Enjoyable characters, but plot stumbles toward the end
936575
I picked up Collateral Damage because the story is based in Sarasota, Florida, one of my favorite vacation towns. It is an enjoyable read with leading characters that you really like. Matt Royal is good hero for anyone who has dreamed about leaving the business world behind and living every day as an adventure.  And the plot line of some mysterious force knocking off the children of Vietnam Special Forces vets who were involved in a controversial action is good with nice twists.

  But I'm sad to report the author seemed to be unsure how to end the story.  He went in such implausible directions that I found myself audibly groaning. I say sad because this is a good read and I highly recommend the book if you don't mind things coming a bit unraveled at the end.
3687460
Karla and her family have sold their home and move to a larger town.  Immediately, Karla falls into a new group of friends, ones who do not necessarily have her best interests at heart.

I was a bit annoyed with how the author ended the book.  She built up the story towards a specific event and then abruptly ended the book at a dramatic moment.  Although the character development was well-done, the plot was slow and dragging.  At the most interesting part of the book, it abruptly ends, leaving the reader frustrated and annoyed.
3664075
Interesting main and supporting characters and a nicely plotted storyline, that did not rely too heavily on sex. The reader is given a chance to watch and enjoy this developing romance, without the MCs jumping each other's bones at slightest provocation.  While, the relationship does become sexually explicit, that does not occur until the last third of the book. My only problem the story is the abrupt, almost anti climatic way it closes out. The ending satisfactorily tied up all the lose ends, but the reader gets the sense that the author could not decide on a way to gracefully end this tale. The final scene comes off as cheesy and clumsy, a minor disappointment in what otherwise was a great story.
630118
I really enjoyed the first of this three book series, which is about the coming of age of a young woman, in the early 20th century, American South.  Book Two was also enjoyable but began to lose its plot, when the two sibling authors began to insert standard, folklore into their family saga.

In this last book of their family history, the two sisters that wrote about their ancestor, the "novel" element loses its plot, when historical facts and local tales are inserted into the storyline.  Some of the descriptions, specifically how the Hot Springs Hotel was used as a concentration camp in WWII, was almost verbatum from that community's history books.

Truthfully, I was quite disappointed how this last of three novels sort of petered out, rather just "stopping" the story of the authors' grandmother, and not making a more logical and skilled conclusion about this family saga.  The first, and most of the second, novels were entertaining and interesting.  Still, one does want to find out how the heroine comes through her life, in the modernizing times of the Deep South.  This third novel, I'm afraid to say, was a deep disappointment.
506526
I loved the first 3/4 of this novel. The characters were interesting and well-developed, there was a gentle undertone of humor, and the author very ably used specific detail to add depth to the book. The last 1/4 of the book seemed to me to fall into farce and was less enchanting. However, I will read another of Hassler's Staggerford novels because the man can write and I would like to see how he handles the next novel in this series.
4187230
The concept is unique and 'Thought Thieves' and 'Boots' the perfect names for these characters. While the protagonist, Joe, is well defined, I found myself trying to recall who some of the minor characters were when they became more important to the plot later; more frequent mention of them would have helped. I like this author's writing, but found the pacing uneven, and the constant flashbacks to various past events were confusing at first and made the plot somewhat disjointed. The ending was also very predictable. Mostly, though, I liked the book. Too many current 'authors' really can't write. This one can. The best sections of the narrative were the scenarios of Joe's childhood. The writing seemed more even in those sections.
416083
I enjoyed the characters, all well-developed and unique. There is an underlying cause for the and their actions. I liked the story very much but am a little disappointed by the ending, a lead in for the next book.
4292918
I liked the middle and end of the book. The beginning seemed to focus on quite a few details that could have been handled in 1-2 chapters. I would have also liked more finality as far as where the characters go from there. The end included a nominal character that barely showed up throughout the book. The characters also seemed to have very extreme behaviors from abuse to submission that weren't really built up. Overall, a fun and enjoyable read
593389
I chose this book after it was suggested to me by a friend, as a good read. In some ways, the storyline is intriguing. The MC was entertaining in his own way, and the side characters Yimt and his dwarf friend were extremely fun to read along with. And who can forget a drunk pelican? :)

