Jenny Colgan - Operation Sunshine

Evie needs a good holiday. Not just because she’s been working all hours in her job, but also because every holiday she has ever been on in her life has involved sunburn, arguments and projectile vomiting – sometimes all three at once. Why can’t she have a normal holiday, like other people seem to have – some sun, sand, sea and (hopefully) sex?

So when her employers invite her to attend a conference with them in the south of France, she can’t believe her luck. It’s certainly going to be the holiday of a lifetime – but not quite in the way Evie imagines!

Comment: I was given this book for my birthday last year, or the year before. Terrible friend that I am, only now did I pick this but since I have previously liked some books by this author (others a little less) I hoped I might like this one too.

Evie is a receptionist at a plastic surgery clinic and she dreams of having a wonderful holiday, even though her past experiences haven't been anything to look up to. She hasn't much money and she doesn't have anyone who would want to share holidays the way she envisions, but everything changes when her bosses tell her about a work related conference, which will happen in the south of France. Evie is eager to accept, and she immediately imagines all the fun she will have in between work stuff, but when she arrives, she realizes her ideas won't really happen as she planned, and a sudden situation changes her whole perspective on how her life has been.... will Evie save the day?

I've seen that this is one of the author's early books and I think it really shows. The writing style isn't as polished and the plot as organized as in the books I have enjoyed the most by her. In fact, if I didn't know, I'd say someone else had written this, perhaps someone with a similar style to Sophie Kinsella, considering the tone of the story and the shenanigans the characters find themselves doing.

The plot is quite weak, honestly, because while the ideas behind it are meaningful- is plastic surgery and the advance in the techniques for the procedures worth the price of testing when no one really knows at what cost? - the way the characters behave and the sequence of situations feel like a very poor comedy. My biggest struggle with this story was believing that the characters had to go on about it the way they did. I can understand the point was to be more on the comedy side than not, but this really felt poorly executed.

Evie and the others somehow find themselves in France for a conference on medical procedures or such, and they also get involved with a secret plan to test stuff in ways that the authorities would not catch them. Of course, while this happens, plenty off misunderstanding and unlikely situations need to take place, which is why the story lacks any kind of interest for me.

Perhaps it is fairer to say that the real issue is characterization. All the characters were caricatures, were superficially portrayed and lacked nuance and depth. I don't think there is one single character here I liked, even though there isn't one I hated either, mostly because I felt pretty indifferent to the whole thing. I feel that, perhaps, the author only had a general idea of what she wanted to do with this story and she stayed at the basics with the characters. To me, it isn't enough.

Evie is a good person and she has a quiet life, which means her dreams of a wonderful holiday aren't that our of proportion. But I think the way things progress for her to go to the south of France and everything that happens after was just too much of a coincidence, even in such a silly story. I also think her character was misused, even though her heart is, mostly, in the right place. Sadly, I just can't with how her behavior is too juvenile and irresponsible! Yes, this is a comedy, but the way she goes on with things makes me pity her naivete, not feel she was given an impossible task.

It was quite a task for me, in fact, to finish the book but thankfully, it wasn't a long book. The end was rushed, almost abrupt, and the way things were dealt with in regards to the plot felt inconsistent and ridiculous. I just cannot take anything here in a serious way and that really brought my impressions of the book down. There are some interesting ideas and stereotypes about plastic surgery patients and secondary subjects which I think had merit and made me curious but, well, the execution didn't fully deliver.

Grade: 5/10

Nora Roberts - The Mirror

In need of an escape from her ex-fiance's betrayal, and the lucky recipient of a surprise inheritance, Sonya MacTavish leaves behind her life in the city and moves to a Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine.
The house is beautiful but comes with surprises - footsteps in the night, doors slamming, music playing - and in her dreams Sonya sees glimpses of the past and the brides who once lived there.
As the house reveals more of its history and the sad stories of the brides murdered there, Sonya discovers an antique mirror. She finds herself drawn to the mirror, sensing it holds dark secrets. What can the mirror tell her? Can it help her to understand how the seven brides died?
Sonya will need the help of her friends and family if she has any chance of breaking the curse and making this house her home.

Comment: This is the second book in the Lost Bride trilogy by Nora Roberts, whose first book I read last month.

Sonya is getting on pretty well with her new life at the manor, inherited by a father she never met. She has her best friend living with her, her one-woman business is doing well, considering how recently she started freelancing, the community was welcoming and she even has a new boyfriend. The only problem now is the dead witch who ghosts her life and who tries to force her to leave the house. Thankfully, Sonya is resilient and she is eager to do her best to restore the manor to its full potential, and for that she needs to find a way to get rid of the evil ghost...

If I weren't a fan of the author, if I weren't a fan of her style and work, which i have been religiously following for the past 20 years, I'd probably give this book an even lesser grade but the truth is that this second book not only has the "second book" syndrome but it was avoidable, in terms of plot. This story, generally divided into three installments, could have been a single title perfectly well.

Sadly, even more so than the first book, this one was extremely repetitive and a bit boring because nothing really happens and what does could have been easily inserted, summarized, into just one single title. I bet the third will probably be better, since most resolutions will need to happen then, but I will probably have the feeling this full story would not need to take so many pages, overall.

When I say that nothing happens, I mean nothing that changes the way we perceive what is going on. Sonya and those around her keep up with their days, little tasks and bigger ones, they still deal with the evil ghost and accomplish other things, such as: Sonya finally visits the new hairdresser, she and Cleo ask their boyfriends to hang some lights, Sonya does her work presentation, they plan for an open house for their families and the community, Sonya visits Gretta, who has Alzheimer but who helpfully tells her enough to connect some dots about the family's history and several other things which did not need 400 pages.

I know I'm sounding unfair and I did enjoy the vast majority of the author's books (as opposed to those I wasn't as fond of) I have tried so far, but it is a fact her style changed, or evolved, and some stories nowadays don't feel as passionate nor as romantic as before. I think there is too much awareness of what is correct and what is not in her work, and all the characters seem to fall into repetitive and predictable roles. I think this has always been so and her style is definitely one for predictability but in the most recent years, it feels as if the nuanced situations and the cute romantic scenes which made me love her books in the past were switched for one dimensional characters.

The romances, in particular, are very disappointing. Sonya and Trey became a couple and now Cleo and Owen too. This is part of the author's formula but for me the romance in her books has always been great because the characters were made to seem special, and their feelings and little heartbreaks worthy of new chances and possibilities. Now, the couples basically talk, sometimes debate, sometimes assume they will be a good a couple and that's it. Absolutely no sexual tension, no slow dance in thinking about the other person, nothing. It feels the romances in these recent books are like simple transactions. It's utterly boring.

Since nothing major happened, I don't have anything else to say. I still love the smoothness of the writing, the way I can so easily go through the stories but this one was quite weak.

Grade: 5/10

TBR Challenge: Chad Beguelin - Showmance

Noah Adams’s career as a playwright is circling the drain, thanks to a scorching review of his first Broadway musical. So when a family emergency sends him back to his Podunk hometown of Plainview, Illinois, he figures he’ll hide out for a bit. But to Noah’s horror, his agent has secretly arranged for him to stage an amateur version of the career-ruining musical at the local community theater.
As if trying to work with a bunch of artless amateurs wasn’t enough, Noah runs into Luke, the jerk from his high school years, everywhere he goes. Luke somehow grew up to be beloved by everyone in town…and undeniably gorgeous. As rehearsals begin, Noah is surprised by his cast’s insights, the warmth of the town he’d dismissed, and the reality of what happened with Luke all those years ago. Just how much has Noah misjudged?

