Death at Ivy House - Betty Rowlands

Death at Ivy House: An utterly gripping English cozy mystery by Betty Rowlands
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five books into the Sukey Reynolds series and I'm really enjoying this scene of crime officer who spends a little too much time investigating things herself. Although unlike some amateur detectives, Sukey has a reason to be involved in the crimes that she investigates, really she shouldn't be looking into them the way that she does. Fortunately for us, the fact that she ignores that and does get involved makes for a good read.
Again with this book, we know a little bit more than Sukey and her detective boyfriend Jim do. If you haven't read any of this series, I should perhaps mention that while Sukey is romantically involved with the lead detective on most of the mysteries that she gets involved in, it isn't really with his blessing, or often even his knowledge. She does seem to have an uncanny knack for getting to the bottom of things.
This was an enjoyable read. The plot did have quite a few twists, turns and players which made me a little confused. I have to admit though, that despite having the extra knowledge to the detectives, I didn't guess who done it until it was revealed.
I'm loving this series and will be reading the next very shortly. If you're looking for a good detective story that itsn't too dark, but doesn't have that frothy rubbish that you often get with so-called 'cosy' mysteries, then this may well be one for you.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


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She's a Spitfire - Chloe Liese

She’s a Spitfire
Chloe Liese
(Tough Love #2)
Publication date: June 24th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

One fiery-haired, sexy scientist finds her perfect complement in a dark and handsome soccer star. Opposites attract, and they’ve got chemistry that’s explosive—literally.
Physics calls it entropy. Philosophy calls it Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, eventually it will. Professionally and personally speaking, Zed’s familiar with the principle. After a decade of trying to alter the atomic makeup of the mafia from its nucleus, now he’s set on leaving The Life and pursuing his heart. Problem is, the sassy, hot-headed spitfire he can’t quit is meddling in his slow burn escape plan, and turning it into full-on combustion.
Not to mention, Nairne’s got a painful history she won’t talk about and more secrets than she has lab instruments—which is really saying something. In an ideal world, the bad boy footballer would follow the brainy beauty overseas and they’d live happily ever after. But Murphy’s Law is proven true, as Zed finds his world imploding and his escape plan foiled. These enemies turned lovers end up discovering how costly it can be to meet the right person at the wrong time.
A present he can’t escape.
A past she can’t forget.
A future they won’t stop fighting for.
They say all’s fair in love…and war.
Book Two in the Tough Love Series—an enemies to lovers, suspenseful romance, full of sexy Italians, feisty heroines, globe-trotting action, and an ending that’ll both satisfy you and leave you ready for more!

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Author Bio:
Chloe’s always been a sucker for a suspenseful steamy romance, ever since she managed to find the one saucy mystery series hiding in her high school’s prim little library. Nothing drives her crazier than a story that cranks up the heat, then closes the door on the reader’s face, so don’t read her books if you don’t want to know what actually happens when the lights fade to black…
When she’s not writing, Chloe’s busy reading books of all genres, rereading Harry Potter (which she can’t help but make her characters similarly obsessed over), and playing catch-up with her bad@$$ little girls. She’s also been known to scramble around the pitch for a pick-up soccer match and run along the river while dreaming up her next book.

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My Review 

This is the second book in the Tough Love trilogy, in some cases, you can read books that form part of a series as stand-alone stories but with these books, you really need to read He's A Brute first. 

This second book picks up from more or less where the first one left off. Since they first met, the relationship between Zed and Nairne has intensified. Not physically, it was pretty intense in that way, to begin with, but their feelings have grown and the idea of being a short term partnership is clearly not going to work any more.

I'm really enjoying reading about both Zed and Nairne. I like their relationship and the way that their characters complement one another. It does appear that they might be too headstrong and stubborn to work, but if anything, that's what makes them work so well.

There's a lot for them both to deal with in this book. I did wonder if it would leave anything for book three, although something that happened towards the end of this book set that up. I do like the way that Nairne's disability is portrayed and the way that she copes with it.

