The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

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From the Back Cover:

Follow your heart.  Be yourself.  This is the true recipe for life.

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . .

When she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father, Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream.

My Thoughts:

This was a sweet contemporary romance with a touch of magic thrown in.  There were several situations that made me laugh.  And the chemistry between Portia Cuthcart and her upstairs neighbor, Gabriel Kane, made me smile.

The story starts out with Portia realizing she had the same "gift" that her grandmother had; the gift of "knowing".  Through a series of events that take her from being the wife of a politician in Texas to struggling to pay her bills from her downstairs apartment in New York, Portia's life is turned upside down.  Great book about family relationships.

Although I enjoyed the book, there were parts that dragged and became repetitive.  

My Rating:

The One That Got Away by Simon Wood

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The Back Cover:

Graduate students Zoë and Holli only mean to blow off some steam on their road trip to Las Vegas. But something goes terribly wrong on their way home, and the last time Zoë sees her, Holli is in the clutches of a sadistic killer. Zoë flees with her life, changed forever.

A year later and still tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a police investigation where the crime eerily resembles her abduction. Along with a zealous detective, she retraces the steps of that fateful night in the desert, hoping that her memory will return and help them find justice for Holli. Her abductor—labeled the “Tally Man” by a fascinated media—lies in wait for Zoë. For him, she is not a survivor but simply the one that got away.

With an unforgettable heroine, a chillingly disturbed psychopath, and a story that moves at breakneck speed, The One That Got Away is thriller writer Simon Wood at his finest.

My Thoughts:

Okay, I admit it.  I'm a big Simon Wood fan.  And this novel did not disappoint me.  This is a suspense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and turning those pages so fast you won't have time to bite your nails.  Yes, there is violence in this book, but what would you expect from a story involving a serial killer?  No sugar coating!  And Zoe is an awesome heroine!  Some of the scenes are creepy and gut wrenching, but the story was well written.  Simon Wood once again did an excellent job of developing each character and keeping your heart rate at full speed.

My Rating:

Laiden's Daughter (The Clan MacDougall) by Suzan Tisdale

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From the Back Cover:

"Scotland, 1344

She believes men are not honorable nor are they kind-until she meets one that changes her heart forever.

Betrayed by lies told before her birth, Aishlinn is raised by a harsh and cruel stepfather. Her life is forever changed one horrifying night when she is forced to flee England for the safety of the Scottish Highlands. Rescued by a fierce band of highland warriors, Aishlinn soon learns that honorable men do exist. She finds a strength she never knew she possessed and it will be tested to the limits when she is forced to make a heart-wrenching decision…allow the English to kill those she loves, or surrender for the crime she committed.

She is everything he never knew he wanted in a woman….

As a fierce highland warrior, Duncan McEwan has survived numerous battles, bed countless women, and survived a horrific storm at sea. He has scaled mountains and even survived hand-to-claw battle with a cat-o’mountain. But none of that could have prepared him for how his life forever changed one fateful spring day when he rescued a lass from a freezing stream. He will do anything to keep her as his own and will risk everything to keep her out of the hands of the English."

My Thoughts:

This was a quick read book of around 250 pages.  Normally I feel like a good story needs more than that to truly develop, but this one was okay at that length.  This was the first of Suzan Tisdale’s books for me, and although it was an interesting story line, it could have used a better content editor and a better line editor.   There were too many things that didn’t make sense to me, things that a good beta-reader or content editor would have caught, and too many grammatical errors.

First, let me talk about the positives.  I loved the Highlander’s.  Suzan Tisdale did a good job portraying their brash and rowdy personalities while also showing us how devoted they were to their clan.  There were numerous times throughout the book that I found myself smiling.  Duncan McEwan was a great alpha-male, strong and masculine but also tender and protective.  Wanting to know more about the other men might make me want to pick up another book in this series.  And I have to admit that “Laiden’s Daughter” had an interesting plot line! 