Comment: The June theme for the TBR Challenge post is "pride". Supposing any story featuring LGBT characters would be a good pick, I had no difficulty choosing something and this book was already part of my June plans.

In this story we meet Noah Adams, a young playwright whose musical is just about to premiere on Broadway but, sadly, it doesn't have the acceptance he imagined. Thinking his career is done and using the sudden news of his father's heart attack, he and his boyfriend Chase, who also happens to be his agent, travel to his hometown in Illinois where Noah hopes to regroup. In fact, this happens way more quickly than he thought, with his old friends from community theater wanting him to direct his play there, with just a few minor changes.... Is Noah ready to think about who he is as a playwright? Or about why he is the person he his with so many people accepting him even though his father doesn't? What about his old nemesis not being the bully he remembered?

I can't remember where I saw this book being recommended in such a way that I felt I would like to try it myself, but I must have, otherwise it might not have gotten on my radar. The theater world isn't one I gravitate towards in fiction, but I'm not against having plots about it, so I was invested enough in Noah succeeding in his rework to make it worth my time.

The overall plot isn't too complicated. Noah doesn't succeed in his big breakout but he has the chance to redo some of it at a smaller scale in his hometown. Yes, not as prestigious as a Broadway success, but it is a way for him to process some things from his past and to realize that in order to have a successful life doing something you love it is necessary to aim only one direction, although it must be a much harder prospect to imagine in real life.

The plot does touch pretty much all the cliches one can think of while Noah learns his lessons and finally looks at things from another perspective which is not only his. I think all the secondary characters played their roles well (pun intended!) and were entertaining for me to care about them, even if it was at a slight superficial level. In terms of development, both of plot and of secondary characters, I cannot say this was groundbreaking, but all the elements together made for a good story line.

However, my general appreciation of the story isn't that great when I focus on Noah as the protagonist, or on the romance. Noah is likable for the most part but I confess I became tired of how loud he was. I say in the sense that his brain is always on the go, he seems to be witty and sarcastic, clever and active all the time and I got easily distracted by how much attention I had to give to what was happening when Noah was constantly doing something or chatting with someone and thought crazy stuff most of the time. In the beginning I actually disliked him a little but as things progress, this seemed to become a softer element and towards the end I was more invested in his happiness.

When the story begins Noah is happily with Chase and while it seems there is some unbalance between them - Chase is more successful financially - I think the wording and the scenes' description used by the author made it look as if nothing was wrong. This is why I was confused when it also seemed that the romantic love interest was someone else, Luke, who went to school with Noah and now works for Noah's father. I thought that the only way this would work would be for Chase to be taken out of the picture and I think the method was clumsy and avoidable.

I think things would have been more interesting if Chase had not been there from the start and if the author had highlighted the antagonism between Luke and Noah in a different way. The way things are, when Noah starts to notice Luke's interest it seems too odd for what we had been told before and now the author had to find a way to make it obvious that Luke would be the better choice, romantically. I've found this whole thing to be poorly done.

Therefore, the story as a whole is not that bad, it does highlight some interesting themes and situations, mainly the relationship Noah has with his parents and how each one works on its own individual way. But the romance part didn't convince me... to make it even slightly less impressive, the final unrealistic plot choice to solve the distance between Noah making a name for himself in New York and Luke remaining in Illinois just brought the grade down too. So, this wasn't bad but it wasn't great either.

Grade: 5/10

P.L. Travers - Mary Poppins

When Jane and Michael Banks draw up an advertisement for a nanny, Mary Poppins arrives on a gust of the East Wind and slides up the bannister, changing their lives forever.
Their wonderful new nanny is strict but fair, and full of surprises. Soon the Banks children are whisked off on the most exciting and magical adventures they have ever had. But Mary Poppins has only promised to stay until the wind changes...

Comment: I've read this book because of a topic in a challenge I'm doing. I got the book at a book fair a couple of years ago and I've finally had a good "excuse" to read it.

Mary Poppins arrives very suddenly at the Banks' house to become the nanny. But Mary, unlike all the nannies before, is special, mysterious and has a bag that seemed to be empty but from which she removes all kinds of things. During the time she stays with the kids, many weird situations happen but they have to bear in mind that one day she will leave...

I will confess I have not watched the Mary Poppins movies that have been released but I am aware enough of how important and special she is considered and I do recognize Julie Andrews in character if i see images of her online, and I also know there's a movie with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson based on how this book's adaptation was done by Disney. But I had not read the books popularized by author PL Travers.

I didn't have any expectations, but I did imagine the books would include what I remember from seeing in some movie clips which is why I was actually surprised by how different in tone one thing was from the other. The Mary Poppins in this book was not as sweet and tender as I still picture Julie Andrews while she's singing, but I can see the details that would have made this a good/addictive children's story. Mary is magical and amazing but she isn't there to replace the kids' parents or to force them to be a family.

Since the book isn't big, it seemed to focus on two main elements, the way I saw them: that we must cherish the moments in which things happen to us - Mary comes and goes and what happens magically with her will do the same - and that what is special and different is always going to be part of us, even if we forget it, as we get older. Of course, this is all "hidden" under many adventures that, honestly, don't seem to make much sense to my adult self.

After the first three or four chapters I've started to loose interest. I can understand how incredible this was, considering when it was written, but I kind of wanted more substance to the characters, that they weren't only players in the adventures. Mary Poppins remains secretive and stiff throughout the book, and even in the three scenes where I think she showed how much she really cared I've wondered if perhaps I only wanted to see emotion there, and in reality that was never the goal.

Michael and Jane are the young children Mary takes care of but there are also the babies. I don't have much to say about the older kids since that they do seem to fulfill the role meant for them, but there is one chapter featuring the babies and how they babble and "talk" to a bird, and to Mary and how they are cognizant of what is being discussed but we know babies grow and forget everything as they become adults - I suppose we could discuss maturity and childhood innocence for a long time - and when the bird returns one day he finds the babies can no longer understand him. What a melancholic feeling...

I suppose that if one sees this through the eyes of the target audience, all the weird stuff is easily explained by magic, but to my current adult POV, there are just too many wrong things with the relationships depicted, the interactions, and even on how Mary deals with Jane and Michael. Of course I was partially manipulated by the movie clips I had seen; it is inevitable that I imagined the book to have more likable characters, more little things to make it worth wile... I can't explain this well, but I didn't feel any warmth nor coziness in reading this children's story, so...

I will watch the movie if I have the chance, to reminiscence and, I suppose, to maintain a sweeter feeling about the character of Mary.

