Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Dollmaker – Mary Burton

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30168629| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Dr. Tessa McGowan had never seen anything quite like it. But the mutilated bodies on her exam table tell a stunningly macabre tale: someone with a twisted mind is kidnapping women and altering their faces to resemble real, life-size dolls. As a forensic pathologist, it’s her job to aid the agent leading the case—even if that agent is her estranged husband.

Twelve years ago an unspeakable tragedy destroyed Dakota Sharp’s world. Haunted by the ghosts of his past, he’s devoted himself to capturing killers. His only regret is that it cost him Tessa. Now, as the Dollmaker case brings them together—and raises his suspicions that he’s crossed paths with this deranged psychopath before—they may just have their second chance. But it seems Dakota’s not the only one who wants to make Tessa his own…

She may be the Dollmaker’s next target, but Tessa has no intention of winding up as another toy on his shelf. Can she and Dakota stop this ghastly killer before his next deadly playdate?

My thoughts: If I remember correctly I did like (not love) the first book in the forgotten files series. But this one, who have a more exciting story, do not even get as far up as to like it. It is an average book. It did not bore me to death, but it also did not do that much for me. It´s kind of blaha for me. And that´s to bad. A book with that high rating and reviews should fall in my taste more than this one did.

The books story about the Dollmaker is actually kind of good. It is gross and makes you cringe. That however is the only ting. The killers story in the book makes no sense and how it all hangs together feels a little far fetched. There is no suspense in the hunt for the killer, Dakota feels real and human but Tessa does nothing for me. She is kind of gray and mellow. Not very exciting. And to bad that the book is to predictable. It could have been so much better.

Everyday things

New in the bookshelf!

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Got myself a new book this weekend. I have seen this one circulate on internet and on Goodreads and when I saw it in the bookstore I thought that maybe I should read it. It feels like a book that will be an classic that everyone should read. When I will be able to read this one however, I don´t know. It just have to stand in line and its turn will come eventually. 🙂

Have your read The underground railroad? What did you think about it?

Romance · Young, New adult/College

Kid – Marie James

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29613668| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: When Khloe Devaro’s best friend and fiancé is lost to the war in Iraq, she’s beyond distraught. Her intentions of joining him in the afterlife are thwarted by a Cerberus Motorcycle Club member. Too young to do anything on her own, the only alternative she has now is to take Kid up on his offer to stay at the MC Clubhouse. As if that’s not a disaster waiting to happen, but anything is better than returning to the foster home she’s been forced to live in the last three years.

Dustin “Kid” Andrews spent four years as a Marine; training, fighting, and learning how to survive the most horrendous of conditions. He never imagined that holding a BBQ fundraiser for a local fallen soldier would end up as the catalyst that turns his world upside down. Resisting his attraction for a girl he’s not even certain is of legal age was easy, until he’s forced to intervene when her intentions become clear. All his training is wasted as far as he’s concerned since none of that will help him when it comes to Khloe.

Will the self-proclaimed man-whore sleep with a woman in every country he visits as planned, or will the beautiful, yet feisty girl living down the hall throw a wrench in his plan?

My thoughts: Terrible. Is it just me who is getting old and don´t find this type of books that believable and frankly, quite excessive. I mean, come on! It had all the potential to be good. Here you have a young, strong but broken girl/woman who lost her best friend and fiancé. Completely alone in the world and not yet old enough to do something about her situation, makes the depression a factor and the will to live not that strong anymore. In comes the good guy. The good hearted, good guy who just want to help. The guy who sees beyond the walls and layers of barbed wire. They fell in love and….. there it ends. The rest is just immature drama and not really exciting.

The story gets immature and sexually excessive. There is a lot of talk about the same thing from both Kid and Khloe. Then a situation happen and it all just gets worse. And nothing seems real for me anymore. And the whole sexual atmosphere is just to mature and don´t fit in with the characters and its just wrong. No! No, no no. I liked the first book, but this one, no. And quite frankly, I don´t even know if I want to read more of her books now.

Adult fiction/Erotica · Fiction/Science Fiction · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Chemist – Stephenie Meyer

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31188235| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now, she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They’ve killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it’s her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of.

My thoughts: Surprisingly good. A real page turner. I must say that I was skeptical at first. I loved the twilight series until the movies came and totally destroyed it all for me. I was not interested to read anything more from her again. So to read something new from this author was me, trying to have an open mind. And i´m so glad that I did because this book is really great.

The characters are strong and interesting and I really like the female main character. She is smart, witty, resourceful, strong and insanely brave. I liked the twists Meyers throw in the story and one in the end really surprised me and got me really mad. Until I remembered how it really was and then I was so happy instead. Good job. An emotional roller coaster and that she also trow in some dogs (i´m an insane dog lover) in the story as well had me on the edge of the seat until the last page was turned.

Great work. Great book. Have you read it?

Everyday things

Summer read top 20

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So earlier this year Goodreads had an post about recommendations on what to read this summer. Since it wasn’t a lot interesting for me I decided to do my own top 20 books that I wanted to read before September started. Well September is here and it is time for an summery.

Out of 20 books I read: 13 books.
Stars: I have distributed 48 out of 65 stars to give.
Average rating: 3,7 stars.

The books with highest ratings (4-5) are: 
Rock Chick Reckoning – Kristen Ashley 5/5
Mark – Jessica Gadziala  5/5
Sinister – Jana DeLeon 5/5
Double Dare – R.L. Mathewson 4/5
The King of Plagues – Jonathan Maberry 4/5
Down And Dirty – Liliana Hart 4/5
A Dark And Twisted Tide – Sharon Bolton  4/5
Truth Or Beard – Penny Reid 4/5

The book(s) with lowest ratings (1-3) are:
Midnight Action – Elle Kennedy 3/5
Lazarus – Jessica Gadziala 3/5
Hungry Like The Wolf – Paige Tyler 3/5
Odd Hours – Dean Koontz 2/5
The Rosie Effect – Graeme Simsion   2/5

Best book: Sinister – Jana DeLeon

Worst book: Odd Hours – Dean Koontz 2/5

Best cover: Odd Hours – Dean Koontz 2/5

Worst cover: Double Dare – R.L. Mathewson 4/5

The books I did not read:
A Sudden Crush – Camilla Isley
Run To Ground – Katie Ruggle
The Knowing – Ninie Hammon
The Crawling Darkness – J.L Bryan
Extreme Honor – Piper J. Drake
The Hating Game – Sally Thorne
The Thing About Love – Julie James

A few words: The months go by way to fast and I have not been that attentive to my list that I made in May. During the three months I read 44 books and just 13 of them was from the list. But oh well. That is how it can go sometimes. Not gonna make me read something i´m not feeling ready for and I still think I did it pretty good. 4 of the 7 books I have left to read, I actually don´t have. I banned myself from buying books this summer. O well I tried, still bought a “few” books. But I could hardly read books i didn’t have. Still want to read them tho.

I gave three books a full 5 star review. Not surprising that Jessica Gadziala was there. Odd Hours and Rosie effect was the two books with the lowest score. Really surprised me that i did not like Rosie effect and it made me kind of sad.

Overall I´m happy with the outcome of the list and now ready to start tackling the next list. 30 books before 30. And soon we will go in darker times and I will probably do an short winter list.

 

Monthly summary

August Summary

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In august I have read 13 books. Out of 65 stars to give I have given away in total of 45 stars. August has not been my best reading month. It is starting to pick up at work and we are now going in to an hectic period of the year so my reading will probably be even lesser. But here is an short overview of what I have been reading this month.

Favorite book this month: Dissent – Jessica Gadziala.

8697191You Belong To Me – Karen Rose
Settings: Baltimore, Maryland (USA). Pages: 480. Published: 2011. Genres: Thriller, mystery and Romantic Suspense.
My rating: 4/5 stars.
Five words: Great, hot, exciting, new, guessing.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in Baltimore series.

Defying The Odds – Kele Moon29537831
Settings: Las Vegas, Nevada (USA). Pages: 181. Published: 2016. Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Erotica, Sports and adult fiction.
My rating: 4/5.
Five words: Sweet, love, short, connection, realism.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in battered hearts series.

25361217Shadow Of Perception – Kristine Mason
Settings: Chicago, Illinois, (USA). Pages: 372. Published: 2013. Genres: Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Crime, Thriller and contemporary.
My rating: 1/5.
Five words: Drama, relation, no suspense, bad.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in CORE shadow trilogy series.

Mark – Jessica Gadziala34824884
Settings: Navesink Bank, New Jersey (Fictional USA). Pages: 221. Published: 2017. Genre: Romance and Contemporary.
My rating: 5/5
Five words: Good, love, sexy, exciting, sweet.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 3 in The Mallick brothers series.

18105339Dane – Liliana Hart
Settings: Surrender, Montana (USA). Pages: 51. Published: 2011. Genres: Romance, Adult fiction, erotica, contemporary. Shortstory.
My rating: 4/5
Five words: To short, nice, sweet, hangoverfriendly.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in The MacKenzie series.

Blind Fury – Gwen Hernandez20878943
Pages: 295. Published: 2014: Genres: Romantic suspense, war, military, romance, contemporary, suspense.
My rating: 3/5
Five words: Soft alpha, slow, spineless, immature.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in men of steel series.

22566044Fluency – Jennifer Foehner Wells
Settings: Space. Pages: 377. Published: 2014. Genres: Science Fiction. aliens, Romance.
My rating: 2/5.
Five words: Cliffhanger, dissatisfaction, no good characters.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in Confluence series.

The Rosie Effect – Graeme Simsion23492671
Settings: New York City, New York (USA). Pages: 368. Published: 2014. Genres: Contemporary, fiction, chick lit, adult.
My rating: 2/5
Five words: Don trying so hard, sad.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in Don Tillman series.

28603811Sinister – Jana DeLeon
Pages: 343. Published: 2016. Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime.
My rating: 5/5
Five words: This cant get any better!
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in Shaye Archer series.

Odd Hours – Dean Koontz2029927
Settings: Magic Beach, California (USA). Pages: 352. Published: 2008. Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense.
My rating: 2/5
Five words: Boring, page fillers, no suspense.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 4 in Odd Thomas series.

23314731Truth Or Beard – Penny Reid
Settings: Green Valley, Tennessee, (USA). Pages: 382. Published: 2015. Genres: Romance, contemporary, New adult, humor, funny.
My rating: 4/5
Five words: Strong, love, hot, beardy, man.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in Winston Brothers series.

The Dry – Jane Harper27824826
Settings: Kiewarra, Australia. Pages: 352. Published: 2016. Genres: Crime, mystery, fiction, thriller.
My rating: 4/5
Five words: Hot, thrilling, crime, mysterious, secrets.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in Aaron Falk series.

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Dissent – Jessica Gadziala
Settings: All over (USA). Pages: 208. Published: 2015. Genres: Romance, contemporary, Suspense, erotica, adult.
My rating: 5/5
Five words: Abuse, wonderful, suspense, love, great.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in scars series.

Adult fiction/Erotica · Contemporary · Romance · Suspense

Dissent – Jessica Gadziala

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26088307| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: I lost my virginity when I was twenty-five years old
to a hooker my sister hired because she felt
bad for me. That was six years ago and it’s probably
the least shocking fact about my life.

That is, until I met Darcy Monroe, and
“shocking” took on a whole new meaning…

—

Six years after escaping his cloistered, abusive, fundamentally religious upbringing, ISAIAH finds himself still dealing with the demons of his past, detached from society as a whole, and wholly unable to connect with, or trust, women. He engages in constant, meaningless sport sex with women, trying to numb the feeling of inadequacy inside.
Then he sets his sights on his new neighbor…

DARCY is strong, capable, outspoken, and in no way going to put up with some random jackass next door who decides to make a game of trying to get her into bed.

But Isaiah is relentless. And Darcy finds herself torn between not letting him win, and giving into her own desire.

Just as they start to get close, they realize that something more sinister is afoot and they will both be forced to confront feelings of betrayal that will set their lives in an unexpected direction.

My thoughts: Oh my god, this book was gooood! It was so good that I now regret not to have read it earlier. I mean, I have had it in my kindle for like a year and it has been on my to read list since I read the first book “For a good time, call…” which is about Isaiah’s sister.

I think the reason to why it took me such time to read this one is because I did not like Isaiah at all in the first book. Not so surprising really. But since I really loved Fiona’s story, which by the way also got a five star rating, I could not, not read this book. And i´m so happy now.

The book is dark, just have to warn you there. It´s dark and abusing, but o so good. I fell in love with Isaiah in the first chapter and got to really learn to know him. How he struggles and tries so hard made my heart ache. I was not a big fan of Darcy to an beginning but she eventually grew on me. What surprised me the most is how ruff Gadziala made this book. It is a little unlike her other books. I have a very few triggers when it comes to books, but here there was one chapter that really made me cringed and made me uncomfortable. But I do not regret it for one minute.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

The Dry – Jane Harper

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27824826| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Luke Hadler turns a gun on his wife and child, then himself. The farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily. If one of their own broke under the strain, well…

When Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to Kiewarra for the funerals, he is loath to confront the people who rejected him twenty years earlier. But when his investigative skills are called on, the facts of the Hadler case start to make him doubt this murder-suicide charge.

And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, old wounds start bleeding into fresh ones. For Falk and his childhood friend Luke shared a secret… A secret Falk thought long-buried… A secret which Luke’s death starts to bring to the surface…

My thoughts: Wow! This one was so much heavier than I first thought it would be. A really good, old-fashioned crime fiction. Right up my alley and actually that genre I first fell in love with when growing up. It was nice and cozy to be back in a book like this. A book that is so great written, amazing characters and the settings was just like you really was there with them, in the heat and longing for the rain. It´s hard to believe that this is Jane Harpers debut novel. That´s how great it is.

The book was published in 2016 and has since then been a big talk about on the web. Her in my country, the book has not reached as far yet, but I believe this will be a big seller this autumn/winter.

The story is really awesome and makes you as an reader both frustrated and excited. A little slow in the start but it did pick up the speed and in the end I just couldn’t wait to get all the answers. Many did surprise me and I really like the ending. No cliffhanger but a promise that there will be more.

An there will be. The second book about Aaron Falk will be published late September 2017.

Romance

Lazarus – Jessica Gadziala

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33852287| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: The war was over. The dust had settled. The numbers were increasing. Everything had finally started to calm down. Until one night on a walk, I came across her…

My thoughts: Gadziala is one of my favorite authors if i´ve not told you that before. I love her way to write an her story’s and how many off her series have a connection with each other and that is probably why she is the author I have read the most of. There is always a character in the book that you want to read more about and if that character do not have there own book (yet) you can get glimpses of him/her in the other books. Sometimes I feel like a lovesick teenager when I read her books and gets in love like that. Hehe

This book is number 7 in her The Henchmen MC series and I was quite excited to read it. I really liked Lazarus when he started to appear in sixth book. He was something different and refreshing. Specially after all that had happen throughout the series. Now however i´m a little disappointed. It feels like Gadziala could have done it better. A little deeper, a little more exciting and a lot more suspense would have placed the book higher up on my list. But I´m still glad that i read it and in the book you got to meet a new character who is Weird with a big W. He has his own book and of course I will read it. 🙂

Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Truth or Beard – Penny Reid

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23314731| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston might share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why Jessica James, recent college graduate and perpetual level-headed good girl, has been in naïve and unhealthy infatuation with Beau Winston for most of her life.

His friendly smiles make her tongue-tied and weak-kneed, and she’s never been able to move beyond her childhood crush. Whereas Duane and Jessica have always been adversaries. She can’t stand him, and she’s pretty sure he can’t stand the sight of her…

But after a case of mistaken identity, Jessica finds herself in a massive confusion kerfuffle. Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane’s disdain; therefore she’s unprepared for the reality that is Duane’s insatiable interest, as well as his hot hands and hot mouth and hotter looks. Not helping Jessica’s muddled mind and good girl sensibilities, Duane seems to have gotten himself in trouble with the local biker gang, the Iron Order.

Certainly, Beau’s magic spell is broken. Yet when Jessica finds herself drawn to the man who was always her adversary, now more dangerous than ever, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?

My thoughts: I had this book in my kindle for months. It had such good reviews that I felt that this book/series I needed to read. And when I finally got around to do it, I wasn’t disappointed.

In this book you are introduced to the Winston brothers. There is 6 brothers and one sister. They are a tight family, who hadn’t have the best childhood. They all have their own quirks and seem to be characters I will be falling in love with in the future. This book is mostly about Duane and Jessica. I love Duane. The first impression of him is so wrong and when you get to meet the real Duane, you fall hard. Jessica is a warm and really likable characters. I often has problems with female characters in this kind of books but not Jessica. She is a grown up, funny, strong woman with enough self perspective to stop her self when she sees she is being ridicules. I LOVE THAT!

The whole book was realistic and the story felt real. It was a really great book that many times made my chest retract and give me that anxiety/tingling feeling in my stomach. I was on pins and needles when I read and tried to get to the good parts where the truth was out and everything was as it should be. Unfortunately I was missing something, I felt it was a bit slow sometimes and that´s the reason to why I cant give it a full 5 stars.

It is an adorable book and i really looking forward to read more.