Category Archives: Book series

Books that are part of a series by the same author

2015 Book #8 – Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Bookish Bingo: Jan-March 2015, Fiction, Mystery, Nancy Drew, Reading Challenges by

51ZphSdRHmL

Title: Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock
Author: Carolyn Keene
Date finished: 1/25/15
Genre: Mystery, ages 8-12, graphic novel
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: May 1, 1930
Pages in book: 180
Stand alone or series: #1 in Nancy Drew series but can be read as a stand alone

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will count towards my “Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “Middle Grade” square. I have always loved Nancy Drew books ever since I was little girl. Re-reading one as an adult was not quite as thrilling as I expected though. Most of the conversations felt stilted and overly-simplified, which makes sense for a book written for children between ages 8 to 12 but was awkward and somewhat boring to read as an adult.
Other than that though, it was a good book with an interesting mystery. I like that the Tophams got what they deserved in the end.

The bottom line:  I would recommend this book to a young girl and maybe to women who are feeling nostalgic.

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Old-Clock-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B001R11CJY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1422313866&sr=8-1

2015 Book #3 – By Winter’s Light by Stephanie Laurens

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Bookish Bingo: Jan-March 2015, Cynster family series, Cynster Next Generation, Historical Romance, Reading Challenges by

61wlYnD7sCL

Title: By Winter’s Light
Author: Stephanie Laurens
Date finished: 1/14/15
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: October 28, 2014
Pages in book: 347
Stand alone or series: Series – Cynster family series Holiday special, 1st book in Cynster Next Generation series

Blurb from the cover:

It’s frosty December and six Cynster families come together at snowbound Casphairn Manor with members of their households to celebrate the season in true Cynster fashion—and where Cynsters gather, love is never far behind.
The festive occasion brings together Daniel Crosbie, tutor to Lucifer Cynster’s sons, and Claire Meadows, widow and governess to Gabriel Cynster’s daughter. Daniel and Claire have met before and the embers of an unexpected passion smolder between them.
However, Claire, once bitten, twice shy, believes a second marriage is not in her stars. Yet Daniel is determined. He’s seen the kind of love the Cynsters share, and Claire is the lady with whom he dreams of sharing his life. Assisted by a bevy of Cynsters—innate matchmakers every one—Daniel strives to persuade Claire that trusting him with her hand and her heart is her right path to happiness.
Claire is increasingly drawn to Daniel and despite her misgivings, their relationship deepens. But then catastrophe strikes, and by winter’s light, she learns that love—true love—is worth any risk, any price.

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will count towards my “Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “2014 Release You Missed” square. I have read all the other books in the Cynster series up to this point (many for which a review is posted on my blog, see link above) and I am very much looking forward to reading Lucilla’s story (to be released February 24). By Winter’s Light is the 23rd (technically) book in this series, with a seemingly never-ending listing of possible novels to come in the future. Laurens is just about to begin writing about the “next generation” with Lucilla’s story, and since Lucilla is one of about 70 cousins and extended cousins, we could see another 69 books from this generation (Jeez Louise that’s a lot). Anyways, its hard to keep who’s who straight sometimes. Luckily, Laurens has developed an extensive family tree that can show you all the children in each family (scroll over the couples to see the children’s names) that can help us make sense of where we are in the Cynster world.
I have to be completely honest. I went into this book expecting not to like it. I read about the whole Cynster family thus far and I’ve been so excited to get into reading about the next generation that I couldn’t help but think, who cares about the damned tutors?? But Laurens managed to surprise me yet again but making this a fun and interesting read. I found myself becoming involved in Claire’s story and rooting for her to open herself up to love. I also loved the back and forth between all the different P(s)OV. It made the overall story very well rounded and fun to see from all sides. Lucilla and Thomas’s interactions make me that much more excited to read her story on Feb 24.

The bottom line:  I would recommend this book both as part of the series and also based on the merits of the book itself.

Author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/
Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Winters-Light-Cynster-Stephanie-Laurens/dp/0778317471/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1421331366&sr=8-1

2015 Book #2 – Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Maiden Lane series, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges by

darlingbeast

Title: Darling Beast
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Date finished: 1/7/15
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: October 14, 2014
Pages in book: 321
Stand alone or series: Series – Maiden Lane #7

Blurb from the cover:

A MAN CONDEMNED . . .
Falsely accused of murder and mute from a near-fatal beating, Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne has escaped from Bedlam. With the Crown’s soldiers at his heels, he finds refuge in the ruins of a pleasure garden, toiling as a simple gardener. But when a vivacious young woman moves in, he’s quickly driven to distraction . . .
A DESPERATE WOMAN . . .
London’s premier actress, Lily Stump, is down on her luck when she’s forced to move into a scorched theatre with her maid and small son. But she and her tiny family aren’t the only inhabitants-a silent, hulking beast of a man also calls the charred ruins home. Yet when she catches him reading her plays, Lily realizes there’s more to this man than meets the eye.
OUT OF ASH, DESIRE FLARES
Though scorching passion draws them together, Apollo knows that Lily is keeping secrets. When his past catches up with him, he’s forced to make a choice: his love for Lily . . . or the explosive truth that will set him free.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “book with antonyms in the title” check box (darling and beast). I have read the other books in the Maiden Lane series, though none are yet discussed on this blog (hopefully that will be fixed in the future). I think that this is an excellent series, though I have trouble keeping the previous characters straight sometimes. Luckily, Hoyt has included a series of family trees to demonstrate the connections in the novels of the series.
I very much enjoyed this novel, there were a good amount of interesting plot twists and I was interested in the story throughout the novel. One piece of this novel specifically that I found very interesting was that at one point Lily is writing a farce (play) that her brother intends to sell to pay off his debts. I couldn’t find the exact words again but she describes a farce as a bunch of a bunch of plot twists each happening one after the other so much so that the whole idea of the play feels exaggerated and improbably. At the point in the novel when many of the characters were gathered together at the house party, I couldn’t help but notice that the events were happening much as Lily described a farce to be. I just found that interesting.

The bottom line:  I would definitely recommend this book both as part of the series and also based on the merits of the book itself.

Author website: http://www.elizabethhoyt.com/
Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Darling-Beast-Maiden-Lane-Elizabeth/dp/1455586307/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1420719107&sr=8-1

2015 Book #1 – Undead and Unwary by MaryJanice Davidson

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Fiction, Paranormal comedy, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges, Undead series (Betsy Taylor) by

81g2rWJ4LnL

Title: Undead and Unwary
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Genre: Fiction – Paranormal comedy (with a very small amount of romance)
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group / Penguin Group
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Pages in book: 303
Stand alone or series: Series – Undead/Betsy Taylor #13

Blurb from the cover: First: kill Satan. Second: reorganize Hell. Sounded simple enough back then, but for Betsy Taylor, managing “down below” isn’t as easy as she’d hoped – even if she is doing it with her sister, Laura, a bona-fide Antichrist. So yes, Betsy has been shirking her hellish responsibilities, but she’s been just so darn busy these days. And she’s not just yanking Laura’s chain. There’s a brand-new baby drama involving a pair of uncanny (okay, terrifying) toddler twins, an upcoming birthday party that has to be planned, and, are you ready for it? Betsy’s dad – once so very dead – has been spotted in downtown St. Paul.
It’s enough to send Betsy fleeing to Hell, if only for some quiet time with Laura. But while there, in addition to meeting old acquaintances, Betsy discovers that death can be just as complicated as life.
Now, despite all the chaos, Betsy’s friends rally around, helping her handle all this fire and brimstone jazz. As for Betsy’s sister and dad – they have their own surprises in store for the vampire queen. And jolt by jolt, Betsy will discover that there’s nothing as heartwarming as family. Yeah, like Hell.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “book with nonhuman characters” check box. This book picks up a few weeks after where the last book in the series left off. I’ve been a fan of this series from the beginning, but to be honest this book was not my favorite in the series. There was just too much reviewing of previous books, and not just references but like in depth explanations of relevant things that had happened in previous books. There was even a whole chapter that was an excerpt from a previous book. And while this is probably ideal for people who are picking up this series for the first time with this book (though I don’t know why any sane person would start a series with the thirteenth book) it ends up being pretty dry and somewhat tedious for someone who has already read the whole series and knows all the background information. I also had an issue with Betsy’s big revelation concerning Laura at the end. It never really says how she figured it out, all of a sudden a light-bulb turns on and she realizes her sister sucks. I just feel like that isn’t very realistic. I went with it though. Other than those two things, I really did enjoy the book. Betsy finally takes responsibility for Hell in an interesting way, and there are a lot of interesting developments concerning Betsy’s asshat father, Jessica’s great but weird kids, and Betsy’s abilities as the vampire Queen.

The bottom line:  I would still recommend the series overall (and obviously this book as a piece of the series) but I wouldn’t recommend this book as a standalone.

Author website: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/
Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Undead-Unwary-Queen-Betsy/dp/0425263444/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1420461969&sr=8-1
Memorable quotes from the book:

2014 – Book #106

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Fiction, Paranormal comedy, Undead series (Betsy Taylor) by

5134Lm5RCML

The hundred and sixth book I read in 2014 was Undead and Unsure by MaryJanice Davidson. This is the twelfth book in the Undead/Betsy Taylor series by this author. I finished this book on 12/28/14. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book picks up a few days (I think) after the last book leaves off. Betsy has just killed the devil in front of her half-sister (the devil’s daughter). This causes a bit of family tension at the Thanksgiving 2.0 holiday that Betsy has planned. The Antichrist is pretty upset that Betsy got her into this situation, where she’s stuck being the devil’s replacement.

Sinclair is ecstatic that he can now go outside in the sunlight with his two puppies, Furr and Burr. Betsy is ashamed that he is acting so “cute” and not at all like the bad-ass vampire king that she has come to know and love. Betsy is trying so very hard to recover her fragmented relationship with her sister and thinks that Thanksgiving dinner will do the trick. However, Laura has other ideas and drags Betsy to hell and then ditches her there. Also this whole time Dr. Taylor (Betsy’s mom) is very worried about the fact that no one knows when Jessica got pregnant, no one knows when Jessica is due, and no one seems to be worried about these facts.

Overall I really liked the story line in this book. The Antichrist acts like a scared little girl in this book, which was a tad different from how we’ve seen her in the past. And I loved that we got to hear pieces of the story from Eric’s point of view in this book. I loved that Jess’s babies turned out to be weird and I think its hilarious that Marc ended up having to deliver them. (Oh yea, SPOLIER ALERT 🙂 )I can’t wait to read the next book in the series (the new one)!!!

Link to author website: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Undead-Unsure-MaryJanice-Davidson/dp/0425263436/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1419907889&sr=8-1

2014 – Book #104

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Fiction, Paranormal comedy, Undead series (Betsy Taylor) by

517mhDGLgVL

The hundred and fourth book I read in 2014 was Undead and Unstable by MaryJanice Davidson. This is the eleventh book in the Undead/Betsy Taylor series by this author. I finished this book on 11/26/14. I rated this book 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5. This book picks up about a week after where the last book left off. Marc has just died and everyone is trying to deal with the repercussions of that. Betsy seems to be taking it less well than the others. Betsy is determined to save Marc and bring him back from the dead. Jess and Nick (those darned humans) are opposed to this idea but Betsy is going to do it anyways.

Fortunately for Betsy, she doesn’t need to do a thing. She goes into the attic to put something away and discovers zombie Marc just shambling around up there. And then we find out from Laura that the Book of the Dead is actually made out of Sinclair. Like from his skin. Because the devil skins him alive in the future and Betsy uses his skin to make the Book of the Dead. So then Sinclair goes off for awhile and Betsy thinks it’s because he is scared but I guess he was researching.

And then Ancient Betsy pops up and says that she’s waiting for something to happen but she won’t say what. So Betsy decides on a spur of the moment decision to do something a little unexpected and kill the devil. And then Laura will have to take her place. But hopefully because she doesn’t end up working with the Lena Olin devil, hopefully Betsy doesn’t do a bunch of bad shit and the world as they know it won’t come to an end.

Overall I did really like this book, as I liked all the books in this series. This book specifically I liked the plot twists and turns and I like that Betsy took some kind of action to try and save her and Sinclair. And since the Book of the Dead was gone in the end of this book, I’m hoping she succeeded. Good read and good addition to the series.

Link to author website: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Undead-Unstable-Queen-Betsy/dp/B00B1LDDRE/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1417029191&sr=8-2

2014 – Book #103

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Fiction, Paranormal comedy, Undead series (Betsy Taylor) by

51Ey-0BvlQL

The hundred and third book I read in 2014 was Wolf at the Door by Mary Janice Davidson. This book is technically part of the Wyndham Werewolves series but Betsy Taylor from the Undead series plays her own part in this book so I am reading it in my Undead series re-reading. It says in the preface to this book that it takes place after Undead and Undermined (the tenth book in the Undead series) but I’m pretty sure that’s not true. In this book Marc is already up and walking around and everyone knows about him. At the end of Undead and Undermined, Marc had just died. I think this book really takes place after the end of the next book or maybe even the one after that. Anyways, I finished this book on 11/22/14. I rated this book 3.0 stars out of a scale of 5. This book was about Rachael Velvela, a werewolf accountant, and Edward, a Bostonian who lives with a vampire and vampire hunter.

Rachael is asked by her cousin Michael (leader of the Wyndham werewolf Pack) to go St. Paul and keep an eye on the vampire queen (Betsy Taylor). Meanwhile Edward in Boston gets a copy of the vampire newsletter and decides to go check things out. The two meet by chance in a Barnes and Noble and boink their brains out. And eventually solve the mystery of some murders.

This book was ok. My main problem with it is that the timeline doesn’t really work. There is a lot of mention of Antonia dying, but she came back to life at the end of Undead and Undermined. And Marc had just died and was not yet a zombie (spoiler alert). I’m glad I had already read the next book in the series or else I would be pissed and confused about that point. Other than those issues, the book was cute and slightly entertaining. Overall definitely not one of my favorites but was an ok read.

Link to author webiste: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-at-Door-MaryJanice-Davidson/dp/0425243117/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1416666186&sr=8-4

2014 – Book #102

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cousins O'Dwyer series, Paranormal romance by

91C3Mb897OL

The hundred and second book I read in 2014 was Blood Magick by Nora Roberts. This is the third book in her Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy. I read the first book in 2013 and it is therefore not on this blog yet, the second book I read in 2014 and you can see the review here. I finished this book on 11/16/14. I rated this book 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Branna O’Dwyer and Finbar Burke. Branna is the last of the three Dark Witches of Mayo. She has been in love with Finbar Burke since she was young but after they had sex for the first time when they were eighteen Fin woke up one morning with the mark of Cabhan.

Ever since that day, Fin has remained in Branna’s life but they haven’t been together as they both longed to be. In the previous two books we hear the story of Iona, Branna’s cousin from America, and Connor, Branna’s brother. We hear much of Branna and Fin’s back story through the first two books but we learn about some interesting developments in this third book in the trilogy. To be honest I thought it was a little weird that all of a sudden in this book Branna trusts Fin and decides to have a slumber party with him after all the inner turmoil she put herself through in the first two books.

Overall I thought this was an ok book. The ending went a little fast for me. It was a three book build up to this ending that was only about 10 pages, it just felt a little anticlimactic. It may have also been that i was looking forward to the book so much that I psyched myself up for it a bit too much. I did a WOW post on this book previously, which you can see here. And also I had trouble getting emotionally involved in the story, I didn’t feel like the characters had a lot of depth to them. Other than that it was a good read and I love the magical twist and also the glimpses into and connection with the past and the first three Dark Witches.

Link to author website: http://www.noraroberts.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Magick-Cousins-ODwyer-Roberts/dp/0425259870/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1416355039&sr=8-1

2014 – Book #101

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Fiction, Paranormal comedy, Undead series (Betsy Taylor) by

91vPGJyS0lL._SL1500_

The hundred and first book I read in 2014 was Undead and Undermined by MaryJanice Davidson. This is the tenth book in her Undead/Betsy Taylor series. I finished this book on 11/9/14. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book picks up almost immediately after where the last book left off. Betsy and Laura have returned from hell unscathed and Betsy is determined not to let the future she saw become the future that actually happens. She will forewarn her friends and family and she will prevent disaster. Of course first she and Sinclair must have lots of sex before she can tell everyone what’s up and what she learned on her travels.

First thing Betsy notices (it’s hard to miss) is that she’s currently in an alternate timeline. Garrett is still alive, and not only are Jess and Nick (who goes by Dick now I guess) still together, Jess is pregnant! Fortunately that’s just about the biggest differences between this timeline and the last one Betsy was in so she is still the vampire queen, and Sinclair is still madly in love with her. Oh and I forgot one of the other biggest differences is that Christian Louboutin (famous shoe designer, Betsy has about a dozen pairs of shoes by him) no longer makes shoes in this timeline, and instead Betsy has about a dozen pairs of velvet clogs (barf).

Unfortunately, someone seems to have tagged along on Betsy and Laura’s travel back to their own time. The Marc Thing from the future pops up in Betsy’s kitchen while she is debriefing her fellow house-dwellers.They manage to tape The Marc Thing up to a fridge with about eight rolls of duct tape. Unfortunately, while they’re still trying to figure out what to do with The Marc Thing, Betsy and Laura end up in a pretty nasty fight and they tumble on back to hell. Betsy ends up tumbling through and ends up in Chicago and gets hit by a car.

Overall I very much liked this book, as I do all the books in this series. I especially liked the idea of alternate timelines and how Betsy affected her own past and future when she messed with the past in the last book.

Wkipedia page about Christian Louboutin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Louboutin

Link to author website: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Undead-Undermined-Queen-Betsy/dp/B007F7R9G4/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1415662918&sr=8-1

2014 – Book #99

Posted in Blue Heron series, Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance by

51KHJRFX9EL

The ninety-ninth book I read in 2014 was In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins. I have been very excited about this book for awhile (in fact, here is my “Waiting on Wednesday” post on the book) and couldn’t wait to start reading it. And once I started I couldn’t seem to put it down! I finished this book on 11/3/14. I rated this book 5 stars out of a scale of 5. This is the fourth book in the Blue Heron series. I have read the previous three books in the series as well and loved them all, though only one is discussed on this blog since the others were read prior to 2014. You can read my post on the other book in the series here. This really is just such a great series by one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend it!! I devour her books, I already can’t wait for the next in the series (hopefully Connor’s story!) to come out!!!

So, In Your Dreams is about police woman Emmaline Neal and town favorite Jack Holland. (Just for reference, Jack is brother to Faith and Honor, who were the heroines in books #1 and #2 in the series.) Emmaline had her heart squashed by her fiance 3 years ago and moved to Manningsport, NY to start over. Unfortunately, the dating pool is limited in the area so when she receives an invitation to her ex-fiance’s wedding, she has to find a man and fast. Luckily, Jack is skilled in helping out damsels in distress. He has been a last minute date for many functions in the past for various women in town, though he doesn’t expect to enjoy spending time with Emmaline quite so much.

Hoenstly I just loved this book. I literally couldn’t put it down, I read it in two nights because I got lost in the world that Higgins created. She is so gifted in character development and drawing you into the story. I love the characters she’s formed in this series and I love their individual stories. It was a great read and I would highly recommend trying it! For that matter, I would highly recommend the whole series!!

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Dreams-Blue-Heron-Series/dp/0373779313/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1415105684&sr=8-1