Kaetrin's Musings

Musings on Romance

Category: B reviews (Page 8 of 74)

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney

April 26, 2021 /

Blue cover as background, an illustration of a bloody knife with the reflection of the murderer mirrored in the blade, blood dripping from the black titlesNarrated by Christine Lakin, Maxwell Hamilton, Zach Villa & Jake Abel

Why I listened to it:  It was recommended to me by a friend and I’ve enjoyed other books from this author too.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) In 1982, two teenagers—serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell—are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can’t crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case—a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers—things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.

Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma.

Captivating, harrowing, and chilling, None Shall Sleep is an all-too-timely exploration of not only the monsters that live among us, but also the monsters that live inside us.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): None Shall Sleep is a YA crime thriller set in the 1980s – a mix between a kind of Mindhunters and Silence of the Lambs with teenage main characters. The primary POV character is Emma Lewis. She’s 18 now but when she was 16, she was abducted and held by a serial killer. She was the only one who escaped. She is approached by Agent Cooper from the FBI for help in researching serial killers for the fledgling Behavioural Analysis Unit. There are some teen serial killers who won’t talk to the FBI; will Emma be perhaps able to get through as a fellow teen? Continue reading

March Round Up

April 1, 2021 /

Monthly Mini Review

Christmas themed cover, with a white gay couple, one in a snowman sweater and Christmas mittens and a Santa had holding presents and the other in a black suit and white shirt, smiling fondly at the other manPresent Tense by Jordan Castillo Price – B  At only around 30 pages, this short story is a cute palate-cleanser and another fun entry in The ABCs of Spellcraft series. I don’t expect it will make any sense to those who have not read the earlier stories but for fans of the series (like me) it was a delightful little snippet. There’s no mystery to be solved in this one; it’s a short set at Christmas, focused on the last minute Christmas gift dilemma people who suddenly find out they are expected to give a gift to someone (when they didn’t know beforehand for good reason) and it has the usual quirky whimsical humour of the series. It was cute and sweet and I enjoyed checking in on Dixon and Yuri. It’s only 99c so those who have read the earlier books can pick this one up cheap.

BUY IT:
AMAZON

 

 

Coming Soon on Audio

 

longview of landscape scene with a male couple walking in the sunset Pink titles and a pink rose/

Reviews of these books will be up soon at AudioGals.

Links

Here’s what you may have missed:

at AudioGals

Managed by Kristen Callihan, narrated by Rupert Channing & Charlotte North

at Dear Author

Float Plan by Trish Doller
Let’s Go Out by Kelly Jensen
Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

February Round Up

March 2, 2021 /

Monthly Mini Review

the hands of a white male, holding a hand of cards, an MC club emblem under the titleStill Standing by Kristen Ashley, narrated by Erin Mallon (with Jason Clarke) – B One of my favourite Kristen Ashley books is Motorcyle Man. Which is just as well as this book is basically Motorcycle Man 2.0. There were enough differences to keep me interested but so many similarities, from the names of the main characters (Tack/Buck and Tyra/Clara) to the fact that Buck has two children, a boy and a girl from a previous marriage, complete with an evil-ex. (In fact, speaking of similar names, Buck’s daughter is Tatiana. Tack’s daughter is Tabitha and they are approximately the same ages). Like Tyra, Clara has a best friend who is in trouble and who brings drama to her door, albeit in different ways. Like Tyra, Clara ends up working at the MC’s business (which is a hardware store and contracting business instead of a custom car business and autoparts shop). Clara also wears tight skirts and “librarian” blouses and spike heels. There is even a cop who is the stand-in for the Mitch Lawson character from the earlier book. It’s familiar in a way that works if you liked Motorcycle Man. Like Chaos, Aces High are a clean club and there are the usual biker characters we’ve seen before, up to and including the one who cheats on his partner with a biker groupie (who causes trouble for Buck and Clara). Clara supplies baked goods to the bikers, Buck is a good cook – although he does great hamburgers rather than pork chops. Tatiana gets into trouble and Clara comes to her rescue and this causes a drama between she and Buck – if this sounds familiar it’s because it is.

