DNF-ing This One: The Littlest Cowboy

The Littlest Cowboy

by Maggie Shayne
Book 1 of The Texas Brands

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  No Rating
Progress:  7% into book

Baby on his Doorstep!  Sheriff Garrett Brand has raised his entire brood of siblings single-handedly, and he’s done his best to teach them some values, to mold them into honorable, responsible, and trustworthy human beings.  So when a baby lands on the doorstep of the Texas Brand, his first question is which younger brother is in for a butt-kicking?  But the little fellow isn't named after Ben, or Wes, or Adam, or Elliot.  The little feller is named after him – Garrett Ethan Brand–according to the note his mama left behind.

He’s still racking his brain to figure it all out, when a woman shows up at the ranch in the dead of night, spitting, fighting mad, and accusing Garrett of murdering her sister and stealing the baby!

Chelsea is confused, heartbroken, and too mad to think straight, and the same trouble that found her poor sister is right on her tail.  But of all the places she and the baby could've wound up, Garrett thinks this ranch is the best one.

Because this is one family that knows how to pull together and trouble doesn't stand a chance against The Brands of Texas.

I had a bad feeling about this book after reading the first chapter.  On a whim, I started skimming the rest of the book and found that I probably wouldn't like what came next.  From the short snippets I read here and there, we've got a bunch of cavemen-like alphas, and one irrational TSTL heroine.  There's also a lot of telling instead of showing.

There was one particular scene I decided to read, somewhere mid-book where we find out that there's a very dangerous man out there trying to find the heroine and her baby nephew.  A very dangerous man who might have killed her sister.  A very dangerous man who has resources and other dangerous men working for him.  So what does she do?  She decides that she's just going to go straight home where she lives, all by her lonesome, with a child in tow... where said very dangerous man already knows how to find her, and can just waltz up to her home and snatch the baby... maybe killing her while he's at it.

To be fair, to her, however, at some point in the book, the men all decide together that they need not tell the womenfolk just HOW dangerous this very dangerous man truly is.  They don't need to know.  No need to worry the fragile hearts of the little ladies, right?

......

There's entirely too much testosterone going on in this book for me.  Since when is NOT telling someone how much danger she (or even he) is in a good idea?  Ever?

I've read a lot of crap books lately.  I'm too tired to put up with another one.

I loved Maggie Shayne's Brown and de Luca series and have been hoping for another great from her.  But I suppose sometimes you just cut your losses where you can.  This is an earlier Maggie Shayne work, though, so maybe I should stick with her newer stuff.

I picked this book as one of my Reading Assignment Challenge books, and just as well, it was a Kindle freebie.  So I'm glad I got this book out of the way.

Moving on to something else now!

Thoughts: The Splendour Falls

The Splendour Falls

by Susanna Kearsley
narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

An ancient castle, a tragic love, and a web of secrets begins to unravel....

Emily Braden has stopped believing in fairy tales and happy endings.  When her fascinating but unreliable cousin Harry invites her on a holiday to explore the legendary town of Chinon, and promptly disappears - well, that's Harry for you.

As Emily makes the acquaintance of Chinon and its people, she begins to uncover dark secrets beneath the charm.  Legend has it that during a 13th-century siege of the castle that looms over the city, Queen Isabelle, child bride of King John, hid a "treasure of great price".  And in the last days of the German occupation during World War II, there was another Isabelle living in Chinon, a girl whose love for an enemy soldier went tragically awry.

As the dangers of the past become disastrously real, Emily is drawn ever more deeply into a labyrinth of mystery as twisted as the streets and tunnels of the ancient town itself.

Upon finishing this book, as I had stated in my Pre-Review Thoughts, I've been enjoying Susanna Kearsley as far as the first couple books I've read of hers.  I know two books isn't a lot to go on, but it's enough that I enjoyed both to make my radar perk up at anything else written by Kearsley.  In fact, having been told that the first Susanna Kearsley book I read, The Shadowy Horses, was actually not one of her better books gave me something to look forward to as I did enjoy that one quite well.  In this, I'm hoping that the next book I pick up by Susanna Kearsley will prove much more interesting and less boring than The Splendour Falls.

Because the truth is, boring is exactly what The Splendour Falls turned out to be.

As Kearsley is wont to do, the writing was beautiful and the characters were all interesting in their own way.  She has a way with imagery and atmosphere, which is what had drawn me to continue reading her work in the first place.  There was even a veil of mystery to... well, to something at the beginning of the book, which continued to tingle in the background as the book progressed.

