Good, but write a sequel!
938670
When she finishes the book, she's finally become pregnant. She wishes it to be a little girl, because she feels that a little boy would be cold to her. She did end up having a little boy. I would like to see how this has worked with her career, her time at Caesar's Palace, and her fathers death. Many of the stories in her book are very touching, but she tends to be on the melodramatic side more times then not. I have to agree with the reviewer who wrote that it was disturbing to read about her ideas of seducing Rene Angelil when she was 14. Rene and Celine have a beautiful love story, but at 14 that would be wrong, and it feels invading to read it. She does come across as a diva in many points, but all of these shortcomings are minor compared to the wonderful story she writes.
3050577
Not bad, almost as good as the first, but some stuff that bothered me in the first novel bothered me even more here.  They are:
Size of the world:  Honestly, it feels like the world is as big as New York and not an inch more.  People keeps bumping into each others while traveling, it's insane!  They travel from one nation to the next constantly like it's only a couple of hours apart.  In one scene, the leader of the cat people is on one side of it's territory, waving goodbye to our heroes, the next he is on the other side talking with the wolf people!(sorry, forgot the name of the 2 races)  And there is the  Grol army that lift their siege of the forest and catch up to the heroes, which are in another desertic region completely(and once again, knowing exactly where they are in the desert... must be a pretty small desert), in less time it takes to turn a page..  That kind of turned me off I must say.

Time: Probably related to the first problem, there is almost no time reference, I'm not even sure the time span that the book covered, everything seemed to have happened in a couple of days.

As for the story itself, it's good.  A nice entertaining story that reads easilly just as the first book, fight scenes are good, and the point of view don't change as much as in the first book, which is a good thing.

*small spoiler*  The twist at the end made me make a *sigh* though, because once more, a character "bumps" into another group.  I mean, what are the odds everyone keeps bumping into everyone on this world?  Unless it's the size of a suburb :-/

3 stars because of the world size issue, would have been 4 stars had it not been such a huge(no pun intended) problem.
4693370
I really liked this book, my first from this author.  It seems that the books I find the least interesting in a batch end up being the best.  The characters in this one were really well developed, and their lives and experiences seemed real and they acted consistently.  The plot was interesting.  The writing was really good, and I only noticed one mistake, a missing apostrophe.  Only one error is a real rarity these days!  The ending and epilogue were a tiny bit sudden and slightly unfulfilling, but they worked in spite of that.  I guess partly, I wasn't ready for the book to be over!  I also wanted more, a sequel, to learn about their current personal and professional lives.  I will definitely reread this one.  The word that kept going through my head as I was reading was "magic", when a book just WORKS.  All through the book, I kept praying that the magic wouldn't end.  Unfortunately, the ending took away a little bit of that magic feeling, but it still was a really good book.

I got a free ebook from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for an honest review.
2143210
This was a really good book! Was bummed to not see a sequel to it.
4638790
I enjoyed reading this book. It was a nice diversion, although I didn't love it quite as much as the first. To be fair, the first book introduced us to an all-new universe, and the second one had to do a lot to avoid just being a follow-on. Scott Meyer came up with some interesting plot twists to throw into this one (Atlantis, the Brits), but at the end of the day, it didn't feel all-new so much as a slight rehash of Book 1. It almost felt like Meyer didn't have enough material for another book.

With that said, I enjoyed reading about the continued adventures of Martin, Phillip, and Gwen. I just hoped that there would be slightly more meat to them than the relatively straightforward assassin plot. I mean, what's the point in repeatedly trying to kill people who can't be killed?

The one thing that didn't really make sense to me was the side plot woven in through the whole story. I assumed that either it would integrate into the main plot or else the book would end on a cliffhanger, making way for a sequel, but instead the author wrapped up that plot quite neatly in just a few pages.

Overall, fans of the first book will probably enjoy this one, but I've definitely read better.
1064058
Why do good authors have to write bigger and more padded books, after their first books gave them a reputation?
I guess they then have some power against editors who want to trim-- as the readers does.
Do not misunderstand: This book is good, and the first half is even excellent. But the second part a little bloated, so I skipped quite a bit there.
The author's first book-- Harry's Game-- was approx 290 pages. This one is 50+% longer, and I can't see why it should be. Many of the descriptions are unnecessary, and as the book progresses, many of the details are superfluous.
Which ones to cut? A good editor should have been able to make suggestions.
As for the characters, I agree with some other reviewers that the romantic angle is undeveloped. I won't say more so as not to be a spoiler; but the character development of both main protagonists could have been made less jumpy and thus melodramatic.
But all in all, the book (skipping and all) reads very well, and many of the minor characers comem out well.
I am going to look now for other books by the same author, and see if other books of his came up to Harry's Game.
Four stars.
4370753
I thought that it was a wonderful idea to write a sequel to the original "Count of Monte Cristo" book.  This new book is written by a different author, so the style is different from the original book, but that does nothing to detract from the interest and sense of adventure in this sequel.  One thing that the author does especially well is transition between the different personalities that the Count of Monte Cristo has developed.  He seems to completely become another person in different scenes of the book, which takes a lot of work by the author to create so many different characters who still have a common tie.  The only thing that bothered me were some grammatical and spelling errors here and there.  It made me pause in my reading, so the book didn't flow as easily as it otherwise could.  Probably many people won't even notice these.  For me, though, I'm especially sensitive to things like that, and it can be distracting when reading a book.  If not for that, this would be a 5 star book.  But even though I found the grammar errors, I DEFINITELY would recommend reading this book and its sequels.  You don't even have to have read the original "Count of Monte Cristo," although it could be helpful.
3012264
This was a very good sequel.  I commend the author on the development of characters that were loveable.  There was an excellent balance of romance, suspense and action.  There was growth in Ella as the story developed.  She matured and grew stronger.  Porter also grew and showed a softer side, that by no means made him appear weak.

I do feel the ending was rushed.  I wanted less in order to get more.  An example was the lunch with Porter's mother, and the long picnic.  The letters, though cute and original were too long.  I cannot say that I read them completely.  I wanted to focus on the "how" of the villain, instead.  I also found editing issues with this book as well.  Once again, a one star cool point for my pet peeve.  They were not distracting, just annoying.

I would like to see a short story 2.5 sequel.  There is more to tell.  Give us a wedding and a baby, or something.  Tell us about post-traumatic stress disorder recovery.  Tell us how and why the villain accomplished the deed.  Please don't leave me wondering and wanting.  Deliver the shooter from the first book up for justice.  This was a serious crime, that deserved resolution.

The author has talent, and I will purchase her work again.  The English major in me says get a better editor.  I prefer error-free work.  Just sayin...
4125095
It's a good book. But...
Did they all die?
Does the author plan to write a 2nd book?
1560126
I really enjoyed this book, I hope they write a sequel.
4021654
It was an enjoyable read. The author's characterizations are well written and believable. The ending was a bit abrupt, however. Guess we need to read book number two!
618239
I also read the 1st in this series and enjoyed both. I like the writing and the characters. I have been disappointed in the endings in both books. I feel they are "rushed" not enough development. The second book could have done without one love scene and added more to the ending scene. The characters are interesting, and the plots are good. I'll probably read the whole series, only because of the characters.
2266523
It was a good story, well written. I'm not a huge fan of books that do not really end. I feel it's because the author wants to make you buy the sequel. They leave you hanging just to sell more books.
23249
This is a well-written book, although there is a lot of material it didn't touch on. It needs a companion book or "sequel" of sorts.
2186757
Good windup, left the door open to another sequel, characters you care about, but you need to read the books in order!!!
907100
This is a great book! It is a fun twist of a few different fairie tales and Greek myths. The only problem I have with it is highly how it ends. It's not exactly a cliff hanger ending but the ending leaves SO many questions unanswered. I searched to see if the there was a sequel written or being written and as far as I can tell, the author, whose other books I also love, has a sequel in mind but because of the publisher's uncertainty as whether it'd be worth it, the sequel may never be written. So my question is, what needs to be done to make it is so the sequel can be written and published? From the many reviews I've seen, there would be hundreds of people willing to buy it right up including myself!
226547
I think this is a very well written sequel to My Sweet Audrina, which in some ways I still do believe should have stayed a stand alone novel.  If you haven't read it, spoilers ahead.

First all, it shouldn't of just dumped "Papa's" death on you. It should have started with his being sick, maybe in the later stages. This brings me to point two. They should have given some background onto Sylvia and her father's relationship having sincerely improved as she grew. Three, Arden had never been such a jerk, why such a sudden change in behavior?

Is was still good, but not quite what I was expecting.