I'm interested to see what will happen next for this couple. I think they deserve their happily ever after, that I assume they are going to get.

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The Tracker - Leslie Georgeson

The Tracker by Leslie Georgeson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've changed my mind about five times about how many stars to give this book. The storyline kept me gripped and I really liked the characters. That would usually result in a good four stars, but, unfortunately, this time, there were a few things that stopped me from giving it.
As I started by saying, the storyline was certainly gripping and I was keen to know how it was going to play out. Set in what I assume is a future dystopia, this book has elements of sci-fi and the paranormal. The 'Dregs' are ex-soldiers who were engineered and experimented on in order to make them the ultimate soldiers, before being discarded once injured. They had been supposed to be killed, but escaped instead and are now on the run. This worked really well and all of the Dregs have something about them, which makes you want them to win through and get their freedom and happiness. The female lead, Jessica, is also interesting and likeable. She is a little too willing to fall into the cooking and cleaning for her man role, but she has something about her that makes her really quite likeable.
Unfortunately, where this book falls down a bit for me, is in the actual writing. On the whole, it isn't bad, but far too often there is too much telling and not nearly enough showing. Just a little more action, rather than telling us what people were feeling or thinking would have made the world of difference to the storyline. The other problem, which links to this in a way, was the repetition. Quite often we would be told what someone was worrying about, only to be told three, four and sometimes even more times, the same thing, just using different words. Some repetition helps to reinforce what the writer is trying to show us, but over and over again is unnecessary.
I did enjoy this book and feel a bit mean that I'm being quite critical, but sometimes a good book that has something small that detracts is much worse than a book that is awful from start to finish. I would be keen to read the other books in the series. Partly in the hope that the writing improves, but also because I do want to know what will happen to the other characters.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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He's a Brute - Chloe Liese

He's a Brute by Chloe Liese
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, you shouldn't expect a certain kind of book based on the cover. But, I have to admit, that with this one, I did. I was wrong but pleasantly wrong. What I expected was a light-hearted, almost rom-com style of read, before I got into this. Now I have to admit that on the whole, I prefer something a little meatier to that, although I don't mind them from time to time. As it was, I got something a with a whole lot more going for it than I expected with He's a Brute.
This is a trilogy, so much of this book sets up what I assume will be the ongoing story for the next two books. Even so, I don't want to give too much away, there were a couple of things that were revealed, fairly early on, that I didn't really see coming, so I'll keep quiet on those.
Although Nairne is quite dominating and feisty herself, her relationship with Zed, on a sexual level at least is with him being the dominant partner. I'm not always into these dynamics, but I actually enjoyed this one. It didn't seem overdone or something that was introduced just because every flipping erotic romance seems to have the same kind of kink in it at the moment.
Nairne is supposed to be Scottish, I say supposed to be as there were a couple of glaring errors that stood out to me and threw me out of the story momentarily. Firstly that she is forever drinking Scotch whiskEy. This isn't a spelling difference, it's always whisky when from Scotland. Also, at one point Zed puts something in the bonnet of his car. This part is told from Narine's point of view and while I'm sure that she would use the UK terms rather than trunk and hood, the bonnet of the car is the front, while the bit at the back that you store things in is called the boot. Of course, these things don't really matter and there are probably 101 things that were right it's the little things that stand out. It didn't ruin the story at all though, just irritated me for a minute or two.
As I mentioned before, this book is number one in a trilogy. I'm not sure where it's going to go next, but I do have book two ready to go and find out. I'll be getting straight into that one. Either way, I'd recommend you get stuck into book one right away and follow Zed and Nairne's story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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After Gardens - Katherine Coldiron

About the Book

Title: After Gardens Author: Katharine Coldiron Genre: Women’s Fiction Maya, a weekend at a hot springs with her boisterous friend Rhondey is just what she needs to move forward after her divorce. For Rhondey, it's an opportunity to help Maya cut loose a little, shed some of her inhibitions. Maya doesn't see the need to shed anything, and she's not looking for a teacher. But the more Maya clings to her privacy, the more difficult it is for her to recognize her true teachers...and the right moment to step free.  

Author Bio

Katharine Coldiron’s work has appeared in Ms., the Times Literary Supplement, the Rumpus, the Manifest-Station, horoscope.com, and many other places. Find Katharine at kcoldiron.com or on Twitter @ferrifrigida.  

Links

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My Review

This is really a short story, rather than a novella. It could quite easily be read in one sitting very easily. After Gardens tells the story of a visit to a spa, yoga and meditation retreat by two friends, Rhondey and Maya. I have to admit that I kept reading Rhondey as Rodney and when a character got introduced with that name too, it was rather confusing. Especially as there were only really half a dozen names mentioned in the course of the story, so having two so similar was a little odd.

Overall the story is easy to read and for its length fairly enjoyable. I did find both of the lead characters a little annoying. They seemed to have all kinds of hang-ups and really needed to get a grip. 

Through the Night - Tamsen Schultz

Through The Night by Tamsen Schultz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm always a little wary of starting a series midway through and this is book seven on the Windsor Series. Fortunately, with this book, it really didn't matter. There are characters that I assume have appeared in previous books, but as someone coming to this fresh, I wasn't lost or confused as to who was who or what was going on. I'm not sure if there is a running story through these books, the epilogue suggested that perhaps there were events that might be dealt with in a later book, but I don't know. In any case, most of the characters are involved in some way in FBI investigations and it seems to be this that holds the series together as a whole.
In many ways, this is a bit of an unusual story. On the one hand, it is a thriller/investigation type of book. As I previously mentioned, most of the characters are involved in the FBI in some ways. Our lead female is a computer genius who consults for them. There is, however, also a strong romantic part to the storyline. With our female lead, Naomi, meeting the male lead, Jay at a bar towards the beginning of the book. As the storyline plays out, their relationship develops too. That's not to say that it's full of sex scenes or the like that romance books tend to have, but it is a key element to the storyline. Overall, the investigation does take the lead role, so I would suggest that this is a thriller with a romantic element, rather than romantic suspense.
I don't want to give anything away about what happens, particularly with the mystery element to the storyline. I will say that I liked both of their lead characters and their relationship. I also enjoyed the investigation and thriller side of the story. It was quite a fast-paced read, which is always something that I enjoy. This was a good read.
I'd be quite keen to go back and read more in this series. I don't think that it will matter too much what order I read them in, but I am planning on reading a few more of the Windsor Series once I get chance. If you are looking for an exciting read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, with a little bit of romance thrown in, then I honestly don't think that you will go far wrong here.

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Flash Point - Shelli Stevens

Flash Point by Shelli Stevens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read the other books in this series, but fortunately, that didn't matter. This is quite a sweet little romance and I really enjoyed reading it. It is quite a quick read and was exactly what I was in the mood for.
The main characters, Todd and Kate are the kind of couple, or rather couple to be, that you often meet in this kind of romance books. Todd is a player, jumping from bed to bed while Kate, who has had a crush on him for years, has no sexual experience whatsoever. Although I enjoyed this story and the characters in it, I am beginning to struggle a bit with all of these virgins that need a man with heaps of experience to awaken them to the world of sex. It's not that that I mind so much, although I'd rather a few less innocent women in romance novels personally, it's the way people treat them. Lots of I'd have done things differently if I'd known. It might just be me, but I just find it quite patronising and annoying. I'd also like to see more couples with a similar level of experience, I know that this is probably down to society and the way that we view men and women, but do we always need the super experienced man and the pure as the driven snow woman?
This was an enjoyable read and I did like both of the main characters and was hoping that they would get their HEA. It was just the kind quick read that I was in the mood for right now.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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