But that veil of mystery seemed to get forgotten at each new turn, or each new day that our heroine, Emily Braden, spends simply wandering Chinon... pretty much aimlessly.  As I'd mentioned before, this book's conflict doesn't even really surface until about eight hours into the audio book.  Eight hours out of a twelve hour audio book is when there's suddenly a change of tone in the book's narrative.  The previous eight hours kept hinting that something might be going on, but this was very much overshadowed by Emily's banal musings as she spends time vacationing in Chinon with her new band of friends.

For eight hours--that I listened to at random intervals--of audio book, I had no idea where this book was supposed to be going.  When I started suspecting that we'd jump back and forth in time, like she did in Every Secret Thing, between Emily's time and the historical King John and Isabelle, that tangent suddenly disappeared.  When I thought there might be a more sinister mystery of sorts involving Martine and Christian and Neil... well, that got cut off as well.  Then I thought maybe there'd be some sort of supernatural happening in the Hotel de France... but that was wishful thinking on my part.

I'm not even entirely sure the book itself knew where it was going.

Then something tragic happens after eight hours of audio book, and everything just starts falling together to create a plot.  And truth be told, I DID find myself getting extremely sad about the event that finally got the book picking up, and might have gotten a bit teary-eyed... So, kudos for that, Ms. Kearsley.  Well played.

Except that I'm not sure the build-up--or lack thereof--really got you prepared for that particular incident.  It was quite sudden, and I'm not sure whether or not for the better.

Meanwhile, before that pivotal point in the book, I pretty much just found myself both bored and frustrated.

Moreso, I found myself a bit frustrated with Emily, and not only because she's such a boring narrator.  I started getting a "reverse harem" and "speshul snowflake" vibe from her and her new band of friends after a while.  Apparently all the men she started meeting in Chinon ended up adoring her, and there's even a direct dialogue near the end that pretty much professes that if it weren't for Emily, a lot of the more wonderful things that happened wouldn't have happened.  I might have rolled my eyes out of my head at that.

It doesn't help that the only other two females in the book who feature prominently are both maligned, either as part of their character (Garland) or because Emily is jealous (Martine).  Martine is narrated as if she's a selfish, shallow, hateful person, but upon interaction with her, you quickly realize that it's really only Emily's pre-judgements coming into play.  Martine seems quite nice and bubbly--but you stop seeing her in the book as much after Emily's revelation.  Garland definitely comes off hateful, but at best she's really just crass, ignorant, and entitled.

I don't like that there are no good female friendships in this book.  And I've come to find Reverse Harems a little tacky.

I'm not sure what role Paul and Simon were supposed to play in this story.  I found Armand creepy, and Neil's existence almost, well... non-existent.  I thought Christian would have more of a role, but he's merely always in the background.  I was a bit surprised by Jim's twist in this story.  And Harry... I'm not even sure if he's really all that significant outside of giving Emily a reason to think that something sinister is going on when he never shows up at their appointed meeting time and place for vacation.

And there you have it that there might be way too many characters to follow in this book--even if they're all quite interesting in their own way.

On a side note, I have had a good experience with Barbara Rosenblat's narrations before, so had been looking forward to this particular audio book.  Somehow, her narration doesn't really do anything for me this time around, and I'm not entirely sure I can pinpoint why.  She does a great job differentiating all the characters, and wonderfully portrays accents.

I think it was the voice she gives Emily... I'm not sure.

Halloween Bingo 2018
(a genre or mode of literature and film that combines fiction and horror, death, and at times romance)

Thoughts: The Prey

The Prey

by Allison Brennan
Book 1 of Predatory trilogy

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

First, she imagined it.  Then a killer made it real.

Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu beach house while her bestselling novel is made into a Hollywood movie.  A former FBI agent with a haunted past, Rowan thinks she has outrun her demons.  But fiction and reality collide when a dismembered body is found in Colorado: the real-life victim had the same name, occupation, and looks as a character in Rowan’s novel.  By the time the FBI, the LAPD, and her own private bodyguard gather around her, another person is killed–again, the murder ripped from the pages of Rowan’s book.

In the company of a former Delta Force officer with secrets of his own, Rowan faces an excruciating dilemma: the only way to chase down the tormenting killer is by revisiting the darkness of her past–and by praying for some way out again.

After the prey is chosen, the hunt is on and the kill is certain.

Before I dive into my rant, I DO want to point out that things got better after the halfway point of the book.  Just in case anyone is wondering about the average rating.

