I Know Who You Are: Alice Feeney

"Meet Aimee Sinclair, the actress everyone thinks they know but can't remember how.

"Except one person.

"Someone knows Aimee very well.

"They know who she is and they know what she did.

"When Aimee comes home and discovers her husband is missing, she doesn't seem to know what to do or how to act.  The police think she's hiding something and they're right, she is--but perhaps not what they thought.  Aimee has a secret she's never shared, and yet she suspects that someone knows.  As she struggles to keep her career and sanity intact, her past comes back to haunt her in ways more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

"In I Know Who You Are, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney proves that she is a master of brilliantly complicated plots and killer twists that will keep you guessing until the final page."

I'm baaaaack!  I've been on a hiatus for what feels like forever and, for that, I apologize.  If I'm totally honest, it began because I originally wrote a spectacular review of this book in June of 2019...and accidentally deleted it instead of saving it.  Stupid me.  And there was no recovering it because I had written it on a computer without automatic backup.  Ugh.  I'm still annoyed by that to this day; however, I think my extreme disgust and quick temper had something to do with the fact that I was also four months pregnant.  Yes!  We have a new little reader in our household!  My son, J, is just over six months old now and I've been reading to him to show him how amazing the written word can be.  I hope he's going to be a little bibliophile, just like his Mommy.

Now, back to the review...  I'm going to attempt to recreate some of my review of this book, but I'm positive it's going to pale in comparison to the real thing simply because it's been so darn long since I read it.  I'm a bit frustrated that I've completely thrown off my book count for 2019 and 2020 because I stopped reviewing what I was reading, but such is life.  *Edit:  I was able to figure out how to backdate this review to when I originally finished reading it.  This review was written on May 19, 2020.

When re-reading the synopsis of this book, the first thing that struck me was how amazingly twisted it was.  Feeney's writing left such an impression on me that, even nearly a year later, I recall how gut-wrenchingly shocking her writing was.  Similar to her other book Sometimes I Lie, the book starts off compelling, but rather ordinary.  The characters are interesting and the plot is unique, but you wonder where everything is going.  It's a brilliant mixture of familiarity and suspense - if that makes any sense at all?  We begin with the disappearance of Aimee's husband.  It's interesting and suspenseful, but I've learned to expect more from Feeney.  What dark and twisty turns await the readers?  Hm.  The cops seem to lay an extreme amount of suspicion at Aimee's feet.  In fact, some hints and clues make the readers doubt Aimee as well.  What is her secret?  What does want to keep in the dark?  For that matter, who is this woman she claims to have stalking her?  A crazed fan?  Something more?  Could this woman be responsible for everything that's going on?  What could she possibly want with Aimee?

And when we finally learn more about Aimee's past - her deep, dark secrets - we realize that there's more to her character than meets the eye.  The revelation brings to light a great deal of what makes up Aimee's inability to share herself...and the possibility that she may very well have blocked out some very important information.  In an attempt to try not to reveal too much, I will say that her childhood is every parent's worst nightmare...

Then, when the ending comes about, we are exposed to the psychological havoc that abuse can wreak upon a person's psyche - just how damaged they become when their formative years are devoid of love and nurturing attention.  I found the culmination of all of the suspense nothing less than shocking.  Feeney is truly a master of dark suspense and psychological thrillers.  She has shed light upon the dingiest corners of the human mind and exposed characters who are the epitome of damaged.  This book left an indelible mark upon me.

I will caution readers who are easily disturbed by rape and child abuse to steer clear of this book.  Even though I found the story highly disturbing, it was a story I simply could not put down.  If you love twisted suspense, then this book is definitely for you.

The Couple Next Door: Shari Lapena

“HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR?  OR YOUR HUSBAND?  OR EVEN—YOURSELF?  PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF ALMOST ANYTHING…

“A twisty roller-coaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives…  How far would you go—if pushed to your limit?

“Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora.  But one hot summer night they were invited to a dinner party next door, and a terrible crime is committed.  Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents.  But the truth is a much more complicated story.

“Inside the Contis’ curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds.  Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something.  Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years.

“What follows is the never-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deceptions, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.”

Here’s the last of my delayed reviews!  Hopefully I do a little bit better the rest of the year.  This one comes courtesy of a recommendation from a friend of mine.  She told me she had a hard time putting this book down so, naturally, that piqued my interest.  It took me a while to finally get my hands on it and I’m pretty happy that I did.

What starts out as a seemingly insignificant night out turns into a family’s worst nightmare.  Anne and Marco Conti live in a beautiful townhouse and seem to have everything they could hope for.  Anne comes from a great deal of money.  She left her job in an art gallery to be a stay-at-home mom to her beautiful new daughter, Cora.  Her husband, Marco, runs his own business.  One evening, they’re invited to a dinner party by their immediate next door neighbors.  They contemplate canceling when their babysitter backs out, but Marco convinces Anne that they’ll only be next door – in reality, just on the other side of the wall from Cora.  They take the baby monitor and check on Cora every half hour.  When they finally return home in the wee hours of the morning, something doesn’t seem right.  The unthinkable has happened:  Anne discovers Cora is missing from her crib.

From the start, the Contis are a source of great suspicion.  The lead detective has seen his share of missing children and strongly believes the Contis are involved in some way.  Clues like a loosened lightbulb in a backyard motion-detecting spotlight, a silent car seen driving down the alley at the perfect time, and Anne’s diagnosis of postpartum depression all serve to cast doubt upon Marco, Anne, and their story.  The media vilifies them as horrible parents who left their infant unattended – that they got what was coming to them – while their marriage falls on rocky ground as Anne wonders what really happened to her missing daughter.  Could someone they know be involved?  What could their motivation be?  If it’s money, they’re willing to offer up any amount to have their daughter back.  However, when the ransom is paid and Cora still isn’t returned, they realize something much darker and more complex is taking place.

What ensues is a story filled with all the great twists and turns of a successful tale of lies, suspense, and hidden motives.  This book will make you question your own morals and ask yourself just how far you would be willing to go to save your family.  This story really does beg the question of how well you really know your neighbors, the people you consider friends, and even the members of your own family.

A captivating read, this book was very difficult for me to put down.  I found the pacing quite well done and the story, exciting.  I definitely recommend this book to lovers of mystery and suspense.  It has a twisted, complicated plot that will keep you guessing and fascinated right up until the very end.

Happy reading!

The Girl on the Train: Paula Hawkins

“THERE SHE SITS, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.  WHAT SHE SEES, GAZING OUT THE WINDOW, WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.

“EVERY DAY THE SAME

“Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night.  Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck.  She looks forward to it.  She’s even started to feel like she knows them.  Jess and Jason, she calls them.  Their life – as she sees it—is perfect.  Not unlike the life she recently lost.

“UNTIL TODAY

“And then she sees something shocking.  It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.  Now everything’s changed.  Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police.  But is she really as unreliable as they say?  Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved.  Has she done more harm than good?

“Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.”

Here’s another delayed review (sorry!).  I’d been meaning to read this book for a while now, especially after I’d been told by people who weren’t avid readers that this was worth the read.  I still have not seen the film adaptation, but I’m now definitely looking forward to watching it.