However, near the middle, the circumstances became slightly confusing, and the hinted-at romance never came to fruition, or at least some sort of recognition. It mostly faded away. My biggest irritation was two-fold; the end with the Star and the choice the MC makes. And, I was annoyed that the last few chapters--to me--read as if the author was setting up for the second book. Do that in the epilogue, and give me all the action and climax in the chapters themselves.
3121635
I really like most of Mary Balogh's books. Her characters are varied and interesting, their emotions and choices complex, and the working out of whatever plot conflicts and dangers are dependably welldone. This book, however, simply meandered to an end. The two leads started off with a lot of possibility, especially Agnes, but they seemed more to fall into relationship without very much reason offered for why they did. And when Velma,the villainess of the piece, tried to turn Agnes against her new husband, Florian and Agnes had little difficulty remaining married, again with little reason shown. I'd expected Velma to show up again before the end of the book, ready to make more and worse trouble, but that was it, she never reappeared, and the scandal she tried to stir up just petered out somehow. It was just all too easy, and I never felt much connection with Florian, despite the excellent setup Balogh gave his character and his past tragedies. At one point early in the book, Agnes describes Florian as a man who hides behind a mask of indifference and she wonders what it would be like to delve deeper and deeper until she uncovered the man himself. I wish this book had taken us there with her, rather than presenting us with a fait accompli, as if they'd somehow discovered the truth of one another and built a relationship without our noticing.
2343756
I enjoyed the set-up in this novel, but was a little disappointed in the execution.  The characters were not as deeply drawn as I would have liked, and sometimes seemed to act a little inconsistently.  Also, I am a sucker for a happy ending, and this book had a somewhat lackluster finish- in fact, I read it on an e-reader, and was a little surprised when I reached the end- I expected a little more wrap-up than I got.  That said, I did find the book worth reading, and would feel comfortable handing it to my pre-teen daughter, who also loves fantasy and fable-style books.
4910831
Aurelia is a pictish princess. (If there is such a thing), when a mystic prophecy causes her to awaken in the future, she falls in love with the owner of her castle even though she believes him to be the man who killed her brother.  Baird Beauforte (terribly name), is opening a hotel bed and breakfast, and during renovations stumbles across Aurelia's crypt. When he wakens her with a kiss, she becomes his guest at the castle.
Despite myself, I liked this book, at least the first part. Aurelia was an endearing character despite the phoney new-age mystic fluff added to pad the plot. I particularly enjoyed her 'exploration' of the outside world, and the character of Julian.
Things I didn't like? Aurelia's age isn't mentioned anywhere in the plot. I have difficulty getting into romances if I don't know the basics of the main characters. Also, I liked the character of Marissa. I wished she and Aurelia could have been friends rather than fighting over Baird. Number 1 peeve: Baird! This character had zero personality, and the romance between him and Aurelia was unbelievable. Aurelia was too immature and naive for me to consider the romance with a modern man credible (or satisfying). Finally: Julian. The romance between him and Marissa seemed an afterthought. The author would've given SOME indication these characters were attracted to each other early on.
Started off 4 stars, but ended up being merely an average novel with some good points.
4530864
I enjoyed this book,as a pleasant witchy/ mage/ non-fiction lighthearted read, right up until the ending.  The main character is a little darker, complicated and yet quite endearing vs your standard 'beach read' heroine.  I enjoyed viewing events from her perspective.
However, unlike the first book in the series, which was a complete story in one book, this book ends abruptly in the middle of the story, during an important scene.  Indeed, it was the climactic scene to which the entire book was leading towards.  It feels as though the author is deliberately trying to force us to buy the next book.  Not impressed.  Otherwise I would have offered a 3 or 4 star.  Decent book in the genre.  More spelling mistakes and sloppier sentence structure than the first book, but the pace and storyline were moving along at a good clip (until the abrupt and ill timed ending).
56242
The best part of "Last One Down" is the characters.  I haven't read any of the authors' other Sharyn Howard books, but it's clear that the continuing personal stories are a good reason to read the entire series.  However the plot twists in this one were minor variations on the standard "We're all marooned here and one of us is a killer" plot done decades ago in Agatha Christie's "10 Little Indians" and many times since.  It's a good plot, worth repeating with new variations, but I found these plot turns to be easy to anticipate.