The first half of this book actually merited a 1.5 Star to 2.0 Star rating.  The dialogue was awkward and unrealistic, and there was too much of an emphasis on the romance and our characters' dramatic woes.  It really derails a reader from the main, crime thriller conflict presented from the first chapter.  It also didn't help that I found the characters, except maybe John Flynn and Quinn Peterson, extremely irritating.

Things continued to be quite rocky even as we hit the midpoint of the book, although with the serial killings in the background, there was always a niggling need, as a reader, to continue on.  That didn't mean that I enjoyed much of that first half of the book, and I found that our characters had a lot of trouble prioritizing their duties and responsibilities.

Rowan was so adamant about keeping her secrets, or not being protected, or doing her own investigations, that it was making me roll my eyes pretty badly.  She's an ex-federal agent, and I have a hard time understanding why she wouldn't give up pertinent information that may or may not be connected to an ongoing investigation.  What she did could really be construed as obstruction of justice, truth be told.  People were dying, and more people would continue to die.  And predictably, the worse ended up happening because she wasn't forthcoming with her knowledge, no matter how tragic events had been for her.

Understanding only goes so far when lives are at stake, and you have a chance to do something about it.

Meanwhile, her own fatalistic approach to the entire situation really could have put a lot of people's lives in jeopardy.  A bodyguard was hired to help protect her, and as much as she detested that, Michael Flynn and his siblings were there and required her cooperation in order to do their job.  But her constantly stubborn attitude was so vexing because putting herself in the line of fire also meant putting others in the line of fire.  I'm not sure why she couldn't understand that, especially since she used to be a federal agent, who probably had to deal with difficult victims and witnesses as well.

It probably also didn't help that Rowan spent a lot of time being kind of whiny, unprofessional, and stupidly reckless.  Also, I lost respect for her the first time she decided to just point a gun at her hired bodyguard.  Then lost respect for her even more when she whipped her gun out again and and pointed it at one of the characters' heads just because he pissed her off.

Talk about anger management issues.  Rowan may be an ex-FBI agent, but she's still touted as justice-seeking and all good and all that.  What the hell is she doing pulling her gun on random, innocent people just because she got pissed off?  Truthfully, ex-fed or not, she should know better and have better respect for the power she wields with her weapon.

You don't just point guns at peoples heads just because you get pissed off!  Over-dramatic much?

Meanwhile, our first bodyguard, Michael Flynn, spends more of his time mooning and male posturing than actually doing his job as a bodyguard.  It kind of made an impact, because the contrast between Michael and his brother, John, felt so deliberately placed that you could just feel the author trying really, really hard to maneuver John into the main male love interest role, while including a pathetic excuse for a love triangle into the mix.  This polygonal romance was truly unnecessary in light of everything else that was going on.

I also found Tess Flynn very immature and bratty, even if her concerns were well-founded.  She acted like a childish brat rather than a professional.  The security business is not for her.

The overall crime thriller was rather predictable as well, and I'm not sure if it's because the formula is familiar, or if the build up to each new "surprise" twist was just so poorly lain.  It wasn't hard to figure out what would happen as the book progressed, as well as who the serial killer's identity was.

But as I stated at the beginning of the post, as the book progressed, I started finding the book more tolerable.  The writing felt less juvenile, the dialogue less awkward, and the characters less irritating.  I still don't like Rowan, but she stopped making stupid decisions (for a millisecond or two, maybe), and the men stopped being lead around by their male ego anatomy.

I AM quite interested to know what happened between Quinn Peterson and Miranda Moore, though, purely on a romance back story way, which means I will more than likely pick up the next book in the Predator trilogy.

I feel like Allison Brennan just isn't for me, though, as I didn't really get into the first book I picked up by her, Love Me To Death, the first in the Lucy Kincaid series.  But when I read her joint collaboration with Laura Griffin, Crash & Burn, the first book of the Moreno & Hart series, I found I liked her part of the book more than Griffin's--and I'm and avid follower of Laura Griffin crime thrillers.  So I decided to hop in and try Allison Brennan again.

Unfortunately, either because The Prey was her debut novel, or because I just can't get into Brennan's writing style, I'm not sure.  I found the beginning of this book just as detached and impersonal, and deliberately over-dramatic, as I had found Love Me To Death to be.  Of course, I also found the book improved as the story progressed... just like Love Me To Death.

So... Well...  I don't know what to make of it right now, but I may pick up the next book in this trilogy just to give Brennan another whirl.