As for the negatives…. Hmmm…. Where do I start?  First of all, I found Aishlinn to be rather confusing.  She rides a horse for days with no food or water?  Then she sleeps through most of her journey to the castle.  And I get the fact that she believed she was plain and ugly because that is what she was told by her step father and step brothers her whole life, but didn’t she ever come into contact with other human beings?  Quite frankly, I got really tired of her calling people liars when they told her how beautiful she was.  Then she is naïve and frail and thinks of herself as an unworthy scuttle maid one moment and the next moment she is a rough and tough battle queen!

And who was Baltair and how did he know Aishlinn should escape to Scotland where she will find “her people”?  Perhaps this is explained in another book in this series?  I don’t know.

Here’s the thing that didn’t sit well with me.  Aishlinn's father is presented the bloody dress of Laiden, who he loved with all his heart and wanted to marry and he takes the word of another man who was also in love with her, that she was dead.  Didn’t Aishlinn’s father want to pay his respect and see the grave?  Or perhaps find the thieves who supposedly killed her and avenge her death?  And what about the rest of Laiden’s family?  Didn’t they want to find out more about her supposed death?  They just took the word of Broc and let that be?  And why did Laiden never contact anyone from her highland family again? She lived for more than five more years, and she knew where they were! Even if she thought Aishlinn's father was dead, she still had a sister and friends there and no reason to cut herself off from all of them. And if Moira knew that Aishlinn didn't belong with her step-father, why didn't she send word to Laiden’s family when Laiden died?

And did English soldiers wear red coats in the 1300's?

My Ratings:

Wasn't sure whether to give this 3 or 4 wine glasses, perhaps it should be 3 1/2.

Blackmoore Sisters Cozy Mysteries - Books 1, 2 & 3 by Leighann Dobbs

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From the Back Cover:

Four magical sisters. Three twisty mysteries. And a cat that's too smart for her own good.

This set contains books 1-3 in the Blackmoore Sisters Cozy Mystery Series: Dead Wrong, Dead & Buried and Dead Tide

Dead Wrong

**** Nominated Best Mystery Romance in the 2014 Indie Romance Convention Awards ****

There’s more than one secret in the old Blackmoore house. Some have been buried for a long time and some are sitting closer to the surface.

Morgan and Fiona Blackmoore enjoy their simple life in the sleepy ocean-side town of Noquitt Maine where they offer herbal remedies and crystal healing for locals and tourists alike.

...Until Morgan is accused of killing the town shrew, Prudence Littlefield.

Suddenly the girls find themselves scrambling to find the real killer while they battle a crooked Sheriff, planted evidence, and a long list of suspects that all had a reason to want Prudence dead.

Handsome Jake Cooper is new to the Noquitt Maine police force, which is exactly why Fiona Blackmoore doesn't trust him. But with time running out and the evidence against her sister piling up, Fiona has to make a choice - will she trust Jake with her sisters case ... and her own heart?

Add in an old mansion on the cliffs of Maine, an attic full of mysterious treasures, and a cat that has the uncanny ability to show up at exactly the right time and Fiona has her hands full proving the Sheriff's accusations about her sister being a murderer are Dead Wrong.

Dead & Buried

Summers in the seaside town of Noquit Maine are quiet and relaxing ... unless you find a mysterious dead body, a hunky ex-boyfriend shows up and you start getting instructions from ghostly relatives.

That’s exactly what happens to Morgan Blackmoore.

Suddenly, she finds herself in a race against time as she’s launched into a dangerous treasure hunt that pits her against modern day pirates who think she has the key to a three hundred year old secret.

To complicate matters even more, one of her sisters keeps talking to the ghost of their dead grandmother, another has crystals with unusually powerful healing properties and her cat has an uncanny habit of showing up in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

Not to mention that her ex-boyfried, Luke Hunter, suddenly shows up in town after ten years of being overseas and claims to want to help her fight off these deadly pirates, but Morgan finds herself fighting her attraction to him instead.

Will Morgan outwit the treasure hunters and find the real killer before Sheriff Overton puts her in jail?

Dead Tide

For three hundred years, the Blackmoore house has harbored a valuable secret …

The Blackmoore sisters learn about this secret from the dying lips of the historian they hired to decipher their centuries old family journal. Too bad he never gets the chance to tell them exactly what he has uncovered...or where to find it.

