Blue Cat Review

I wondered what I had gotten into with the first couple of chapters. Then things started making sense to me and I got to know the characters a bit more. Things moved along and it turned into a dark romantic thriller worth reading. Full review soon.

Such a short little intro to the series, it almost wasn't even a short story. But, I'll add it to the review with books 1 and 2 when I review them fully.

This is a new author for me and I found her writing to be really enjoyable. This is the first in a new series for her and I immediately purchased the second book. This didn't wow me, but I did find I wanted more of these characters. A full review soon.

The second book stands up well to the standard set up by the first one. Just as much passion and sex and violence. Full review to follow.

This is a very strange book and I can't decide if I liked it or not. I'll have to mull it over before I write a full review. Coming soon.

This all started out as a simple mail-order bride story, or so I thought. What it turned into was something else. I'm still not sure what, though. When I first finished the book, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I've since decided that I do like the book, but it's one that had to grow on me. I'll have to read it a few more times to catch everything that's in it. This is a very busy book!

It didn't stay mail-order bride or simple very long. Ms. Flagg quickly moved into the whole community and how they formed a town of their own and the changes the town goes through. Not just the town, but all the town characters, and how the events in the country and the world affect the town and its citizens. The author uses a narrator, conversations, letters to and from and probably some other devices I missed. She does an incredible job of stuffing this book full of information. It's just like the small town it's about, very busy with the lives being lived in it and all their connections to the wider world.

Her last device is a series of conversations from a particular place, which I won't reveal. You have to read the book to find out that secret, it's just so special. It works very well in creating a feeling of closure. I don't know if I'll read any of Ms. Flagg's other books, but this one was quite the experience. If you like your fiction chock full and a bit quirky, this one's for you.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley

Just finished this and it was sooooo good! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and story line. The fact the it involved the fashion industry to some extent was an added bonus to me. Now, let me go sleep on this and I'll try to write a full review in the morning.

My Review:
I've already added this one to my favorites list! I knew when I read the summary of it on NetGalley that I would like it. And I loved the cover design. Once I got into reading it, I was lost in it. I couldn't read it in one sitting because of what was going on at the time, but I had no trouble getting right back into the story each time I picked it up. The story stayed with me.

Ms. Moser wrote her story with brush strokes so that you could see exactly what was going on and understand everything easily. Annie Wood has the greatest good luck in each of her crossroads. And she trusts in God all the way. Even when she does something that she knows is wrong, she ends up not only not getting in trouble, but she comes out ahead. Rising from house maid to fashion designer, in Paris, no less. If you've got a taste for a fun story and fashion, this is certainly the book for you!

I was provided an eARC by Shiloh Run Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley of Blue Cat Review

This reminds me of another book I've read or maybe it's a movie I've seen, but I can't think of its title. I'm not going to worry my brain over that now. The story is interesting and the characters are reasonably well written. We aren't allowed into their backgrounds too deeply, but they do come alive with what we're given. The magic is all cerebral. Very low key with no flash. A lot of things happen at night. It gets to feels very dark, both the setting and the mood. The author does very well using night as a reference to affect the ambiance, to bring in the murky doom and gloom feeling as the story goes along. No one gets much sleep in this book.

Things move along quite rapidly in the story. Maybe sometimes a bit too fast. Sometimes it's nice to stop and smell the roses or describe the standing stones in a bit more detail to create a bit of ambiance. The author really doesn't waste many words setting the stage or creating a mood. It's pretty much all dialog and action, and I'm a girl who likes a bit of atmosphere with her magic, terror, and romance. If there had been a bit more to the book in the way of setting, it would have appealed to me so much more. Her childhood home. The standing stones. The underground room at the lighthouse. What do these look like. Knowing what it all looked like would have added so much to the book. So, I have to give this a three-star rating for lack of a bit of description. Yet I must give the author full credit for creating the moods she did with her use of night. So well done. If you like a good story with lots of drama and action tossed in on your fated romance as you stumble blindly in the dark, this could be a book for you.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest rating. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley

I do realize that in a novel people need to heal fairly quickly so that the story can go forward. However, it is so misleading to portray PTSD as being "cured" or even eased in just one or two sessions with a counselor. PTSD is something that effects soldiers for years, for a lifetime, unto death. While counseling can help those suffering with PTSD, often the first major hurdle is to get the patient to agree that he/she needs treatment, that they have anything that needs treating. Those with PTSD will often tell you that they are fine, there is nothing wrong with them, they are coping just fine and readapting to civilian life just fine.

