My TBR List - November - The Upside of Unrequited - a not review

Book Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back. There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

This sounded really cute, but I just couldn't get into it right now, it was too much OMG cute boys, and so many crushes but never acting on them for me right now, which is exactly what it is supposed to be.  The problem for me on this one is that I don't want to live any of those things again, so I've put it aside to try some other time maybe, or maybe not.  It's all me, no reflection on the book. Hopefully I'll have better luck in December!

My TBR List November - The Winner is... The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Book Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back. There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

This sounds potentially cute, and also awkwardly painful.  Can I just say how glad I am to be an old married lady that doesn't have to go through those teen finding yourself years again? Let's see what kind of trouble Molly gets into!

46% of the votes

36% of the votes

18% of the votes

My To Be Read List - November 2017 - YA Sub Box Books

Welcome to my November 2017 edition of My To Be Read List, hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. This is a monthly meme where we offer up 3 choices from our TBR pile for our readers to pick from to help us make the super hard decision of "what do I read next?" a little easier and to whittle away at the ever growing TBR Mountain! 

Theme: YA Sub Box Books - I've subscribed to Uppercase and Owlcrate for a few months now and have only manged to read on of the books I've received, so let's change that! I went with three that were not Fantasy/Sci-Fi this time.

The poll will stay open through Friday 11/10, and I'll update this post with the winning book on Saturday 11/11, then post a review on the last Saturday of the month, 11/25.

If you think this sounds fun and would like to join (the more the merrier, because we love voting!) please head on over to Because Reading where Michelle lays out the rules for us!

And the choices are...

Book Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back. There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

Book Synopsis: Let luck find you. Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes. At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall. As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined…and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

Book Synopsis: Adam has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He sees and hears people who aren’t there: Rebecca, a beautiful girl who understands him; the Mob Boss, who harasses him; and Jason, the naked guy who’s unfailingly polite. It should be easy to separate the real from the not real, but Adam can't. Still, there’s hope. As Adam starts fresh at a new school, he begins a drug trial that helps him ignore his visions. Suddenly everything seems possible, even love. When he meets Maya, a fiercely intelligent girl, he desperately wants to be the great guy that she thinks he is. But then the miracle drug begins to fail, and Adam will do anything to keep Maya from discovering his secret.

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Charmed to Death by Shirley Damsgaard (October TBR List Pick)

Description: Ophelia Jensen's good witch granny Abigail revels in her paranormal powers. But Ophelia never asked for her bothersome psychic abilities -- especially since they proved worthless when the thirty-something librarian's best friend Brian was murdered by a still-unknown assailant. Now, five years later, another friend is gone, killed in almost identical fashion. Even dear old Abby isn't safe, distracted as she is by her fight to prevent a massive, mega-polluting pig-farming operation from invading their small Iowa town. And Ophelia can't count on her snarling, scoffing nemesis, police detective Henry Comacho, to get the job done, so she'll have to take matters into her own hands. Because a common thread to the crimes -- and a possible next victim -- is suddenly becoming troublingly apparent . . . and it's Ophelia Jensen herself!

It has been so long since I read the first book, I apparently wasn't even tracking anything on Goodreads yet. Luckily you get enough back story and the current story is contained enough that it wasn't a problem for me. While the plot does revolve a lot around Ophelia's past, everything you need to know is explained.

I adore the covers of this series as they all feature a black cat in a spooky setting. Unfortunately that is pretty much where the cat-ness ends, other than the fact that Ophelia has a pet black cat, Queenie, she doesn't feature in the stories other than being present when Ophelia is at home. That is my biggest pet peeve with cozy mysteries is how many of them feature cats on the cover as a hook to lure you in, then the cat, or maybe there isn't even a cat at all, has nothing to do with the action.  I pretty much harp on this every time I find it in my cozy reading, and I think even mentioned it to this author, Shirley Damsgaard when she was doing a question answer session on a friend's blog!  I actually ended up winning this copy, which is signed, from that!  As I recall Shirley validated my complaint, agreeing that often the publishing company will feature cats in the artwork, because they know it sells books! Anyway, moving on! LOL!

