Tag: kindle

Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Boat man – Dustin Stevens

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26495964| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Detective Reed Mattox, just three months removed from the death of his partner, has turned invisibility into an art form. Switching to the K-9, taking over the graveyard shift, moving to a farmhouse miles outside of Columbus, his every move has become predicated on putting as much distance between himself and the outside world as possible.

That distance is shattered though when bodies begin turning up in The Bottoms, the poverty-stricken section of town he is assigned to patrol. Grisly, horrific scenes start to pop up in the middle of the night and the overburdened precinct has no choice but to put Reed on it.

Now operating far outside of his comfort zone with a Belgian Malinois for a partner that attracts attention wherever they go, Reed is forced to unravel the murders, taking him clear across the city and back years in time, to an event that some very influential people will do anything to keep buried…

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My thoughts: Flat revenge story in a mediocre beginning on a new series, more suitable for TV. That is how I would, in few words, describe The Boat man by Dustin Stevens. It is in no way a bad book really. But I cant say that it is overly good either. It is in between good and bad. An okay story with some issues when it comes to the writing but still okay. I did like it. But I have to many issues to love it or to feel the desire to continue.

First of I did feel that the beginning was pretty strong. Reed is more or less a depressed character, working with a dog because he cant stomach to have a human partner again. You do not get to know exactly what happened but you get enough clues to pretty much piece it together yourself. Mistake number one. I don’t like that kind of mystery and secrecy where you have to figure it out on your own kind of way, when it is such a huge part of the history and the future of the characters. And then in the end you do not know more than you did in the beginning. But perhaps Stevens has a ulterior motive with it, what do I know. I’m just a reader. Mistake number two I feel is how flat the book is. I’m not kidding when I say that I actually fell asleep 8 o’clock one evening (usually fall asleep around 11 – 12) because of the writing. It is quite flat and boring. And he keep repeating the names. Reed did that, then Reed went there so Reed could do that while Reed felt that and knew Reed had to get home so Reed could do that later. Then there was the boat man went there, the boat man did that, the boat man felt that, the boat man run away. Goddammit it drove me nuts.

But other than that, it is a good book. The plot is interesting, believable and has a little suspense and depth. It is probably me who is to sensitive and keep finding stuff to complain about. He has a lot of books and most of them has really high ratings, so apparently there are people who like it more than I do. Unfortunately, I just don’t feel Stevens is the author for me. A three star rating yes, but not strong enough to make me want to continue the series.

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense · War/Military

Midnight Revenge – Elle Kennedy

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25476363| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Out of all the stone-cold mercenaries in Jim Morgan’s black ops organization, Derek “D” Pratt is the most intimidating. He is tight-lipped and covered in tattoos, and even the other guys on his team are afraid to ask him about his past. D’s been off the grid for years, but after his teammate Sullivan is mistakenly captured in his place, D is forced to come out of hiding and face his demons.

When D lands in Mexico, he’s ready to risk everything to save his friend. To complicate matters, Sofia Amaro, a feisty doctor whom D had a one-night stand with months ago, has tracked him down. And in an instant she’s unintentionally caught up in his life-threatening rescue mission.

Now D must extract not one but two people from the most violent world he’s ever encountered. And one of them is carrying his child..

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My thoughts: This is a damn good book. Pretty sure my heart stopped at least two times while reading this. Fast paced and action packed and I loved it. Not my favorite in the series however but a pretty close second, I must say. This series and Elle Kennedy is really starting to be one of my all time favorites. Her writing is so good and easy that just reading her words makes me feel god. Then we look a little deeper and reading her story and just like that I’m lost, in love and forgotten the world around me.

This book is about Derek “D” Pratt. An character who have been around for most of the series. He is a hard son of a bitch with a past darker than anyone can imagine. I didn’t like him at all the earlier books, but I do now understand why. It took me a while to really connect with him, but then I had Sofia. She is a wonderful character with just the right amount of umpf, stubbornness, quirkiness and she has a really smart head on her shoulders. There is no way you do not like her. I really liked that there was no love at first sight, no lost love or heartache in the beginning of the book between those two. I liked that they “knew” each other beforehand but the lack of sappy, fluffy love made it more believable and the suspense unbearable.

Then it is always nice to meet the characters from the earlier books. Book number 6 ended on a small cliffhanger and this one gives you all the answers you need about what happened. It’s not completely over and done with but I would not say that there are a cliffhanger so you can rest easily.

Kennedy do like to create tension in her plots and between her characters and I think it is the way she does it that makes it so good. She is always balancing on the edge and if you have not read this series, I do have to say “what, you have not read it? You just have to read it!!” 😉

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Mystery/Crime · Romance

Hot six – Janet Evanovich

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6858.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Low-rent bounty hunter Stephanie Plum reaches depths of personal experience that other women detectives never quite do. In Hot Six, for example, a sequence of new and hideous cars bite the dust; she finds herself lumbered with a policeman’s multiply incontinent dog; and she has several bad skin days. All this when she is trying to prove her distinctly more competent colleague and occasional boyfriend Ranger innocent of a mob hit; avoid the heavies trailing her in the hope of finding him; and cope with a wife-abusing bail defaulter with nasty habits, such as setting Stephanie on fire.

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My thoughts: This is, by far, the best one in the series (so far). Book number 6 totally knocked me out of the park. It is funny, quirky and the characters and plot is just over the top great. I love how easy it is but still really exciting and hilarious. How bad luck Stephanie keeps having but this time it isn’t on the border to be too much. An we get to meet a new character. Bob! I love Bob and hopes to see more of him in the future books.

Homicidal maniacs, dog poo, Ranger, Morelli, a dead guy in a lawn chair, eccentric grandma Mazur, the nemesis from hell, good friends, bad luck, mobsters and a Star Trek party. That is just some of the many fantastic highlights from this laugh out loud story where we are following Stephanie Plum and many great secondary characters like Lula, Vinnie, Eddie, Connie and many more.

The writing is great. I always forget how good the writing really is. It is easy, fast and makes you not realize how long you have been reading. You are totally eaten by the book so hear my advice and make sure you have someone to remember you about the important stuff. Like eating. Sleep you can do when you are dead.

Stephanie is an character that is easy to connect with. Her bad luck is recognizable and true and you cant do anything other than just love her. She is a bad luck charm walking and everyone around her needs to be careful. In the earlier books, all that bad luck got a little to much sometimes but in this book it is just the right amount. She is strong and funny and o I would love to see this series as an tv-show. (The movie was awful).

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense

For you – Kristen Ashley

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10813480| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Lieutenant Alexander Colton and February Owens were high school sweethearts. Everyone in their small town knew from the moment they met they were meant for each other. But something happened and Feb broke Colt’s heart then she turned wild and tragedy struck. Colt meted out revenge against the man who brought Feb low but even though Colt risked it all for her, Feb turned her back on him and left town.

Fifteen years later, Feb comes back to help run the family bar. But there’s so much water under the bridge separating her and Colt everyone knows they’ll never get back together.

Until someone starts hacking up people in Feb’s life. Colt is still Colt and Feb is still Feb so the town watches as Colt goes all out to find the murderer while trying to keep Feb safe.

As the bodies pile up, The Feds move in and a twisting, turning story unravels exposing a very sick man who has claimed numerous victims along the way, Feb and Colt battle their enduring attraction and the beautiful but lost history that weaves them together.

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My thoughts: This is one of those first eBooks I bought when I first bought my kindle. I went on a buying spree at the time and had over a hundred books on my kindle. Did not buy all of them tough. Several of them was free and thanks for that, because I don’t think my wallet would have survived otherwise.

Anyhow, so I have had this book in my library since early 2016 and never got around to actually read it. But since it is on my “30 books before 30” list and I couldn’t choose what to read, I went for it.

This is a great book, but I do have a couple of issues with it. First of, it is to god damn long and at some points even slow. Kristen Ashley is one of those authors who really can write a long, slow burn book and I have never had it tick me off before. But this time it just didn’t do. I do not have patience for something like that. The second thing is, 22 goddamn years? Are you kidding? That reason for the “bad blood” between Alexander and February was not what I had expected. And it really ticked me off because I feel that 22 years is just toooo long for a reason like that.

Other than that, great book. I really liked the plot with the killer, feds and how everything was linked. The mad man with the killings and his reasons really felt believable and at some degrees it was even quite terrifying and it gave me the creeps. Ashley is the queen when it comes to character buildup and it was easy to connect with them. There is a lot of character in this book and at first it was quite hard to keep track but that eventually went away and was not a problem. This is also the first book in a series. I have read the synopsis of the second book and so far it seems like they are stand alones, because the names in the second do not ring a bell and probably did not appear in this book.

Contemporary · Romance · War/Military

Dear Aaron – Mariana Zapata

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35404657.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Ruby Santos knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she signed up to write a soldier overseas.

The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional.

Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect.

What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.

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My thoughts: I really like Zapata and her way of writing. This is the third book I read by her and I still just loves her and she is one of my favorite authors. Yes I can say that after three books. This book, however, is probably the one I like the least of those I have read. And that is just because it is so god damn slow. I did expect some slowness since that is her thing. Slow burned, contemporary romance is what she do. So I was prepared and didn’t expect anything else. But I didn’t know that I had to wait like 90% of the book for something to really happen and at 40% I was actually ready to give up. I don’t have patience for slowness. But I did keep reading and I’m happy for that. It is a great book. But it would not be the first one I would recommend by her if anyone asked.

I did, however, really liked Ruby who is this nerdy, a little social awkward young woman with big dreams but also a lot of fear. She is trying to do some good because she is a genuinely nice person. Then we have Aaron, who kind of just float through life right now. He doesn’t know what he want out of life, he has no near relationship with his family and comes from a different kind of background than Ruby. But they spend 9 months just talking, getting to know each other, before stuff happens and things evolve. Just a great, great story. But so slow!

In some way I feel that this book is unfinished. There was parts that I didn’t really understood and others that was needlessly. And there is a pretty big part of the book (can’t say what because I do not want to spoiler you) that was kind of boring because nothing really happen until the end. And I found that the end was somewhat unfulfilling. Gosh is sounds like I didn’t like this book at all, but I did, I promises and I think that you would to. Probably even more than me.

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense

Vigilante – Jessica Gadziala

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35101098| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A new stand-alone dark romance from bestselling author Jessica Gadziala 

I’m a bad guy. I do bad things.
But I do them for the right reasons.
That’s why I can sleep easy at night even with the smell of fresh blood still in my nostrils. One more scumbag off the streets. One more righting of a wrong. That was all my life was about.
Until I came across her…

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My thoughts: Luce is probably one of my favorite characters of all time. Well, at least he is up at the top with Renny, Eli and Isaiah. I starting to see a pattern that I like Gadzialas darker characters more. Those with a history or a torment that makes my heart bleed. Those who have had it bad but got them self-through it and rising above it but still feel/thinks that they don’t deserve more. They have walls thicker than the one Trump wants to build between Mexico and USA. They are funny, lovable, kind and fiercely protective over those they call family. It is feel good books with feel good characters in a hot as sin story and afterwards I just feel this calm happiness in my chest.

This book is no different. Luce is wonderful, funny, sarcastic and insanely observant and at sometimes, obnoxious. But he is easy to love and if he was a real person, I would totally have a crush on him. Evan, however, I did not feel for at all. I mean, nothing! I found her a meek and lamblike kind of character, that just took it all a little too easy. I missed some feelings. Some hard , punch in the heart, angst feelings that put some depth to her character and the story it self’s. Since that had such a big part of it.

But still, this is a really good book. I loved how they ventured out of Navesink Bank. Normally all the books is in that city. Nothing wrong about that. But I just liked that for this story, they actually left the city. And not only that. They actually left the whole country. That was cool and really put a nice touch to the story overall.

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense

The Fixer – Jessica Gadziala

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34942302.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: AVEN- There are a few things I don’t believe in. Like santa. An honest politician. And gut instincts. That was, of course, until I woke up with one. And I knew. This was the day I was going to die. The cops, thus far, have proven useless and uninterested in my issues. When you couldn’t get help from legal channels, what other choice did you have but to look elsewhere? That was how I came across Quinton Baird. A “fixer.” Whatever the hell that was. All I knew was, I had a problem that needed fixing. Hopefully, before it killed me.

QUIN- There were a few things I could put my faith to rest in. My team. People f*cking up, and needing my help. And my gut. So when my receptionist informed me that the woman in a case I decided wasn’t my kind of job was having a ‘gut feeling’ about being in desperate need of help, yeah, I dragged my a** across town to check things out.
Not only did I not bank on the fact that she was in trouble beyond what I could have anticipated, but she was not what I was expecting either. Beautiful, resilient, and one hell of a distraction I didn’t need. As the pieces of her case start falling together, I was left wondering if maybe this new, unfamiliar sensation in my gut was telling me that Aven was much more than just another name on a case file…

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My thoughts: What a cute story. Warm and fuzzy with a little suspense and angst. I felt I needed a break from the big chunk of book I currently reading and this was exactly what I needed. It is a nice story with a lot of nice characters in a new branch of the Navesink Bank universe. I pretty much knows what to expect from Gadziala so it always feels safe to read her books. They are not that long, I can easily read her books in one day, and I get pretty much everything I seek.

For you who are new to my blog, Jessica Gadziala is one of my favorite authors. She writes several series that intervene with each other throughout this fictive city, called Navesink Bank. Each series is about a different branch in the city. For an example, we got the MC club, the government hating military group, the hackers, the investigator, the loan sharks and now the fixers. This is the first book in her new series “The professionals”, who fix things. We meet Quin, who is the owner of this establishment of men and women. Then we meet Aven who are in trouble. No trouble of her own making but trouble still the same. She have tried the legal way to solve it but receives no help from the police and when the situation takes a turn for the worse, she turns to Quins team for help. With no money, no friends and no family her situation feels hopeless but Aven refuses to give up and does everything she can, to survive.

It is a really a nice story with a lot of new characters in the Navesink Bank universe. The side characters in this book, plays a big part, which is unusual for Gadziala. Normally the side characters are there and around but never so much involved like in this book and I really like it. That gives me some time to tie some feelings with them and now I can hardly wait to get my hands on their own books. But only Gunners book is written so far, so right not that is not as easy. Anyhow, good story, great characters and in the same Gadziala spirit as always. The only thing I didn’t like with the book is that I feel that Avens problem got solved a little too easy and quick. It went a little too fast and the suspense had no real time to build until it was gone and done. Which gave me an anticlimactic feeling. I would have wanted a little more.

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Slow Burn – Julie Garwood

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107771| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Every fire begins with a little heat–and in Slow Burn, bestselling author Julie Garwood provides the spark, skillfully blending pulse-pounding action, intense emotion, and characters with grit and heart. The result is an electrifying novel of romantic suspense that will have readers burning through the pages.

An unpretentious beauty who radiates kindness, Kate MacKenna doesn’t have a bad bone in her body–or an enemy in the world. So why are bombs igniting everywhere she goes? The first explosion brings her face-to-face with a handsome Charleston police detective. The second sends her into the arms of her best friend’s brother–a Boston cop who’s a little too reckless and way too charming for comfort. But Dylan Buchanan won’t let emotion prevent him from doing his job: Someone is trying to kill Kate, and Dylan is the only one standing between her and the monster who wants her dead.

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My thoughts: Sometime you seek that kind of book, that gives you a feeling of comfort. That makes you want to settle down on the couch, in bed or in that favorite reading chair. With the biggest blanket (that you bought just to have when you read) with a big cup of beverage of your choice, and just stay there. The world outside does not exist and it is just you and your new friends. And for those brief moments, it all feels okay. Well, this is one of those books for me. And I hadn’t really expect anything less since this is Julie Garwood. I know what to expect and I’m so happy that I got it. It was just what I needed. Garwood is an great writer in this genre and one of my favorite authors. And I always feel so good after one of her books.

Here we get to follow Kate. After her mother’s death her life is starting to crumble around her. But she is a strong woman and refuse to give up. After she almost been blown up twice, in one week, Dylan Buchanan, Kate’s best friends brother, comes to help find out what is happening. He is on leave from his work at Boston PD and since he always had strong, secret feelings for Kate, he can’t let her fend for herself. The situation is intense and fireworks is going off right from the start.

This is a “typical” romantic suspense book. You pretty much know what is going to happen. Though I do not want to call it predictable. I couldn’t early one foresee who the bad guy was in this book. It was easy to see why and there was no secret about the reasons, but it was not as predictable to find out who it really was. It was awesome.

It is a great book. Just what I needed. There is great characters, great development, great story and plot and the way it is unfolding feels real and suitable. There is never any cliffhangers and sometime you get to meet characters that have had bigger parts earlier in the series. Mostly I would say that you can read it as an stand alone. But if you are as OCD as me, I do not recommend it.

Everyday things

Why does that make me less of a reader?

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IMG_1591I was watching one of Peters (Peter likes books) videos on Youtube and he briefly talked about all the negativity a public reviewer get and specially when talking about audio books. And I thought I should write a post about my opinion since I have experienced some of that negativity personally from the bookish community for no other reason than that I read eBooks. I don’t write much about what format I read books in on my blog or GoodReads. I don’t feel the need to clarify if it is a physical, audio or a eBook in my reviews since that has nothing to do with the book itself. But apparently it is important when it comes to defining me as an real or a fake reader.

Some (note some, not all) people seems to thinks that a real reader are those who only read physical books and often feel them self compelled to tell everyone just that. Other thinks that if you read books (physical or not) you are a reader. That do however not include magazines, comic books or audio books (why not I wonder?). Then there are people, like me, who do not care as long as you read. Because isn’t that the most important thing in the end? Then I see arguments like “Listening is not reading”! Yeah? Says who? Okay, fine. Down to the core, listening is not technically reading since you do not “read” the words, but you still take part of a book right? And aren’t that reading then? If you are blind and “see” a movie, haven’t you seen the movie then because you listened and not seen it with your eyes?

I often get negative comments on that I read so many eBooks. I love all the formats that are available for me as a reader and I utilize them all to my own satisfaction. I will always love physical books! The feeling of them, the smell, the written word on paper, but I do mostly read eBooks. I could be full of myself and say that I read eBooks because I want to save the environment and all that blah, blah, blah. But no, I’m a lot more selfish than that. I’m stingy! English eBooks are often a lot more cheaper than the physical book, and I read mostly eBooks because I read 100+ books a year and do not have the money to buy them nor the room to store them all. And I do not see any fault in that. I don’t think I’m any less of a reader than you because of it. And I love audio books. It makes me able to take part in books, while working and earning my pay check so that I can buy all those books I read. How wonderful isn’t that?

So, to be mean and judgmental is something I don’t feel belong in the bookish community. Books should unites us and learn us that we do not have to think the same about everything. That we all should be able to accept and discuss the books we read without personal attacks just because you can’t change another person’s opinion. And I think we should be happy that the all the options are there and that it makes it easier for people to take part in the literate world. With all the social medias like Facebook and what not I think it is easy to get shallow and forget that there is more. In my humble opinion, books bring us back to earth.

What are your thoughts about the topic?

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense · War/Military

Midnight captive – Elle Kennedy

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23398610.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Former CIA agent Bailey Jones has spent months trying to forget her night of passion with mercenary Sean Reilly. An elite and methodical assassin, she has no room in her life for a reckless, rule-breaking Irishman, and she’s vowed to steer clear of the tempting bad boy who lured her into his bed under false pretenses.

When Sean is implicated in the robbery of a Dublin bank, Bailey knows something isn’t right. So what if she can’t trust him? There’s no way Sean would end up on the wrong side of the law. In fact, he’s stuck in the middle of a dark and dirty conspiracy that could put his twin brother’s life at risk with one wrong move. And Bailey’s life too when she agrees to help.

As the stakes are raised and Bailey finds herself torn between two brothers, the fine line between danger and desire is crossed…and it’ll take more than a killer instinct to survive

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My thoughts: I thought this book was going to be a love triangle since that is the impression I got from the synopsis. So, to be honest, I have been avoiding this book because I really don’t like that kind of drama. But since I have loved pretty much every book before this one, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I just needed to get it read and done with it so that I could read the next book in the series. I just hoped it was not as a big part of the book because it is always the same thing. One girl, two guys and it is just exhausting. Well I can happy announce that this is not one of those books. There is no real love triangle and it made me so happy. This book is the 6th book in the Killer Instinct series. It is a standalone series with small stuff that twines them together. But Kennedy does a great job with recapping that if you want, you can read in which order you like. But as always, I do recommend that you read it in order.

The series is awesome and there is no difference here with this book either. I totally love Bailey and Sean who are the main characters. They are like oil and water and have a history that is not that great. Which makes them fight all the time but it never gets boring or too much of it. Sean is a little rougher around the edges than the other guys in the books and are not from the same kind of military background. He is a former IRA soldier who, with his brother, has been running their own business for the last eight years.  Bailey is a little more mysterious and you do not know that much about her. The truth will come out eventually and it is somewhat cliche, just to warn you, but still a good story.  I love it. There is sparks and fireworks in every chapter they are together in and it is freaking awesome.

I loved the story. Somewhat unusual compared to the other books and much more personal. And even a little sad. But it was perfect for these two characters. I hope it is/comes a book for Sean’s Twin brother, Oliver, to because, hot damn I need to read that one.

I do have to warn that this book ends one somewhat of a cliffhanger. Not a serious one but still.