I think what really makes this book the Rachel’s unreliability as a narrator.  A majority of the book is told from her perspective with interjections from other characters – most of which take place prior to Rachel’s experiences.  At first, Rachel seems stable, employed, and – though she’s upset about her divorce – she seems to have tried her best to move on.  As the story progresses, however, we learn the depth of Rachel’s inability to cope, the lengths to which she goes to hide her life from her flat-mate, and how she simply cannot let go of her ex-husband and former life.  She paints a relatively rosy picture of her former married life; one with a loving husband, a home she adored, and the possibility of a future.  As she opens up more to the readers, we learn how much her own dysfunctionality played a part in the downfall of her marriage and her husband’s affair and subsequent marriage to his mistress.  I was torn between feeling sorry for Rachel and getting the sense that she was more than a little to blame for all of it.  Her drinking began during her marriage and only intensified afterwards.  We learn that she cannot wait for her drinks on the train ride home – that she practically lives for them.  Her other obsession is watching a beautiful couple with their (she believes) idyllic life on her train ride into the city.

Each morning, Rachel spies the couple breakfasting in the sunshine.  She imagines lives and hobbies and romance for them.  She pictures the perfection of their life in their trackside home and feels as if she truly knows them.  Surely they must be the epitome of happiness?

Rachel lives for the little ray of sunshine spying on them brings to her miserable existence.  It isn’t until she sees something very unexpected in their back garden that the story seems to spiral out of control.  What shows up on the news shortly thereafter convinces Rachel of the importance of what she witnessed…

Who do we believe?  Rachel, the woman who drinks and cannot recall what happens during her all-too-common blackouts?  The snippets of information we are given from the points of view of the other characters in the months leading up to the incident?  When she cannot take it anymore, Rachel goes to the police with her suspicions and her information.  They largely appear to dismiss her – especially when they learn of her volatile history and habits of contacting and harassing her ex-husband and his new family where they live several doors down from her idyllic fantasy couple.  Could Rachel have had something to do with what happened?  How can anyone trust her – how can she trust herself – when her memory is filled with a large black void during with absolutely anything could have happened?  Frustrated, Rachel takes some drastic measures and entangles herself in a web of lies as she tries to do what she believes is right.  As the story unfolds, however, she wonders if she’s done the right thing – and whether or not she’d just jumped head-first into dangerous waters.

The dark twists and turns of this intense story will keep you on the edge of your seat.  The unreliable narrator makes you second guess your own opinions and assumptions.  The surprise ending will leave you breathless.

I definitely recommend this book for any fan of suspenseful fiction.  The characters are raw and real; that reality is very slowly unveiled, making you question what you thought you knew about them.  Hawkins is a talented author with a knack for keeping her readers in the dark until just the right time (even though I did end up guessing the surprise ending, I still give her props for disguising it so well).

Bad Attitude (BAD, Book One): Sherrilyn Kenyon

“NAME:  Steele

“CODENAME:  Azrael—“Angel of Death”—because he goes places where even angels fear to tread

“SPECIALTY:  One shot, one kill

“WEAKNESSES:  Women in high heels, freedom under siege, and eBay

“PROFILE:  Prefers to work alone—except in the bedroom

“MISSION:  Kill the bad guy, save the world, and hopefully end up with the girl

“New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has created a major buzz with her stories about the sexy heroes of the Bureau of American Defense.  Now, she presents her first full-length novel featuring the agents of BAD—a story of unforgettable characters and heart-stopping romantic suspense.

“BAD agent Sydney Westbrook must find the perfect sniper for a risky counter-terrorism mission.  The assignment is simple:  find and kill a hired assassin before he kills a high-profile world leader during a peace conference on American soil.  JD Steele, a trained military sniper whose attitude problem landed him in prison, seems a good candidate for the job since he doesn’t have many other options.  But it turns out Steele doesn’t take orders easily—not even when they come from an intriguing agent who has his number down pat.  As they’re dragged deep into a secret world of freelance killers, Sydney begins to discover the man of honor and passion hidden beneath Steele’s arrogant façade.  It’s a man even Steele didn’t know he could be.  But how can he fulfill his duties when doing so will risk the life of the only woman he’s ever really cared for?”

I’ve been reading a lot of new (to me) authors lately and I wanted a fun read by an old favorite.  I couldn’t locate the next book in Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series (yes, I’m still pacing myself and slowly re-reading that series), so I thought I’d start something new.  I’ve seen a few of her BAD (Bureau of American Defense) books here and there at bookstores, online, and at the local library.  Anyone who glances at my reading history knows I lean away from “modern romances,” especially ones set in the United States.  Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series is a bit of an exception because it contains so many historical and paranormal aspects that it breaks me out of the norm.  BAD is borderline.  It is a modern series surrounding a secret branch of American agents who have access to incredible technology, possess amazing abilities and talents, and come from varied backgrounds.  At the heart of it, these agents are still just people.  Still, I wanted to give this series a shot.  This book is supposed to be the first in the BAD series, but I quickly got the sense that I was missing something.  It was mentioned that two agents were on vacation together, which gave me the impression that theirs was, perhaps, a novella or short story that I hadn’t yet read.  I noted on FantasticFiction.com that there is a collection of stories for this series, but it’s not listed first in the reading order.  Maybe this solves my issue?  I don’t think my enjoyment suffered because I felt like I wasn’t reading the stories in order, but the perfectionist in me doesn’t like doing this (even by accident).

We’re introduced to Steele when he’s still overseas.  His best friend and spotter has just been killed and he’s struggling to come to terms with the loss, as well as the pain and anger everyone else is taking out on him, the survivor.  It isn’t until later that he discovers that his CO (commanding officer) is covering up the mission and shoddy intelligence he used to send Steele and Brian out into danger.  The CO blames them for getting lost and making foolish decisions, ending in the loss of Brian’s life.  Steele, blinded by anger and pain, does something very stupid in retaliation and, in turn, he winds up tried and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison back in the States.  This results in his military-oriented family disowning him and Steele finds himself more alone than ever.

Two years into his sentence, he’s approached by a strange man and two women.  There’s something very different about the trio and his training instantly tells him that these are no ordinary individuals.  Their mannerisms and controlled expressions tell him they’re well trained and a part of something very dangerous.  The kicker is that they want to draft him into a very dangerous mission, dangling the carrot of freedom and an expunged record if he complies and succeeds.  Clearly there’s only one choice for Steele to make.

We quickly learn the intricacies of the secret agency, BAD, and the hidden role it plays in the security of the United States.  Headquartered in Nashville, TN, they have access to the entire country, seemingly limitless technological resources, and licenses to do things other agencies would deem unsavory.  They’re comprised of past criminals, loose cannons, and those who struggle with following the rules and rigid authority.  It’s the perfect environment for Steele.

Other than his talent and his past, Steele was chosen for this mission because he was also approached by APS, another secret agency BAD has been attempting to infiltrate, but has yet been unsuccessful.  They need Steele to pretend to accept the position at APS in order to uncover top secret information and, perhaps, prevent another World War.  This, of course, lands both Steele and Sydney in more danger than BAD predicted.  They soon find themselves on the run in a life-or-death game of cat and mouse.  Only if they survive do they stand a chance of stopping an assassination that could cause history to repeat itself.