Grade: 5/10

Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn - Permanent Ink

At twenty-three, Poe Montgomery is going nowhere. He still lives in his father’s basement and spends most of his time tagging with his friends. When an arrest lands him in debt, Poe accepts the front desk job at Permanent Ink, the tattoo shop owned by his father’s best friend, Jericho McAslan. Jericho is nearly twice Poe’s age, but with his ink and prematurely graying hair, he quickly takes the starring role in Poe’s hottest fantasies.
Jericho is known for his ability to transform poorly designed tattoos into works of art, but he was once as aimless and misdirected as Poe. Wanting to pay it forward the way someone once did for him, Jericho makes Poe his apprentice and is determined to keep things strictly professional. Easier said than done when Poe makes his interest—and his daddy kink—abundantly clear.
Jericho can’t resist Poe or their intense chemistry for long. But between the age gap, tension with Poe’s father, and Poe’s best friend calling him a sellout, they’ll need to ensure they’re both on the same page before they can rewrite their rocky start into something permanent.

Comment: I've decided to read this book due to a challenge I'm doing and one of the topics included a book with less than 200 pages, which is the case here.

After one more negative experience in his seemingly drifting life, Poe Montgomery does accept the idea of going to work at the tattoo shop of Jericho, his father's best friend. Poe likes art and quickly learns he is interested in how tattoos work and how to do them correctly, which is great, but it also allows him to spend time with Jericho who, despite being his father's age, is extremely attractive. It seems the attraction is mutual and they soon start dating. But will Poe's father accept this idea? What about Blue, Poe's best friend who often distracted him and led him into doing graffiti, which is why he was arrested?

This is not the first book I try by these authors and I had a certain expectation on how this would go. I had this idea that the age gap would be an interesting element to see developed and since I also have liked stories featuring tattoo artists, this should be a good read.

The story isn't long and I could quickly finish it but I wasn't completely taken by it either. I think the main characters worked out better for me as individuals than as a couple. I just could not see what they would see in each other besides the physical aspects and even that seemed a little exaggerated as well, considering Poe's general attitude.

Poe is 23 or 34 and he still acts like a teenager, emotionally speaking. I can understand why he feel rebellious and why he feels unsatisfied with life, but I never warmed up to him and struggled to care for him as a character. All the things that should make him special in this specific context just seemed to be overlooked, such as his behavior in doing things he knew she shouldn't, his relationship with his best friend, his attraction to a man that is his father's age and not even him saying that he simply doesn't care about dating people his age seems enough compensation for his irritating personality.

Jericho, a man who has it together, who has a business with a good reputation, who is at a stage of his life where he can feel he is at a good place seemed more interesting to me. However, his attraction to such a guy as Poe is, emotionally, seemed to be unrealistic. I can get it that physically that isn't a big deal, but what did Jericho see in Poe, emotionally? He did lack maturity and even their conversation about their age gap, Jericho's musings about this exact issue seemed too weak and I never really believed in their romance for that, they simply don't match in all areas.

I also dreaded the idea of the "daddy kink" mentioned in the blurb. I have no interest whatsoever in this, whether in regards to m/m or m/f, and I was already a little influenced negatively before starting, but I did read other books by the authors and hoped this would not be too bad. Apparently, after reading some reviews, this was that bad precisely for that reason: it isn't enough daddy kink. I'm actually glad this story didn't exploit it further, but what did happen just left me confused on why would this seem like a good idea, it is too weird for me.

Besides, Poe does have a father and their relationship isn't really friendly sometimes. It also happen that his father and his boyfriend become a couple, they tell Poe's father and he reacts rather numbly. I mean, if it works for them, great, but does this not affect the behavior and the way people now need to interact? If the older men had not been friends, I could see this in a better light. I've ended up thinking that this "kink" was just a convenient device to push the dynamics between Jericho and Poe as a replacement for real maturity and connection.

Thus, I've finished the novel, I did like a few elements but, overall, this did not win me over and if I ever re-read books by the authors, I don't think this will be it.

Grade: 5/10

Sharon Gosling - The Lighthouse Bookshop

At the heart of a tiny community in a remote village just inland from the Aberdeenshire coast stands an unexpected lighthouse. Built two centuries ago by an eccentric landowner, it has become home to the only bookshop for miles around.
Rachel is an incomer to the village. She arrived five years ago and found a place she could call home. So when the owner of the Lighthouse Bookshop dies suddenly, she steps in to take care of the place, trying to help it survive the next stage of its life.
But when she discovers a secret in the lighthouse, long kept hidden, she realises there is more to the history of the place than she could ever imagine. Can she uncover the truth about the lighthouse’s first owner? And can she protect the secret history of the place?

Comment: I got interested in this book while looking for something else. This got in my radar and I wondered if it would be a good story, at least the premise seemed fine... since it wasn't expensive, I've decided to give it a go.

In a small village near Aberdeenshire, there is a lighthouse in a place that isn't very usual, even more so since it is where the local bookshop is located. The business part of things isn't the best but what matters is the local community and those who live nearby enjoy their life as it is. Then, suddenly, two new people arrive to shake things up a little. Toby, a writer, finds the bookshop and its mysterious employee Rachel fascinating, and Gilly, who seems to be homeless, finds comfort and shelter there. However, the bookshop's owner Cullen, an old man is true, sadly passes away and his last words to Rachel seem to be a confused mess, but then Rachel discovers a secret in the lighthouse and the lives of everyone are about to change. Will Toby and Gilly, newcomers, be the help the community needed to maintain the coziness of their lives?

I really focused on the "romance" and "community" words I've seen when this book got on my radar and those were the elements I expected to find while reading. It is a fact these elements exist in this novel, but I will also say I didn't think the plot choices to be as great as they could have been.

The story is told in a very lyric manner I'd say. It reminded me of a tale told by the fireplace, the setting and the story are wonderful details but perhaps not to the extension it has. I liked the story, both the one related to the characters we follow, as well as the one hinted at while they research the secret found in the lighthouse. Perhaps it was how the author chose to tell this story that didn't fully work for me... the writing is correct and fluid enough but it is also a little bland and safe and lacks vibrancy.

All the characters have a past that would be great to develop, to go into more deeply but we are given only surface ideas and situations. This contrasted with the lengthy descriptions of the days going by while everyone is going on with their lives and the little things happening here and there. I can't explain it better, but the writing style wasn't fully suitable, I think the author should have focused on just three or four characters' POVs, and let us infer things about others in a different way, instead of having third person references to so many characters. It got to a point where things were repetitive, not always exciting...

I did like the characters, but Rachel was just too mysterious acting, even though she had a good reason, and this means her interactions with Toby were too superficial and didn't seem to be that important, considering the wording in how they saw each other and what they did together, which wasn't much. It was difficult to see how they would be this amazing couple, although they don't really become one officially, anyway. The romance we do get is actually related to another couple and while I can see how they would be a good match, most things happen out of the page. To summarize, the story has a lot of themes and situations and neither feels really developed.

I did like the local references, some information about Scotland and books, one of the characters is an artist so some interesting details about what she does is also interesting, then when they investigate the lighthouse's secret, those sections were good too. I think the idea of this story was great, and the characters in general as well, but the mix of everything wasn't as fluid as I assume the author wanted. I did fail to establish an emotional connection with everyone, except Gilly, but Gilly wasn't the main character, so she didn't have as much focus as she could.

For most of the novel, I had mixed impressions, sometimes things seem great and captivated me, other times things were boring and I wish we could move on from that moment. Some of the things hinted at, both the romantic relationships and the story hidden in the lighthouse, seemed to not have a matching "reward" in how they were dealt with. I feel the author just wanted those elements to justify plot decisions and not because they were really intrinsic to the main story. It feels some details weren't used as well as they could.