But someone else knows where to find it, and they are prepared to take it from the Blackmoore’s no matter what the cost.

The sister’s are forced to put their newly discovered paranormal powers to the test as they fight off treasure stealing pirates in between figuring out clues from ghosts, decoding an old journal, finding their way through an underground maze and dodging quicksand, bottomless pits and whirlpools.

Oh, and did I mention the dark and mysterious stranger that keeps showing up--is he friend or foe?

Of course, their trusty cat, Belladonna is around to give them a helping hand when they need it ... and she has a secret of her own.

Will the Blackmoore sisters be able to figure out where the treasure is and get to it before the dead tide turns and hides it for another three hundred years?

My Thoughts:

This was a great find and it is free right now on Amazon (not sure how long the promotion will last)!  This 3-book set was just what I was looking for after reading a much more serious novel.  This was fun and easy to read.  Definitely rated PG with no profanity to speak of and sweet romance.  I found myself reading all 3 books in a very short time span.  If you remember the old TV shows, this series is like "Murder She Wrote" meets "Charmed".

Leighann Dobbs did a great job developing her characters and she is very descriptive.  I could easily picture each character, especially that awful sheriff, in my mind's eye.  There were parts of the third book, Dead Tide, that got a bit repetitive and boring, but all in all, it was a fun read.

I may have to read the next couple of books in the series to find out more about Mateo and whether or not Jolene has a love interest.  Hmmmm....

My Rating:

Deadly Alchemy by Julie Morgan

UPDATE - CHECK OUT THE NEW COVER!

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Book Description:

Winner 2015 sexiest steampunk book award

Vampires. Werewolves. An unlikely love story. How do you choose who lives and who dies?

Alchemist Amelia Rimos has just discovered the cure for the Undead. Being naïve and vulnerable, she does not realize the Undead have their targets set on her. Happening upon a tall, dark, exotic man named Michel Gauthier, he saves her from becoming a victim, thrusting her into a game of cat and mouse. Amelia realizes being an Alchemist is not in her best interest when she befriends him. Is Michel as sincere as he seems or does he have an ulterior motive? When her life cannot be more complicated, John Hawthorne interjects himself into Amelia's life and shifts it completely upside down. He informs Amelia she has the key to their survival. Soon, she will realize the Undead are not the only monsters in the world… Amelia will find herself in a stalemate: She will be forced to choose between destroying her evidence and saving the man she’s grown to love or destroying over half the population of the world, including the love of her life with it.

My Thoughts:

The Audible version of this book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.  Not being a big fan of steampunk, vampires or werewolves, I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book.  But I have read other books by Julie Morgan and thought I would give it a try.  I am so glad I did!  Started listening late afternoon and at 1:30 in the morning I couldn't stop!  Listened straight thru to the end and loved it!

When I first started listing to this audio version of the book, I wasn't fond of the narrator, but soon I realized that Fiona Thraille's voice kept me in the period.  The actions and vocabulary of the characters sometimes appeared more modern (yes, this is steampunk), but that appears to be the intent of the author and when read by this narrator I was able to stay submerged in the setting.  I also want to add that Julie Morgan's description of the world to which this book was created was brilliant.  The visualization was intense.

When asked if there was a moment in the book that particularly moved me, I would have to say "Several moments in different ways."  I loved the "dream" scenes but wanted to scream when the dream would end and the realization sank in that it didn't really happen (breathing heavily).  But I loved it!  Then there was the blood and gore and bathtub... Ugh!  I won't say more on that.  You need to read it to get the full impact.

My Rating:

No One Lives Twice (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, Book One) by Julie Moffett

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From the Back Cover:

Get your geek on! Prepare for adventure with reformed hacker and trouble magnet Lexi Carmichael as she does whatever it takes to help the good guys win.

I'm Lexi Carmichael, geek extraordinaire. I spend my days stopping computer hackers at the National Security Agency. My nights? Those I spend avoiding my mother and eating cereal for dinner. Even though I work for a top-secret agency, I've never been in an exciting car chase, sipped a stirred (not shaken) martini, or shot a poison dart from an umbrella.