Steele was a good, typical “Kenyon” male lead:  He’s angry, tortured, has a rocky past, and doesn’t care for distractions or interferences.  She has an amazing knack for creating male leads who seem like antiheroes, but they eventually discover that they have it in them to be real heroes (very, very few of them remain antiheros – I can probably list them off using the fingers on only one hand).  Their dark and twisty natures are always well-developed and unique.  I hadn’t read a book of hers where the male lead was once in the (modern) military and I definitely appreciated all of the research she so obviously did.  I felt like I understood the mentality and the world that shaped them.  In Steele’s case, it was his entire history that helped make him the man he was when he met Sydney.  By far my favorite part of his character was his “bad attitude.”  (Don’t you love it when a title comes into play in a review?!  No?  Maybe that’s just me.)  His sarcasm was extreme and I loved how he went out of his way to annoy absolutely everyone.  His attitude was bad to the max.  It’s easy to create a male lead with a generic “bad” attitude, but Kenyon tweaked him enough through mannerisms and comments that he was unique.  I do have some criticisms about him.  The first part of the synopsis indicates he’s a fan of eBay – I didn’t see this once in the book, though it would have been an amusing quirk.  I’ve learned from snippets here and there (not just this book) that snipers do not, in fact, work alone.  They have a spotter and work very, very closely with them.  They form a unique, tight bond born of trust and danger.  To say that Steele prefers to work alone wouldn’t be entirely accurate.  A sniper doesn’t really work alone.  Now, if this is intended to say that he never means to take another spotter/partner because it means risking someone else’s life, then this might be more accurate.

Sydney, on the other hand, was less unique.  We’re immediately introduced to her as a slightly curvier, heavier, shorter Angelina Jolie lookalike.  I don’t really care for such blatant comparisons – it makes the characters feel less unique and more based off of impressions of a real person known by everyone.  Granted, it makes it easier to picture a character by giving them a blatant lookalike, but I find it less fun and it actually hurts my sense of imagination.  Personally, I then picture the actress/actor’s mannerisms and speech patterns I’ve seen during interviews or events or even as they act in films.  Maybe I’m the only one who has an issue with this, or maybe I’m just being picky.  I’m not used to Kenyon making such blatant comparisons and I usually find her characters to be much more unique.  This is probably why I didn’t find Sydney to be overly interesting.  She had a decent backstory and reason for wanting to be a part of BAD, but that was about it.  She, herself, had a bad attitude and I didn’t feel like the reason was explained particularly well (over and above her reason for refusing to date coworkers anymore).  I did like her banter with Steele – they seemed well-equipped to go toe-to-toe again and again and again.  I kind of wanted to see her (quite literally) kick his butt because she probably could have, but it was not to be.  In the past, there hasn’t really been an issue with Kenyon writing physically and mentally powerful women who can (and do) kick men’s butts, but I wonder why she didn’t really use that here.  It seemed like a bit of a missed opportunity for this plot.

As far as the romance goes (because this is, at its heart, still a romance novel), I found it less believable than in Kenyon’s Dark Hunter books.  The scenarios are similar:  man and woman are thrust together under dire circumstances, they learn to work together as a well-matched team, they save the world and fall in love in the process.  However, while I get that Steele has been celibate for a long time, I don’t quite understand how he “clicked” with Sydney.  He could have been attracted to her, but I would have felt more convinced had he chosen to “scratch his itch” rather than hold off.  He didn’t know Sydney; by all accounts, she could have never given in to his crude advances, why wait?  On the flipside, I was more convinced by the progression of Sydney’s growing feelings for Steele.  Her sympathy felt genuine even if her weakness for him did not.

Overall, this is a very different type of plot and brand of storytelling than Kenyon’s wildly popular Dark Hunter books – and there’s a reason those are so much more well-loved.  Kenyon’s genius lies in the way she can craft whole underworlds and histories, fantastic characters and captivating otherworldly plots.  BAD does this to a small degree, but I don’t find it as successful.  I still finished reading this book in less than 24-hours, so that has to say something.  I still enjoyed it.  Had I read this before becoming such a fan of the Dark Hunter books, then perhaps I would have been more enamored.  Echoes of Kenyon’s talent ring throughout – especially in her secondary characters (for those of you who know the world of her Dark-Hunters, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say there are shades of Acheron complexity in BAD’s director, John Q. Public; I also eagerly await reading his story…because he so clearly has one coming).  There was a nice spark between Steele and Sydney, even if I didn’t always find it the most believable.  They did have chemistry.  The fast-paced plot and interesting story kept me very interested and I enjoyed reading this in (almost) one sitting.  Even if I’m not in love with the series thus far, Kenyon remains one of my favorite authors.

A Simple Favor: Darcey Bell

"A Simple Favor is a feverish and expertly plotted tale of psychological suspense--a twisting free fall filled with betrayals and reversals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.  Darcey Bell exposes the dark underbelly of female friendship in this taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.


"It starts with a simple favor--an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another.  When glamorous Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son after school, Stephanie happily says yes.  Emily has a life that would make any woman jealous. She is the perfect mother with a dazzling career working for a famous fashion designer in Manhattan.  Stephanie, a widow with a son in kindergarten, lonely in their Connecticut suburb, turns to her daily blog for connection and validation.  Stephanie imagines Emily to be her new confidante and is shocked when Emily suddenly disappears without a trace, leaving her son and husband with no warning.


"Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong.  Unable to keep away from the grieving family, she soon finds herself entangled with Sean, Emily's handsome, reticent British husband.  But she can't ignore the nagging feeling that he's not being honest with her about Emily's disappearance.  Is Stephanie imagining things?  How well did she really know her 'best' friend?

"Stephanie begins to see that nothing--not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor--is as simple as it seems."

My friend and I wanted to see the film adaptation of this book when it came out a short while ago, but we never got around do it.  When I finally saw a copy of the original book on the shelf at my local library, I knew it was something I had to check out.  The promos made the book look deliciously twist and suspenseful.  After beginning my journey into this book, I was not disappointed.

We open with Stephanie's blog posts -- a blog she writes to reach out and connect with other moms out in the world, for kinship, validation, and friendship (whether or not she even truly realizes the last).  She and her son, Miles, make their lonely way through life after the death of Stephanie's husband, Davis, and her brother, Chris, in a tragic car accident.  Stephanie, perhaps, doesn't realize how lonely she really is until she finds what she believes to be a true and honest friend in Emily, the mother of her son's favorite playmate in school.  They bond over shared secrets and wine, as well as the challenges of raising sons in their Connecticut suburb after leaving the bustle of New York.  Stephanie is very quickly enamored of Emily and her lifestyle, her seeming perfection and elegance.  Having no one else to turn to, Stephanie quickly turns to her blog when Emily doesn't show to pick up her son from Stephanie's house after school one evening.  At first, Stephanie believes she may have misheard Emily or perhaps Emily's emergency had pulled her away for longer than anticipated.  It's only when Emily's continued unresponsiveness and days pass that Stephanie's concern blossoms into true fear.  She reaches out to Emily's husband, Sean, while he's on a business trip overseas.  At first, Sean's lack of concern and knowledge of Emily's hectic schedule makes Stephanie feel like a worrier.  It isn't until Sean returns to the States and Emily still hasn't returned that the two of them find a shared bond over their fear for Emily's safety.  Where had she gone?  Why had she left?  Was she still alive?  As more and more evidence is uncovered, more questions seem to pop up rather than answers.  What happened to Emily?  These questions seem to be answered...but there were far too many pages left in the book for this to be tied up in a nice, neat little package -- I always find this terrifying; when everything seems to work out, but then there is too much book left for this to actually be the case.  What on earth can the author have in store for me?!  This was absolutely the case with A Simple Favor.