Ophelia gets to explore more of her powers and her heritage in this second book, where she receives more visions, learning to use them more fully, and is gifted with some tools of an ancestor by her grandmother Abby.  While I do enjoy the magical aspects of the story, Ophelia and Abby's abilities, I had figured out the culprit pretty quickly, which I don't usually do.  In spite of that, it's still an interesting plot layout, and the background issue of the pig farm is relevant to small town rural areas, if not appealing.

I don't remember if Comacho was in the first book, as he is more related to the original murder of her friend that happened before the first book takes place, that is what she's trying to get away from.  He's a great character, because of course every heroine needs a handsome guy to drive her crazy, and he definitely does.  He is convinced she's hiding something (of course she is) and he's determined to find out what it is (because of course he is), which leads the two of them to grudgingly work together where they get to know each other better (because of course they do!).

In spite of the lack of cat-action, it is a solid series that keeps my interest, and I'll definitely be reading the rest, which I already own, because I love the covers!  Seriously, they are super artwork, I wish I had them poster sized!  They were definitely cover covet buys. ;)

My TBR List Winner for October 2017 - Charmed to Death by Shirley Damsgaard

Book Synopsis: Ophelia Jensen's good witch granny Abigail revels in her paranormal powers. But Ophelia never asked for her bothersome psychic abilities -- especially since they proved worthless when the thirty-something librarian's best friend Brian was murdered by a still-unknown assailant. Now, five years later, another friend is gone, killed in almost identical fashion. Even dear old Abby isn't safe, distracted as she is by her fight to prevent a massive, mega-polluting pig-farming operation from invading their small Iowa town. And Ophelia can't count on her snarling, scoffing nemesis, police detective Henry Comacho, to get the job done, so she'll have to take matters into her own hands. Because a common thread to the crimes -- and a possible next victim -- is suddenly becoming troublingly apparent . . . and it's Ophelia Jensen herself!

I'll be spending some time with Ophelia and Abbey this month! This is number 2 in a series I've needed to get back to for a long time. I love these covers, the whole series is neat looking! The Ophelia and Abbey series

44% of the votes

33% of the votes

23% of the votes

My TBR List - October 2017 - Black Cat Covers

Welcome to my October 2017 edition of My To Be Read List, hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. This is a monthly meme where we offer up 3 choices from our TBR pile for our readers to pick from to help us make the super hard decision of "what do I read next?" a little easier and to whittle away at the ever growing TBR Mountain! 

Theme: Black Cat Covers

The poll will stay open through Friday 10/13, and I'll update this post with the winning book on Saturday 10/14, then post a review on the last Saturday of the month, 10/28.

If you think this sounds fun and would like to join (the more the merrier, because we love voting!) please head on over to Because Reading where Michelle lays out the rules for us!

And the choices are...

Book Synopsis: Sabrina has never been the superstitious type. Still, when she moves to Lavender, Texas, to write her first novel and help her Aunt Rowe manage her vacation rental business, Sabrina can’t avoid listening to the rumors that a local black cat is a jinx—especially after the stray in question leads her directly to the scene of a murder. The deceased turns out to be none other than her Aunt Rowe’s awful cousin Bobby Joe Flowers, a known cheat and womanizer who had no shortage of enemies. The only problem is that Aunt Rowe and Bobby Joe had quarreled just before the cousin turned up dead, leaving Rowe at the top of the long list of suspects. Now it’s up to Sabrina to clear her aunt’s name. Luckily for her, she’s got a new sidekick, Hitchcock the Bad Luck Cat, to help her sniff out clues and stalk a killer before Aunt Rowe winds up the victim of even more misfortune…

Book Synopsis: As the new owner of Pettistone's Fine Books, Darla Pettistone is determined to prove herself a worthy successor to her late great-aunt Dee...and equally determined to outwit Hamlet, the smarter-than-thou cat she inherited along with the shop. Darla's first store event is a real coup: the hottest bestselling author of the moment is holding a signing there. But when the author meets an untimely end during the event, it's ruled an accident-until Hamlet digs up a clue that seems to indicate otherwise...