And despite my praise of the characters, some of the dialog was both repetitive and unnecessary - surely we readers can figure out the obvious comparisons between Sharyn and Nick's relationship with Ernie's problems without all the 'teasing' comments?

I don't think I want to spend 20% of my small Kindle budget on another from this series - but I WILL check to see if my local library system has any.
2670984
I really enjoyed Dearly, Departed, and thus, I was looking forward to the next book in the trilogy, Dearly, Beloved. The second book is an entertaining read, but it didn't quite live up to the standard set by Dearly, Departed.

It's still a very intriguing world that Lia Habel has built (a zombie virus overtaking a future society that's reverted to Victorian mores), but Dearly, Beloved suffers from what I think of as second book syndrome. I often find that the second book in a trilogy can be dicey. Things have to happen, but nothing can be resolved, because something has to be reserved for the final book. A lot of things happen plot-wise in Dearly, Beloved, but it all felt a bit disjointed, and I'm not really sure where the story goes from here.

One issue that I had is the multiple narrators. Habel also used this technique in the first book, but I felt it worked better then, because although there were five different narrators, the majority of the chapters were narrated by the two main characters, Bram and Nora. In Dearly, Beloved, there are six narrators, but Bram and Nora get less narration time, and one narrator is a completely new character and another is a very unlikable character.

These complaints aside, I did enjoy Dearly, Beloved, although not quite as much as Dearly, Departed, and I will definitely be reading the final book in the trilogy when it comes out next year.
1963719
I certainly enjoyed the majority of this book, but there were some parts that really didn't work for me.  The historical fiction element was mostly very good, engaging, and fun. It was interesting following a mostly likable character through thousands of years of human history.

However the initial "main" character, Amanda James, and her story line was predominantly less interesting and compelling.  I really wasn't all that interested in her story line, and I found myself frustrated when the Cain story line was interrupted by the contemporary story line.

The interruptions to the Cain story, particularly the two visions that were unrelated to Cain, pushed the bounds of my suspension of disbelief, and I was even more frustrated by them when the Limo Driver/Savior character was never explained.  I was also upset that what happened to Cain's daughters and wife who survived him was never explained, even though it was one of the most compelling ties to the framing device.

Honestly, I would have preferred the story if the framing device of Amanda James and her fellow archaeologists was dropped and some sections of the Cain story was fleshed out a little more.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book (though this review might not seem to indicate that), but I was a little disappointed by the ending, which I felt that fell a little flat compared to what the Cain story built up.
1655891
This book starts out quick, always a good thing. What follows is a plateau of many chapters that meander through old friends, family history, financial developments and, of course, pet sitting duties -though that subject seems almost like an afterthought here. All the while clues to the mystery are sprinkled throughout. It wraps up with a strong, satisfying finish.

The center section is why this is a 4 star and not five. The story digresses from the mystery more than a little. There were several things thrown in for no apparent reason. Why was Kate at Cora's? Was there a purpose for running into Daniela at the Sea Breeze? Did she live there or did she get into the elevator with Dixie for a reason that wasn't made clear? Was Paco the person on the motorcycle seen at Levi's? Just little stuff left hanging. And to be real nitpicky, it was hard to believe the police would confuse cat scratches for evidence of defensive wounds of a sexual attack. Especially wounds on the arms and legs of the alleged victim. Didn't understand that.

I agree with another reviewer who suggested it's time for Dixie to move on from her grief. It seems to me the character is self-aware enough to know that in her continuing state she should be working with a therapist. I'm guessing Michael and Paco would have insisted on it before now.

Some seem to feel John Clement has failed to keep his mother's tone as author but I disagree. Other than reducing the amount of pet sitting details (which, granted, is the bread and butter of this series) I feel he has seamlessly taken over and is doing a great job maintaining an enjoyable series.