Month: April 2021

Recent Reads: An Offer From A Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons 3)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

An Offer From A Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons 3) is about Benedict Bridgerton, the second son, and Sophie Beckett.  She’s the daughter of an Earl, but in a very Cinderella way, her mother died, her father married again, her stepmother brought her two daughters, and none of them like Sophie.  When her father dies, she’s treated as a servant, and is told to feel lucky.

She meets Benedict at a masquerade ball.  She recognises who he is, but doesn’t tell him who she is. They were both drawn to one another, but Sophie doesn’t feel worthy of him, and as Benedict doesn’t know who she is, he’s going to struggle to find her. 

I found some of the behaviour in this book to be questionable, but I enjoyed the ending, and I’m going to keep going with the series! 

An Offer From A Gentleman was published on 1st July 2001, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Julia Quinn on Facebook, Instagram and her website.

You can read my review for the previous Bridgertons books below:

The Duke and I – Bridgertons 1

The Viscount Who Loved Me – Bridgertons 2

Recent Reads: Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Sutanto

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Sutanto is about Meddy Chan, her mother and her aunties.  They work together in a wedding planner business, with one aunt making the cake, Meddy’s mother does the flowers, another aunt does the hair and make up, another is the entertainment, and Meddy is the photographer.  They have a big wedding coming up, and Meddy’s mother is delighted to have gotten her daughter a date with the hotel owner, where the wedding is going to happen, by posing as her online.

Meddy is obviously not that happy, especially when she sees some of the messages.  And then things go wrong on the date and he ends up dead.

This is an entertaining book, with lots of family drama, but also love.  I really enjoyed this book; it’s funny, smart, and lots of twists!

Dial A For Aunties was published on 27th April 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Jess Sutanto on Facebook, Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HQ.

Recent Reads: The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a fantasy story, set in a period setting, where The Beautiful Ones are those who are high society.  Nina is having her debut, and her cousin, and his wife, are the ones who are launching her.  But her cousin’s wife is not interested in Nina so much as what her actions reflect on her.

Nina has the power of telekinesis, and when she meets the popular entertainer, Hector, who performs for audiences around the world, she’s smitten. To be fair, she was smitten before she met him, when she only read about him.

But Hector sees her as a way of getting access to a woman he used to be involved with, and still loves.  The question is, how long can he string Nina along before she gets hurt?

I found this to be entertaining, and felt quite like a regency romance book, except the setting isn’t precisely described in a timeline. It’s an enjoyable book with light fantasy added in.

The Beautiful Ones was published on 27th April 2021, and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Silvia Moreno-Garcia on her website and Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to Quercus Books.

Recent Reads: Herbal Houseplants; Grow beautiful herbs – indoors! For flavor, fragrance, and fun by Susan Betz

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Herbal Houseplants; Grow beautiful herbs – indoors! For flavor, fragrance, and fun by Susan Betz has lots of lovely photos, and information on what kind of herbs you want to grow for certain things!

It has recipes for using the herbs that you can grow such as salad dressing and tea, making herbal topiaries and suggestions for how to dry herbs.

This is a great book if you’re interested in growing herbs at home as it has lots of information and pictures.

Herbal Houseplants was published on 27th April 2021, and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Quarto.

Recent Reads: Small Favor by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files 10)

Posted on by Pam

My review:

Small Favor has Harry Dresden doing Queen Mab a ‘small favor’, which has issues.  We meet Billy Goats Gruff, the Knights of the Cross are around, and that means that Nicodemus and the Denarians are around.

I enjoy the pace of these books.  You know that Harry is going to be running around like a mad thing, with his friends backing him up, and that he’ll save the day, but probably risking everything.

If you like urban fantasy, then I really recommend these books!  There is a growing cast of characters, that bring different things to the plot.

Small Favor was published on 1st April 2008 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Jim Butcher on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

My reviews for previous Dresden Files books are below:

Storm Front (book 1)

Fool Moon (book 2)

Grave Peril (book 3)

Summer Knight (book 4)

Death Masks (book 5)

Blood Rites (book 6)

Dead Beat (book 7)

Proven Guilty (book 8)

White Night (book 9)

Recent Reads: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush book 2)

Posted on by Pam

My review:?