Book Synopsis: Ophelia Jensen's good witch granny Abigail revels in her paranormal powers. But Ophelia never asked for her bothersome psychic abilities -- especially since they proved worthless when the thirty-something librarian's best friend Brian was murdered by a still-unknown assailant. Now, five years later, another friend is gone, killed in almost identical fashion. Even dear old Abby isn't safe, distracted as she is by her fight to prevent a massive, mega-polluting pig-farming operation from invading their small Iowa town. And Ophelia can't count on her snarling, scoffing nemesis, police detective Henry Comacho, to get the job done, so she'll have to take matters into her own hands. Because a common thread to the crimes -- and a possible next victim -- is suddenly becoming troublingly apparent . . . and it's Ophelia Jensen herself!

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A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

Book Synopsis: With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her. But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.

I have finally finished my August TBR Pick, A Study in Scarlet Women, and it was delightful! It's great new spin on the characters in Sherlock Holmes.

Charlotte has never had much patience for the conventions of her society and devises a plan to free herself of them.  It goes a little differently than she thought, and she finds herself in narrower straits than she had expected.  She had dabbled as Sherlock Holmes a bit before her fall from grace, sending notes through her friend Lord Ingram to assist Inspector Treadles now and then, but that comes to a halt once she's taken the reigns of her own future.

When suspicion falls on her own family in some mysterious deaths, she takes a chance and sends a letter to the newspaper as Sherlock suggesting the deaths are connected, and the ball really gets rolling.  She lucks into a widowed benefactoress, and that's when Sherlock can really get down to work.

Charlotte embodies everything we love about Sherlock, the attention to detail and the indifference to society's mores, though she does have to jump through some hoops to be taken seriously, being a woman in Victorian London.  Her cast of supporting characters is wonderful and lifelike as we see glimpses into their own lives outside of their connection to Charlotte, making them real people we can care about.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series, which just came out at the beginning of September, A Conspiracy in Belgravia. I see that Sherry Thomas is also a romance writer, so I will have to check some of those out as well!

August TBR List Winner - A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

And the winner is...

Book Synopsis: With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her. But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.

This was a pretty clear cut vote! I've seen a lot of people excited about this one, so I'm looking forward to it!

74% of the votes

21% of the votes

5% of the votes

My TBR List - August 2017 - Holmes is Where the Heart is

Welcome to my August 2017 edition of My To Be Read List, hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. This is a monthly meme where we offer up 3 choices from our TBR pile for our readers to pick from to help us make the super hard decision of "what do I read next?" a little easier and to whittle away at the ever growing TBR Mountain! 

Theme: Sherlock Holmes et al.

The poll will stay open through Friday 8/11, and I'll update this post with the winning book on Saturday 8/12, then post a review on the last Saturday of the month, 8/26.

If you think this sounds fun and would like to join (the more the merrier, because we love voting!) please head on over to Because Reading where Michelle lays out the rules for us!

And the choices are...

Book Synopsis: Fresh out of Cambridge University, the young Mycroft Holmes is already making a name​ ​for himself in government, working for the Secretary of State for War. Yet this most British of civil servants has strong ties to the faraway island of Trinidad, the birthplace of his best friend, Cyrus Douglas, a man of African descent, and where his fiancée Georgiana Sutton was raised. Mycroft’s comfortable existence is overturned when Douglas receives troubling reports​ from home. There are rumors of mysterious disappearances, strange footprints in the sand, and spirits enticing children to their deaths, their bodies found drained of blood. Upon hearing the news, Georgiana abruptly departs for Trinidad. Near panic, Mycroft convinces Douglas that they should follow her, drawing the two men into a web of dark secrets that grows more treacherous with each step they take... Written by NBA superstar Kareem Abdul- Jabbar and screenwriter Anna Waterhouse, Mycroft Holmes reveals the untold story of Sherlock’s older brother. This harrowing adventure changed his life, and set the​ stage for the man Mycroft would become: founder of the famous Diogenes Club and the hidden power behind the British government.

