Coyer Read Along Destined for An Early Grave --Spoilers!

 Join the Read-along HERE

Okay let's talk about Destined for an Early Grave!  

I didn't like about 70%  of this book.

For chunks of this book, I was so annoyed by Bones and Cat, they were being so ridiculous.  Part of it was the lack of communication, I'm not much of a fan of when our main characters have major problems resulting from one or the other not talking something out. For me, I also don't enjoy reading Cat and Bones literally beathing the shit out of each other as foreplay. Also, it was so annoying that Cat assumed Bones was having sex with a ton of people in New Orleans when just a couple books ago he went years without sex when she left him and went with Don.  

And speaking of Don, Cat is going to feel really bad when she finds out he is dying from cancer and she was to afraid to talk to him.  The irony of a half breed vampire being so conflict avoident.  And speaking of the secret government agency group, overall, as a reader I am confused (This is definitely a me problem, not a reflection of Jeanine Frost's writing) about who I should care about in this series when it comes to secondary characters.  We had a couple of books where Cat's goverenment crew was central and we started to get to know them, but now they are mostly missing from this book. Will that continue?  Are we supposed to now learn to care about the vampires and ghouls, is Cat's life now just about fully vampire world? I struggle with as you can see. I mean I like Vlad and more of him is great, but what about the ghoul Liza, am I supposed to care about her? Will she be back or is she basically a red shirt like the random members  of Bones' crew --Band Aid and Hopscotch in this book. 

While I am getting tired of everyone wanting Cat, I did enjoy Gregor, he was a great villian. 

Tate showed up in the book at the 49% point, just went I was remarking to myself that it was great not having him in the book. Ugh. You know how I feel about him!

Fingers Crossed! 

Fortunately for me, things finally took a turn around the 75% mark of the book and Bones and Cat finally had a conversation and got on the same page. Amen!  I am pleased to see that Cat's conversion is wonky that will make for good storytelling, as well as the twist for Justina. I hope the next time I'm reading about Cat and Bones that the stoy doesn't focus on someone once again trying to covet Cat. I hope this time there is a different sort of big bad that they have to defeat. 

Next in the series we are reading First Drop of Crimson which features Cat's friend Denise.  I'm looking forward to a different POV in this series!

What do I rate this book. I'm not sure if I would say it is a 3 because Cat and Bones were so annoying or if it's a 4 because Ms. Frost made them so annoying to me. Good writing is about evoking emotions. 

Sometimes The Audio Reader Makes The Series!

 You may recall that I recently rated the first book in this series a 3, which is low for me when it comes to rating books. Because the book ended on a cliffhanger, and because of the incredible job Jessica Almasy does bringing all of the characters to life. 

I am glad I continued this series.  It's fun, Daisy has shown growth and is becoming a strong protagonist.  The voices Jessica does for the ghosts are fantastic. If you have listened to the Mystic Bayou Series by Molly Harper, I think you will also enjoy this series.  

One of the keys to enjoying this series is to see these books as a true traditional serial. Each book is fairly short and ends on a cliffhanger; you *have*  to read on to the next book to find out what happens next. 

The series is included with a Kindle Unlimited subscription or an Audible subscription.  As I have already gushed, I love the reader, so I do the audio version of this series.  It's a pleasant distraction when I am working out or cleaning the house. 

The growth of character and the fantastic Jessica Almasy moved this series from  3 to a 4!  A fun adventure! 

The Cracked Spine --This Month's Cozy Mystery Club Selection

Have you read this cozy mystery? It's this month's book selection for the Cozy Mystery Book Club! If you have read The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton or if you don't mind spoilers, join us for the book club live stream on Tuesday, March 29th at 6:00 pm EST.  The link is below:

 

I enjoyed this book and will be reading on in the series!  Here are my bullet points of what I enjoyed:

*Great setting, A bookstore in Scotland, what's not to love! 

*There is a budding romance that doesn't involve the sleuth and a police detective. 

*Our sleuth quickly finds a real home and a community that embraces her

*Paige Shelton gives us a plenty of potential suspects but we are able to keep the characters straight.

* Delaney doesn't spend a bunch of time in her head worried about her weight!

*Possible hint of otherworldly happenings as one would expect in Scotland

*Men in kilts!

There is plenty of room for us to learn much more about the characters we met in the story, I liked them and I thought the mystery was good, but I don't feel that connection to Delaney or the other characters that move a cozy from a 4 to a 5. I hope that book two will give me that connection.

Overall a nice, cozy read! 4 out of 5 stars

#The Sunday Post Had a Cold Not Covid

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

I missed some blogging due to a cold. The cold wasn't bad but was stressful for me because I worry about any and all illness stuff. So I was like is it a cold? is it Covid? The rapid tests I took, said it was a cold. 

This week I'm back to feeling better. While I was sick I watched:

*Bridgerton (season 1) 

*The Last Kingdom--It was so good. I highly, highly recommend watching this series on Netflix since it is now 5 completed seasons, trust me! It's fantastic

*Severance on Apple+ This show is very good, it has a unique look that makes it more interesting to watch. This one is out on a weekly basis. We also watched Suspicion on Apple, that one is done being released, Tom liked it more than me.

