Monday, June 25, 2012

Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson

I always have a hard time getting into books that take place in other countries - this one is in Sweden - because of the weird names and places that I'm not familiar with and the same was true with this one BUT holy cow, it drew me in and wow. Great murder mystery.

This story starts with a little girl, Lilian, being abducted from a train on a summer day in Sweden. A futile race to find the little girl is stalled when she's found dead in the parking lot of a hospital with the words UNWANTED written on her forehead. Now the police department, stunned, is in search for a murder suspects when he strikes again! They are left scrambling and frantic to find the suspect before he murders again.

The readers are taken through the investigation process while the author tells us just enough and yet so little that we are left guessing till the end.

I love it enough to not want to put it down so of course I'm going to recommend this one!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook

In a word, cute. I own several of Claire Cook's books but I've not read any of them yet... I can't pass up the covers, they are always just so so... cute, they pull me right in. However, I read this one and I loved Claire's wit and storytelling, I smiled quite a bit.

Anyhow, this book was about a girl, Deidre (Dee), who is a personal assistant and so much more to her famous brother, Tag. She feels like a wallflower, unnoticed, overlooked in life. Then one day, in a fit of rage, she had a little too much to drink and registered herself in a Dancing with the Stars contest and used her social networking skills to promote herself. I won't tell you how this turns out but Dee is starting to get noticed and she likes it.

Light enjoyable beach read. Definite recommend.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo

Another gruesome story in the Kate Burkholder series. I thought it was well done and unfolded nicely but I have to say by the end I was tired of the violence, there was just so much of it.

The book is about an upstanding Amish family who finds themselves as the main characters in this book when the mom, dad and uncle were found dead in the barn due to gas asphyxiation in the manure pit (what a way to die). Of course the story doesn't end there. There are Amish hate crimes and lie after lie is told to cover up the awful truth. Kate pushes for answers and delivers and explosive ending.

I will recommend.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Monarch Beach by Anita Hughes

3.5 stars for Monarch Beach... generally I "like" chick lit. Normally it's light and fun without much substance. This was pretty much just that but I liked it more than I thought I would, I think because there were things I wasn't expecting.

The story is about a woman, Amanda, who catches her husband cheating on her, only to find out that he's been cheating on her throughout their entire marriage. Her mother books a getaway for them so they can spend their summer at a 5-star hotel and 'heal' at the beach. While she is healing, she meets someone who helps her take her mind off her soon-to-ex and his indiscretions. The end of the summer is a whirlwind for Amanda, a summer she's not likely to forget.

I read another review that said an epilogue would've been nice to tell us how things panned out for Amanda over the next the year or so and I have to agree 100%, it feels as if the story ended a little too soon.

I will recommend.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

What a good book.  I didn't know what to expect when I opened this book, all I knew is that I owed a review.

This story takes place in Wichita, KS in 1922 but it flashes back to earlier times and ends in 1982.  This is about a girl, Louise Brooks, who wants to go to NY to take a dance class but needs a chaperone to go.  Cora volunteers to be the chaperone because she has plans of her own in NY.  What she finds is not what she was expecting, as a matter of fact, it was so much more. 

The book flashes back to when Cora was a child and it also let's you grow old with her.

The story touches on serious issues from that time like prohibition and shows you how much times have changed - it was once frowned upon for a girl to show her knees... her knees!!  Very interesting.

I found myself caught in the pages of this book and didn't want to put it down.  I'd definitely recommend it!