To see PTSD handled as it was in this book is grossly misleading and belittles what those who suffer with it must go through to return to some sort of regular life following combat with or without imprisonment or military sexual trauma. When you take on such a subject, you should be ready to deal with it properly or leave it alone. The tone of this book was in no way dark enough to portray the subject properly and so came off as being a lightweight overall.

I was provided a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~Judi E. Easley

This one I have to think over a bit before I try to review it. With the nature of the evil in this one, I first must reconcile it in my mind before I can share it. A full review will follow shortly on my blog.

My Review:
A story that is as old as families and just as sad as a child's tears. The education Dixie gets is one too many children got, and still get. Ms. Everhart writes with words that will bring you to tears time and time again in this sad story of a Southern-Northern family that tears itself apart and puts itself back together, but too late to save the innocence of a child. She makes you want to strike out at some. She makes you want to shake some. And she makes you want to shield the innocent.

This book left me sad and frustrated and not wanting to write a review. I recommend this book for those of you who read the real tear jerkers in women's lit. This one certainly qualifies. Don't forget the tissue box.

I was provided an eARC by Kensington and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley of Blue Cat Review

This started out sort of plodding along, but it picked up and once it did it got really good. Full review to follow soon.

My Review:
Charlotte and Aaron Elkins have been writing together for years now, and have turned out some really good books. This one doesn't disappoint.

Alix finds her art has been stolen off the wall in her apartment. Why would someone steal a whole wall of basically worthless art posters?

She's on the front of a current magazine and she's been photographed in front of this same wall in her apartment. All her friends seem to have seen the picture.

Then a friend points out that Uncle Tiny's mirror is hanging on the wall in plain sight in the picture on the magazine cover. Who else might have seen it? Who would want it? What is it really? And we're off down the rabbit hole of the Elkins' usual line of investigation with a glimpse of a strange person here and there. A message left here or there. And, of course, Tiny is nowhere to be found. Close calls, dark corner, and magnifying glasses bring Alix to some revelations about her "family" members before she's done.

Strongly recommended for Elkins' fans and for anyone interested in finding a new art related line of mysteries without too much blood or gore.

I was provided this eARC by Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley at Blue Cat Review

A main character who's as quirky as they come, two sexy men, and a twisty, dangerous problem to solve. What more could you want? The next book? Let my mind muddle this one over, full review soon!

This is the only book in this series that I've read and this is the fourth and last one. Not exactly the best place to start a series. Typically I would go back and read the previous books, but this time I didn't. Maybe I would have been more taken with the characters if I had read the whole series, but I didn't. I felt like a lot of the relationship between Brook and Ben had already happened and that I needed someone to bring me up-to-date on it. It was strange and sort of flat up until the end when they finally actually put some effort into getting married.

Brook's experience on the TV show was horrifying and so cruel. Then to have the newspaper editor take Madison's notes and recording and rewrite her article about Brook so soon afterwards. All this very public embarrassment causes Brook to pull back from all her involvements and doubt herself. But talks with the people in her life help her work through what is important to her and find her way. Once she gets her thoughts straight, she charges ahead putting all the aspects of her life in place. She paves the way for HEA.

I think I would have liked some of the previous books in this series, but I'm not going to go back and read them at this point. This book has such a forward motion and emotion to it, that going back just isn't an option. So, if you want to read this book, I strongly encourage you to read books one through three first. Then you will be ready to read and enjoy book four thoroughly.

I was provided a digital copy of this book by Henery Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley

My Review:
This is a combination of memoir, women's lit, and self-help book. Nicole tells all about each of the houses she's renovated for her TV show, Rehab Addict. In the course of each of these rehabs, she's gone through a lesson. The lesson has taken on the name of the house. My favorite, I think, is the Dollar House.The house had been tagged for demolition by the city. When Nicole took over the house for rehab, they had to have money change hands for the records. So a price of one dollar was assigned. Thus it became the Dollar House.

The house had to be lifted off its rotted foundation and have a whole new foundation done underneath it, then be set back on the new foundation. In her own life at that time, she was having to rebuild her life and reputation from the ground up. She had to prove that she could stand on her own and do it all, without a partner to help her. She plans and reacts and gets the job done standing on her own two feet.