MOVIES: Fresh, Windfall, and Deep Water. Deep Water is described as a romantic thriller. Let me tell you, it's not romantic at all and I would say it's 4 out of 10 on a thriller scale. Windfall takes place all on this gorgeous estate in Ojai, California.  I liked the movie score and the beauty of the estate. I didn't care very much about what happened to 3 of the 4 characters. Fresh is a horror movie. That one stuck with me the longest. So out of these three, I would say Fresh is the best story.  

How was your week? Read or watch anything too?

Here is what I'll be talking about this week:

Another fun book by Stella Bixby! #FestivalFiasco !

 

This is book number six in Stella Bixby's Magical Mane Mystery series. This series is a witch-focused paranormal cozy series, so if you like magical cozies that are short and reasonably priced, this is a series for you!

Aside from the whole murder thing, spending time in Cliff Haven is always fun. This time around Ellie is in the running for Mayor of a Day and it is a killer competition--pun intended!  Ellie is learning to control her magic, which is wonderful, her fake dad is still looking to get married.  I am still holding out hope that in a strange twist we will learn that fake dad is Ellie's real dad.

I'm still holding out hope that one day we will learn Xander's whole story and that Ellie and Xander will become a couple--but maybe my hopes are misplaced.

There is a big reveal in this book so if you've been reading this series, I think you'll be pleased with one of the relevations. Oh wait, there are actually two big revelations that are pleasing!  

A fun escape from my daily life! Thank you for an ARC of this book Stella Bixby! 

I 

A Fatal Booking By Victoria Gilbert Thank You #NetGalley!

 Here is the description of this book from the publisher: 

"Victoria Gilbert’s third Booklover’s B&B Mystery, a treat for fans of Mary Daheim and Kate Carlisle, finds owner Charlotte Reed and her former spy neighbor, Ellen Montgomery, pitted against a tea-party poisoner.

Booklover Charlotte is delighted to welcome an eclectic group of guests to Chapters Bed and Breakfast for a book club retreat focused on fairy tales and classic children’s literature. But when one of the guests is poisoned at a Mad Hatter tea party, Charlotte realizes she’s fallen down a rather unpleasant rabbit hole
 
The victim – an opinionated busybody whose jewelry store sold original designs, along with some possibly “hot” merchandise – had plenty of enemies, spurring Charlotte and Ellen to offer their well-honed investigative skills to assist the local police. But as they delve deeper into each of the guest’s stories, they realize all of them had a motive, and the means, to close the book on the unfortunate victim.
 
Enlisting the aid of a few local residents, as well as their new ally, agent Gavin Howard, Charlotte, and Ellen vow to reveal the truth, even if the path to any sort of happy ending is strewn with deadly danger."

First of all, to answer the question, yes you can read this book without having read the first two. The main mystery of this book is who killed the victim and then there are subplots involving the background of the victim as well as some of the suspects.  I think it would be fair to say that this book is almost a closed-room mystery. The suspects except one are all guests at the BnB. I wasn't sure who the killer was until our sleuth was sure, so this book kept me guessing.

I enjoyed the literature discussions in the book, Victoria Gilbert interweaves the right amount of book talk in the story, and who doesn't love a good (method of killing --you have to read to know, I'm not going to spoil you) murder. 

Charlotte is also thinking about going back to school to teach, so that makes you wonder how the next book in the series will go.  As with the first two books, Charlotte works with the town detective and Ellen the retired spy next door. The climax in this one is some action hero stuff, which is fun. It reminded me of some of Lucy Stone's adventures in Maine. (Leslie Meier cozy series) 

Four Stars to A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert!

Thanks to Net Galley for the digital ARC of this book, all the opinions are mine!

#TheSundayPost I Totally Forgot About The Time Change

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

I think we should just stay an hour forward now and skip going back an hour in the fall. What do you think? I think I forgot it was time for the time change because this week it snowed twice and yesterday temperatures were in the teens (or about -7 Celcius) A real winter week for early March. 

This weekend I watched Turning Red on Disney Plus and The Adam Project on Netflix.  Both movies were entertaining and cute, I recommend them for families or anyone that just wants a movie they can relax and enjoy, forget the cares of the day and all that. 

I also went with my oldest child to the movie theater and we saw The Batman. I thought it was very good, Robert Pattinson was miserable and broody.  They made him look terrible, he was pale and beaten down, with bloodshot eyes.  I mean people loved him as a pretty vampire and in that respect he is unrecognizable. The chemistry of Catwoman and Batman is as strong as it was when Michelle Pfiefer and Micheal Keaton played the roles. My only complaint about the movies is that there is no need for it to be 2 hours and 57 minutes. They could have gotten it down to 2 hours.  

What did you do for fun this week?

Books I am reviewing this week:

And another book TBD! 

At Grave's End #READALONG Spoilers Below FYI!

 

I used my audible credit to purchase the audiobook for At Graves End the third book in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Novel.  