The many twists and turns of this dark and suspenseful story kept me guessing.  I was so sure I knew what was coming right from the very beginning, but I admit that I changed my guess several times over until the truth was finally revealed.  The complex plot and multifaceted characters made for a psychological thriller that was difficult to put down; the tension never really abated.  The first lines of the book ring true throughout:  no one tells the truth and everyone has secrets.  Sometimes even the most innocuous of individuals have the deepest, darkest secrets of all.  Can you ever really, truly know someone?  This book definitely plays off of insecurities about opening up to one another, and the possibilities that people we hold dear are not actually who they seem to be.

At first the narration bounces back and forth between Stephanie's blog and her point of view (which is far more honest and revealing than her public online posts).  This is the first clue that there is a lot more to all of the characters than we see.  Gradually, more is revealed about Stephanie's past and she's not the perfect woman/mother she portrays on her blog -- then again, is anyone really as perfect as the profess to be on social media?  We realize the depth of her relationship with Emily and why Stephanie felt the two of them were so close.  This sets up the tension surrounding Emily's disappearance quite well.

Eventually, we become privy to the points of view of a couple of the other characters.  This adds even more depth and complexity to the plot.  What secrets have these characters kept?  Are they even telling us, the readers, the truth?  What are they choosing to omit and how much will it impact the story?

This is a book that will well and truly keep you on the edge of your seat.  I finished it in the matter of a few days and found it difficult to stop reading.  There are so many violent turns and rapid twists that I couldn't see what was coming at me around the next bend.  This is the mark of a good suspenseful psychological thriller, is it not?  The characters had layer upon layer of personality and secrets.  It was nearly impossible to trust any of them, even when you really wanted to do so.  I was captured right from the start and drawn into this mysterious world of secrets, lies, and questions.

I'm definitely even more interested in seeing the film adaptation of this book.  I wonder how true to its dark nature they will keep.  From what few previews I've seen, I think the casting was done well, given the descriptions in the book.

I recommend this for those of you who like darker psychological thrillers.  Fans of Gone Girl will really enjoy this one as it makes you question reality and the reliability of the very characters themselves.

The Little Shop of Found Things: Paula Brackston

“An antiques shop haunted by a ghost.  A silver treasure with an injustice in its story.  An adventure to the past she’ll never forget.

“Xanthe and her mother, Flora, leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antiques shop in the historic town of Marlborough.  Xanthe finds she has an affinity with some of the antiques she finds:  While she touches them she can sense something of their past and the stories they hold.  When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine she has to know more.

“It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century, the time of its origin.  She discovers there is an injustice in its history.  The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.  While Xanthe fights to save the girl amid the turbulent days of 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby.  He may be the person who can help her succeed.  He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to return to the present.

“In this first book in a new series, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch’s Daughter Paula Brackston returns to her trademark blend of magic and romance, which is guaranteed to enchant.”

I came across Paula Brackston’s books while scrolling through my Pinterest feed (this seems to be the way I’m discovering most of my new reading material).  I was intrigued by the cover and the synopsis seemed interesting, so I gave it a shot and put it on hold at my local library.

Xanthe and Flora uproot their London life to move to the country.  There, in an entirely new setting, they begin their new lives as owners of a small antique shop.  This is Flora’s passion and Xanthe’s joy – especially because she gets to do it alongside her mother.  However, Xanthe has a secret of her own.  Some of the antiques she touches retain echoes of their former owners.  She can sense their lives and their love, their histories and their stories.  This comes in handy when choosing special pieces for purchase or sale in their shop.  Nothing, however, prepares her for the visceral reaction she has to a silver chatelaine she encounters at a local auction.  Xanthe takes a great risk and spends most of their meager funds on purchasing the silver chatelaine.  Shortly thereafter, Xanthe realizes something very important and powerful drew her to this piece with a tragic history.  The ghost of a woman makes herself known to Xanthe and their encounter sends Xanthe back to the Seventeenth Century on a mission to save the ghost’s ill-fated daughter from a horrible end.  Along the way, Xanthe must figure out how to hide her modern-day mannerisms and speech, as well as her ignorance of the customs and activities in order to blend in and help prevent the girl’s death, for the ghost has threatened Flora’s life should Xanthe fail in her mission.  Xanthe is drawn to the dark, intelligent Samuel Appleby, who, despite the norms of the day, seems to appreciate her for her knowledge and finds her enchanting despite her quirks and unfamiliar behavior.  Xanthe’s mission is dangerous and, should she make one misstep, it could mean her own end in the tumultuous times of the early 1600s.  Will she be able to save Alice and, by extension, Flora?  Will she be able to return to her own time or will she be forced to remain in 1605 forever?

I love a good bit of modern British literature and this one fit the bill; not to mention it has romance and magic, which make for a fun and entertaining read (even if books with magical and time traveling themes are not usually my cup of tea).

Xanthe and Flor make for a good mother-daughter pair.  I found their dynamic to be very warm and realistic.  Their backstory seemed realistic as a catalyst to move them from London all the way to Marlborough to open a little antique shop of their own.  The details that go into their shop and the items within demonstrate the obvious love and care put into this book.  The variety of items and descriptions drew me in and, to me, showed just how much Brackston injected into this work; I don’t think the book would have been as successful without it.

There were some minor descriptions of Flora, Xanthe, and some of the more important supporting characters (like Liam and Samuel), but I don’t feel like I got an excellent sense of facial features or even age.  This is something I’ve noted in other book reviews and it’s something I look for in every book I read.  I don’t expect an author to give me extensive descriptions and an exact age, but I find I do need something like, “mid-twenties” and at least an eye color or some distinguishing feature other than hair and clothing to really make a character come to life in my mind’s eye.  I don’t think we’re given even a general idea of Xanthe’s age.  I first pictured her in her early thirties, but, having finished the book, I think she may have been much younger, maybe even her early twenties.  This nebulous sense of age (personally) makes it a bit difficult to form a good idea of the main character and I find it detracts a bit from my enjoyment.  I may be alone here, but I wanted to be sure to mention it because it was definitely something with which I came away having formed a strong impression.

What I found most successful was Brackston’s descriptions of 1605.  The details and settings were spectacular and well-researched.  The Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Centuries happen to be some of my favorite in British history, so it was a joy to discover that Brackston had done so much background work and integrated so many intricate details and crafted the story and its history in so loving a fashion.  Everything from the houses to the clothing, the political and religious strife to the art and architecture, it was all so well-crafted and pleasantly written that it felt natural rather than as if only a cursory review of the time period had been performed.  This is an aspect of Brackston’s writing that I greatly admire and for which I applaud her.

