Ok read by laurann Dohner
342384
It's not the best book from Laurann Dohner. It started out great, but some how 50% in it became a bit boring and just not up to the standard you would expect from Laurann Dohner
2930245
My Review:  I'm a little at a loss with how I feel about this book.  It was a very quick read (I read it in just over a day), it had a romantic tone to it and the characters were okay.  It was very ... 'vanilla ice cream' for me.  Good, kind of tasty but not something I'd really crave or go out of my way to have regularly.

It started off to a strong start with a fairly unique and romantic situation paired with quirky dialogue.  Unfortunately the quirkiness petered off quickly leaving the main characters a little lackluster and I was left with a back and forth 'will they be together or won't they?' as they attempt to stay in contact in a very quaint and romantic way.

While this was a quick, easy read and would be great if you didn't want something heavy, I personally needed a bit more to go on.  The storyline itself didn't have a lot of action, the plot was very predictable and I had to suspend reality a bit in order to enjoy the book.  Some of the characters were clichd and a little unbelievable (Lucy's parents in particular) and their relationships weren't developed to the reader enough.  Some situations (like Lucy's outburst later on in the book) seemed contrived and out of left field.

Overall this book was just okay for me.  Not bad but not memorable either.  For hopeless romantics out there this book should tweak your interest.  It had a very Nora Ephron feel to it.  Think Sleepless in Seattle with a teenage twist.  The Geography of You and Me was sweet, predictable, kept me engaged and may appeal to people wanting a quick and easy read.

My Rating: 3/5 stars

** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).
3477822
3.5

This story was an okay read. The Case for Seduction needed a little more seduction.  While Charlotte and Jake's story had chemistry, the story lacked the sensual tension that I've come to expect in my romance stories.

Backstory: Jakes literally runs into Charlotte and for him it is love at first sight or at least he thinks it is first sight.  Charlotte while attracted to Jake is too busy with working to put herself through law school to even think about starting a relationship with a playboy.  Jake sets out to prove to Charlotte he is a changed man.

There was not enough character and story development to make this story really sizzle.  Bits of details were brought to light regarding family members but were not connected by the end of the story.  As a result, I did not become invested in the characters but there was one exception: Mama Hamilton stole the show and was the highlight of the book along with Harry. They were funny and heart stealers respectively; they carried the story along and kept it light and interesting.  Harry with his monsters under the bed was adorable.  The last 20% of the book things heated up and kept me engaged.  I also wished this book had an epilogue.

The pace was good and the writing style was strong and that helped.  I've read other books by this author and loved them.  For me, this one missed the mark slightly.
53554
I liked this book but I did have some issues. The romance seemed to rushed . It could have gone slower and gotten stronger as the series goes along. The mystery was a little light. And characters not to well developed. Won't stop me from reading next one to see if there is some improvement.
413200
Not a bad book by any means.  Perhaps a bit of a Grafton copycat but not as polished.  It's an ok read but not sure if i'll read others from her.
3722616
There were several things I liked about this story. One, it wasn't full of bad language, only a couple of swear words. Not a prude, I just get tired of stories that are full of that type of language just for shock value. Two, even though the main character was in a relationship, it wasn't full of sex scenes either...just straight up mystery. Three, I love the cover and it made me want donuts. What I didn't like about the story is that it was so formulaic that at times it seemed to lack imagination. I also felt less of a connection with Laural in this book than I did in Dying for a Date and I'm not sure why. Although this has a huge title saying Donut was a finalist for humorous mystery, I just didn't find the humor in it either. All in all, the book is good for a light read, but it won't keep you up at night.
3692298
Maybe I have read too many like this one but it was good enough that I did read the entire book.  It ends well, as we always want a book to do, not leave you wating for the next one. Although this is a series and I am not sure I would read another one.

This is not to say that many of you might really like this story and want to continue through all the series.  I have done this with many books, this one just did not grab me in that much interest.  It was fairly well-written but could use some editng but only a few.

Anina Collins is an author I would recommend for those who like mystery with a little romance thrown in, not too much, just a hint.
Sara Gardner Blow
648724
I like her style, I finished the book quickly and all together it was ok! Not sure if all that can actually happen but for once the spirits were nice and cared for the family.
1561109
What I liked most about this book was the dating. There was online dating to speed dating which added some fun to the book. Clare and her daughter both on the speed dating which was held upstairs. That proved very interesting. I also liked the yellow coat. It was an item that made its mark through the book. I was reading this book at the same time as listening to Origin in Death by J.D. Robb which also had a coat as a prominent item in the book. It was fun to see the story circle around this item including humor. Have you come across an interesting prominent item?