I think my impression is simple, considering what I have written repetitively: the writing didn't convince me, it made everything too bland. I think it started well, it did have good details and offered interesting moments here and there, but as a whole, too boring and without enough bookshop situations, plus the characters were under developed.

Grade: 5/10

Paige Tyler - Hungry Like the Wolf

The Dallas SWAT team is hiding one helluva secret . . . they're a pack of wolf shifters.

The team of elite sharpshooters is ultra-secretive—and also the darlings of Dallas. This doesn't sit well with investigative journalist Mackenzie Stone. They must be hiding something . . . and she's determined to find out what.
Keeping Mac at a distance proves impossible for SWAT team commander Gage Dixon. She's smart, sexy, and makes him feel alive for the first time in years. But she's getting dangerously close to the truth—and perilously close to his heart...

Comment: This is another book which has been too long in the pile. To be honest, my intention in reading it was more to get it out of the pile and not a real eagerness for the story but I still hoped to be surprised...

Mackenzie Stone is a journalist who is after a good story and she just knows that there is something going with the Dallas SWAT team. Something weird is happening and not only because they all seem to deal with the missions wit perfect results. Her persistence pays off and she is able to interview the team and visit their compound one day but nothing prepared for the impact of being so close to Gage Dixon, the team's commander. When she and her cameraman finally go inside, they discover a tight team, men who are good friends but the tour of the place seems to hide nothing... but Mac won't give up and when Gage asks her for dinner, she plans on learning as much as she can...

Once upon a time, specifically two decades ago, a story like this would have been great and appealing to me. Now, despite nothing wrong with the writing itself, I was simply bored and disappointed because after years reading about other worlds featuring paranormal plots, this one fell short.

This story feels very contained, in the sense that the characters are part of a very confined setting and what happens beyond doesn't seem to matter nor play any role. For instance, we only have details about the main characters and the setting in which they are, nothing about their lives apart from the SWAT compound, nor about their personalities. Everything feels very superficial and I know I'm now a reader who prefers more layers and more complexity to the main characters, including their friends and so on.

Despite this, I wanted to cheer for the characters and whatever they would deal with, considering that it seemed the main point of this novel would be to present the werewolves as existing in the world and how Mac would react to this fact, both as a journalist and as a person who would become romantically involved with one. Regarding this, I was fine with her professional reaction, it isn't difficult to imagine her surprise, but as someone pursuing a romance, of course this story felt like it didn't offer enough vital information.

The only thing I recall about werewolves is that someone can become one after going though a traumatic situation and if they have a certain gene. OK, but apart from this, nothing else is mentioned about werewolves, nothing whatsoever related to their culture/existence and this lack of world building felt so ridiculous that I thought to myself what was the point! These guys could have been regular human and that would be enough, why include the werewolf idea if it was only going to be used in one scene or two? I was certainly spoiled by other series throughout the years where being a werewolf was important/special.

When Mac and the cameraman went to the compound to investigate, I felt sad this wasn't such a big deal as I imagined. It was also disappointing to see that there wasn't even any chemistry between the main characters and that not even the hints at her being the one for Gage - apparently the way they think of their mate - (I also hoped the cameraman could be THE one for one of the other guys but checking out the blurbs of other books, I suppose the author never considered m/m relationships in this series) were enough to make reading about them something special. The characters were very bland and they could have been anyone.

The biggest plot challenge is something to do with some bad guys who want to attack Gage and Mac at some point but I'll be very honest: I didn't pay attention, and it didn't seem I've missed much by not doing so, because the whole goal with this was to "force" Gage to protect Mac and reveal his werewolf side to her. I mean.... this is it, they kind of fight because she is still thinking about it being a good story but of course true love wins. Sadly to me, this isn't a memorable story, especially in the PNR genre, although some elements were clearly a missed opportunity. 

I can't say this is a bad story, but it isn't distinctive either. I don't plan on reading the other books.

Grade: 5/10

Sophie Beaumont - The Paris Cooking School

Life rarely serves up the perfect dish, but second chances are always on the menu
There’s nothing quite so beautiful as Paris in the spring; and when you add in the chance to learn the French way of food, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, who can resist? Not Gabi Picabea or Kate Evans who have come from Australia to Sylvie Morel’s Paris Cooking School.
Both are at a crossroads, and learning to cook the French way in Paris, far away from all their troubles, seems like the perfect escape.
Still bruised from a shocking betrayal by her ex-husband, Kate is trying to find a new place for herself in life, and emotional peace, while French-Australian artist Gabi is struggling with a crippling creative block.
Meanwhile, Sylvie herself is facing challenges of her own – a mysterious harassment campaign against the School and a reassessment of her relationship with her commitment-shy lover Claude.
For each of the women, that extraordinary April in Paris will bring unexpected twists and transformations that will change the course of their lives.
A delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart, The Paris Cooking School is a treat for the soul.

Comment: I brought this book from the library because the blurb seemed interesting and I imagined it would be a sweet story.

The Culinary School of Paris is a project imagined to give those who attend a true Parisian experience to learn about cooking, especially for those who are amateurs. Sylvie Morel, the owner, is proud of her life work but things haven't been great lately, and her relationship with her partner Claude is stagnated. Still, she welcomes the new students, among which Kate and Gabi, who both seek to learn more and to have a different experience in life. However, despite the things they all have in common, each one has to deal with a different challenge... will this experience be what they look for after all?

This was a sweet story, that is true, because the characters are easy to like and dislike depending on their personalities, and the narrative was pleasant and easy to follow... the issue is that there wasn't much to it, emotionally. The plot is easy but bland and the characters are likable but not as dimensional as I think the story merited.

There are three main characters in this story, three women who meet because of the school and whose lives will mix in unexpected ways. At first Sylvie is only a mentor but as things progress all of them become closer and the experiences they have individually also contribute for their understanding of each other's issues and the dynamics of who they are in the school. I think the whole school situation was not as developed as I thought. Yes, there are many references to what they do there but not in such a way I think it should, if the school is the location which brings everyone together.

All three women are interesting but not more beyond that. I really think the writing style isn't vibrant nor stimulating enough to being everyone to life or for the issues they face to be seen as urgent as it is made to seem. Sadly, this ended up being a very superficial story. I'm not saying this should have been more dramatic or something, but there is certainly some element of seriousness to what we see that is missing. The characters aren't as dimensional as they could, for instance.

Sylvie, the school's owner, is dealing with some online nuisance, then a partner who she isn't in love anymore and a son who decides to live and marry abroad. She also finally sees her neighbor for who he is for her, sentimentally. There's a lot to unpack here, but it's all very straight and narrow in how is presented, as of the author had a list of things to accomplish and say, and that was it. There was no special emotion linked to this character and her struggles besides the basics.

Gabi is at the school to learn more about french cuisine, since it means something to her parents, and in the process she falls in love with Max, a cheese expert, but their relationship is tested when it becomes known he comes from a very distinguished family and there is pressure for her to see how unsuitable they are. Of course, this break up doesn't last long and they get together again... I mean, this was cute and they do get along, but it's predictable and superficial....nothing about these two is remarkable.