Book Synopsis: Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes' pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.

Book Synopsis: With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her. But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.

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Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Book Synopsis: Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

I raced through Eliza and Her Monsters in three days, only partially because of the format, but more because it really spoke to me. Probably it would have been less if I hadn't had to do those silly adult things like working and sleeping so that I could work.

Our emotions over things we love are so strong in our high school years, those things are so important to us and they consume us, becoming everything, taking up most of our waking thoughts that are absolutely required for existing and getting through school. I totally get that, I remember it vividly, although with a little confusion now that I'm older, and that slight wish that I could be so utterly consumed by something I liked again, if only for awhile, as long as it wasn't so difficult to come back from.  They are wonderful and yet also torturous times, to be honest, and truthfully I would not go back for anything.

For me it was writing fan fiction about the bands that I loved, and just endless fantasizing over them and scenerios in which we either were them, or factored heavily as girlfriends, friends, etc.  For Eliza it was a story of her own making, a web comic that she poured everything she was into it, with no real thought of what came after.  Her art and the online world in which she shared it were comfortable and safe.  She had become the weird girl in the real world, unable to relate to those around her very well, but online she was a creator goddess, the mother of a story that had taken on it's own life and gathered a huge number of fans.  She was mysterious and powerful in her anonymity, and Monstrous Sea was the only thing she wanted to work on, school was something that she had to do just enough to get by until she could go back to it.  Her family were all very active, her life was online.  Misunderstandings abound, with neither side able to really communicate well with the other, however well meaning.

When Eliza is exposed as the creator of Monstrous Sea, everything comes crashing down, and she is paralyzed in a way she's never been.  She suffers deeply from anxiety that was likely present all along but was something she could escape from until that safe base becomes the trigger, and threatens to undo the fragile life she is starting to build outside of her online world.

Zappia creates very complex and likable characters, even if you sometimes want to wring their necks for their choices or tunnel vision, and remember we're looking at all from that perfect knowledge of outside that is completely inaccessible when you're in a situation.  There is also humor, and finding your tribe, and romance, and that terrible guilt of a secret kept too long.  There is family and self discovery, and so many other things.  I also really enjoyed the additions of art from Monstrous Sea and wish there was an actual web comic to go look at now that I feel like the artist behind it is a real person that I'm rooting for!

I loved it, and I highly recommend it!  I'm looking forward to reading more by Francesca Zappia, I think Made You Up sounds very intriguing!

July TBR List Winner - Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

And the winner is...

Book Synopsis: Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

I'm excited to read this one, everyone seems to be loving it!  It has tones of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell to it, which I really enjoyed.

43% of the votes

36% of the votes

21% of the votes

My TBR List - July 2017 - Subscription Box Books

Welcome to my July 2017 edition of My To Be Read List, hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. This is a monthly meme where we offer up 3 choices from our TBR pile for our readers to pick from to help us make the super hard decision of "what do I read next?" a little easier and to whittle away at the ever growing TBR Mountain! 

Theme: Books I've received in my Subscription Boxes (and which I also put on my COYER Summer Reading List). I've tried out Uppercase, Owlcrate and Fairy Loot, but haven't managed to read any of the books yet!

The poll will stay open through Friday 7/8, and I'll update this post with the winning book on Saturday 7/9, then post a review on the last Saturday of the month, 7/29.

If you think this sounds fun and would like to join (the more the merrier, because we love voting!) please head on over to Because Reading where Michelle lays out the rules for us!

And the choices are...

