Mini Comments

Seeing I'm reading at full speed these days, to keep up the pace here I'll try to add some shorter commentary on some reads.
The ones I've put together here weren't the best overall, but I'm happy to think it's two more books out of the pile!

RULES FOR THE (VERY) RELUCTANT GUARDIAN OF THE SCROLL
1. Don't lose the above artifact you've inherited from your ancestors-no matter how much it starts messing up your life.
2. Do learn how to control its powers. (And, yes, that means putting up with über-complicated guardian lessons from your father's meddling ghost.)
3. Don't trust anyone. Especially Rhys, the mysterious bad boy who's always one step ahead of you . . . and as irresistible as sin.
4. Do anything to keep the scroll from landing in the wrong hands. Even if that brings on a heartbreaking betrayal, an evil you never saw coming, and a choice you may not live to regret. 

Comment: I've had this book in the pile for ten years. Ten years and after such a long time two things can happen: the book is a hidden gem and we are left wondering what took us so long or the book isn't great and that's why, subconsciously, it was almost wearing out at the bottom of the pile.

This is the first book in a trilogy by Kate Perry but I was not impressed. Many readers comment on the lack of empathy towards the heroine, for she acts rather selfish and whiny and I agree. The romance that should help us see her through a different perspective, didn't help and that's even worse when we think this is a first person narrator. The plot is very simple, the concept original even for PNR, but too many loose ends and little details that didn't really matter, so the end also felt weak. I don't feel like trying the remaining stories even if apparently they are better.

Grade: 4/10

  *   *   *

After a career on the rodeo circuit, Ben Sterling longs to settle down on his farm and start a family like his brothers. He’s searched all over for the woman of his dreams. Yet the only one to spark his interest is the new owner of the local café. Getting her attention, however, won’t be easy.
Sissy Sue Bentley has worked hard to make it on her own, and she doesn’t need another man in her life. From her alcoholic father to the men she’s dated, who were after only one thing, they are nothing but trouble. Except Ben keeps showing up whenever she really needs help. Sissy struggles to deny her growing feelings for him—but soon Ben’s tender concern has her hoping for a happier future. Then her past comes barreling back into her life, and it will take more than the love in Ben’s heart to hold them together. 

Comment: This is the third installment in the Mystic Creek series/trilogy by author Catherine Anderson. I've been a fan of this author for years but I've come to notice her most recent works are all very.... bland. I miss the vibrant stories featuring less than perfect heroes and heroines, yes, but always with something amazing and romantic. The books continue like this, but it's difficult to see the best things. In this case, both main characters were great as were the secondary ones but they are were too perfect, not in their personalities but in their actions. The romance was sweet, as always, but it took so long for them to connect at a more intimate level that it just lost momentum. The heroine, Sissy, was also too innocent when it came to her dealing with things, even more so after her past and how hard it was for her to overcome so many issues and be a hardworking woman now. Yes you can be innocent in many things but there's a naiveté about her that just sounded childish.

Grade: 6/10