Kate is the other main character, someone dealing with the end of a relationship and what it meant for a business she had with her ex. She likes cooking, like the others and she randomly meets a guy who lives in a boat and they are perfect for each other after some obstacles.... I liked Kate most of all, as a character, but the issues she is dealing with seem very forgettable and her characterization doesn't seem to evolve much from the life lessons she is supposedly learning. Her journey is cute but that's it.

It was very easy to read this book, and there are certainly many references to food, to cooking, to produce and many things that did make my mouth water just thinking about the possibility of trying some of them. I think the end was also cute enough and some of the (very) mild secrets ongoing were quickly solved. All the ladies end with a new romance. I mean, this was super predictable and average and I'm glad it was a library book because it wasn't very impressive as a reading material, so I appreciate I don't feel I "wasted" money.

All in all, this story lacked depth for me to enjoy it more. There were some interesting elements, yes, mainly the food references and it was fun to remember some Parisian locations, since I've visited as well, but the fictional part was definitely lacking.

Grade: 5/10

Mini - Comments

Here are two more books I have read recently, but of which I don't have a lot to say. I mean, i suppose I could write a lot more about each one, but at the same time I don't really feel like it, although I still want to leave some reference to having read them.

Death at the Sanatorium by author Ragnar Jonasson is my first attempt with this author. I had no expectation beyond the notion this would include a mystery and a police investigation.

This was a story with potential and did include several elements we often seen in mystery novels, with people doing weird/suspicious things and people seemingly having complicated motivations and/or life choices. I was intrigued, no doubt about it but I will be honest and say I wasn't fond of the writing style. Everything is kind of superficial and there are way too many things being hinted at that don't have a matching development. This made the story feel rather disjointed and focused on things that don't really matter. I've found the mystery to be quite thin and the killer's reasons to be poorly explained.
The author wrote this as a sort of homage to his love for crime books similar to Agatha Christie (an author I have read and like) and I can see where he went with it in how this book was structured. Unfortunately, the result was only average to me. I might try another one of his books, perhaps the writing style of one of those might suite me better.

Grade: 6/10

* * *

A Mulher que Correu Atrás do Vento by author João Tordo is yet another book by this Portuguese author I have been reading for some years now. The title might be literally translated as "the woman who chased the wind" and is the tale of four women who have some sort of connection, even though they lived in different time periods. 

I've found this book to be as well written and as emotionally complex as most of his books and by now I'm already used to his "voice", which means that this went on as smoothly as i imagined. However, I will say that part of this book's plot references some situations and includes characters who also appear in another book. By chance, I did read that one before but chronologically what happens in this one comes first. Well, it did kind of change my perception of some things and I will admit it did affect part of my experience. 
The four main women are Lisbeth in the late 19th century, then Graça in 1976, then Beatriz and Lia after the 1990s. I didn't particularly like the women in the past periods, not that they were bad people, but the surroundings of their lives just didn't captivate me. Beatriz and Lia also seemed more interesting, from a psychological POV, but this time, the back and forth between so many people and all of them dealing with some sort of tragedy... well, I won't think of this book as part of my favorites by the author.
Grade: 5/10

Elizabeth Rolls - His Convenient Marchioness

A grieving Marquess in need of a wife sets his sights on a beautiful widow in this is delightful Regency romance.
After the loss of his wife and children, the Marquess of Huntercombe closed his heart to love. But now that he must marry to secure an heir, he's determined that the beautiful, impoverished widow Lady Emma Lacy should be his . . .
Emma has vowed never to marry for money so must refuse him. But when her children's grandfather sets to steal them away from her, she has no other she must become the marquess's convenient bride!

Comment: This book got on my radar because of a positive reference to it I saw somewhere. I remember the note alluded to a marriage of convenience trope, which I tend to like, featuring a couple in different social stations, and I was intrigued.

The marquess of Huntercombe is fifty and after the death of his children, he needs a new heir. However, he isn't too keen on marrying a young woman just out of her debut season, and when he stumbles upon lady Emma Lacy with her two young children at a bookstore, he is smitten. Learning of her circumstances and of her past should be enough to stop his ideas of marrying her, even though she is certainly able to give him what he seeks with a marriage, but the more he gets to know her, the more certain he is of her character. He plans for a proper courting but suddenly the threat to her children compels him to marry her more quickly than he imagined... will they be able to put aside the reasons for marrying so that they can give love a chance?

I was seduced by the idea of an unlikely pair finding love when the connection between them should be as convenient as they claim. I tend to like these stories because the fun is in seeing the couple finding ways to be an united front and in learning that the other person is perfect for them. This being an traditional historical means we wouldn't have a lot of obvious passionate scenes but I still had hopes for these two.

At first, I was quite taken by the story and the first meet they have at the bookstore was charming and promising. The kids were also cute and it felt as if the story would be more on the cozy and tender side and I was again pleased enough by the author's writing, especially since this is not the first book I try by her. I started to have this idea in my head of how things would be but then, almost instantaneous it seemed, a lot of new situations happened and the little things I was finding sweet turned out to become annoying.

As soon as it becomes established that Hunt and Emma find each other appealing and that a marriage between them would be successful, it seemed as if all kinds of problems started happening. Emma's husband died and he was the younger son of a duke, and she married him after leaving another groom at the altar,m thus ruining her reputation anyway. She, from what we learn, had not had any proper relationship with her husband's family nor her own. She is now impoverished and having trouble to take care of her two children. Marrying Hunt should be as good a deal for her as it was for him, but both sides of her children's family now show up to cause problems.

I mean, these situations are certainly realistic for the type of story being developed but everything that kept happening, one thing after the other, was incredibly distracting and took away focus from the main romance. The things I thought would be interesting, such as them having to get to know one another, learn about who they would be as part of a married couple, adjusting to such status, dealing with others in a social context, all this was secondary to the dramas caused by the role Emma's children now seemed to have for their father's side of the family.

I don't have any particular opinion on young children in romance novels, often people like to say they seem like props or that they are included just for plot reasons, not really having a pertinent presence, but here, I will confess, I got annoyed with them. Well, mostly the girl who acted like a.. well, child! I know I'm sounding unfair but how much importance they had in the story got on my nerves to the point I wanted to put them aside and then this also affected the main characters' actions. I got annoyed the the main couple and the fact some secondary people were not likable annoyed me as well.

Things got to a point I was reading just to go through the motions of finishing because I had lot interest in the main characters' romance and developing relationship. Hunt and Emma were, by now, boring characters and while I felt glad to assume they would get their HEA, I was no longer that invested in them. Yes, all the dramas around them started being "solved" but then a new issue comes up, related to secondary characters - whom I assumed would have their own book, but I have not investigated if the author wrote about them - and their story ends with a lot of stuff going on, but the main characters' romance remained dull. I mean, why would these two matter now?

As often happens, there are elements I'd change in this story to suit my preferences but in the big scheme of things I cannot say this is a bad story. It meets the basic needs, I'd say, but it wasn't compelling nor as vibrant as i imagined it would be, considering the promising beginning.

Grade: 5/10

Emma Grey - The Last Love Note

You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.
Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who's determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor.
When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time?
When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?

Comment: I had this book in the pile for the past two years and I can't remember why, but it probably had something to do with it being about a widow possibly falling in love again.