Until today, that is, when two gun-toting thugs popped up in my life and my best friend disappeared. So, I've enlisted the help of the Zimmerman twins—the reclusive architects of America's most sensitive electronic networks—to help me navigate a bewildering maze of leads to find her.

Along the way, my path collides with a sexy government agent and a rich, handsome lawyer, both of whom seem to have the hots for me. Hacking, espionage, sexy spy-men—it's a geek girl's dream come true. If it weren't for those gun-toting thugs…


My Thoughts:

This was a really fun read! I ended up reading it in one sitting and I'm about to download the second book in the series. Yep, it's that good. Lexi Carmichael is an employee of the NSA and certifiable geek who stumbles into a mystery when her best friend disappears. There were a few inconsistencies which took me out of the plot, but overall, this was a really fun read and I'd recommend it. I don't think the author has much of a geek/tech background, but that was okay because she was able to gloss over a lot of things. I need to go on a mini-rant for a minute simply because I am geek... and I owe it to all the other geeks out there:

I don't know any techie or self-proclaimed geek who doesn't have a cell phone. We're techies for a reason! And we of the techie sisterhood drool over any new technology like other women drool over designer shoes. Hell... I'm on a waiting list to buy a personal social AI robot for my home... (That's right, Jibo, come home to momma). The fact that the main character doesn't have a cell phone because she wants to avoid her mother doesn't make sense -- Hello call block and caller ID??? It also doesn't make sense that she accepts a cell phone as a gift from a suspect -- without it dawning on her immediately that her phone is bugged or they've got GPS monitoring her. She works for the NSA! They're supposed to be paranoid!!! And everyone... everyone... in this country has heard of the NSA, contrary to what the book claims. Hell, I've been playing on the NSA website for years and years -- They have awesome puzzles, by the way. You should check them out. To make matters worse, there was a reference to the heroine running for a pay phone at one point in the book and I had to stop reading to check the publication date. Were there still pay phones in 2010? I don't think I've seen any since the 1990s.

Okay, mini-rant over.

Overall, the book was good. It was entertaining and if you can gloss over the unbelievability of the characters and plot inconsistencies... it was good. But if you're one of my fellow geeks or techies, you might find yourself annoyed even to the point where you shout at your Kindle or ereader (because that's how we geeks roll), "THE PHONE IS TAPPED DUMBASS!" Other than that? I enjoyed it. I'm going to check out the second one and hope it's better.


My Rating:

Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

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From the Back Cover:

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don’t want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they’d been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of “luckier” parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it’s all worth it because Willow is, funny as it seems, perfect. She’s smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.

Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow’s illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?

My Thoughts:

I probably would not have picked up this book on my own, but since it was the "required reading" for our local book club this month, I bought the paperback and started in.  Around 10 pages into the book, I had to put it down.  It was depressing.  Very depressing.  I later picked up the book again, forcing myself to give it another shot.  Nope.  I went from sad and depressed to angry and frustrated.  Not the emotions I enjoy from a book.  Since I could not force myself to pick the book up again, I bought the audio version of the book.  Sometimes listening to a book while doing the laundry or driving to the bank allows me to get the story without getting too deeply "involved".  I must say that the narrators for the Audible version of this book were outstanding, with different narrators for the different characters in the book.

Jodi Picoult is an extremely talented writer, and this book was a #1 New York Times Bestseller, but somehow it missed the mark for me.  This is a story about a family's struggle after their newborn baby girl is born with a genetic birth defect known as Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI).  This is a condition where the child's bones are brittle, so brittle that they break with the slightest impact from a fall, bumping into a table, or even a hug.  Mounting medical bills and the need for special equipment cause financial problems and Charlotte, the mother, ends up filing a "wrongful birth" lawsuit against her obstetrician (who happens to be her best friend) for not discovering this condition and giving Charlotte and her husband Sean the option to abort the fetus.  Religious aspects (Charlotte and Sean are catholic) and moral decisions tear this family apart.  Part of the ending was predictable and the other part was not believable and made no sense whatsoever.

I'm sure there are many who do not agree with my rating of this book.  But I need to be honest with my humble opinion.

My Rating: