Book Review: Blazing Bedtime Stories(Harlequin)

 Blazing Bedtime Stories

Harlequin Blaze #447

Grown-up fairy tales for Valentine's Day!

by

Kimberly Raye, Leslie Kelly, Rhonda Nelson

Quote from Once Upon a Bite(story #1):

"For every male of our kind, there is a female. It's just a matter of finding her son. The minute you do, you'll know it."

Date started: July 23, 2022

Finished: August 22, 2022

paperback, 216 pages

fantasy/romance/erotica/contemporary

From the Cover:

Once Upon a Bite

Beauty and the Beast-in the bedroom! When wolfishly irresistible Matt Keller lands in Skull Creek, Texas, Shay Briggs sees a hunky beast who needs her taming touch.

My Review:

Nope! You cannot type the words Beauty and the Beast in the description and give me,...this?! I could not get into this one. Short, yet it took me over a week to push through. I seriously struggled to read it more than this author probably did writing it. Too cheesy. (Quote:Shay- "You scared the pants off of me!"- Matt" Your pants, sugar. They're still present and accounted for." his mouth crooked into a grin.) ok, just uhhh, ok?

The storyline is Shay owns a haircare spa, and meets Matt, AKA the werewolf, and they jump in bed after their first meeting. He's uncontrollably drawn to her, and she just needs someone who isn't a one-night stand. Oh! Did I mention they also threw in a vampire?

From the Cover:

My What a Big...You Have!

Scarlett Templeton doesn't believe in fairy tales. That is, until she meets a sexy rogue in the woods, on her way to Grandmother's house...

My Review: This one was actually my least favorite. I'm not sure what was missing, or maybe there was too much going on outside their secluded cabin. It just never felt like the story was coming together. The smexy scenes were much better than in the first short story. The characters were more believable, but, what happened to Grandma? 

From the Cover:

Sexily Ever After

Ugly duckling Juliet only ants to be a femme fatale. Little does she guess that a chance meeting with hottie Gareth will inspire her to reveal her sexy swanlike plumage-and a lot more-before long!

My Review:

This one I actually did enjoy. The storyline was well-thought-out, believable, and came through all the way to the end. This was the most realistic one, for me. That definitely helped me get into it more than the first two. No fantasy, mythological creatures. There's nothing wrong with fantasy genre, just wrong type of fantasy for me. LOL

I think most women could relate to Juliet. She's insecure about her appearance, but confident in her career. One of 3 sisters, she never seemed to be the one "bringing home the boys". This time, the man shows up at her house. I would give this one 4 stars if it was a stand alone. I could see this story growing into a full length book.

Overall, I gave Blazing Bedtime Stories 3 stars.

You can get a used copy by clicking the link above.

Have you read any of the Blaze series books? Which is your favorite?

Welcome Back Wednesday

 Wow!

It has been a looooong time! I cannot believe four years have passed since I've posted on here! If you're still here, you either love me or you're just lazy like me and forget to update my follow list.

The past few years, I have been on a few too many roller coasters to mention. It's...life. The up, downs, and every crazy thing in between. This post won't be about those things. That will be sometime later, (maybe) on my other blog.

 I knowingly have the attention span of a fly, but I also have things that I will forever be passionate about. One of those things are books! Reading and reviewing, or talking about books, has always been something I feel strongly about. I'm also a complete introvert, so books break me out of my shell. 

I miss this blog. I miss writing about books. Not only that, but I miss all the fun, and interacting with people like me, it gave me.

I've been sitting here for days, trying to figure out how to upgrade, update, change things around, and re develop what I want this blog to be. Some things from the original, and some new, more modern elements. Thinking about what A Novel Experience truly is for myself. 

 I will forever be "tech-numb". I cannot keep up with the ever-changing codes, etc. It is something I just will never have the time or patience to master. This blog won't be filled with cool graphics, or a pristine design layout. It will be me, enjoying reading books and sharing them with you. Hopefully there will be a few themed posts and a variety of book related content.  

That's exactly where I am right now. It is wet and nasty outside, and I just want to write. Today, this is how A Novel Experience starts.

I'm currently reading four books. 1 audio, 1 Kindle, and 2 physical books.

Here are just a couple briefs about 2 of them.

1. A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Eilisabeth Elliot

I honestly, I am struggling with this book. Not because it doesn't have good content, but because 

1. It is a "Christian" based book, yet the author seems to completely idolize and be obsessed with the protagonist

2. The book is written in 3rd person narrative. I can't get over all the Amy this, Amy went, Amy saw...

It's just not my jive.

There's more, but I'll leave you here. I'm not sure this one will get finished. 

2.Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke

This one is on my Kindle/Amazon reads. It is #1 in A Victorian San Francisco Mystery series.

I'm starting to enjoy it. For me, it started a bit slow, but the "action" is starting to pick up. Now, I'm actually trying to squeeze in time to read and see where it goes.

In 1879, Annie Fuller, a widow, is in trouble. Her husband committed suicide five years ago, and now one of his creditors is threatening to take her boardinghouse. The only thing she owns. But Annie has a secret.

Have you read either of these books? I'd love opinions.

Both of these books are available through links above, if you're interested in a used copy.

You can also check Books A Million for a new copy.

I hope you've enjoyed this post.

Let me know if you have any good recommendations for books, or any ideas for themes, topics, etc. for this book blog! 

Happy Reading

Book review: My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains: Carmela's Quandary

My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains:

Carmela's Quandary

by 

Susan Page Davis

*This post contains affiliate links

Quote:

"I don't understand why some people are so eager to hear about other's troubles." Deputy McKay

 pg. 70

Started: September 8, 2018

Finished: September 21, 2018

paperback 256 pages

From the cover:

A chance for escape takes two unlikely allies on a romantic adventure along a desert trail.

Orphaned at age twelve, Carmela Wade has lived a lie orchestrated by her uncle, pretending to be a survivor of an Indian kidnapping and profiting from telling her made-up story. But as she matures into adulthood, Carmela hates the deceit and longs to be free. On a stagecoach in Arizona Territory, Carmela and her uncle are fellow passengers with US Marshal Freeland McKay and his handcuffed prisoner. The stage is attacked. A chance to make a new life may suddenly be within Carmela's reach...if she can survive the harsh terrain and being handcuffed to an unconscious man.

Journey now to Tuscan, Arizona, and into the Superstition Mountains of 1866, where freedom will come at a high price for two determined individuals.

My Review:

This is the first book I have read in the My Heart Belongs series.

It was a light, easy read. I have to admit it was a big change for me. I've mostly been reading more thriller, dark, and mystery types.

This book was a total switch for me.

Normally, I do enjoy something lighter from time to time. This really was a sweet, innocent, well written, Christian fiction. Which is exactly want it was intended to be.

I can't say it was one that will go into my top 10 list.

I felt after reading the synopsis...that was pretty much it. That was the whole story, minus a few details. It sort of ruined the book for me. 

Everything was pretty much already there. Too predictable, no suspense...at all. I mean, you would think, wild west, captive characters, a stagecoach robbery, a lying uncle and the rugged terrain; there would be some action. I don't know,...just something.

I just felt like the whole book was drug out. A little back and forth with Carmela retelling her story to different characters as they showed up in the book, but nothing new.

And, the romance was too easy. The big, strapping Marshal, the damsel in distress....

Their time apart, hearts longing, and you guessed it...they make their way back together and ride off into the sunset.

Okay, I don't want to sound so harsh. It just wasn't for me.

I will say it was well written into short chapters. It had a few great characters( Mrs. Finney was my favorite). And, the good guys come out on top.

Overall, it was a sweet romance. Just don't be expecting any big wow moments.

I will check out the others in the series, just to see how they fair. 

Sometimes, it's nice to switch it up with something lighter. 

I would still recommend this book for those I know would enjoy it.

You can easily purchase a slightly used copy of this book,

My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains:Carmela's Quandary

or many of the other, My Heart Belongs books, from my link provided.

Book List of Witches, Magic, and Superstitions

Welcome.
I am finally getting into the Fall season. I wasn't quite ready to welcome all the changes last week.
I was clinging to the last bits of summer. Trying to wrap up all the tasks I was working on. Which included cleaning up my Goodreads account. I had a few books I wanted to put into new categories and ended up making a new "shelf".
I realized I had a few that really didn't fit anywhere, except plain old fiction or my "read" books.
I decided to add a "witches" category/shelf.
I thought, now is the perfect time to share that list here with all of you.
I'm not into gore or horror so much, but I am intrigued by old time witchcraft. As in healers and using mother nature instead of modern day, first world medicines. I also love anything about superstitions, rituals, old wives tales. The sort that make you question what could be. What you've heard or been taught. Maybe even a little chill up your spine. 
Those things, to me are what make a book more of storytelling. A good old fashioned..."Grandma used to say..." kind of story.
If those are the types of books you enjoy or are looking for, then you will love this list!

*post contains affiliate links

Bloodroot by Amy Greene

Named for a flower whose blood-red sap possesses both the power to heal and poison, Bloodroot is a stunning fiction debut about the legacies- of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss-that haunt one family across the generations, from the Great Depression to today.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The New York Times best selling author of the Girl Who Chased The Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town's famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

The women of the Waverley family--whether they like it or not--are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them.

Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

In this irresistible novel, Sarah Addison Allen, author of the New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets- and secret passions-are about to change her life forever.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives on the unfamiliar shores colonial Connecticut in 1687. Alone and desperate, she has been forced to leave her beloved home on the island of Barbados and join a family she has never met. Torn between her quest for belonging and her desire to be true to herself, Kit struggles to survive in a hostile place.

Dark Witch(#1 Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy) by Nora Roberts

From Nora Roberts comes a trilogy about the land we are drawn to, the family we learn to cherish, and the people we long to love... With indifferent parents, Iona Sheehan grew up craving devotion and acceptance. From her maternal grandmother, she learned where to find both: a land of lush forests, dazzling lakes, and centuries-old legends. Ireland.

Also Books #2 and #3

Shadow Spell

Blood Magick

A Break with Charity by Ann Rinaldi

Susanna desperately wants to join the circle of girls who meet every week at the parsonage. What she doesn't realize is that the girls are about to set off a torrent of false accusations leading to the imprisonment and execution of countless innocent people. Susanna faces a painful choice.

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston

Fledgling witch Morgana must defend her love, her home, and her life in this enthralling tale perfect for fans of Discovery of Witches. In her small early nineteenth century Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana, who has not spoken since she was a young girl. Her silence is a mystery, as well as her magic.

I hope you all will enjoy these books as much as I did. You can also check out my shelf and any reviews I have done on them.

Goodreads and books about witches

Happy reading and Happy Fall!

Book Review: A High and Hidden Place by Michele Claire Lucas

A High and Hidden Place

by 

Michele Claire Lucas

*This post contains affiliate links

Quote:

"I had a family, a big family, I had a town. I had a best friend. I had a house with a garden. I had a grandfather who was a printer. I had a grandfather who was a bookbinder. Isn't that a wonderful thing to be?"~ Christine pg.202

Started: August 26, 2018

Finished: September 6, 2018

hardback 288 pages

From the cover:

(prologue)

I was brought, at the age of six, to a convent, a cloistered place of asylum from the world that was roiling and thundering and awash in blood. I did not know then, of course, that the whole world was teeming with the motherless, the fatherless, the homeless, the dispossessed. I did not know then that I was an orphan among orphans, one of so many everywhere in the world, made so by events beyond my sight, beyond my awareness, in any case beyond my six-year-old ability to comprehend...I soon enough forgot my mother and the rest of my family. They had disappeared from my sight in a day, and then gradually, with the months and then the years, from my mind and my heart. The angel mothers became my parents, the other orphan girls, who were indeed no angel children after all, became my siblings. It may be difficult to believe, but my childhood, both before and after the terrible day of the fire, was a very happy one. But though I did not know it, I would forevermore be Christine of Oradour, with all that that appellation implied.

My Review:

I absolutely loved this book! I really felt it. It was by far one of the best written, although fiction books that I really believed.

"Fiction by fact" is one of my favorite types of books.

Michele Claire Lucas has done an amazing job of creating the character of one girl who lived through actual events.

While Christine of Oradour is fictional, Oradour-sur-Glane, France is an actual place, where a very heartless massacre occurred.

On June 10, 1944 by order of  Waffen SS officer Adolf Otto Diekmann, all residents, mostly farmers, shopkeepers,  housewives, children, and elderly were summoned to the town square, where they were then separated men from women and children.

The men were corralled into barns while the women and children were sent into the church.

The men were mostly shot in the knees or legs first to keep them from running, and for torture and later the barns were caught on fire. The women were burned alive inside the church.

Read on here for more on the actual events:  Oradour-sur-Glane massacre

The photo was taken some years after the massacre occurred. My understanding is the town was left as is, as a memorial to those lives lost. The village is abandoned.

In the book, Christine Lenoir is a journalist during the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, and is watching the television when Lee Harvey Oswald is shot. The scene and sound on the television trigger memories Christine has long forgotten. While, she has no idea what they mean, she knows that they are very real. She has seen a man killed before. But how? And when?

Her parents died of influenza when she was only six years old and she then lived a quiet, un-tormented childhood inside the convent, raised by peaceful nuns. 

Christine goes back to the convent, the safest place she knows. She doesn't understand the images she sees over and over, but she must find out what they mean.

The Sisters must know something. Is Christine ready for the answers?

Get the book here!

A High and Hidden Place

Don't miss out on this wonderful story!

Book Review: Wonderfully Dysfunctional

Wonderfully Dysfunctional,

it must be genetic

by 

Buffi Neal

Quote: "To be dysfunctional, you have to not function as a family. We function great as a family." ~ Randi pg. 92

Started: June 22, 2018

Finished: June 30, 2018

paperback~ 198 pages

From the cover:

Buffi's mother refused to wear a bra and her father refused to leave his first wife. Her brother slept in a kitchen cabinet, her sister was kidnapped by her grandmother, and the rest of the family had an uncontrollable urge to laugh at funerals. Buffi always knew her family was unusual, but she was lucky enough to have escaped that gene. Or was she? In a nursing home, seated next to her dying grandmother, Buffi looked around at her family and realized she fit right in; no bra, dirty sneakers and a new ex husband. Maybe it really is genetic- maybe she never had a chance. Buffi began a journey to find normal, but found herself instead.

My Review:

This book had me hooked from page one!

I absolutely loved it from cover to cover.

Buffi Neal is unashamedly honest and quirky. That is my kind of girl!

She now embraces her odd, unusual...dysfunctional family.

Aren't we all somewhat dysfunctional?

I think that is what drew me in, and why I loved it so much. Through out her life she was fighting,...running from what was, in her own mind, "not normal".

Through ups, downs, ins, outs, and life...she realizes she is, has become, exactly what she thought was dysfunctional. What wasn't the norm. And is now accepting of that, and of herself.

The book is written in clips/chapters of memories and events of her life. It has everything most families have.

Buffi Neal shows us that no matter what strange things or people you share DNA with, we all have the same concept that our family is the odd one, the dysfunctional one, the strange one.

Guess what? That makes us all the same. Just filled with different people and places.

Does that make dysfunctional...normal? Who know?

We all have the eccentric aunt, the criminal uncle, the hermit grandpa, the hoarding friend, the crazy cousin, the weird sister, the forgetful grandma, the annoying brother, the dangerous nephew...

They are all among each of us, maybe, somewhere?

Buffi has opened up Pandora's box into her own family and now embraces who she is. Who she shares her genes with. Even if we don't agree with them or desire to be like them. They are a part of who we are. Genetics are no joke.

I liked that each chapter starts with a quote. There are several great ones!

"While people may never change, the way you see them often does."

"Which is stronger: the physical will to live or the mental will to die?"

"People have both good and bad in them; you can choose to see either."

This book, for me, was one where I had a lot of those moments where I kept catching myself laughing out loud or thinking, Oh, I know where she's coming from! I love a book where I can connect with the author or the story. this definitely was one of those books! It will stick with me...probably when I am thinking of something...odd about my own family.

I hope you've enjoyed my review and that you will give this book a read, if you haven't.

Audiobook Mini Reviews and other book business

Where are all my book reviews?
I know I haven't done one in a bit, but I promise there are more to come soon.
I definitely have been reading a ton and endlessly trying to get my To Be Read list shortened, rather than continuously growing!
It's a real challenge not to add 4 or 5 books every time I'm logged onto my GOODREADS account.
I've also been obsessed with Thriftbooks.com lately. They've changed up there rewards program and not only do you get free shipping; now you also earn points with each purchase towards a free book!
I know! I know, so cool!
I've also recently added The Libby App to my phone. This is the sister app for Overdrive(amazing also). It has 10,000+ books to choose from...for FREE!
I only use it for audio books, but they do have ebooks available. I'm so much of a paper, ink and bindings kind of girl but I recently realized how far behind I am on my challenge for the year, sooo I'm a sorta-cheater and using audiobooks to play catch up. That is one of the reasons that my reviews have been lacking. I just don't feel the same when it is an audio. I mean, I have gotten some good books, but they don't make me want to write like the actual books do.
Does that sound weird?
It is also hard to get my quotes, notes, etc that I normally add into my book reviews.
I don't want these books to get pushed completely aside or forgotten.  I am going to give this a try and see where and how it goes.
Here is my first...

Audiobook mini reviews:

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
An English nurse brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle-a girl said to have survived without food for months-soon finds herself fighting to save the child's life.

I started this book solely because I read ROOM years ago and fell in love with it!
The Wonder pretty much crushed my love for Donoghue.
Sadly it was not what I had expected. It was very drawn out and repetitive. I felt like the characters were annoying with all the half secrets and a lot of the tale was just not believable.
I wasn't impressed. Also the audio made it into a 12 1/2 hour long book.

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. 

Ms. Donoghue can redeem herself quite well! I have to say I enjoyed this book much, much more. The narrator~.Khristine Hvam was perfect for this book. She had just the right twang and spunk to make the characters come to life. I would even say, if they made this into a mini movie; I would buy it!
Who doesn't love a good western struggle story?

Matched(Matched #1) and Crossed(Matched #2) by Ally Condie
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe.
So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. 

Okay, now I don't know any of the actual legalities of plagiarism but if there ever was a case...these books scream it!
The Giver, The 100, Taken just to name a few.
I'm all for a great dystopian read but when you take three amazing ones and try to cram them into a new series,....you get Matched!
Nope, not for me.

Well, I hope this keeps you reading until I get more to write.
Always happy reading!
Do you prefer book, ebook, audio?
Please share which you like best and why!

Book Review: Augusta, Gone

Augusta, Gone

by

Martha Tod Dudman

Quote: "She's only fifteen. You have to remember that. She's just a kid."~ Martha(Mom) pg. 62

Started: June 7, 2018

Finished: June 14, 2018

paperback 256 pages

From the cover:

True, she had stopped coming down for breakfast. Stayed up in her room, ran out the door late for school, missed the bus and had to have a ride. But, you think, well, that's how they are, aren't they, teenagers? And you try to remember how you were, but you were different, and the times were different and it was so long ago. And she's suddenly so angry at you, but then, another time, she's just the same. She's just your little girl. You sit with her and you talk about something, or you go shopping for school clothes and everything seems all right. And you forget how you stood in her room and how the center of your stomach felt so cold. When you found the cigarette. When you found the blue pipe. When you found the little bag, she said it was aspirin.

My Review:

*spoiler-ish* information

This book was a hard one for me to get through. Not because of Augusta, or even all her crazy rebellious acts or her cussing or her scary path she was taking.

The worst part for me was absolutely....MARTHA!

Seriously, this woman, this mother was the whack job, not her daughter.

I can't even say she was blindsided or naive. She knew!

She knew and saw and heard and STILL never really got it! Or never cared to take any responsibility.

I won't go so far as to say she was 100% responsible for her own daughter's chosen path, but she sure as Hell saw it coming, witnessed enough to know, made up every excuse, and completely ignored every opportunity at early intervention.

There are several quotes and thoughts from Martha herself where she saw things, heard things, assumed and either never mentioned them to Augusta, or waited until it was too far gone for those first little things to even be relevant.

Several conversations:

"You can't come get me. I'm not coming home!"~ Augusta

"I'm not. Can I have the phone number?"~ Martha

WHAT??? She's your daughter! 

(Oh, ok honey. Mommy will just sit on my thumbs while you run around town all night... Call me!)

And, my quote I posted above.

She is 15! You are telling a girl who has just told you that she is a 19/20-year-old college dropout, that you know YOUR daughter is hanging around with in a "party house" that SHE, SHE needs to remember your daughter is just a kid!

Wow, Lady! Wow! #motheroftheyear

I haven't even gotten to the stuff that really ground my nerves about "mom"!

She has got to be the most selfish, me, me, me person I have read about.

All she keeps going on and on about is her damn hikes! Up the mountain, down the mountain!

Maybe she should have spent that time, oh, I don't know, focusing on BOTH her kids.

Yup, that's right. There is a son. Younger even than fifteen-year-old Augusta.

He's pretty much a non-existent participant in the book(I had to go back and find his name in the book. I couldn't even remember him), which seems to be his role in real life.

He's probably 13 or 14 when the book starts and nope, mom not there. He's just cruising town, doing his own thing too. He's only mentioned briefly and makes his big appearance...when he gets in trouble and suspended from school.

Way to show her how to get attention, Jack!

Martha also has this very arrogant or maybe snobbish attitude. She is constantly judging others by their appearance.

Augusta gets a bad spider bite while at camp, and Martha actually makes several comments throughout the book about her daughter's "ruined face."

When she meets Rose, Augusta's favorite teacher/adviser, Martha says "As I expected, really fat."

And later when they have a dance,

"I hope no one has to dance with her, she is enormous!"

There was another line, I can't find, where she makes a remark about a boy's appearance. I can't quote it, but I got the impression, based on one glimpse of him and his attire, he wasn't the type for her daughter.

She just made me feel like everyone was less than her, and she was so above anything going on around her.

This whole book was about her. Not her daughter or the struggles THEY went through.

It was about her divorce, her working, her time to hike, her hiding things from co-workers, even her damn boyfriend that she was really just keeping around to have someone to call at 2 or 3am when she couldn't sleep. It was all about how everyone and everything was such an inconvenience to her life or the life that she wanted.

Boo, you Martha! 

While, I did complete this book, I will not be recommending it to anyone, unless they want to read a book about a self-centered mother and all her woes.

Click below if you'd like this book.

Augusta, Gone by Martha Tod Dudman

Coming Soon: Book Reviews

Coming Soon:

Hello readers

I wanted to get a post out and let everyone know that I am trying to get caught up on all my books, blogs, reading, and reviews.

I have been getting some awesome books over at THRIFTBOOKS. As usual, my wonderful, go to book site.

I'm really hooked on the whole spend $20 and get free shipping! It doesn't even matter if you order 6 different books from 6 different sellers. It is still free shipping. An that never happens.

(FYI:I'm having stupid technical difficulties with my ancient desktop, it keeps glitching/freezing)

I'm trying to go back and make sure everything appears as should be, but if I skip a letter or double a word...just ignore it...please?

Here are the books I have lined up, hoping to get read, reviewed and typed up within the week or next.

Augusta, Gone by Martha Tod Dudman

I am currently reading.

So far, I am kind of annoyed at "mom". I'm just not connecting with her yet...

Wonderfully Dysfunctional:It Must Be Genetic by Buffi Neal

I haven't read this one yet. I love a good memoir. I'm truly a sucker for any book that tells someone's story, so I am super stoked to jump into this one!

A High and Hidden Place by Michele Claire Lucas

This one is a fiction novel based loosely on real events. Someone's story and...WWII 

Need I say more? 

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

Loved it!

This book is actually based on facts. It was told wonderfully.

Witches, family, facts, and even comes with references to actual court docs and other material to learn more about the actual people involved!

Bad Girls of the Bible(#1) by Liz Curtis Higgs

This is a book that has been sitting in my To Be Read list since somewhere back around 2012.

I had been looking for a copy for a long time and then I honestly just forgot about it.

I haven't read it yet, and only found out that is is #1 in a series after finally purchasing it on Thriftbooks about two weeks ago. I hate to start any series without knowing that all the books are available but I think I may go ahead with it just to get it off of my waiting list.

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

I really want to read this one. Victorian era woman sent to an asylum(Wildthorn Hall)!

Yup, I'm intrigued! I love anything historical, medical...telling of the times sort of book.

So here is my list of what's to come...

Have you read any of these books?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Any new recommendations?

Make sure to check back soon.

Happy reading!

Book Review: The Priest's Graveyard

The Priest's Graveyard

By

Ted Dekker

Quote:

" Of course. Of course. There's nothing worse than injustice. I've always believed that those responsible for it should be brought to their knees even when they come in small, frail packages." ~ Danny pg. 129

Started: September 13, 2017

Finished: September 27, 2017

hardback cover, 360 pages

* This posts contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from the link, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
(TIA for adding to my book fund ;)

From the cover:

Two abandoned souls are on the hunt for one powerful man, soon, their paths will cross and lead to one twisted fate bound by a perilous love.

Danny Hansen came to America with hopes of escaping haunted memories of a tragic war that took his mother's life. Now he's a priest, incensed by the powerful among us who manipulate the law for their own gain, uncaring of the shattered lives they leave behind. It is his duty to show them the error of their ways, even if he must put them in the grave.

Renee Gilmore is the frail and helpless victim of one such powerful man. Having escaped his clutches, she now lives only to satisfy justice by destroying him, regardless of whom she must become in the pursuit.

But when Danny and Renee's paths become inexorably entangled things go very, very badly and neither of them may make it out of this hunt alive.

My Review:

I bought this book from ThriftBooks a few years ago but it had been put up and forgotten. I went through a huge  Ted Dekker phase and read about 5 of his books almost back to back. I absolutely love his writing style and amazing stories. I think I jut burnt myself out and moved on to something lighter and this book got forgotten. I'm so glad I found it and decided to read this one. 

It is a stand alone and I love that I wasn't getting in to a commitment...I have so many on my TBR list that I have slacked off on series unless, I already have the whole set.

Dekker did not disappoint!

As with all of his books, I was hooked from the first page.

He has an amazing way of saying just the right words to make you immediately ask the question, "What's happening here?"...and you have to keep going to figure it out.

Always action packed from the beginning.

In The Priest's Graveyard, it starts out with Renee asking a priest if he will listen to her, or rather Danny's confession, but only if he is 100% he will keep confidence and have time to hear the full story and hopefully understand Danny better. 

The Priest assures her God can forgive anything, but Renee isn't so sure... this time.

Danny's confession, written out in a journal, describes how it all started. How he became the priest who claims the lives of those who have done evil and gotten away with it. 

It details how he became who he now is and the events he has been involved in.

Throughout the book, Danny and Renee's relationship takes many turns and their lives become more entangled. They become teacher and apprentice, friends, partners, and even foe.

Much of Renee's life has been forgotten or at the least regressed memories that her brain isn't ready to deal with just yet. Will Danny uncover her secrets and be able to help her through the memories...or will he help to destroy her and the life she is now building with him?

How will all these events play out and what are the final consequences? Who really gets the final say?

I don't want to spoil the story for you readers. So, ....READ IT!

I can only say good things about yet another awesome Dekker book!

Make sure you check out all of his great books over at Goodreads!

Have you read any of his books?
Which is your favorite?

Shop now for thousands of quality used mystery, thriller & suspense books starting at under $4

TBR and....Thriftbooks deals!

TBR and....Thriftbooks deals!

I am a book hoarder and...I regret nothing!

I just ordered more books!!! (Squeals)

I couldn't help myself.

Years ago I had ordered a few children's books for Christmas presents and done the whole subscribe with your email blah blah stuff in order for them to send you periodic deals and savings tips.

I honestly haven't used the site since about 2014 but every now and then I actually would get an email.

20% your next purchase

Huge online savings!

We've found a book on your wish list!

Order soon!

Anyway, I always just deleted them or never took the time to actually click the included link to browse the site.

But, ...

since I started my blog back up, I do need new material to read and review.

So a couple days ago, I got yet another email reminder for a book I had added to my "wish list" way back whenever. (I actual have the book now and have read it).

I decided to look up the site and just see if there was anything "cheap" enough to consider ordering or just to add more books to my wish list.

I found a huge deal...

They are having a Thriftdeals sale. Which is a sale on there already "marked down" used books. If you buy 2 books it's $7, 3 for $10...and so on!

And 4 or more books gets you FREE SHIPPING!!

So, I bought 6 books for $18 and no shipping charges!!

Score!

Thriftbooks Deals

Here are the 6 books that I ordered and the titles can all be found over at GOODREADS on my TBR list.

Orphan Train~ Christina Baker Kline

Someone Knows My Name~ Lawrence Hill

These Is My Words~ Nancy E. Turner

The One I Left Behind~ Jennifer McMahon

Left Neglected~ Lisa Genova

The Invisible Wall~ Harry Bernstein

Happy Reading and happy deal hunting!