Xanthe was a very good female lead.  She was determined, tenacious, and remained shaped by her history in a believable fashion.  I enjoyed her ingenuity and imperfections.  She is sent on a mission and nothing short of success is acceptable – she simply will not allow harm to befall her beloved mother.  As a driving force behind her mission, I thought it was handled very well.  To have made this into a selfless rescue mission wouldn’t have been as believable (or as believable as magical time travel can be!).

Xanthe’s chemistry with Samuel (and Liam) was very realistic and felt organic.  I enjoyed watching their connection grow and develop into something much deeper – a companionship that would span the centuries.  The romance, while present, isn’t overt and does take a backseat to the main plot; however, I found this better than making this story all about the romance.  Though she may not realize it fully yet, I can tell that her chemistry with present-day Liam will create some difficulties for her down the road.  She and the almost Darcy-esque Samuel bond over a passion for architecture and the beauty of what she knows to be antiques and artifacts, but Samuel sees as modern-day creations and developments.  On the other hand, she doesn’t quite realize just how supportive and caring Liam is – how he cares for her and is willing to overlook her half-truths and quirks.  He suits her, but in a different way.  I think we may have a “Gail and Peeta” dilemma, a-la Hunger Games going on, and I am curious to see how this is going to play out.  Which man is more suitable?  Will she venture to the past or choose the man in her present?  I suppose we’ll have to see how the series plays out.

A minor plot hole I wanted to mention – you may want to skip if you want to be totally surprised by the plot:  The first time Xanthe is sent back to the past, she sees Alice already captured and in the carriage on the way to imprisonment.  The second time she goes, she watches Alice run away before they can put her into the carriage to be carted away.  Every other time she goes back, the periods are perfectly chronological.  She doesn’t bounce around in time.  I think this was done so she would be aware of her mission, but it doesn’t make all that much sense, especially given the exact passage of time between the past and the present.  They seem to occur almost parallel, with the past traveling at a slightly quicker pace than Xanthe’s present, but it never backtracks other than this very first instance.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  I found it fanciful and realistic, even for a book with magical time travel.  I can tell there was a lot of love in the story and I think this is part of what made it so successful.  The plethora of details and research made this a unique and special book.  The writing was fun (though those who are less familiar with British slang may need a bit of assistance) and well-paced while the plot was lively and entertaining.  I definitely look forward to seeing where this series will go.

The Queen of Hearts: Kimmery Martin

"A debut novel set against a background of hospital rounds and life-or-death decisions that pulses with humor and empathy as it explores THE HEART'S CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS...


"Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school.  Now they're happily married wives and mothers with successful careers -- Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon.  Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years.


"As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie's life -- both professionally and personally -- throughout the tragic chain of events during her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her.  Nick's unexpected reappearance at a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at the beginning of their careers.  As it becomes evident that Emma must have known more than she revealed about the circumstances that nearly derailed both their lives, Zadie starts to question everything she thought she knew about her closest friend."


This book took me nearly a month to finish (as evidenced by my relatively long hiatus posting reviews on here), and this does not really bode well for a stellar review.  I will cushion this statement with the truth that I’ve been dealing with health issues and some personal/familial tragedy, so I’ve simply been unable to force myself to read all that much.  Granted, a brilliant book can be an escape from the rigors and draining nature of the real world, but the medical nature of this sotry had some rather poor timing in my personal life – this is, of course, not really the book’s fault.  I was initially drawn to it via yet another Pinterest search.  This was also a new release at my local library and all the pieces just seemed to fall into place.

I began reading The Queen of Hearts very shortly after I finished the book I reviewed just prior to this one.  I was immediately sucked into the fast-paced worlds of Zadie and Emma.  One of the biggest draws for me was the happy realization that it was set in Charlotte, North Carolina – where I happened to live for a year while attending college.  It’s always very entertaining to run across places with which you’re familiar; it breathes a special kind of life into a book.  An added bonus is that my uncle was a doctor in Charlotte as well, so I was familiar with the hospital and lives of these surgeons (I’ve yet to ask him if he’d ever worked with Dr. Kimmery Martin, the author).

The first part of the book had excellent pacing.  I was introduced to Zadie and Emma, the interesting nature of their friendship, and the very different lives they lead.  The pacing does change and I think that was part of my problem.  It began to feel a bit choppy.  Eventually, the story bounces back and forth from intense present events to the pivotal time in 1999 when Zadie and Emma were still medical students and tragedy struck.  They learned what it is like to be a doctor, and they also learned how to cope with their own mistakes and suffer through unexpected loss.  This use of perspective  – bouncing not only in time and space, but also between Zadie and Emma – sometimes got a bit more confusing than was pleasant.  There was a concerted effort to create a stark differentiation between the bubbly, scattered Zadie and ice queen Emma, but it fell short.  I lost their unique voices a few times in their different sections and had to go back to remind myself whose perspective I was reading.

The dark secret was, I thought, handled fairly  well.  Snippet after snippet was revealed, making me think, “There it is…  No, this has to be it!” several times.  When the real secret does finally come to light (in its entirety), it truly was deep and dark…and I can understand why she (I won’t tell you which “she”) did her best to cover it up all this time.  I must also admit that everything following the admission of the complete truth felt a bit rushed – literally the entire book led up to this moment and it wound up finishing before I got any real satisfaction from experiencing the aftermath.  The friendship between Zadie and Emma was so time-tested and the secret so powerful that I was left feeling a bit hollow at the end – the “resolution” felt a bit unrealistic to me.  This might come off as not making much sense, but I cannot give too much away without revealing huge plot twists (and I certainly don’t want to ruin those for you).  All said, I think I would have liked the “big reveal” to happen sooner, or to have more time to watch the characters absorb the truth.  The ending was tied up a little too quickly and neatly for my personal taste.

The medical aspects of this book – their lives as medical students and careers following some twenty years later – read a lot like “Grey’s Anatomy”.  If you’re a fan of medical dramas (complete will on-call room booty-calls), then you’ll enjoy this book.  I am a fan of “Grey’s” (especially the older seasons), so this was no trial for me.  In fact, it was part of the draw of this book.  So many people not directly in the medical field don’t realize what doctors – especially surgeons – go through on their path to their ultimate career.  It’s a life filled with exhaustion, stress, loss, triumphs, pain, and mental strain.  Reading about this from an author who is also a doctor was refreshing and very realistic.  I would be very interested to know just how many of the patients Zadie and Emma encounter in this book were borrowed from real-life experiences of Dr. Martin and her colleagues.

While I liked parts of this book, the rapid shifts in time and perspective sometimes left me a little bit lost.  Even with the impending revelation of the deep, dark secret, the latter half of the book dragged much more than the beginning did.  As I mentioned before, this was partly due to my own inability to focus, but I won’t take all of the blame here.  I think part of it was the writing style and then some of it was the addition of unnecessary details – especially in some of Zadie’s medical school flashbacks as they pertained to her group of friends.  I can see what Martin was attempting to achieve (again, sort of like the close-knit misfit group in “Grey’s Anatomy”), but I didn’t feel that it always necessarily added something.  Some passages could have been used for an entirely different book.  The ending of the story wasn’t as satisfying as I was hoping.  I liked the characters’ personalities and some of my favorite scenes were those between Zadie and Emma with their respective husbands; however, the voices sometimes blended together with all of the bouncing around.  Is this book worth trying out?  I would say so.  Do I give it a glowing recommendation?  Not necessarily.  There’s nothing terribly wrong with it, I just wasn’t as sucked in as I would have liked to have been.  I'm not totally sold by the forgiveness at the story's conclusion, but perhaps there's something to be said for the power of Zadie and Emma's relationship.

Happy reading!

Sometimes I Lie: Alice Feeney

"My name is Amber Reynolds.  There are three things you should know about me:  1. I'm in a coma.  2. My husband doesn't love me anymore.  3. Sometimes I lie.




"Amber Reynolds wakes up in a hospital.  She can't move.  She can't speak.  She can't open her eyes.  She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea.


"Amber doesn't remember what happened to her, but she has a sneaking suspicion her husband had something to do with it.  Or her sister.  Or maybe both.




"Terrified and trapped inside her own body, she slowly begins to remember a night that changed her life.  Is she in a coma due to an accident?  Is her sister having an affair with her husband?  What happened at work with her horrible boss?  And who is the person who is silently visiting her bedside each night?




"Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, Sometimes I Lie builds into an ending that will leave readers speechless as this brilliant psychological thriller asks, Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?"


This was another of my Pinterest finds and it was, once again, a very different choice from my normal reading material.  It's definitely been interesting to branch out and experience new authors and types of stories.


This book definitely plays with your mind and it suits the term "psychological thriller" to a tee.  You are just as lost as Amber as she tries to sort through her damaged mind to figure out how she got into that hospital bed; you experience her last week of normalcy and get a taste for her life before the accident; and you witness the development of a child's mind via the diary entries from twenty years prior.  I won't sugarcoat it:  There are more than a few disturbing moments in this book (then again, would it really be a psychological thriller if there weren't?).  You don't know who or what to believe -- especially because the narrator has come right out and said she can sometimes be a liar.  Whose truth do we believe?  What is reality and what is fiction?  In literature, there can be "unreliable narrators," but what do we do when the narrator outright admits that she's unreliable?  There are so many twists and turns throughout that I had no clue what was coming until it hit me right in the face.


The chapters were short and routinely cycled from Amber's paralytic coma, before her accident, and the diary entries.  Each section had a very unique perspective.  This form of writing kept me captivated because I wasn't bogged down by long chapters (not that I mind them, I just think the format used by Feeney here was particularly well-suited to this type of book).  It kept me on my toes and whetted my appetite for more.  I couldn't wait for what little tidbit or clue would be revealed in the next section.  Being kept in the dark with Amber as the narrator meant we felt her pain and lost what little consciousness she had just as she did; we experienced her deeply troubled mind and past in broken pieces; as well as we learned right along with her slowly-healing memory what had happened to her.  The dark secrets she carefully covered up, the lies which slowly come to light, all serve to craft a very deep, dark, and infinitely complex narrator.  So much lies beneath the surface that the differences between fact and fiction become blurred in such a way that even reality sometimes feels like one of her troubling coma-induced dreams.  Rather than more answers, we're often left with more questions as we get deeper into the story; which is, of course, the perfect thing to get a reader to devour a book in a short span of time.  This happens quite a bit in the old diary entries and some of those happened to be my favorite sections.


Characters who seemed normal and/or reliable were rarely so.  Whether it was Amber's paranoia or her hyper-perceptive nature, we're never quite certain.  Her husband, Paul, is a great source of anxiety for Amber.  A great deal of the sections taking place before the accident revolve around her belief that he is having an affair; it's hinted quite strongly that his affair is with Amber's sister, Claire, which could be a reason why Amber seems to have a great deal of anxiety when it comes to her.  However, it's not until much, much later in the story that we realize the true source of this anxiety and mistrust...and the revelation is frightening on so many levels.  What we believe to be jealousy of Claire -- her perfect appearance, how she always seems to be one step ahead of Amber on life's journey even though she's younger, and how Claire was able to give her husband children (even if she had to go through IVF) -- turns out to be something much darker.


The writing, itself, is masterful in the sense that Feeney never reveals too much.  She waits for the exact moment to reveal a hint and then promptly never mentions it again until all of the pieces finally come together at the very end.  I kept finding myself wondering how all of those pieces could possibly fit in a satisfying way, but it ended up working in such a way that I had to sit back and think to myself, "Wow...that was one hell of a ride."  I was kept captivated by the style and careful glimpses of clues, which is perfect for this genre.


I will once again caution you that this book is dark and parts are very disturbing -- it's certainly not for everyone.  There are some very intense scenes, twisted themes, and very troubled characters.  This isn't a traditional mystery:  Of course, we don't know "who done it," but there is so, so much more to this book than that -- especially because the "victim" is alive...and she's also the unreliable narrator.  ***SPOILER:  There are scenes of rape, stalking, and violent murder.  I suggest staying away from this book if you're squeamish about any of those things.***  I recommend this book if you're not afraid to try something new and experience an author who will have you on the edge of your seat.  Feeney hasn't had many books published as of yet, but I expect that we'll be seeing a great deal more of her in the future.  Happy reading!


SIDE NOTE:  I'm excited because I just realized that this book technically fulfills my "book set at Christmas" requirement for my 2018 reading list!  You can find the reading challenge HERE.

Twilight Desires (Morgan Creek, Book Three): Amanda Ashley

“Sofia Ravenwood was once fascinated by vampires—their seductive power, their inhuman strength, their dark desires.  Then one of them attached her family, and she threw out her goth attire and vowed to keep clear of her enemies. Until she heard about Ethan Parrish:  a sweet, sizzling-hot former college football player, turned into a vampire against his will.

 

“Wandering the deserted streets of Morgan Creek, Wyoming, Ethan’s sure he’ll be alone forever—a monster like him deserves nothing else.  Then beautiful, complicated Sofia agrees to meet him, fangs and all.  The need she ignites in him is more than just the pulse of her blood or the scent of her skin.  But he’s not the only bloodsucker desperate to make her his own…”

 

Here we are!  This is Ashley’s third and newest installment in her Morgan Creek series.  *In the name of full disclosure, I did receive an advanced copy of this book directly from the author, herself, in exchange for my honest review.*  The book’s official release date was August 28, 2018 (though the cover of the copy in my possession states it'll be available in September of 2018), but, knowing I review books and have reviewed her books in the past, Ashley reached out to me and kindly offered to send an advanced uncorrected proof to me.  I, of course, was happy to read it.  I did, however, first need to read the preceding two books in this series!  If you’ve read those recent reviews, then you’ll know I had some mixed feelings.  I liked some of the characters and really appreciated the uniqueness of the plot surrounding the location of Morgan Creek, itself, but some things didn’t strike me as outstanding.  I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what this book has to offer.  We were introduced to both Sofia and Ethan in the second book in the series (Sofia is Micah’s younger sister and Ethan is Holly’s cousin) – more so Sofia than Ethan.  From what I already know about them, Sofia is a bit of a spitfire and Ethan has no qualms about giving Saintcrow, his sire, any attitude or lip.  I’m looking forward to seeing how Ethan’s dynamic plays out with the other vampires in Morgan Creek – especially because he’s always believed in vampires and hated them so much – and I’m really hoping we continue to see Sofia’s attitude and spunk.  I have felt that the biggest thing this series has been lacking is a really unique, standout female lead; I’m really hoping Sofia can accomplish this task.




***




I'm about 75 pages into this book after starting it last night.  It's a much easier read and I like the pace of the story; I think Ethan's confusion and frustration coming to terms with his new life as a vampire is well-written.  So far, Sofia does seem better developed than the other female leads I've encountered and I hope it continues.  It feels like she really does have a life of her own and, while some of her attitudes and behavior is a bit immature, I think it suits her age well (she is, after all, only 19).  Ethan has an attitude and a bit of a death wish.  I like seeing a change in him when he's around Sofia.


However...Sofia has a feels "her heart swell with love" 31 pages into the story...thirty...one...pages...(Ashley 31).  I found it unbelievable and unrealistic, especially because she and Ethan had only met a couple of times at that point.  It almost makes me wonder if that was a hiccup in the writing because there haven't been any mentions since then.  One other hiccup is the fact that Ethan keeps taking her to bars and out for drinks (she likes tequila sunrises)...but she's only 19.  I am not upset over the fact that she's underage-drinking, I just can't quite figure out how it's so easy for her to get a drink absolutely everywhere they go.  Ethan hasn't even considered that it might be more difficult to take a 19-year-old out to a bar.  Granted, Ethan does most of the ordering, but no fake ID has been mentioned and no one's bothered to card her.  It's just a little too easy, almost as if we (conveniently) forgot how old she actually is.




Some moments have felt a bit scattered and contradictory.  POTENTIAL SPOILERS:  The scene where Mateo uses a human henchman to kidnap Sofia seems a bit random and ill-planned; on top of the fact that I'm not really sure why he had Sofia locked in a basement while he fed on another woman he'd kidnapped.  It seemed like a lot of trouble for not a lot of real reason.  The biggest issue I've taken thus far is with Ethan's very irrational, mercurial mood in Chapter 10.  I get being upset because Sofia hasn't called; however, he'd just had a wonderfully productive planning meeting about the changes he wants to make to Morgan Creek.  He seemed to be getting exactly what he wanted.  From one sentence to the next, Ethan transforms into a self-loathing, suicidal maniac willing to do whatever it takes to get Saintcrow to come and put him out of his misery.  It felt very sudden and I actually had to put the book down and wonder, "What the heck just happened here?"  We'll see how this progresses.




One other little plot hole I feel the need to mention:  Earlier in this review, I state that Ethan always hated vampires.  This statement stemmed from Holly's statement in book two that, when Ethan was a child, he always used to carry around objects to ward off vampires.  Last night when I was reading, Ethan indicated that he'd never really believed in vampires.  Hm.




***


I finished this book just over a week ago; however, I was in an airport on my way out of state (sans computer), so I didn’t get a chance to finish my review on this until this morning.  I ended up liking Ethan a good amount and I liked Sophia more than I’ve liked other female leads in this series.  I particularly liked the conflict between Ethan and Sophia’s older, rightfully-protective brother (and vampire), Micah.

I do have to say that I found the romance to be a bit hasty.  (***Minor spoiler:  I found the marriage between Ethan and Sophia to be pretty rushed.  I get excitement and all that, but it was borderline unbelievable.  I found their attraction to feel more natural than their actual love, if that makes any sense.***)  However, I liked their banter and the sparks between them.  I think their romance felt the most realistic to me of all of the three books I’ve read in this series.

There was a decent villain in this book in the form of a vampire who wanted to bring Morgan Creek back to its “glory days” when wandering humans were kept captive by a coven of vampires.  However, I kept waiting for more like-minded vampires to join in the fight and give Ethan and Saintcrow a better run for their money (on top of the fact that I expected Saintcrow to call upon Micah when the proverbial shit really hit the fan and Kadie went missing.  It felt strange that a vampire so in love with his mate wouldn’t call upon every single resource at his disposal when it came down to it.  Who cares of Micah and Holly were on what would technically be their second honeymoon (they went to New York first at the end of their book)?  That felt a bit odd to me.)  These like-minded vampires were hinted at and I kept waiting for something to happen with them, but it never did.  The greater threat came into play with the introduction of another supernatural being:  a witch.  There were a couple of them in this book and I would say (from my relatively limited knowledge) that they were pretty “purist” as well, which sticks nicely with the rest of Ashley’s writing.  Even though there was more tension in this book with the variety of conflicts and some decent “bad guys,” I still found myself longing for the big knock-down, drag-out battle scene.  I know if I were Saintcrow, I’d want revenge in the worst way.  Nothing would be able to stop my desire for blood; my own safety be damned.  The way this was handled made him seem a bit more fragile than one would expect from a master vampire.  I feel like I’m spending quite a bit of time on Saintcrow in this review and he’s not even the male lead.  I think this is because the series really does revolve around him.  Another reason is probably because I like him more now than I did in even his own book.  I feel like I really got to see the charm, wit, and acerbic sense of humor/sarcasm that I didn’t quite get to experience earlier.  I love it when characters develop and Saintcrow has done so.  ***Minor spoiler:  Also, the whole walking in sunlight thing was VERY convenient and I’m not too sure I cared for it.  The rest of Ashley’s vampires are very “purist” and that’s something I truly respect, so perhaps this is what rubbed me the wrong way.  I may have forgiven it for Saintcrow, but as soon as Ethan was allowed to do so, that killed it for me.  What goes hand-in-hand with this is my opinion that Saintcrow seemed overly generous with his master vampire mojo.  He let Micah drink from him, thereby instilling in him heightened powers; he drained Ethan again and let him drink, affording him additional powers and abilities (like walking in sunlight).  I feel like these were things that he should have kept very close to the chest, regardless of circumstances or who the other vampires were.  These abilities are what allow him to be so powerful, to lord his strengths over other vampires and maintain control over his domain.  Eternity is a long time and, should Micah or Ethan ever decide to turn their backs on him, they would now present a greater threat.  Something to think about.

***

Overall, I think this book was my favorite of the series.  Ethan gives Micha a run for my favorite male lead in the series.  I think Micah has a better sense of humor, but Ethan has a much better “tortured, angst-ridden, moody male” vibe about him.  I liked Ethan’s head-butting with Saintcrow, but (as previously mentioned) some of the interactions felt a bit forced or nonsensical (as in, they weren’t quite what I was expecting or they didn’t quite fit with Ethan’s emotional state).  I enjoyed the development of Saintcrow, but this proves how the series really does focus on the male leads.  Kadie and Holly really fell to the wayside in this book.  I expected a lot more from Holly as a secondary character, especially because she was the one who helped hook up Ethan and Sophia.  Instead, when it came time for Ethan and Micah to meet, she really took a big leap into the background.  I thought her rapport with Sophia (and as a calming, rational person in Micah’s life…or death, if you’re a stickler for semantics) would go a long way toward developing the plot and conflict, but it didn’t really.  I’m curious to see if other vampires from Morgan Creek will crop up in future books.  Jokes were made that the rest of Micah and Sophia’s family should be turned into vampires since they’ve already gotten a good start, but I don’t know if I expect this to be an actual hint to future stories.