Kate's husband died young of a disease that usually affects older people and she and her young son Charlie are still processing. She has counted on her best friend Darcy and boss Hugh, who have supported her in all her worst moments but she knows she needs to move on a little, at least to set up the example for her son. When a work travel goes slightly wrong, Kate and Hugh need to spend some time at a resort and this is the perfect opportunity for them to talk about some of the things they dealt with together while Kate has been mourning and, perhaps, for them to admit what they really feel about one another. Still, Hugh has a secret he doesn't want to share with Kate regarding her husband last days, but this close proximity surely will make it difficult to ignore her need to know, or will he remain silent? What about their relationship in the future?

Books on mourning are not my most desired read, that is true, and I wanted to read this one mostly for the idea of moving on and Kate falling in love with someone else, but I really should have paid attention to the "grief" label because the book is really about it and how to think of it. Yes, Kate moves on close to the end, but I just could not see it as being something accomplished, considering the ratio of pages dedicated to mourning and to moving on.

Kate's husband died and the whole thing happened in very specific circumstances, which made everything feel even worse. Kate now has a young child who misses his dad, who will not know him as he should, but she tries to give him good memories, even though the process has been devastating for her as well. This seems even worse to deal with, emotionally, since they were happy and didn't see it coming. The author also included a note at the end, sharing her personal story, and this did help me to appreciate the book a little more than I would without it.

The thing is, while the subject is heartbreaking, there is a lot of focus on the process and not as much on the healing. I would not have minded this, if the book had been a woman's fiction novel, but it is hinted at that the main character will have a new romance, and this led me to think of some expectations... which didn't really happen as I imagined, because the majority of the story is about the mourning and flashbacks to how things were in the past. I just didn't see the balance of including anew romance because if felt like an afterthought and not a really organic romantic development.

For the most part, I was sad for Kate and her son, but also sad for Hugh, the love interest, because he seemed to be a good guy, someone who went beyond what he should, professionally, in order to help Kate, and the way this story played out, I just couldn't avoid the thought he felt like second best. I cannot speak of it, of course I have not lived through such an experience, but for a novel including a romance, this was a failure to me, and I didn't feel convinced Kate and Hugh were "destined".

I also felt a little disappointed with Kate's character or, perhaps to be more specific, with the author's writing style in characterizing her. Kate was just OTT in how she was portrayed to be sweet and amazing but clumsy and all over the place. It felt as if I could not breathe properly while reading about her and her thoughts and actions, she was always doing something that required all focus on her and while I understand she is the main character, this tired me a bit. There were times I actually did dread reading about what she would do next.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but this method of having Kate in center stage, and her POV in first person narration certainly did not help me with this feeling. Then, this also made it look as if the secondary characters were truly only that or worse, that their presence was almost superfluous and their actions redundant. I often felt that Hugh was too good to be true and his constant actions doing everything for her all the time were more imagination than real character drive.

The title alludes to love notes Kate's husband left her. Sadly, this element only had some importance at the end, when the secrets are being revealed. I think the author could have written this element better into the plot or, perhaps, written the story differently. To me, having this story in third person would change everything considerably, and this notes element might have been perceived better that way.

All things considered, there were interesting situations depicted, I did like the fact the character's emotions weren't "edited" let's say, but the combination of all the situations included made for a story which felt unbalanced to me...

Grade: 5/10

Jaclyn Goldis - The Chateau

A dream girls trip to a luxurious French chateau devolves into a deadly nightmare of secrets and lies in this “twisty, well-paced murder mystery that never fully lets go” (Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author).
Welcome to picturesque Provence, where the Lady of the Chateau, Séraphine Demargelasse, has opened its elegant doors to her granddaughter Darcy and her three friends. Twenty years earlier, the four girlfriends studied abroad together in France and visited the old woman on the weekends, creating the group’s deep bond. But why this sudden invitation?
Amid winery tours, market visits, and fancy dinners overlooking olive groves and lavender fields, it becomes clear that each woman has a hidden reason for returning to the estate after all these years. Then, following a wild evening’s celebration, Séraphine is found brutally murdered.
In the midst of this shocking crime, a sinister Instagram account pops up, exposing snapshots from the friends’ intimate moments at the chateau, while threatening to reveal more.
As they race to uncover who murdered Séraphine—and is now stalking them—the friends begin to suspect each other. Because the chateau houses many secrets…several worth killing for in this “mesmerizing story of betrayal and revenge” (Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot ).

Comment: I was given this book this past Christmas. Before that, it had not been on my radar but the blurb seemed to promise an intriguing plot...

Four friends are invited to spend time at the French chateau which belongs to the grandmother of one of them. While studying in the university, the friends were able to spend time there and now, already in their 40s, they are back to reconnect. The owner, Seraphine, also has a specific task she wants to achieve but wants to offer a good holiday tot he girls...the question is, why now? As for them, each one has a personal reason to have accepted the invitation but Seraphine's secrecy makes everyone a little nervous... is there something that no one should know? What will happen if certain secrets are told...?

I was pretty excited to read this novel, mostly because the blurb implied secrets and a suspense type of plot development. I was curious to know what each main character would be hiding and why the invitation to stay at the chateau had happened at this specific moment. Since I had no previous experience reading the author's work, I didn't have expectations either but to be honest, I wan't overly impressed by the story telling.

In the beginning, things seemed to be interesting, the chateau's setting incredible as well as the descriptions of the geographical details (I would not mind visiting Avignon) but I was quickly disappointed over the first person narrator choice. The story is told alternatively by the four friends, and even Seraphine in two or three chapters, which does help with the interpretation of their personalities and "voices", but while this should work to add suspense and disbelief if we feel we can sympathize with them individually, such method didn't work out for me because I felt all of them were rather bland.

Perhaps third person would have helped the reader to get similar reactions to the plot without the distraction of needing to "connect" with the characters, and the more reveals we had, the less interested in them I became. Darcy, Victoria, Arabelle and Jade all had something special to commend them and their character's evolution but as a group I was not that interested in their lives nor in their secrets.

There are a few other secondary characters which provide necessary interactions but those also felt forgettable to me. To make things worse, as each main character started sharing stuff about their lives, they became boring and I confess I've skipped a few paragraphs here and there. Then, rather quickly, Seraphine is killed and I imagined this would accelerate things and make the plot more vibrant if everyone had to deal with this and the police investigation which would certainly follow. Sadly, this element seemed to happen in very unassuming ways, so I lost interest in the police work.

At this point, a big secret comes to life and I was surprised, that is true, but at the same time I started wondering why would this matter if not for shock factor? It turns out it does cause a bigger consequence than what seemed, but it till didn't "save" the story altogether for me. While this happens, and most characters deal with the discovery, we get to know more details about the women's past and their reasons to have accepted the invitation and some things were, unfortunately to me, quite boring. I don't think the exposure of these things was done in a captivating way. Probably something to do, again, with the writing style.

Closer to the end, all big secrets are shared and we finally understand the real links between all characters and why they were kind of brought together in the chateau but since I didn't find any particular interest in their life stories, I was reading mostly for the need to know motivations. When we learn who Seraphine's killer was and why, it did feel as if the author wanted this big shock again, and some details about the whole thing were more intriguing than I imagined, I'll say that.

I think this story would have worked out better if it had focused more on one thing or the other, or the mystery or the drama of the characters' lives, but the combination of so many narrators with such similar voices made for a mostly boring read. I liked several details yes, but my final appreciation of the book was mainly satisfaction I had finished.

Grade: 5/10

TBR Challenge: JR Ward - Claimed

Lydia Susi is passionate about protecting wolves in their natural habitat. When a hotel chain develops a tract of land next to the preserve, Lydia is one of the most vocal opponents of the project - and becomes a target.
One night, a shadowy figure threatens Lydia’s life in the forest, and a new hire at the Wolf Study Project comes from out of nowhere to save her. Daniel Joseph is both mysterious and someone she intrinsically wants to trust. But is he hiding something?
As the stakes get higher and one of Lydia’s colleagues is murdered, she must decide how far she will go to protect the wolves. Then a shocking revelation about Daniel challenges Lydia’s reality in ways she could never have predicted. Some fates demand courage, while others require even more, with no guarantees. Is she destined to have true love...or will a soul-shattering loss ruin her forever?

Comment: One more year of the TBR Challenge begins!

For the month of January the theme is "still here", which didn't make me think of anything specific at first, but then I remembered I could pick something that still lingers in the pile but that I haven't been in the mood for. With the challenge's prompt, I went for this book by JR Ward, the first of a spin off series which would feature werewolves, thus quite a transition from her usual vampires.

Lydia Susi is a behavior biologist who feels deeply for the safekeeping of wolves and she tries to do her best at the preserve she works for, even though things have been weird lately. To make it worse, there's a hotel chain wanting to do something near the preserve, which Lydia is very vocally against, and this makes her a target. Then, Daniel Joseph arrives, looking for a job and she instinctively trusts him, but everything starts to go wrong, especially when it concerns her boss and the veterinarian, who both seem to be involved in something shady. With Daniel's help,c an Lydia discover what has been happening and what big secrets the others were hiding?

Back in 2005, I've discovered the BDB series by this author and I admit, I was obsessed with the books, the characters, the world, for a few years. I have several books in hardcover when I usually wait for paperbacks. I was a goner for that world and there was a time I felt this author could do no wrong. Well, time goes by and nowadays, while I still appreciate her work, I no longer feel the obsession (obviously others came along).

This said, I was hoping this book would be an interesting take on werewolves or, at least, in something different from the BDB series - whose latest books I haven't read and, honestly, I don't feel I want to -  because if there is one big criticism I ignored but now frustrates me immensely is that the author doesn't let the deserved HEAs rest. Always some issue now needs to be addressed and I don't feel her method works, not anymore. I'm saying this because Xhex and John Matthew from the BDB series have some cameo appearances here, well and a few others, but mainly these, and while thankfully their relationship is as strong, there's some news for Xhex that seem troublesome. I wonder... why? Why having to add this to this new story... it's all so... avoidable.

Anyway, back to the Claimed plot, I had some expectations, and I was particularly eager to see the author develop a werewolf story, but the beginning was quite unassuming and was clearly the author's style, but... where were the werewolves references and characters? There was nothing in the book until the end in which one could say, oh this is definitely a werewolf story. I have learned in the meantime that this is actually the first of a continuous trilogy featuring the same main characters, and not three stories in the same world with different couples, as the author has done in the past.

Well, disappointment. I'm not certain of what to say about this but even putting aside the lack of werewolf content, the story didn't grab me completely, and I admit I've skimmed a few pages here and there to keep going. I kept thinking to myself, a few years ago I would have not done such a thing while reading a book by this author...but the truth is that the plot was slow, somewhat dense and when I got to the end I actually thought this story was, well, unnecessary. Also, there is a certain reveal which seemed to come out of nowhere, I mean, why, how, and no explanation, only apparent fact. I feel this tactic of spring up such a thing at the end without any hint/context/ allusion to anything about it before was incredibly irritating.

I never really saw the reason for why this story had to happen, why it had to make sense... not even the "romance" between Lydia and Daniel convinced me. I was especially annoyed at this when we get to the end, because two things happen, or better, two things are revealed and it's so... urghh, that I truly lost interest and patience in thinking I'd read more with these characters. Adding to this, the preserve vs hotel sub plot was also not very captivating, and I've finished the novel frustrated with several things.

Therefore, why not a lower grade... well, I still feel some pull towards this author's style and way of story telling and I did like some passages and sequences. I also liked the BDB characters showing up even though it felt they didn't have to, and I think the author is still quite skilled in taking things to a seemingly impossible situation and then twisting it around to make things appealing. But did this book work out perfectly for me? No, not really.

I might return to the author one day, who knows, I still have a couple of books by her in the pile but while they are still here, I don't think they are as enthralling as others by her used to be. This book just didn't seem to have enough charisma, and while it was still competently organized and structured, it failed to truly convince me of what the main characters were going through and of what they meant for one another. It is what it is... everyone changes.

Grade: 5/10

Annabeth Albert - On Point

Pushing thirty, with his reenlistment looming, decorated navy sniper Maddox Horvat is taking a long look at what he really wants in life. And what he wants is Ben Tovey. It isn’t smart, falling for his best friend and fellow SEAL, but ten years with Ben has forged a bond so intimate Maddox can’t ignore it. He needs Ben by his side forever—heart and soul.
Ben admits he likes what he’s seen—his friend’s full lower lip and the perfect muscles of his ass have proved distracting more than once. But Ben's still reeling from a relationship gone to hell, and he's not about to screw up his friendship with Maddox, too.
Until their next mission throws Ben and Maddox closer together than ever before, with only each other to depend on.
Now, in the lonely, desperate hours awaiting rescue, the real challenge—confronting themselves, their future and their desires—begins. Man to man, friend to friend, lover to lover.

Comment: This is the third full length installment in the Out of Uniform series by Annabeth Albert. I wasn't really planning on reading the following installments, but a part of me wants to get closure and finish the series, at least the main books. There are several short stories in the mix but I admit I don't feel the need to get those... 

In this book best friends Ben and Maddox are at a crossroads. Their friendship has been the basis for a great relationship, in and out of their military missions, but things are weird now. During a mission which didn't go quite as well as planned, they both leaned in each other and now need to recover from the physical hurt they endured, but it seems this is what Maddox needed to really think about what he wants to do with his life, both professionally and personally. Is Ben ready to accept his friend's decision? Can he put aside his own feelings and be who his friend really needs? Can they be more than friends?

I really don't tend to like the "friends to lovers" trope much and this book is almost a classic textbook of why, for my personal taste. It is simply too weird to see the dynamics change but even more difficult to see is how the feelings evolve, especially Ben's, who doesn't act as someone who wants to settle down.

Honestly, I don't remember much about these guys from the previous books but it does seem to have been established they were best friends,that Maddox has been in love with Ben without telling him, preferring to be his best friend and while they both had other romantic relationships. This is why the friends to lovers evolution doesn't convince me, in general. There is an established relationship, which is set on experiences, dynamics, knowledge... switching this all to be a couple seems unfair at times, and even too much of a risk.

