but I had heard good this about this author so I figured I could ...
932524
I was a little skeptical over the title, but I had heard good this about this author so I figured I could give it a shot. It was a really cute story! I really enjoyed it.
4407865
Yes, I know, shame on me. I have a tendency to read the end of a mystery and then challenge myself to figure the story out from there. This author created enough twists that I had no clue how it would turn out to be the actual killer. I consider that to be the handiwork of a fabulous novelist, because I enjoyed the whole story, complete with extremely likable main characters and that lovely British accent and atmosphere. The romance was tastefully done, which surprised me because it took place in such a needfully short period of time. Other reviews have given the process of the story. I'm just including my response. I want more novels from this excellent, intelligent author.
4291817
I actually came across this author while following the page of one of my other favorite authors on facebook and decided to give her a shot since this book was free. I'm very glad I did.
472852
Better Off Without Him - This was a pretty good story, much to my suprise.  I would consider reading more of her stories.
445397
I tried this book based on the reputation of the author. As I haven't read previous works by this author I was rather confused by the story but I did find it made a moderately good read  but I haven't decided yet whether I would read any future additions. While well written I can't give it my total endorsement.
2981651
I'd heard great things about this author, AND this book, so I was curious to give it a try. It turns out that this book is science fiction, through and through. As much as I'd like to call myself a "science fiction" fan, more often than not, it's not my cup of tea. I tend to set aside more science fiction types of books than not, and after trying really hard to get into this one, I finally set it aside. (Fantasy tends to be more up my alley.)

That said, from my research, the author is well-liked, and seems to write clean, intelligent books for young readers. I still want to throw out my support for him, even though it wasn't my cup of tea. IF you enjoy science fiction books, give this book and this author a try!
2521370
I finished reading this book because once I start a book I have a hard time not hoping it develops so the further invested I get into the story, the more I feel I will at least complete at least this book by this author so I have a more complete picture of the author's style. I really love reading! This book perhaps had potential  - well I'm not sure I can really say even any of that really caught me up. At any rate this isn't an author I will be following. It could be it just is me? I actually didn't read reviews ahead of time, which I usually do. In this case I'd finished reading a book I found excellent and this popped up as a recommendation from that. Not sure how - the writing style etc doesn't jive at all.
4838177
I love this author so I decided to try this book out.  Good story. A little predictability and a little long winded but still an enjoyable read.
2087967
I've always been envious of people who can write stories out of their own imagination.  As much as I enjoy reading books, I can't write them.  I so enjoy being able to read good books.  This book was one.  It was a mystery, light reading, & believable.  I'd like to visit Ravenwood, but without any crime going on.  Sounds like a nice town to live in.  For now, I want to find another book by this author to read.  She writes a good, clean , entertaining book, & I anticipate the next book of hers I read will be too.
1499650
To my knowledge this is one of the authors first books  (it was not the first one I read by her though) - and thank goodness she kept listening to the little voice in her head! Keep listening!
4493576
I decided to read this on a whim and it was pretty good. I will try more from this author.
4024410
I was nearly put off by the poor reviews, but this is still a good read in the Author's distinctive style.
2986019
I have not as yet read this book, but I have read several of the authors other books and found them to be good books.
399071
I had never previously heard of this author- at least I don't think I have.  I'm trying to even recall how I managed to find the book in the first place - maybe because it showed up somewhere as a good deal?  somehow others who had purchased a book that I was looking at had bought this one too? Anyways, I'm not really sure of the details about how I managed to come across Monster.  But I can tell you why I bought a book from an unknown-to-me author:  it was priced at $.99.
One of the biggest problems I find is passing up books that are discounted so much.  Let's face it, I walk out of a store and wonder what on earth did I manage to spend $100 so I'm pretty good at clicking 'buy now' when I find a book that I'd at least give a chance.

Anyways, I wasn't sure what I was going to expect from this book since it was- dare I say it- cheap.  I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed it as much as I did.  Don't get me wrong, there were PLENTY of times that I wanted to just shake the hell out of Cassidy.  Her often long-winded tuning out (cause she started thinking) left her often without having a clue what was going on.  She was presented with an opportunity to actually try to learn more about the world which she's a part of, but was so often on the outskirts of.  Instead, she goes into mental angst and instant meltdown around two men.  It would have been nice to learn a bit more, I guess.

Will I read the next in the series?  Yes.  The author has created an interesting world that I would really like to know more about.  I want to see where the series is going.  And I hope that I don't have to wait forever to read the next one.  (And if I'm honest, I'm hoping that after book two, I will fully recognize whether I truly, truly liked this world or was just enamored of something new to me.)

Would I recommend this book?  I'd only recommend to someone who likes an urban fantasy novel.  If you like a HEA, then this is not the book for you.
150257
I'd heard great things about this author but about a third of the way into the book I was starting to wonder. The book began quite slow and continued to go slow. I was having a hard time getting into the story and wondered if I should just quit and move to another one. But so many people have recommended this author, so I kept trudging on and then suddenly the book moved forward and the story accelerated. I think it might have been all the drama and the deaths and nothing going right in the first 100 pages that kept me from enjoying it. I'm so hoping that the next book moves much faster at the beginning, because I am going to give this author another chance and hope she isn't the type of author that isn't happy until she's killed off half the characters. :)

So we learn in this story that the harsher the winter, the more profuse the wildflowers are in the spring. Thus, the title.

Bethany has been gone from home for years. First chance she got, she was out of there, with no plans of ever coming back. Then she hears that her best friend is in trouble, and then her grandfather gets ill. She choses to go home for a couple of days and then returns to her big city job. But then she loses her job and her grandfather and returns to the town she grew to despise. She has to learn to deal with her mother and with the fact that her grandfather split the farm up, the majority going to Bethany and a small part of it going to Evan, the man who ran the farm for him the last five years. When Bethany shows a desire to sell, Evan gets upset with her lack of respect to her grandfather and why he might have split the property up.

Then she spends time with her best friend who has lost her husband, Evan's brother, Micah. They get thrown together a lot and have to deal with a lot of things. But in the end, Bethany makes some discoveries about the things that she has believed most of her life and the reality of them.
4081758
I preferred the other stories by this author, but it's a good read, enough to keep me interested in seeing what more comes up.
1858354
I learned to love the characters and just when I thought I knew was coming, the author would surprise me.