Not My Favorite Jingo
925061
Purchased this to use with seniors in an assisted living setting. We love the more serious Jingos (presidents, geography, etc). I knew this one would be geared more towards kids, but wow, is it simplified! Squares in "door" and "clothes". They pushed the envelope on clues with this one.  I put a silly spin on it and we had some fun with it, but I doubt we'll be using it much.
4147518
Well, it had to happen sooner or later, Chuck wrote a book that I don't like. Palahniuk is a great writer, and Ive enjoyed his unique perspective on everything Ive read of his, but this one fell flat. I don't mind the setting or the theme, although this one does feel less clever and a little more grungy. Its just that the story didn't grab me, I didn't really care about the characters, and the whole thing feels kind of sad. Not really the kind of clever humor I usually find in a Palahniuk story, although he clearly had a good time coming up with adult movie titles, and while I will still eagerly await his next book, I won't keep this one in my collection.
3122482
I had previously read a detailed bio of the Mitford family and found them fascinating, and I like the Edwardian through WWII era generally, so I thought I would enjoy some of Nancy's fiction.  I enjoyed it mostly from a standpoint of seeing the real Mitfords converted to fiction, and seeing their daily life portrayed in a story.  However, the "Linda" character, which seems to be a composite of Nancy herself and at least one of her sisters, not only doesn't have the greatest judgment but seems downright stupid, silly and socially clumsy at times, and not in a humorous or self-mocking way, just in a way that is painful to have to focus on for the whole book.  Several of the other sisters were far more interesting than Linda. The comparison to Jane Austen doesn't work for me because Austen's heroines seemed much more intelligent.  I'm also not sure about the device of having a relative outsider, cousin Fanny, narrating the story.  It provides a slightly more personal touch than just telling the story in the third person, but Fanny is pretty dull.  Overall this book was like the frothy whip on top of a frappe - pretty looking and a little bit interesting, but not much there.
4572976
I did not care hugely for this story,  I did not like the heroine, what an awful little girl she was, not that the fellow was much better. But that is not really why I did not enjoy this read, the whole ton thing and debutantes finding husbands was boring. The historical aspect of it was written from a modern person's perspective as if they were somehow thrown back in the past, and I am by no means a stickler for historical accuracy, this is fluff romance after all, but it did not work for me, it was mostly annoying. I don't mind a tomboyish, independent heroine, but sometimes they can be very annoying and cliche. Overall, not one of my favorite RLM books.
3500709
I love LB like crazy but this one wasn't one of my favorites. I prefer some of his other short stories over this one.
2256285
Although she is witty and sometimes funny, I found it hard to care about what happened to Becky Bloomwood.  Her irresponsibility really bothered me and Luke didn't seem like that much of a catch.  I like happy ending stories but was still disappointed in the overall story in the end.  I most likely will not read any more of the series.  The only thing I found amusing were her analogies of shopping/fashion to everything else in life.
2501436
Out of the 3 Braddack  books this was the least interesting. The plot was unique though.  We have Craig Braddack, a widower, who had his wife's eggs frozen.  He researched for a surrogate woman to carry his babies.  The woman he chose was Bianca Warren, at least that was what she said her name was.  Craig married Bianca by proxy so that he could legally claim his children in case she decided to keep them instead of giving the babies into Craig's keeping. He was never to have any interaction with Bianca until the twins were born.  Unfortunately for him, she showed up at his house to live.  You see, Bianca volunteered to be a surrogate to start a new life and lose  her stalker. Many lies, action, not so many sex scenes, good book but not great.
2316712
I love Morgan's words but Julie's life was just too difficult and finally seemed not quite believable to me. I kept expecting some little ray of light to come into this story but it seemed every time life began to get a  little better, another tragedy struck.  In The Dollmaker there is similar  hardship but somehow Arnow's characters are more fully developed and you  feel that their strength will enable them to push on through it.  I love  Morgan's use of language but this was not a very satisfying book.
1773221
small spoilers

I knew what I was buying,  and didn't expect great art.  I just wanted something frothy to while away an hour or two. And this is a sweet enough book,  our hero is suitably stoic and sexy,  (and the sheriff,  alliteration all round!) and our heroine has a great reason for all her secrets.  It just wasn't as engaging as I had hoped.  I frankly didn't care about who cooked the books (all puns intended) and having a local mystery piled on top of the mystery of Carly herself just felt a bit belabored.