Nicole writes as if she were simply sitting down talking to you about theses things. She pulls no punches. When things went wrong and it was her fault, she says it was her fault. When it's someone else's fault, she lets you know that. When it's no one's fault and just an accident, she doesn't try to place blame on someone, she just says it was an accident and life happens.

She's a very creative person and has an upbeat outlook on life. So reading this was really great. She doesn't get bogged down when things don't go smoothly, she looks for solutions. This is why I called it partly a self-help book. There is much to be learned from the way Nicole deals with setbacks. She just doesn't allow them to hold her back. She looks around and figures out a way to get the job done. I found myself really wanting to sit down and have coffee with her and talk and talk and talk. She'd make such a great friend!

So pick up a copy of this book and read all about these rehabs and how this amazing woman found solutions to some of the strangest problems a person's ever had to solve. Due in bookstores December 16, 2016. A great Christmas present for your favorite DIY-er.

I was provided with a digital copy of this book without any of the photographs by Artisan and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I cannot speak to the photographs, just to the text of the book. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley

This is one of the most heartwarming books I've ever read. Central to this book is Hallie and around her revolves all this romance. I need to let this brew in my head a bit, then I'll have a full review for you on my blog.

My Review:
This is one of the most heartwarming stories I've ever read. Initially, I was a bit confused with the three story lines. They seemed so unrelated other than all being in England. I followed the stories and wondered why the main character was always so isolated. She seemed to be surrounded by people, but she really was totally alone in her illness. No one knew what was really going on in her head, or her heart. Seeing Mansell weave these three story lines together as she did was amazing. Nothing clinical or cutesy. Just life happening and people communicating and being people in a really good way. Mansell created some really wonderful characters in this book. This is definitely a must read for a rainy day -or a sunny day -or a snowy day -or any day. It's just a must read. Now, I'm going to go buy everything else Jill Mansell has ever written and read it. You're sure to see more reviews of her work here on my blog.

I was provided a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. The opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley

As much as I enjoyed the first and second books in this series, this third book wasn't quite as good. I feel like it was just a series of conversations. I know things really did happen, but when I think back over the book, it just seems like a lot of talk and thinking. I need to ponder on this a bit. Full review to follow.

My Review of the series:
Each of these books could have been read as a stand alone. They are not written so closely that they aren't whole stories all on their own. In fact, the connection is rather slight among the three books. It's explained in the first book, A Duchess in Name, mostly to explain the relationship between the three girls and to set the stage for who they are and how they know each other. It also explains the "Grantham" aspect. Grantham is the name of their teacher, their finishing teacher. When you are finished by Lady Grantham, you are prepared to face the real world and find a husband who can support you in decent style.

The first and second books were quite lovely and the girls did their job and found gentlemen who could support them in more than decent style. In fact, Victoria ended up in grand style and quite in love with her handsome husband. And, of course, Amelia had been in love with Natty since they were children. And he can support her in high style, too.

The third book in the series just didn't appeal to me as much as the first two did. The Reluctant Betrothal is about Grace. She starts her story without any money and it seems to create a chip on her shoulder that she doesn't seem to lose through the whole story. Even her HEA ending doesn't seem to be so happy. I did give it three stars since it was well written. But there just didn't seem to be enough life in it. It seemed a bit sad the whole way through.

The third book, The Reluctant Betrothal, was provided to me by Carina Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley

My Review:
This is one of those books that I was so pissed off when I finished it because I was done with it! Some of you understand that and others of you may not. There are just some books that you can't wait to get to the end of, you can't put the book down. But when you are done with the book, you are so mad that it's over! You want more! This is one of those books. I just wanted more!

Bentley Harris had a bad war. Too many of his friends got hurt and he couldn't keep them safe. So he left that world behind and joined the Righteous Outlaws. He was good at it and got even better until he was the best. His armor is thick. No one gets to him. Nothing gets through.

Ryan Stanson lost her partner when she made a mistake. She can't forgive herself. So she's come home to take her Dad's job in her little hometown. She thinks this will be safer than the big city. Little does she know there's more danger here than the big city ever dreamed of. It walks on two feet and she's drawn to it like a magnet.

Rival motorcycle clubs that will stop at nothing to come out on top. Drugs. Sex. Guns. Nothing is safe in Black Hills. Ryan is supposed to uphold the law here. Beast is the essence of danger and he's aimed right at Ryan. The story of how these two manage to meet in the middle despite all their differences is amazing and one that I've put on my "read again" shelf. I'm betting you will, too.

I was provided with a digital copy of this book by Kindle and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley