Series Sunday Review (6)-Treachery in Death

Series Sunday is a meme hosted by Literary Marie. My Series Sunday pick for this week comes from my favorite series, the In Death series by JD Robb:

Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This series just keeps getting better and better. This one has Eve trying to put away some corrupt cops, right in her own Cop Central, and you know she's not going to take too kindly to anyone making a mockery of the uniform. We get to see Eve in all her glory going toe-to-toe with the female lieutenant of the Illegals department, who has done many shady dealings in her run as lieutenant. Even worse, she is the daughter of the former police chief.

Unlike the Stephanie Plum series (which I started reading the same time I started reading the In Death series) where I've grown tired of the characters and their same old stupid shenanigans, I still enjoy reading about the In Death cast of characters, especially Peabody and McNab, and I still adore Eve and Roarke's relationship. The only parts that I've grown a bit tired of are anything involving Dr. Mira, whenever Eve goes to her for her psych profiles, it turns into a snooze fest. Thankfully those were few and far between in this one.

Can't wait to read the next in the series!



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Source: Library
Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, Support Your Local Library Challenge, Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Series Sunday Review (5)-In Between Lies

Series Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Literary Marie. Here is my Series Sunday pick:

In Between Lies by Shawna Hill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In this story, we have Savannah, a successful career woman who has been hurt by love before. She cautiously enters into a relationship with Kevin, a handsome weather reporter from the local news. Kevin seems like the perfect guy, but of course he's hiding a secret: namely his ex, a crazy, stalkerish woman named Naomi. Even though Kevin is happy with Savannah, he can't resist slipping back into Naomi's bed.

This was a typical crazy-woman-stalks-man-and-his-new-woman story, but there were a few twists and turns along the way. It started off a bit slow and it took me awhile to warm up to the characters of Savannah and Kevin, (also there were quite a few grammatical errors that made the teacher in me cringe) but the story line did keep me on the edge of my seat and wanting to find out just what would happen next. I enjoyed the cliffhanger ending and I look forward to reading the next installment in this series, to see what crazy Naomi will do next.



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Source: downloaded
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Contemporary Romance Challenge, E-Book Challenge, Show Me the Free Challenge

Series Sunday Review-The Winter Lodge

Series Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Literary Marie. I'm posting mine early since, due to Hurricane Irene, I possibly might not have any power tomorrow (hopefully I will. But all the schools will not have any so I won't have work on Monday. Wishful thinking, of course.)

The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The Winter Lodge is the second installment of the Lakeshore Chronicles, a series set in the small town of Avalon, New York. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, Summer at Willow Lake which told of the romance between Olivia Bellamy and Connor Davis. This book focuses on Jenny Majesky, the illegitimate half-sister of Olivia.

Jenny is the owner of the town's bakery and has just suffered the loss of her beloved grandmother. Then one night her home ends up catching on fire and she is forced to spend a few days living with the chief of police, Rourke McKnight. Jenny and Rourke have long had feelings for each other. But Rourke had graciously stepped aside when his best friend Joey professes his love for Jenny and they become engaged. Rourke carefully keeps his heart guarded and never lets anyone get too close.

I enjoyed this story, although not nearly as much as Summer at Willow Lake. Jenny and Rourke aren't as interesting as Olivia and Connor. I did like finding out what had happened with Jenny's mother and why she had abandoned Jenny (and Olivia's father) all those years earlier. We also find out more about Daisy Bellamy, Olivia's teenage cousin, who has her own little crisis to deal with. I definitely recommend this follow-up to Willow Lake and I look forward to the next in the series.



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Source: Library
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge, 2011 Summer Romance Reading Challenge

Series Sunday Review (3): Fools Rush In

Series Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews.

Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ever wonder how Italian sounds with a Southern drawl?
Bella Rossi's life is just starting to get interesting. When her Italian-turned-Texan parents hand over the family wedding-planning business, Bella quickly books a Boot-Scootin' wedding that would make any Texan proud. There's only one catch--she doesn't know a thing about country music. Where will she find a deejay on such short notice who knows his Alan Jackson from his George Strait? And will Bella ever get to plan her own wedding?

Fun, fresh, and full of surprises, this flavorful combination of Italian and Tex-Mex highlights the hilarity that ensues when cultures clash.

This was a really cute story. Bella and her crazy Italian family kind of reminded me of Stephanie Plum and her crazy family, only without the bounty hunting, pot roast, and sexy Officer Morelli. Instead Bella has wedding planning, lasagna, and her sexy cowboy DJ.

Bella has just been placed in charge of the family's wedding planning business and she's a nervous wreck that she will screw up. She has to hire a deejay who loves country music for her first country western themed wedding and a mix up leads her right into the arms of DJ: Dwayne Neeley, Jr. As Bella and DJ grow closer, we're introduced to all the wacky hi-jinx that happen when their two families get together.

I really enjoyed the character of Bella, although she was a bit too much of a worrywart. I thought she and DJ were really cute together, however I thought their relationship moved a little too fast in the beginning and that they really didn't get to know each other a whole lot. I thought this would be solely a romance novel and focus mainly on their relationship, but it was more Christian-fiction and focused mostly on Bella's family, with her and DJ's relationship as a nice little side plot. I did enjoy the Christian element to the story and it did give me a lot to reflect on as well.

There are two more book in this series and I look forward to reading them.



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Source: freebie for the Nook from B&N, you can snag it here.
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Contemporary Romance Challenge, Summer Romance Reading Challenge, Show Me the Free E-Reader Challenge, 2011 E-Reader Challenge

Series Sunday Review (2): Drop Shot

Series Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews.

1. Read an installment of a series.
2. Post a review/recommendation on your blog, FB, Twitter, Goodreads, or Shelfari pages.
3. Share your review/recommendation by posting the link in the comments section below.
4. Include the title, author, and name of the series so that other Series Sunday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

My Series Sunday pick for this week is Drop Shot, the second book in the Myron Bolitar series.
Drop Shot by Harlan Coben

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Valerie Simpson is a young female tennis star with a troubled past who's now on the verge of a comeback and wants Myron as her agent. Myron, who's also got the hottest young male tennis star, Duane Richwood, primed to take his first grand slam tournament, couldn't be happier. That is, until Valerie is murdered in broad daylight at the U.S. Open and Myron's number one client becomes the number one suspect.

I liked the first book in the Myron Bolitar series, but I loved this one! Harlan Coben seems to be more comfortable with his characters and they all really shined in this story. I also liked the mystery better in this one, it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I was way off on who I thought the murderer was, but once I found out who actually did it, it made sense.

The humor in this book came a lot more naturally than it did in the first book. I really like Myron, he seems like a sweet, smart guy, although I wish he would start carrying a gun with him. At least he's always got his best friend Win to have his back.

I'm still a little iffy on the relationship between Myron and Jessica, although I did find them to be really sweet together in this book. I hope she doesn't hurt him again, although it seems like that's probably going to happen.

A solid five stars for this one, and I can't wait to read the next one in the series (which will be whenever it is available at my library).



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Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge
Source: Library