Redemption (Amos Decker, #5) by David Baldacci

Redemption by David Baldacci
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, just wow. there really isn't much that I can say about this series other than I highly recommend it for those who love police procedurals, mysteries, no romance and complex story/character building. This has very likable characters without tons of backstory. It is a book/series that also makes ask the question about what had happened to Decker - 'what if this had happened to me?'. Decker as a character is growing and learning. In many ways what is wrong with him reminds me of what I hear about autism, though that is not what he has.

Read it you'll see.

I can't say anything about the plot because I might giveaway by accident the conclusion. and what a dilly of a conclusion it was. I had thought I had had it figured out -boy was I wrong.

If you are afraid of paying cash for this series at least get the first book from the library and give it a try. It is very much worth it.

PS -I love this series so much that I even buy it at full price instead of waiting for the paperback price!


View all my reviews

The Southern Side of Paradise (Peachtree Bluff #3) by Kristy Woodson Harvey

The Southern Side of Paradise by Kristy Woodson Harvey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

 Yes, I did receive this book as an ARC and I have to tell you I should have never read the preceding two books before I attempted this book. Since I hated book two I had gone into this one with very low expectations -I was really not disappointed. I am extremely surprised as to how many people also got an ARC of this book and adored it. I think there must be something wrong with my tastes in books!!!

This book can be read as a stand-alone since there is so much back story in it. This is a very fast read.

I do not like books that are repetitive, filled with repetitive back-story, are angsty, make grown women look like spoiled *itches, make grown women look like children with no brains.

Come summertime I want to read light, fun, nearly brainless reads...this was not so. I appreciate that these women went through a lot of anguish, but I resented the fact that these books were more about the mother than the daughters. Plus the mother's angst was so repetitive that I wanted to yell at her to stop beating a dead horse already!

If I needed to compare these women to anyone in real life it would be the Kardashians.

Yes, this book did have a HEA for almost everyone, but the trip to that point was very painful for me. It also had several small twists that most readers could see coming a mile away. NO surprises here, no mysteries, just a lot of whining.

I'm sorry but since I seem to be the only one that is unhappy with these books, you are just going to have to make up your mind on your own. The other reviewers simple see something that I do not see.


*ARC supplied by the publisher.


View all my reviews

The Secret to Southern Charm (Peachtree Bluff #2)

The Secret to Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I figured that because I received the ARC to the third book in this trilogy/series I should have read at least the first one. So because I got a discount on it, I read it. And I thought this about the book--- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Because the first book ended on sort of a cliff hanger I figured I would pick up the second so my ARC review would be a good one. My mistake. I wasted 11.99 and hours of my life to re-read the same crap that was in the first book. I paid that much to dislike the character's even more than I did with the first book. Hours of my life were wasted so I could be even more disgusted with the mother's spineless and whining behavior.

There was so much back story, self-flagellation, misery, death, and illness that I just wanted to grab the biggest bottle of Zinfandel that I could find and lose myself in it. That and to take some really heavy duty anti-depressants! I read NOT to get more depressed than I already am -yet this book had nothing in it but despair. Yes, we get a semi-HE...sort of. However, the younger sisters (and the next books main character, besides the mother) problems offset the middle sisters 'happy ending'.

And let us never forget the mothers ongoing crap with the father of her first two daughters. I am sooo over her whining.

I can clearly see that I am going to hate the third book and I probably can even tell you how the story is going to play out even before I read it. Blech! I really hope that this is not the case and I sure hate going into this next book with the taste of these last two books on my tongue.

Wish me luck!


View all my reviews

Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen

Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was one of the strangest books I have ever read. I imagine if I were better educated I would have 'gotten' this book, but since I am not I just read this for what it was. In my opinion, this was a book that tried too hard. Tried too hard to be witty, tried too hard to be dark, tried too hard to be fresh and new.

I really thought about DNFing it at about 70% because it just had gotten so slow and boring, but I kept going. By doing so I satisfied my curiosity and found that Karma made an appearance, the romance took off and everyone was living happily ever after.

One important thing I did find out is that I don't think I want to visit that part of Finland AND I did do some research on Finland and learned some new things so that's a plus!

*ARC supplied by the publisher.


View all my reviews

The Secret to Southern Charm (Peachtree Bluff #2) by Kristy Woodson Harvey

The Secret to Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I figured that because I received the ARC to the third book in this trilogy/series I should have read at least the first one. So because I got a discount on it, I read it. And I thought this about the book--- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Because the first book ended on sort of a cliff hanger I figured I would pick up the second so my ARC review would be a good one. My mistake. I wasted 11.99 and hours of my life to re-read the same crap that was in the first book. I paid that much to dislike the character's even more than I did with the first book. I spent hours of my life wasted to be even more disgusted with the mother's spineless and whining behavior.

There was so much back story, self-flagellation, misery, death, and illness that I just wanted to grab the biggest bottle of Zinfandel, that I could find and lose myself in it. That and to take some really heavy duty anti-depressants! I read NOT to get more depressed than I already am -yet this book had nothing in it but despair. Yes, we get a semi-HE...sort of. However, the younger sisters (and the next books main character, besides the mother) problems offset the middle sisters 'happy ending'.

And let us never forget the mothers ongoing crap with the father of her first two daughters. I am sooo over her whining.

I can clearly see that I am going to hate the third book and I probably can even tell you how the story is going to play out even before I read it. Blech! I really hope that this is not the case and I sure hate going into this next book with the taste of these last two books on my tongue.

Wish me luck!


View all my reviews

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Review to come -but I can say this right now, this is not an author I will read again. This book kept me interested once I made it beyond the first half. I'm not a fan of politics and this was such an obvious 'political message'book that I almost gave up.

Yes, the twist was nice and one that I didn't see coming but I expected it. The rest of the book was filled with liars and twists so why not the ending? It was too obvious that this was going to happen.

*ARC supplied by publisher.


View all my reviews

Trophy Life - Lea Geller

Trophy Life by Lea Geller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you have Kindle Unlimited and want to read this, you are in luck! It is free on KU. This is a VERY good thing.

This was a somewhat unique read in that it starts out much like any other 'poor trophy wife gets left and is at sea'. But it doesn't quite end that way. this is really about a husband who is doing something very illegal and trying to drag his naive wife into the middle of his scheme. You will have to persevere with this book to get to the parts where you want to stop thinking of strangling or slapping Agnes, but eventually, the book gets better - somewhat.

This is a multi-layered book with several mysteries thrown in.

This is not a romance so don't expect the typical HEA, but the book does conclude as one would expect.

I liked it but I think I would have been disappointed in it if I did have to pay for it. Yes, I did get this as an ARC, but from the book's description, I would have 'borrowed' this on my KU account. If I had just borrowed it I may have stopped reading halfway through, but since I got this to review I am glad I kept on reading.



View all my reviews