Buck and Clara aren’t Tack and Tyra and the story does more than search and replace their names. I’m not complaining. I was hoping for another Tack and while Buck didn’t quite live up to him, he was, for the most part, a very satisfying hero. There was that one thing however… Continue reading

January Round Up

February 1, 2021 /

Monthly (not so) Mini Review

pink illustrated cover, a white guy and girl sit on a green sofa The Roommate by Rosie Danan, narrated by Teddy Hamilton & Brittany Pressley – B+ 

It’s often the case that I find it easier to get to an audiobook on my TBL than a digital book on my TBR. My TBL is considerably smaller and I have not, fortunately, had the listening slump that has impacted my reading in the last few months. Teddy Hamilton is one of my favourite narrators and I’ve had good experience before with Brittany Pressley also so it was an easy choice to load this book onto my iPod and get it in my earholes.

Clara Wheaton moves from New York to LA, to share a house with her longtime crush and lifelong friend, Everett Bloom. She’s from a wealthy family and was raised to always do the right thing and avoid any scandals. It isn’t particularly well documented in the book, the there are allusions to a number of significant scandals associated with the male members of the Wheaton family which they sailed through just fine with big donations and the like but for Clara, she’s got to be perfect. Partly it’s to please her mother who has been disappointed by so many other people in the family and partly it’s because Clara is a people-pleaser. Mostly the former. But moving to LA has definitely shaken things up. She’s disappointed her mother and she’s operating with a clear plan (checklist for her new digs notwithstanding). This is finally her chance to get Everett to really notice her.

Except Everett announces that he’s going on tour with his band and he’s subject his room in the house out to a “nice guy from Craig’s List”. He doesn’t even accompany Clara into the house before he takes off for the summer.

Enter, Josh Conners, aka Josh Darling, the porn star who is her new housemate. He’s hot and charming, cocky and kind. They become friends and then, later, more. Continue reading

REVIEW: Let’s Connect by Kelly Jensen

September 8, 2020 /

Silver fox white man in a white button down and blue jeans sits on a floor with his laptop balanced on his knees, heart eyes emojis come from the screen, the title is in a speech bubble.Why I read it:  I received a review copy via the author. The published version has an epilogue but the main story was first released as a free serial for newsletter subscribers (of which I am one).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  year after his divorce, Daniel Stroman has decided that he’s too young to die—or fuse permanently with his couch. But when he downloads the dating app “Let’s Connect” and starts dating, his success/fail ratio isn’t encouraging until he gets a connection request from Robin.

Everything about Robin’s profile is different, from the bright little bird he’s using as an avatar to the long and thoughtful answers he’s written for the standard questions. He’s witty, funny, and easy to talk to. Robin could be his perfect match. But Robin is holding something back.

Then again, so is Dan—beginning with the seven-year crush he’s carried for his best friend, Trevor. Sadly, except for one brief moment, they’ve never been single at the same time.

Or have they?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Let’s Connect is structured as a serial with each chapter being one “date”. Chapter one is therefore “First Date” and so on until the end of the novella. It’s intentionally episodic and works well that way.

My theory about what was going on was not quite right and it turns out that was a very good thing but I won’t go into more here because spoilers. Continue reading

August Round Up

September 3, 2020 /

Monthly Mini Review

titles in gold on a pink, red and black backgroundJust One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, narrated by Zara Ramm – B+ This is the first book in the time-travel series The Chronicles of St. Mary’s. They don’t call it time travel though. They investigate “major historical events in contemporary time”. (It’s totally time travel). Exactly how it all works is conveniently brushed away which I liked as no doubt I’d not understand it anyway (apart from that it’s fiction). The main character is Madeleine “Max” Maxwell and the stories are told from her first person perspective.

There is a romance thread running through it and it ends happily but the book is not romance per se. It’s firmly in the SFF camp. I had heard it was humorous and it is – but I hadn’t been expecting some of the serious topics covered and so CW for sexual violence, death and pregnancy loss. The romance is very gentle and a slow burn but I was quite satisfied by it. Continue reading

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