2018 Reading Assignment Challenge -- Second Quarterly Report Card

hosted by

Michelle and Berls @ Because Reading

My 2018 Reading Assignment Summary Page

I picked up a reading slump at the beginning of the year that kept finding hills and dips along the way.  With only one book to read each month, I thought that I'd at least be able to make it with a perfect score this quarter, but alas, that did not happen.  I finished reading one book in May, but it was not the book I had assigned for myself as part of this Reading Assignment Challenge.

June reading got better, but really only because I'm just randomly picking up books.  It's making me wonder how my rest of the year will be affected.  At least things look like they're picking up, and I managed to finish reading the last two Reading Assignment books on my list.

Second Quarter:
My Grade:  I Made a B.

Second Quarterly Report Card link up (link coming soon)

• April:  Blood Surfer by Debra Jess -- 4/1/2018
• May:  Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt -- 6/3/2018
• June:  The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn -- 6/5/2018

A Summary

As stated above, my reading slump took a pretty big hit, and while I managed to finish all the books I had assigned for the Spring Semester, I almost didn't, really.  Fortunately, June picked up, because May was seriously a disappointing month for me, all around.

The books were quick, easy reads, so that was a plus.  All-in-all, the quarter could have been better.

A Forecast

So I'm sticking with my Reading Level from the first semester, which means I'll be choosing another six books for the last half of the year.  I haven't entirely decided what order I will be reading each book, but here they are, and here is a link to my official choices:

2018 Reading Assignment | Fall Semester Book List!

1.  New Year's Resolution: Romance! anthology -- Leslie Kelly, Tanya Michaels, Christie Ridgeway
2.  The Prey by Allison Brennan
3.  The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley
4.  Ghost Horse by Patricia Rosemoor
5.  The Littlest Cowboy by Maggie Shayne
6.  The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa

2018 Reading Assignment | Fall Semester Book List!

2018 Reading Assignment Challenge
hosted by

Michelle and Berls @ Because Reading

This post and subsequent updates will be linked at 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge Page.


I had considered sitting out for the year 2018 for this challenge, but the newest changes made by our challenge hosts happened to be quite appealing, so I decided to go for it anyway.  And then I briefly considered sitting out the last half of the year because of my ongoing reading slump...

But I figured that if I don't pass, I don't pass.  At the very least, I still want to make my list for the Fall Semester and try to finish it.


Here is a recap of the newest changes made to 2018's Reading Assignment Challenge:

• Commit to reading 1, 2, 3, or 4 books a month and MAKE A LIST of the SPECIFIC books you will read in January – June.  This is one of our changes… rather than committing for a year, you’re just picking the books for the first half of the year.  You’ll make a new list and commit to a new number of books per month in June for July – December.  So 2 books a month works for January – June, but only 1 for July – December?  That’s fine!

The Levels:

Reading Level 1:

12 books (1 book/month)

Reading Level 2:
24 books (2 books/month)

Reading Level 3:
36 books (3 books/month)

Reading Level 4:
48 books (4 books/month)

And then, to recap continuing features--the challenge is separated into four quarters, and each quarter will be a new start to receiving a new grade, with the same list of books you have pre-picked for 2018.

Quarterly Grading System

• I made an A! Read all your books all three months of the quarter.
• I made a B! Read all your books for two months of the quarter.
• I made a C! Read all your books for one month of the quarter.
• I made an F! Didn’t read all your books during any months of the quarter.

I will be continuing with Reading Level 1.  Plain and simple, I'm not interested in over-taxing myself.  So, for the second half of the year, I will be reading a total of 6 books, 1 book per month.


For more details, visit the 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge sign up post at the beginning of this post.

My 2018 Fall Semester Reading Assignment List:

-- List was finalized on 06/24/2017
See Also: Goodreads Shelf - 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge

This list is in order by author's last name, and not the order in which I will be reading them.

1.  New Year's Resolution: Romance! anthology -- Leslie Kelly, Tanya Michaels, Christie Ridgeway
2.  The Prey by Allison Brennan
3.  The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley
4.  Ghost Horse by Patricia Rosemoor
5.  The Littlest Cowboy by Maggie Shayne
6.  The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa


Wish me luck!

Brief Thoughts: The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

by Julia Quinn
Book 1 of Bevelstoke

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

2 March 1810...  Today, I fell in love.

At the age of ten, Miranda Cheever showed no signs of Great Beauty.  And even at ten, Miranda learned to accept the expectations society held for her—until the afternoon when Nigel Bevelstoke, the handsome and dashing Viscount Turner, solemnly kissed her hand and promised her that one day she would grow into herself, that one day she would be as beautiful as she already was smart.  And even at ten, Miranda knew she would love him forever.