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush book 2) has Nora in love with Patch, her guardian angel after she sacrificed her life for him in the last book.  Patch is still being evasive about things, and he says this is because the other angels are watching him closely.  This also means that they really shouldn’t be together.  Also, Nora’s arch enemy at high school, Marcie, is in summer school with her.

I have found the characters in both books to be troubling.  Patch has invaded Nora’s mind on multiple occasions, and now he’s not telling her what’s happening.  As a YA book, this seems like it’s showcasing unhealthy relationships as goals, and just like the star of ‘You’, Penn Badgley being unhappy with people having a crush on his character, I’m not comfortable with this series, and so I’ve decided that this is where I’m going to leave this series.

Crescendo was published on 19th October 2010.

You can follow Becca Fitzpatrick on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Recent Reads: The 6th Target by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Women’s Murder Club book 6)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The 6th Target by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro has a mixture of things happening.  There’s a shooting on a ferry boat, there’s a little girl missing, and we get to go on a ride with the Women’s Murder Club as they try to solve the murders, and the trial, that is part of each book in this series.

I enjoy the fast pace of these books, and seeing what crazy thing is going to happen next, along with seeing how the Women’s Murder Club deal with their personal lives along with the crimes they are trying to solve.

The 6th Target by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro was published on 8th May 2007, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow James Patterson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his website.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any links for Maxine Paetro for you to follow.

Women’s Murder Club books:

1st to Die   – book 1 

2nd Chance – book 2

3rd Degree – book 3

4th of July – book 4

The 5th Horseman – book 5

Recent Reads: Murder in a Country Garden by Betty Rowlands (A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 12)

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

Murder in a Country Garden by Betty Rowlands (A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 12) is very obviously a book in a long series as there are call backs to events that happened in previous books that I haven’t read, and so whilst you don’t need to have read these books in order to read this one, you do know you are missing out information.

Melissa is settling down to life with her new husband, and her mother in a newly built part of the cottage.  She’s given up her amateur sleuthing ways, or so she says.

When a local man is found dead, stung to death by his own bees, she starts to get curious, and when his widow starts to lean on Melissa, she’s keen to help.

I found this a typical cosy mystery book, but didn’t realise it was meant to be present day for quite a while into the book, with the habits of using a house phone and calling people ‘Mr ….’ and ‘Mrs…..’.  

Murder in a Country Garden was published on 8th April 2019 and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to Bookouture.

Recent Reads: Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli is an emotional journey both for a family travelling together for the last time, and for the children who are travelling to the US border, trying to make their way into the US.

The main characters are described to us either by their gender or their family role, and so we are taken on a car ride by husband, boy, girl and our point of view, the woman who is wife, mother and step mother.  The husband and wife are barely speaking to each other, and their children fill the silence.  

Meanwhile, at the border, children who have travelled a long way are being held by the border agencies.

This is a very vivid book, with emotive descriptions and has been up for several prizes.  I found this book to be strangely distant, with the lack of names of the main characters, but at the same time we’re there in their emotions, and feelings, so it’s also quite intense.  You are learning about them, but at the same time being held back from them.

Lost Children Archive was published on 12th February 2019 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Valeria Luiselli on her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HarperCollins.

Recent Reads: The Montgomery Murder by Cora Harrison

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

The Montgomery Murder by Cora Harrison is a YA crime, set in Victorian London, and feels in the vein of The Baker Street Irregulars from Sherlock Holmes books.

Alfie is the leader, and he’s the one who comes up with the plans for how they’re going to pay the rent.  When a vicious murder happens close to their home, and Alfie gets dragged into the police station, he soon strikes a deal to look into the murder, and to feed back what he finds!

This is very much a YA book, and so is a fun introduction to historical books for that young person you know!

The Montgomery Murder by Cora Harrison was published on 4th March 2019 and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

 You can follow Cora Harrison on her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Sapere Books.