Book Synopsis: She’s a soldier. Noemi Vidal is seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel. He’s a machine. Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination. Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

Book Synopsis: Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

Book Synopsis: The only daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has always known she’d been raised for one purpose and one purpose only: to marry. Never mind her cunning, which rivals that of her twin brother, Kenshin, or her skills as an accomplished alchemist. Since Mariko was not born a boy, her fate was sealed the moment she drew her first breath. So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace. The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.

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My TBR List - June Winner - Nerd in Shining Armor

Update: I ended up DNF'ing this one, I could not sympathize with anyone but the main character's mother, all the rest seemed very flat and the set up was very unrealistic to me.  The premise was very cute, and I've read and liked this author before, but I just couldn't get into this one.

**********

And the winner is...

Book Synopsis: For Genevieve Terrence it seemed like a dream come true: a weekend alone on Maui with her sexy boss, Nick Brogan. But little did she know that Nick had dreams of his own--a nefarious scheme that nearly got her killed on the flight over the Pacific. Lucky for her, brilliant computer programmer Jack Farley was on board and quick-witted enough to crash-land the plane. Now Jack is her sole companion on a remote desert island with nothing but guava trees and sharks for company. Who’d expect the shy genius--and the least alpha male she knows--to turn out to be the uninhibited stud of her wildest dreams? Saving Genevieve’s life has made Jack a hero in the eyes of the woman he has secretly lusted after for months. Now they’re alone together in a tropical eden where they’re free to give in to their every sensual whim. But when some nasty unfinished business puts them at risk again, Gen will learn there’s nothing quite as dangerous as a fully aroused ex-nerd who’ll move heaven and earth to protect the woman he loves…

I was rooting for this one because it just sounds fun!  I'll eventually get to them all, but for now I'm headed to a desert island with a nerd! Wish us luck!

55% of the votes

36% of the votes

9% of the votes

My TBR List - June - Vicki Lewis Thompson

Welcome to my June 2017 edition of My To Be Read List, hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. This is a monthly meme where we offer up 3 choices from our TBR pile for our readers to pick from to help us make the super hard decision of "what do I read next?" a little easier and to whittle away at the ever growing TBR Mountain! 

Theme: Humorous Romances by Vicki Lewis Thompson. I'm in the mood for romantic silliness, and these are all series of Vicki's I've been meaning to start for awhile.

The poll will stay open through Friday 6/9, and I'll update this post with the winning book on Saturday 6/10, then post a review on the last Saturday of the month, 6/24.

If you think this sounds fun and would like to join (the more the merrier, because we love voting!) please head on over to Because Reading where Michelle lays out the rules for us!

And the choices are...

Book Synopsis: For Genevieve Terrence it seemed like a dream come true: a weekend alone on Maui with her sexy boss, Nick Brogan. But little did she know that Nick had dreams of his own--a nefarious scheme that nearly got her killed on the flight over the Pacific. Lucky for her, brilliant computer programmer Jack Farley was on board and quick-witted enough to crash-land the plane. Now Jack is her sole companion on a remote desert island with nothing but guava trees and sharks for company. Who’d expect the shy genius--and the least alpha male she knows--to turn out to be the uninhibited stud of her wildest dreams?  Saving Genevieve’s life has made Jack a hero in the eyes of the woman he has secretly lusted after for months. Now they’re alone together in a tropical eden where they’re free to give in to their every sensual whim. But when some nasty unfinished business puts them at risk again, Gen will learn there’s nothing quite as dangerous as a fully aroused ex-nerd who’ll move heaven and earth to protect the woman he loves…

Book Synopsis: Emma Gavin writes about werewolves, but that doesn't mean she believes in them-not until a pack of real-life New York weres decide to investigate the striking accuracy of her "fiction". When Aiden Wallace, son and heir of the pack leader, tries to sniff out Emma's potential informant, he discovers something even more dangerous- an undeniable attraction to her.

