the character of Charlie and
Alice, but I must say that Alice is my favorite character. She's a
little OCD, okay, a lot OCD and other issues and she's funny and snarky.
Oh, she can bring the snark. I want to add so many excerpts but I won't
so it can be fresh to the reader!
When Charlie saves Alice it
gives this jerk named Javrouche an excuse to come after him because it's
against the law to do what Charlie did AND no one can find the letter
from the president.
Needless to say there are all kinds of crazy
stuff that goes down after this point. I loved most of the characters
and the story line itself. The author has set the book up for a sequel
if that is to be a plan for the future.
I think a lot of people
will love Charlie and Alice and a few others as much as I did, they are
one of a kind. That much is for sure :-)
*I would like to thank Netgalley and Gallery Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
GOODREADS REVIEW:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1699870558
AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Ferryman-Institute-Novel-Colin-Gigl/dp/150112532X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469213087&sr=1-1&keywords=the+ferryman+institute