But the years that followed were as cruel to Turner as they were kind to Miranda.  She is as intriguing as the viscount boldly predicted on that memorable day—while he is a lonely, bitter man, crushed by a devastating loss.  But Miranda has never forgotten the truth she set down on paper all those years earlier—and she will not allow the love that is her destiny to slip lightly through her fingers...

To be honest, I think I had really hoped that a cutesy, humorous historical romance would help bring me out of the ongoing reading slump I've had since the beginning of the year.  But the truth is that this story wasn't as cutesy or humorous as I'd expected.  That's on me.  I should have figured that it would end up being quite angst-filled based on the fact that our hero is already starting the book off as a "lonely, bitter man, crushed by a devastating loss."

Truth is, I found Turner to be a bit of an ass, and nothing he did managed to redeem himself in my eyes.  He was pushy and barbaric, and I wish that Miranda had been able to stand up for herself a bit more rather than letting her ten-year crush/love dictate her emotions.

But otherwise, I really DID like Miranda.

It was everyone else in the book that made me a little upset.  And as much as I loved the friendship and the banter between Miranda and Olivia, I sometimes felt that Olivia needed a good slap upside the head to make her stop and think about her best friend before she chose to interfere in said best friend's life without any thought for said best friend's welfare.  Olivia came off pretty selfish, to be honest.

The book itself was enjoyable, and I may or may not continue the rest of the series.

Brief Thoughts: Mistress of Mellyn

Mistress of Mellyn

by Victoria Holt

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned...  But what bout its master--Connan TreMellyn?  Was Martha Leigh's new employer as romantic as his name sounded?  As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her.

TreMellyn's young daugher, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered.  But it was the girl's father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil--even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha's life.

Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets--as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning.  But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love--and the freedom to find a golden promise forever...

I'm wavering on my rating of this book, because I obviously ended up entirely engrossed in it after the first couple chapters, managing to finish the whole thing within hours of starting it.  The writing is beautiful, the setting is atmospheric, and I can absolutely see why this is a book that many Gothic romance readers would love.

There were elements that really bugged me, mainly the romance itself--I found it a bit too instant and was unable to pinpoint the moment that our main couple fall in love with each other.  It seemed almost too dictated; like the author had decided that these two would be lovers by the end, no matter that there was barely any time for them to have bonded or created any sparks.

But everything else about this book I really, really enjoyed and loved.  The heroine was fantastic--in fact I really liked all of the characters, even if I disliked the few male characters present.  The mystery was kind of predictable, and I had already had it figured out at some point, although a few red herrings DID get thrown in there that might have had me second guessing myself.

Nonetheless, this was a very enjoyable novel to pass the time with.

2018 Reading Assignment Challenge -- First Quarterly Report Card

hosted by

Michelle and Berls @ Because Reading

My 2018 Reading Assignment Summary Page

January ramblings:  January was a great start to the year.  Books read, books read, books read.  Looks like things are looking up, even as a reading slump is still kind of threatening.

February ramblings:  February started getting rocky, but one of the first books I read in the month was a Reading Assignment book, so at least I got that out of the way.  Then I started losing focus.  I guess sometimes you just need a break, even from the thing you love to do most.

March ramblings:  I think I'm lucky I even finished a book in March.  But I did--I finished four books, and one of them was a Reading Assignment book.  That is all.

First Quarter:
My Grade:  I Made an A!

First Quarterly Report Card link up

• January:  Snowbound with the Notorious Rake by Sarah Mallory -- 1/11/2018
• February:  That's Amore! by Janelle Denison, Tori Carrington, and Leslie Kelly -- 2/10/2018
• March:  Pretty Girls Dancing by Kylie Brant -- 3/30/2018

A Summary

I think I'm lucky that I even managed to finish a book the last month of this Quarter.  I just lost all motivation to read.  Well, I wouldn't put it that way, because I DID read.  Just not as much as I normally do on a monthly basis.  I mean, I read four books in the month of March--my usual average is 10 to 14.  That's a pretty big difference.

But I made it, and I'm actually kind of enjoying the laid back, relaxed stance I'm taking this year.  One book a month at least gives me something to read, but doesn't make me feel obligated to finish one book so that I may get into the next.

A Forecast

The last three books in this first semester are as follows, and I'm thinking of assigning them to specific months as well... just haven't decided yet... so maybe not really assigning them.  Of course, as of the posting of this update, I've already read Blood Surfer for the month of April, so the other two books will get read... when they get read... in May and June.