Book Synopsis: The key to finding true love... Banished. Until their unconventional techniques land them in hot water, Dorcas and Ambrose are the matchmaking sex therapists for lovelorn witches and wizards. The Grand High Wizard has exiled them to the very conventional and unmagical town of Big Knob, Indiana. Population: 947. But that doesn't mean they've given up matchmaking.... ...is a good hex life. Now they're doing it for mere mortals--although all agree: Sean Madigan is something of a god. Because he's tired of being the town sex object, Dorcas and Ambrose strip him of his appeal and then introduce him to his destiny, Maggie Grady. This time winning a girl's heart won't be so easy for Sean. It means rediscovering the charms buried beneath a gorgeous surface, and finally proving himself to be more of a man than ever before.

#MyTBRL

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly

Book Synopsis: This spirit is willing -- to catch a killer Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure and her old Aunt Sadie are making ends meet by managing a mystery bookshop -- a quaint Rhode Island landmark rumored to be haunted.  Pen my not believe in ghosts but she does believe in good publicity -- like nabbing Timothy Brennan for a book signing.  But soon after the bestselling thriller writer reveals a secret about the store's link to a 1940's murder, he keeps over dead -- and right in the middle of the store's new Community Events space. Who gives Mrs. McClure the first clue that it was murder?  The bookstore's full-time ghost -- a PI murdered on the very spot more than 50 years ago.  Is he a figment of Pen's overactive imagination?  Or is the oddly likable fedora-wearing specter the only hope Pen has to solve the crime? You can bet your everlasting life on it!

I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, because there's a ghost, it's in a bookstore, and in real life, I am a Mrs. McClure myself, so it's hard not to be affectionate towards a book with your name on it! I was happy that it won the vote, though all three are series I've needed to get into for a long time. 

Even so, it does employ my pet peeve of having a cat on the cover when there isn't a cat in the book, not that I was expecting one. It's a long standing complaint of mine on cozy mystery covers.  I even had an author pretty much admit to me that they (the publisher?  the industry? I don't know how much say authors truly have in their covers) employ a "put a cat on it and they will buy it" ideology.  Unless it's a dog cozy. But that's my problem, this is far from the only book dangling a kitty in front of us as a tease.

Mrs. McClure is Penelope, who is trying very hard to put her life back together on her own terms after her husband passed away, raising her son Spencer with as little interference from her husband's rich and controlling family as possible.  She has joined her aunt in running and expanding the bookstore, and she thinks she might just be losing her mind.  She's hearing voices.

The Ghost is Jack Shepard, who was murdered 50 years before where the bookstore now stands.  He was a private eye and he has some opinions on the murder, and a lot of other things, that he isn't keeping to himself.  He's a true to form detective noir, and a lot of fun!

Jack and Pen are a good team in trying to find out what really happened at the book signing, he's got the know how and she has the... well, the physical form!  Hands down Jack is the star attraction of this book for me, I was a little lukewarm towards Pen herself, and the rest of the town but I felt like the story was pretty well laid out and interesting with enough twists to make me not quite sure who done it!  I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the series!

May TBR List Winner - The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly

 And the winner is...

Book Synopsis: This spirit is willing -- to catch a killer Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure and her old Aunt Sadie are making ends meet by managing a mystery bookshop -- a quaint Rhode Island landmark rumored to be haunted.  Pen my not believe in ghosts but she does believe in good publicity -- like nabbing Timothy Brennan for a book signing.  But soon after the bestselling thriller writer reveals a secret about the store's link to a 1940's murder, he keeps over dead -- and right in the middle of the store's new Community Events space. Who gives Mrs. McClure the first clue that it was murder?  The bookstore's full-time ghost -- a PI murdered on the very spot more than 50 years ago.  Is he a figment of Pen's overactive imagination?  Or is the oddly likable fedora-wearing specter the only hope Pen has to solve the crime? You can bet your everlasting life on it!

I'm actually glad this one won, as I am a Mrs. McClure myself in real life, so I already have affection for this book! My Dad had read this series also and enjoyed them, so I think I'm in for a treat!

39% of the votes

33% of the votes

28% of the votes