In the last book, I was dismayed that Cat and Bones had a quick vampire marriage and not a real proposal and wedding--so I was happy that at the beginning of this book a proper proposal happens.  Not too long after that Cat winds up detained because she actually believes her Mom wants to help with the wedding planning AHAHAHAHAHA. I guess Cat's hope for her mom's acceptance is going to spring literally eternal. 

There is a long scene of detailed torture in the book which I could do with about half the details. But that isn't the most horrifying thing that happens to Cat and Bones in this book.  When Bones levels up and can start reading Cat's mind, now that is a true nightmare! I don't want anyone being able to read my mind, esp my husband, how is that going to keep a marriage together--sometimes my brain has some cranky thoughts! Plus other vampires can hear her thoughts as well, she needs to work on learning how to shield her thoughts. 

I was happy to hear that Vlad is now on the scene, I think he gets his own book or something later on in this series, that will be fun!  I appreciated Jeaniene Frost trying to make Justina a more likable character, it just goes to show that Ms. Frost is a wonderful writer because she really knows how to push my buttons.  I dislike Tate *more* than Justina now and that's really saying something! 

In this book Cat's stunted emotional growth again shows up when she says stuff like she can't believe Don didn't tell her the truth. Ah, the dude didn't tell you you were his niece or that your life had been extended from vampire blood, so why are you surprised he didn't tell you the truth about something else! 

I was distracted as I listened to the final battle of the book and honestly, by the end of the book I couldn't remember why exactly Patra and Mencheres were in a war. I think this happened to me because juxtaposed with reading this book I was watching the news and seeing the carnage one man has unleashed in Ukraine, has me pondering how dumb war is and what crap it is that one person can destroy so many other people.  

Join the Read-along HERE

 I hope book four kind of, for lake of a better description, plumps up the supporting cast, I'd like to get to know other characters better (except Tate) so that I would be more investing in the overall story being told--if there is an overarching storyline?  Maybe there isn't and I should be reading this as each book is almost a stand-alone?

If you have read or are reading this series, please post below and share your thoughts!

Mango, Mambo and Murder By Raquel V. Reyes

 

A new book series by Raquel V. Reyes! Raquel did a wonderful job of putting together a very entertaining cozy mystery with just the right amount of mouth-watering food talk.  What makes this book different than many cozies is that Miram is the mom of a toddler. Usually, our sleuths are single and in their 20s or they may have older or grown kids. I enjoyed reading Miriam and Manny's daily interactions.

As a fan of the show Veronica Mars (but not the reboot) I really enjoyed Detective Pullman referring to Miriam as Veronica Mars, he is right, she inserts herself into the investigation, asks uncomfortable questions, and then puts herself in danger. Yes, she is a Veronica Mars!  I loved that Miriam has a best friend with a voice of reason. Hopefully, Miriam will listen to Alma from time to time so she doesn't get herself hurt in future stories! 

I greatly enjoyed the subplot where Miriam is able to share her knowledge as a food anthropologist via a youtube show.  Now that leads me to wonder since she is getting recognized by strangers by the end of this book--will that affect how she is able to sleuth in future books?  It could be used as a way she can get information from people or into places she wouldn't be able to get into otherwise, but it also means people will notice her more.  What a fun development, I am really looking forward to seeing where Raquel V. Reyes takes us next. 

My last comment, I really, really hope that moving forward the series doesn't have drama between Miriam and Robert.  I would like her marriage to be solid so she has that safe place to fall back to whenever future murder investigations stress her out.

As you can tell, I found this book to be very engaging, I enjoyed meeting Miriam, and reading her adventure as well as all the cooking scenes. I'm ready to read book two today! 

5 Stars to Mango, Mambo and Murder

#NetGalley #MangoMamboandMurder 

It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis by Robyn Peterman

I'm not sure if this book qualifies as a paranormal cozy mystery or a paranormal closed door (so far) mystery or a ghostly rom-com?  In any case, what you must know if you decide to read this book is...

IT ENDS ON A MAJOR CLIFFHANGER SO GET THE SECOND BOOK WITH THE FIRST! 

Seriously, I don't want you throwing your book around, so heed my words and get books 1 and 2 together.  I got this book via my Audible subscription so I was able to get the next book before the end credits of the first book were done playing in my ears.

On to the story. I was drawn to this book because of the name. Delightful right?  And the cover is gorgeous.  Our main character Daisy wakes up one day and can see ghosts and spends an unusual amount of time not questioning why it is happening.  But once you learn more about Daisy's character it is pretty clear she has put some major blinders on herself. She has a real knack for not questioning any of the things she should question and questioning things that are as they should be.  So as a reader you are always a few steps ahead of Daisy, which worked out okay for me. I will say Daisy doesn't live up to the title, she is supposed to be 40 but she is written as someone in their late 20s--which is fine if the title would've been It's a Wonderful Quarter-Life Crisis.

I like the world-building and the secondary characters. I am going to read book two to get the answer to the cliffhanger and to see if Daisy lets the blinders fall off her mind. If you are thinking of giving this book a try, I highly recommend getting the audiobook, the narrator is delightful and this is a book that I don't necessarily think is one that you want carve out time to sit down and read when you can listen while you work or workout!

3 Stars!