Thoughts: Pretty Girls Dancing

Pretty Girls Dancing

by Kylie Brant

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Years ago, in the town of Saxon Falls, young Kelsey Willard disappeared and was presumed dead.  The tragedy left her family with a fractured life—a mother out to numb the pain, a father losing a battle with his own private demons, and a sister desperate for closure.  But now another teenage girl has gone missing.  It’s ripping open old wounds for the Willards, dragging them back into a painful past, and leaving them unprepared for where it will take them next.

Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent Mark Foster has stumbled on uncanny parallels in the lives of the two missing girls that could unlock clues to a serial killer’s identity.  That means breaking down the walls of the Willards’ long-guarded secrets and getting to a truth that is darker than he bargained for.  Now, to rescue one missing girl, he must first solve the riddles that disappeared with another: Kelsey Willard herself.  Dead or alive, she is his last hope.

I'm going to admit that it was probably my fault for going into this book expecting the typical Kylie Brant romantic suspense, and not getting what I expected.  This is definitely not what I'm used to with Kylie Brant, but since she'd primarily been a romance author, I hadn't thought twice about purchasing and reading Pretty Girls Dancing.

But as the book began, switching from one character's perspective to another, and introducing very un-romance novel-like characters, I started getting a little... well, I guess wary might be a good way to put it.  So I went to check the Goodreads book page, and realized that this book was never advertised as a romantic suspense--that was just my own wishful thinking.

On that note, after readjusting my own reading perspective, I found myself delving deeper into the book and becoming curious as to how everything would come together in the end.  In a way, the writing was still very Kylie Brant, even if the characters weren't.  It's not that I'm unaccustomed to reading books with a lot of flawed characters, all flawed to the point that I just cannot relate to any of them--I just prefer not to read those books.

And Pretty Girls Dancing is your typical crime thriller, based on a serial murder, but that ends up being more about digging up all the dark secrets among all the people affected.  These characters are all so flawed and so unlikable that I had a hard time trying to figure out how I felt about them.  Of course, that effectively made me focus more on the serial murder investigation, which had started to become more intriguing as new leads turned up, and even when the young teenage Janie Willard decided to try her hand at amateur detecting.

And then I found myself wanting more of Janie Willard--a young girl who has lost her elder sister, who has a social anxiety that makes it hard for her to interact with people, but who is trying her best to move forward while taking care of her equally shattered parents during the past seven years that her sister was taken.  I found myself wanting a Janie Willard story where she finds her niche in investigation.  I liked her the most of all the characters in this book, because to be honest, she was probably the most honest and good character.

Kylie Brant wrote a great crime thriller, I will admit that.  And even the lack of my own favored romance to go with it, the book was entertaining to a point.

My biggest quibble about this book, is surprisingly not about the characters.  I feel like the characters were pretty real, even if I couldn't find myself relating with them.  My biggest quibble is actually about the resolution and ending and how abruptly the case gets solved with a simple light bulb moment by our BCI agent.  And the truth is, it seemed kind of left field and I'm not entirely sure how we got to that point.  It makes sense, when we get there.  I just don't know HOW we came up with the conclusion.

Another small quibble would be the amount of story you get, and the number of secrets revealed... but that very few of them had to do with the main conflict--they just happened to be dark secrets (which truthfully weren't that dark, really) dug up during investigation.

It kind of leaves the book a slight bit unsatisfying, truth be told.

Thoughts: That's Amore!

That's Amore! -- anthology

Authors include: Janelle Denison, Tori Carrington, and Leslie Kelly
Book 2 of Santori Stories

~ Goodreads ~

Average Rating:  3.1 Stars
(Includes personal rating:  3.0 Stars)

It's way too late to elope....

Meet the Parents by Janelle Denison

Like all dutiful Hawaiian daughters, Leila Malekala is expected to marry a Hawaiian groom handpicked by her parents.  But guess what, Mom and Dad?  Leila has wedding plans of her own.  The groom is California bad boy Jason Crofton... and the bride is pregnant.

I Do, Don't I? by Tori Carrington

Efi Panayotopoulou is about to marry her childhood sweetheart Nick Constantino.  Everything should be perfect.  But their families seem hell-bent on turning the wedding into a farce-or Greek tragedy.  And Efi is about a baklava flake away from running off... without her groom.

There Goes the Groom by Leslie Kelly

Luke Santori is engaged to "a nice Italian girl" from his Chicago neighborhood.  But wedding plans get tossed-like unbaked dough at his family's pizzeria-when Luke falls for blond-haired, blue-eyed Rachel Grant... the dressmaker designing his fiancee's bridal gown.

I'm really not a fan of the romantic Valentine's holiday, but I'm also a hopeless romantic and love to love some sweet, fluffy contemporary romances.  What better way to celebrate the holiday than an anthology of contemporary romances called That's Amore! that is based around three wedding novellas.  One of which was written by an author I like!


Meet the Parents by Janelle Denison
Rating:  3.5 Stars

This novella was cute, and I found a lot of the Hawaiian traditions quite interesting as well.  I liked that there wasn't a whole lot of angst in this sweet love story, even if there was a bit of a conflict involving the groom-to-be and his in-laws.  I wish I could say that I found Leila's parents a bit frustrating in their disapproval of her chosen husband... but the truth is, it doesn't surprise me, because I've seen more than my fair share of the same behavior among my own Asian relatives.

It's tiring, and yes, also frustrating.  But something that happens.  But we get a Happily Ever After in this novella, which is what counts.  That's probably more than I can say for other stories I've seen with the same, stubborn types of parental units who are more concerned with tradition than seeing how happy their children are.

A nice little read.  And while I'm a little reluctant to say that it was also a little boring... well, it kind of was.


I Do, Don't I? by Tori Carrington
Rating:  2.5 Stars

This novella was really full of crazy.  And while I loved seeing all the Greek wedding traditions, and reading about the loud, raucous actions of all of Efi's and Nick's relatives, and just overall witnessing a week full of partying and celebration... I couldn't help but feel extremely frustrated with both sides of the family.  This is why a lot of couples end up eloping...

And then maybe I was a bit frustrated with Nick as well.  It probably didn't help that we mostly followed Efi's point of view up until one small scene at the end of the novella.  I honestly would have liked to have seen more of the entire affair from Nick's point of view.  Because without his side of things, the story just felt like Efi was bearing all the stress of the wedding planning and the family crazy... while Nick just skated by and waited to get married.

Nonetheless, this story was a fun one, even if a little over-laden with angst, conflict, and made-for-television antics.

I would have liked to have seen a show down between Efi and Aphrodite, though I suppose it wouldn't really have been in good humor.  I would have liked to see more mature understanding from Nick--the fact that he seemed to be oblivious to everything, including cousin Aphrodite's attempts to seduce him made me cringe a little bit.  The fact that Nick had even entertained thoughts of doing anything with Aphrodite at all made me a little wary of how this marriage will be going forward; especially when Efi's confrontation didn't even seem to get through to his thick, ignorant head.

The fact that Nick has no idea that Efi had dreams of her own that shouldn't have been impeded by wedding vows felt a little immature.  In fact, neither of the two seemed to know what the other wanted, or had been expecting out of this marriage at all.  It got to a point where I was wondering if they were just getting married because it was expected for the two high school sweethearts--that they were in love with the idea of being in love and getting married, more than they were in love with each other.

Anyway... fun as fun was, this story turned out more like a family affair of crazy rather than a sweet romance.  It certainly DOES bring a realistic tone to all the crazy events that usually lead up to a wedding day.  Especially when family and relatives tend to get a little too involved.


There Goes the Groom by Leslie Kelly
Rating:  3.5 Stars

The premise of this novella could have gone in all sorts of bad directions--with an engaged man and his fiancee's dressmaker falling for one another, this could have been a disaster.  Fortunately, our lovely author managed to handle the events quite well, and we simply end up with a case of two people marrying for the wrong reasons.  Our hero sort of works through his own issues with the help of the heroine, as well as his brothers.

Simply put, this novella was a sweet one.

One of the things I DID NOT appreciate were the little comments here and there from our heroine that came off a little judgmental about random people in the story.  Some of those comments, honestly, I felt were uncalled for.

Meanwhile, this story also made me want a pizza...

Very Brief Thoughts: Snowbound with the Notorious Rake

Snowbound with the Notorious Rake

by Sarah Mallory

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.0 Stars

One wicked Christmas night…

Trapped by a blizzard, the sight of notorious rogue Sir Lawrence Daunton almost makes schoolteacher Rose Westerhill turn back into the snow!  When it becomes apparent she has nowhere else to go Rose accepts his offer of shelter, vowing to remain indifferent to his practiced charm.

But as the temperature outside drops, she finds the wicked rake's sizzling seduction impossible to resist.  For one stolen night Rose abandons her principles—and her body!—to his expert ministrations.  Christmas with the rakish Lawrence promises to be a thoroughly improper yuletide celebration….

This historical romance by Sarah Mallory was written really well, but the actual story and the characters were quite frustrating.  On top of that, I was a little disappointed that the entire "snowbound" scenario really only lasted a couple chapters, then the rest of the book was just a typical romance with a reformed rake and the prudish schoolteacher.  I may or may not have started drifting off, or setting the book aside due to boredom.

As for our couple, they were pretty standard.  I didn't find Sir Lawrence to stand out much, but he was a neutral, good man.  Rose was more likable during the snowbound duration, but afterwards, I feel like she was a bit over-extreme in her prejudice against Sir Lawrence.  I understand that she has a history and can see why she's so cautious, but she went to the point of simply wanting to always believe the worst of Sir Lawrence no matter that he'd been nothing but honorable towards her from the beginning.

In contrast, I found it kind of hard to believe that she would take the word of her fiance, Magnus, and her future sister-in-law, Althea, without really giving it more thought.  She's been around Magnus and Althea enough that you'd think she wouldn't place so much credence in their words or actions.  So it came across as her trying to find any reason possible to discredit Sir Lawrence, even if it hadn't been warranted.

The romance was super frustrating, and I'm not sure there were even any characters I liked.

The background mystery about the sunken ship, and the investigation of it seemed kind of blah.

I may try another Sarah Mallory book, but I DO hope that this one was just a fluke.

2018 Reading Assignment | Spring Semester Book List!

2018 Reading Assignment Challenge
hosted by

Michelle and Berls @ Because Reading

This post and subsequent updates will be linked at 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge Page.

I have been participating in this particular Reading Challenge since its inception in 2015, and I had been considering sitting out of this challenge in 2018.  While 2015 and 2016 were great years for my reading, it seems that my reading life had been taking a bit of a nose dive.

I barely struggled to finish my challenge with a perfect score in 2016, so chose to drop my level by two--from reading 4 reading assignment books a month to reading 2 reading assignment books a month.  I then promptly failed my first quarter by being unable to read the necessary number of pre-chosen books the first two months of 2017.

And now, despite the fact that the year is yet to be over (only a few days, really), I already bombed the last two months of Reading Assignment 2017... then just decided to give up altogether.

So for 2018, I was going to sit out.

Then Michelle and Berls decided to make a few new changes for 2018's Reading Assignment Challenge:

• Commit to reading 1, 2, 3, or 4 books a month and MAKE A LIST of the SPECIFIC books you will read in January – June.  This is one of our changes… rather than committing for a year, you’re just picking the books for the first half of the year.  You’ll make a new list and commit to a new number of books per month in June for July – December.  So 2 books a month works for January – June, but only 1 for July – December?  That’s fine!

The Levels:

Reading Level 1:

12 books (1 book/month)

Reading Level 2:
24 books (2 books/month)

Reading Level 3:
36 books (3 books/month)

Reading Level 4:
48 books (4 books/month)

Once again, the challenge is separated into four quarters, and each quarter will be a new start to receiving a new grade, with the same list of books you have pre-picked for 2018.

Quarterly Grading System

• I made an A! Read all your books all three months of the quarter.
• I made a B! Read all your books for two months of the quarter.
• I made a C! Read all your books for one month of the quarter.
• I made an F! Didn’t read all your books during any months of the quarter.

Honestly, this is pretty awesome!  So I'm going to participate.  Of course, I'm mainly excited about separating our book lists into two different semesters, with a chance to choose a new set of books for the second half of the year, which will obviously be based on my own mood.

In spite of the new rules, I will be going with Reading Level 1.  With the way things have been going for me, I'm not certain I'll be able to read more than one assigned book a month, and with a less difficult level, I'll at least be freed up to participate in a lot of other, shorter challenges, as well as mood read my way through 2018.

So I will be choosing a total of 6 books for the first half of 2018.

For more details, visit the 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge sign up post at the beginning of this post.

My 2018 Spring Semester Reading Assignment List:

-- List was finalized on 12/18/2017
See Also: Goodreads Shelf - 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge

This list is in order by author's last name and not the order in which I will be reading these books.

1.  That's Amore! anthology by Janelle Denison, Tori Carrington, Leslie Kelly
2.  Pretty Girls Dancing by Kylie Brant
3.  Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt
4.  Blood Surfer by Debra Jess
5.  Snowbound with the Notorious Rake by Sarah Mallory
6.  The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn S


Wish me luck!