I’m honored that Ashley chose to send me an advanced copy of this book to review.  I’m always thrilled whenever an author reaches out to me and I’m more than happy to contribute my own (tiny) voice to the conversation.  I recommend this book to vampire romance purists out there.  While the romance is a bit tamer than I’m used to, I think this presents a good alternative to those who find other authors a bit too “raunchy.”  There is romance; there are quality classic vampires.  If this is what you’re looking for, then Ashley’s writing is right up your alley.  I had my criticisms for each of the books in this series, but I tend to write much more in-depth reviews when I know an author will see it.  I would want the breadth and depth from anyone who was reviewing my own writing, so I feel like I’m doing a service to the writing community.  I found aspects which could have been expanded upon and some things I felt worked well.  The underlying plot of Morgan Creek is unique, interesting, and creative.  There is a ton of potential here for even more books in the series.

Happy reading!

Twilight Dreams (Morgan Creek, Book Two): Amanda Ashley

"Holly Parrish has never met anyone like Micah Ravenwood:  his dark eyes, his movie-star smile, the indefinable way he looks at her.  Even when she thought he was no more than another client for her investment firm, her lust overpowered her logic.

"But she never expected this attraction to whisk her from her busy southern California life to a silent and eerie ghost town in Wyoming.  Only vampires call the deserted place home--and one of them is Micah.  He says he's brought her to Morgan Creek for her safety, that vicious creatures are hunting her.  But how can Holly trust him?  One look and she can see the need barely restrained behind Micah's polite words.  The heat of his kiss, the pleasure of his touch--none of it can tell her whether he wants her as his lover--or his prey..."






I'm about 50 pages in and I think I already like this book more than I liked the first in this series.  I feel like this is due in large part to the fact that I have already seen a great deal more from Micah's perspective than we did Saintcrow's.  We met Micha in the first book and, given our first "meeting," I wasn't certain how much I would like him as a hero of his own story.  He actually feels more developed with a solid backstory.  Knowing what we do of his family and history (especially having a good percentage of the story told from his point of view thus far) I feel like I care about him more already.  I sympathize more with him; hopefully the trend continues.






Holly is still pretty generic.  She is pretty, smart, does her chores every Saturday, and loves to eat.  So far, she doesn't differ very much from Kadie (other than her career) and she's still pretty generic.  I hope she develops more as the story goes on.






We've also been introduced to some villains already, which is nice.  I like starting a book off with an undercurrent of conflict; it makes for a better story and a more intense read.  I think, perhaps, this is some of what the first book in this series was missing.  Granted, Saintcrow and the rest of the vampires in Morgan Creek are technically the villains, but we don't get an external villain until much, much later in the book.  This is probably why it felt like the story (and Kadie's conversations and conflict with Saintcrow) kept going in circles.  There had to be something to keep the story moving until an external villain could be introduced.  I like the villains thus far and I'm looking forward to the inevitable clash.






I'm hoping for a bit more of an explanation as to why Holly (who works solely in a formal business world) would be meeting a prospective new employee at a goth club.  It feels a bit unbelievable and REALLY unprofessional on his part.  Maybe it was a trap?  I'm hoping to find out more as I continue onward.






***




I still prefer the development of Micah's character to Saintcrow's.  I feel the sympathy toward him that was missing for me in the first book of this series.  I care about him more.  He feels more tortured, perhaps because, in some ways, he's still coming to terms with his vampire existence.  Holly, on the other hand, feels very similar to Kadie (i.e. generic).  They have the same reaction and mentality toward vampires (which I suppose is reasonable), the same obsession with food, and no real defining hobbies or traits (personality or physical) that set them apart or make them unique from a caricature of what, perhaps, someone expects a modern woman to be.  Take away their physical descriptions and professions...and they're basically the same woman.  They're both virgins (there's nothing wrong with this, but I'm definitely noticing a trend:  the men are very possessive, the women are innocent virgins, there's a lot of steamy kissing, and the sex usually winds up very vanilla (nothing but missionary) -- man, does this last one make me sound like a kink, but I promise I'm not).  Neither of them really seems to have a defining history or past.  Both of them occupy themselves the same ways (nothing more than movies and books).  Their scenes always seem to start with or involve food (usually overly-descriptive, mass quantities of food).




I still like the fact that this book has more tangible villains; it makes for a more exciting read.  Even if Holly is falling a bit flat for me, I think the plot is moving well and it doesn't feel as "trapped in a cycle" as Kadie and Saintcrow's book did.




***


Well, I finished this book last night and I can safely say that I did end up liking it more than I did the first in the series.  Kadie and Saintcrow played large roles in this sequel and, I can say with definitiveness now, that Kadie remains rather underdeveloped (as does the relationship between Kadie and Saintcrow).  Saintcrow did gain a little bit more individuality in this book (which is surprising because he was not the male lead), so it made him a bit more interesting.


I did end up liking Micah a great deal more than Saintcrow in the first book.  As a male lead, Micah was better developed, more individualized, and had a much better-explained backstory.  This is probably due in large part because he's such a young vampire that he still has living human relatives.  It helped show what he was like as a human and gave me a much better sense of who he was as a character.  (Now, I'm not saying that the only reason Saintcrow was underdeveloped was because he had no living human relatives...there are a lot of ways he could have become more well-rounded.)  He was witty and his personality suited his age.  I understood his attraction to Holly a bit better than I did Saintcrow's to Kadie, but it still fell a little bit short.  I'm stuck asking the same question:  What makes these women so damn unique?  They may be attractive and resistant to their vampiric charms, but that could be any one of hundreds, if not thousands, of women.  We see very little of Holly's family life (until the very end of the book) and nothing of her friends.  I felt like there was a big feud being hinted at when Holly mentioned that he father was a believer in vampires and hated them with a passion, but it never came to fruition.  Holly remained pretty flat, never quite setting herself apart from any other female lead in a vampire romance novel.  She loves the man; she is put off by the vampire; and she doesn't long for eternal life, but will accept it if it means she never has to leave the man she loves.  (Possibly a minor spoiler:  This is just a side note and I may be reading too much into this, but I REALLY cannot imagine any modern twenty-something picking fingertip veils for her bridesmaids...  This choice shattered the illusion for me because it felt really dated.)


I still had a few issues with the flow of the dialogue and there were some repetitive phrases, words, and conversations that simply struck me the wrong way.  This probably won't bother others as much, but I wanted to at least mention it.


I did mention before that I liked the fact that there were more tangible villains in this book.  It turns out that there were a few (we're introduced to another later in the book) and this made for a more dynamic plot.  However, I admit that the "big fight scenes" felt a little bit anticlimactic.  The action was fairly glossed over.  I didn't feel like I was watching an intense battle, rather hearing a quick account of what took place.


The last few chapters did set up the protagonists and villain for the third book in this series, which is scheduled to be released in a few weeks (and of which I also received an advanced copy in return for my honest review).  If these few chapters were any indication, we're in for our most combative male lead yet.  I am pretty certain I know who his female counterpart will be and I hope she matures and becomes a better-developed female lead than we've seen previously.


Overall, I liked this book more than the first in this series.  I appreciate that Morgan Creek is like the vampires' base -- their haven -- and I look forward to seeing how this continues and what becomes of the town now that there's no one to take care of it.  What will Saintcrow decide to do with it?  The story has potential, I just hope we get to see a more dynamic female lead.