The story is simple, they are both having other thoughts of one another, but Maddox thinks Ben would never settle, Ben doesn't think he can have it all with Maddox and one day they simply have the sexual click which didn't exist before since they had been interested in other people, and now things are weird between them. Then the mission goes wrong, they are injured and while recovering and thinking about how great it is to have their best friend alive and on the road to becoming better, they both start seeing the other differently. This change of heart didn't happen because of the injuries, but... it helped.

Thus, I feel rather conflicted and not really convinced they were genuinely falling in love. Or, at least Ben didn't seem to... I think the author established so perfectly Ben's personality that I confess I didn't buy his change of opinion in seeing Maddox as his forever guy. Ben's mother left him and his father and their relationship was never the same, something that affected Ben's perspective of future connections. I understand, I think it's realistic but it made him too set on his need for quick romantic entanglements, without much commitment...even his marriage was in an open relationship.

Maddox was a bit easier to read, he has loved Ben all this time but he is also aware they want different things. Maddox is also thinking about his future and he isn't certain the military is it. I did like knowing Maddox better, I liked seeing where his mind was when it came to why he enlisted, why he liked being part of a military family but not allowing this to be the only focus of his dreams. I felt sad for him, that his parents didn't accept him and that they didn't have a relationship he could feel was supportive, but he remained a sweet, optimistic guy.

After their recovery, they decided to speak and try to be a couple. Sometimes this meant cute scenes, sometimes cringe ones but that genuine, organic vibe that they were it as a couple never really swayed me to believe it properly. I was happy they saw themselves happy, but it wasn't something I could see easily. When they finally have a heartfelt conversation, towards the end, it was meant to put an end to doubts but, again, I didn't see it that way and Ben's explanations felt like something he had to say to prove to Maddox he wanted to be him, rather than something he really considered.

All in all, this was nice but not great for me. I was not sold on the romance, and my favorite parts were the ones where they interacted with the protagonists from the other books.

Grade: 5/10

Ally Carter - The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.
Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.
She hates his guts.
He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)
But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.
That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.
She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?
As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.
Assuming they don’t kill each other first.

Comment: Several of my friends on GoodReads have enjoyed this book, released last year. I thought the idea of it was great so I skipped reading reviews and "saved it" to read this year, especially for the Christmas period. Well, it turns out it didn't impress me much...

Maggie and Ethan are both authors with the same publisher and they don't seem to get along. They are invited to the house of Eleanor Ashley, a very successful crime novelist, someone they both look up to, for different reasons. It's not clear why they are there but Eleanor is not getting younger so perhaps she wants to meet them and see if one could follow on her footsteps? However, one day after they arrive, after several little adventures which would be enough to confuse them, Eleanor disappears, and there is an attempt at another guest's life. Maggie and Ethan decide to investigate, just like the characters in their books, but there's also the small detail of how much they are into each other. With all this close proximity, is there room for more than animosity between them?

On paper, this really felt like catnip to me. Enemies to lovers, a slight whodunit and characters with issues to deal with on the path to happiness should be the perfect recipe for a perfect read, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as I imagined and the main reason was that it seemed too many things were in need of attention, so I didn't pay enough to any of them.

Maggie and Ethan are made to look enemies, and from Maggie's POV we get clues on why this happened, and why she feels lonely and rather bitter after her divorce, so having Ethan nearby, knowing his opinion of her, well, the assumption of it of course, only makes it worse. I kind of like Maggie, and I understand her personality and her attitude towards life, but to be fair, I never got a good impression of her, she didn't feel as fleshed out as I wanted and I think my lack of empathy with her made liking her more difficult.

Ethan is even more mysterious, certainly we learn why as the story develops, but, again, I didn't feel any particular connection with him, not even during the passages we have with his POV. I got it that his way of dealing with things is also a mechanism of defense, and I felt compassion when he shares his disappointment that Maggie didn't feel the same as he did when they met, and why their current animosity feels unfair to him, but he was definitely hard to read and think of in a broader sense.

The romance part of the story wasn't that bad, though, and I liked the banter, I liked the scenes where they share things and we get to feel the change in their perception of one another. I think that, if this book had aimed to be a romance novel on its own, I might have enjoyed it better, because the author would have certainly added other type of scenes, more character development, the usual tactics to make the reader care for these characters. I mean, many readers did, but to me the mix with the crime investigation just felt like too much was going on and not enough had a pay off.

The mystery is related to the disappearance of Eleanor Ashley, the person who invited them to a Christmas house party. The setup was already a bit far fetched because why only these two? The other guests were Eleanor's family, if it had been other people this might have felt less awkward, but having two strangers with the family so that they could supposedly be part of this concocted plan to play a game Eleanor planned? If this had been just a mystery, fine, I could ship this, but the whole thing started to feel confusing and a little boring, to be honest.

The mystery development had plenty of characters to plan doubts on what was happening. However, this was done using the usual cliches of the genre, and then having scenes where we would focus on the main couple and their romance, felt like too much at the same time. I think the author mixed up too many elements, perhaps to make them easy to identify by readers but to me this felt convoluted. Plus, I don't think leaving the mystery resolution kind of vague works. I wanted a more obvious finale and explanations and this didn't happen in a way I'd say is satisfying.

All things considered, this was an OK read. It did have interesting situations and scenes but ultimately, it didn't impress me. I feel sad about it, for I wanted it to be special, but it wasn't so for me.

Grade: 5/10

Mini-Comments

I've recently read two books by Spanish authors, which I got at the library. One of them was a novelty, actually recommended by the librarian - it didn't take much effort, though - and the other was the sequel to a book I had read last month.

It seems Spanish thrillers have been quite successful in the recent years among readers but I confess I had not tried many. The ones I mention here were both interesting, yes, for what purpose they had, and I had a good time reading, even if the themes in one of them weren't as thrilling as I imagined.

The Purple Network, as I would literally translate the original title, by Carmen Mola is the second book in the Elena Blanco series, whose first book I had read last month. I had liked it enough to try this one, although I knew this one would not be as easy. I say this, for the first book was focused on a crime investigation with some rather repugnant details, but a clue then set up the plot for this second book and it would be centered on investigating and ending a criminal network, which deals with illegal events. I've found the situations depicted in this book to be repulsive too, but mostly from a moral POV. 
I still like the main characters, but they seem themselves in some complicated situations, again, mostly related to their behavior. I can see that this adds drama and realism to the story, but my enjoyment of it was way less than in the first book. I kind of wanted the "good guys" to be above reproach. 
I might try the next one, because it is available at the library.
Grade: 5/10

The Invisible Guardian by Delores Redondo is another crime investigation novel, with a few touches of supernatural and/or mysticism, with detective Amaia as the main character. Girls have been found dead in the woods in an obviously staged position and the investigation reaches detective Amaia's own family...
I liked this one, the pace and the plot felt intriguing and I liked that we get to delve into the main characters' psychological mind frame and even their pasts. I suppose this is ongoing through the remaining books, for this is the first of a trilogy, but here enough was added to make me curious. The case has its appeal, and I liked the process and most of the characters. I wasn't as convinced of the mythical content and such because, to me, it felt like an afterthought. I also think the culprit's motivation was a bit over the top, didn't seem organic to the character's construction, but it was nice to have an explanation. I liked it enough to read the next one, when it's available. I also saw a TV series was done based on these books...something for one day!
Grade: 7/10