If you want a zany mystery romance,  Jenny Crusie does it better&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Agnes-and-the-Hitman/dp/B000UZQGXK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Agnes and the Hitman</a>
2044432
this isn't a bad read, but it wasn't good enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.  This was a Kindle free book, so I gave it a try.  The story didn't really work for me, I just couldn't really relate to the characters or the circumstances.  I love westerns, but this just didn't ring true for me.  Something I did like:  trying a different twist on a western, the unicorns were an interesting factor.  For me though I just couldn't empathize properly with the characters, I could never feel their motivation. I kept waiting for something colossal or noteworthy to happen, and it just didn't happen for me.
4807061
Was surprised to find that I didn't enjoy these as much as the previous installments of the Undraland series. It was too dark and maudlin for my tastes and felt drawn out. Wasn't as laugh out loud funny either and didn't leave me feeling good about anything. I read it to the end with hopes that the story line would lighten up and become what I was hoping but it was hard to keep with the story especially until she was released from the dungeon.
2373139
Putting On The Dog is the second installment of the Reigning Cats and Dogs series by Cynthia Baxter. It features Dr. Jessica Popper, a veterinarian turned amateur sleuth.

Dr. Popper stands in for a fellow vet at a charity dog show where she gets to hobnob with some of Hollywood's finest and not so finest. It's during this time that the death of a sleazy celebrity photography happens and even thought its been ruled an accident, Jessica thinks it was murder and decides to investigate .

I read the first installment and thought it was ok, but wasn't crazy about the main character. I decided to read the second in hopes that there was some improvement. Fortunately for me, I found the story this time around to be better than in the first book. Unfortunately though, the same cannot be said for Dr. Popper. I seriously have grown to dislike this woman. She is selfish, pushy, and childish. She uses her friends and seems willing to sacrifice her love life and her career all to investigate the murder of someone she didn't even know. I'm thinking the books would be much better if she wasn't in them.
4022221
As a Jayne Ann Krentz fan, I was slightly disappointed in this book.  It made me feel as if she was tentatively dipping her toes into the genre of romantic fiction, but was hesitant to go all the way.  The heroine, Selena Caldwell, needed a bit of backbone - could one really have an immediate affair with the guy who just told you your fiance is married?  I found the characters insufficiently involving to allow me to accept that, and, frankly, I didn't like York Sutherland.  Driven guys are OK, but he seemed slightly obsessive, overly arrogant, and Selena should have given him a boot up his ego several times before surrendering to his charms.  Other Stephanie James books are better - try those first.
4542441
I was really looking forward to reading this one but from the first I struggled with it. About Stephen, who is always in his cups though rarely what one would consider drunk, of the 7 brothers his is a tortured soul. Which is why he numbs himself with drink, that is until he is forced to take Brighid back to Wales. Along the way, he has to give up drinking since there aren't any ale houses in the wilds of Wales.

I just couldn't get into this one for some reason. It rather dragged actually. I couldn't quite put my finger on WHY I wasn't happy with it. I did like Stephen, he was the most sarcastic of the bunch and I thought Brighid was a great pairing for him. Still, there was something missing from the story that I can't quite put my finger on.

I read this one AFTER I read THE BRIDES OF CHRISTMAS: The Unexpected Guest, which I really liked. I won't give a review of that book until I read the other two stories. So I had high hopes for the story about Stephen but was disappointed.
3024432
As a huge fan of Margot Livesey, I was disappointed with Banishing Verona.  The storyline from Zeke's perspective was fascinating, exploring the thoughts and actions of a young man with what seemed to be OCD (although in the acknowledgements, Livesey mentions Asperger's Syndrome).  I found the storylines of Verona, Toby, Henry, and Gwen to be unappealing as the characters were too self-centered to be likeable.  The plot moved forward and backward by a few hours to days, which made it a bit hard to follow at times.
4008740
I have been a Maggody enthusiast for quite a few years and look forward to each new book. Something seemed to be missing in this one.  It had a "slapped together quickly" quality about it.  The characters were  not nearly as well drawn nor fleshed out as usual.  If I had not read all  of the previous Maggody books, this one sure would not prompt me to become  a fan of the series.  The murderer and murderee were easy to figure out  early on. I felt Joan Hess did not concentrate enough  on the quirky  characters already established in previous stories. Their endearing  pecularities were not explored as in past books.  There were many Buchanon  names bandied about, but I would have liked more description of them and  their kin.  The names are certainly unforgettable-"Idalupino" is  my all time favorite! Joan Hess has done such a good job with most of the  Maggody books, I forgive her for this one which I feel is not one of her  better efforts and still look forward to the next one.
1173394
I liked this book but didn't love it.  It was OK.  I really wanted to like it because of all the buzz this is generating but it was very difficult to get into.  All that metaphorical discussion Hazel and Gus talked about got annoying.  Too much of it.  After 150 into it, I got bored and started reading something else.  I took a break & finished it but for me it didn't get good until half way through.  All in all it wasn't my cup of tea.