What I liked least in this cozy was the blurb from the killer's point of view. In a heavy, deep mystery it would have its place, but in a cozy I just didn't really care for it. At that point it just lost its cozy feeling. I enjoyed the additional history of the Village Blend. The author draws a picture of the area and I can picture the coffee shop on the corner in the hustle and bustle. I wonder if your picture is anything similar to my picture.

Verdict - 2.5 stars. Not the best and almost made me give up on the series, but not quite yet.
Recommendation: Read, but read quickly. Could skim over the killer's insights if you thought they didn't have a place or added too much darkness.
983053
I enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting. I would recommend story for the price. Events unfold a little to quick at beginning so hard to get good feel on timeline.
647074
This book was OK. It didn't grab me emotionally. At times I felt  there was a distance between the story and the reader like what I experience reading fairy tales. This might be because of the way Leiya is portrayed -she resembles  a Disney Princess. (this is not a complement)
The only character that interested me was Roven, one of Faren's most trusted warriors. Leiya is a human orphan that was adopted by a Brion to test a theory that a human raised as a Brion could form a bond with a Brion. She isn't aware that she is a human only that she has always felt different. Faren is a Brion general with a blood thirsty reputation and the complete opposite of Leiya, but she turns out to be his gesha (mate) and he is her gerion. I was able to read this free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription and  reading this once was enough.
2734352
This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased, honest opinion.

Synopsis:

If You Give a Man a Cookie is a womans commentary about her helpless man and the chain of events that leads him on a journey from the bed to the bathroom to the couch and back to bed at nightfall.

Review:

I absolutely love Laura Joffe Numeroff and her If you give series. I couldn't wait for this one to be released and see if it was just as good as her other books. Although its hard to compare the two when they are geared towards different audiences. I will say I wasn't super pleased with the illustrations. I enjoyed the story but feel the illustrations took away from the overall experience. The man on the cover kind of scares me a bit lol! I did enjoy the humor in the story and felt it was lighthearted fun. The ending was just perfection that had me grinning. Overall, it was pretty good but couldve been so much better with different illustrations.
3402498
I generally like this author's voice so I tend to graviate toward her work.

In this one, the heroine Laura is a young widow who had a scandal in her past and has been consciously trying to live a correct life since then.  But the past collides with the present when her young niece, on the cusp of her debut for the season, falls in love with a young man.  The son of the same man Laura herself was involved with so scandalously years ago.  In order to prevent history from repeating itself, Laura attempts to nip the romance in the bud.  But fate throws a lot of obstacles in her way.

My 3-star rating reflects the actual romance between Laura and Ross and it is the strongest and most enjoyable element of the book.  Since they fall in love rather quickly, the conflict is primarily external and  unfortunately, this is the part that I think is the weakest.

The ill-considered romance of Laura's niece starts off promisingly enough as a premise, but it devolves quickly because the niece is rather unsympathetic.  Actually I hated her.  It didn't take long for me to want her to be left to her fate with the loser who would eventually make her life miserable.  I wanted Laura to just wash her hands of the brat ans say, "oh, well, this is what you wanted.  I tried to warn you." and let her make her own mistakes.  But this is a romance, and Laura is a heroine, so she has Romance Novel Heroine disease, which means she is almost too nice and selfless.

There was some amusing comedy-of-errors aspects of the story that result in some cute plot twists, especially as Laura lies outrageously to a couple she meets and she and Ross must make everything come out right.  But  in places there was a bit of a kitchen sink feel to the plot.  In addition to keeping the young lovers apart, there is some domestic drama with Laura's sister, a resolution of the old scandal and a spying subplot as well.

Still the writing was good and the story flowed.  And it was an amusing way to spend an afternoon.
3797610
It's ok but kind of predictable. Characters need more depth.
3105876
I found the beginning of the book quite nice. There were at least 2 characters in the story that made me ponder what their real significance to the story was, but not too much. I felt at times that Darcy and Elizabeth were abit one-sided. And the ending and this is abit of a plot spoiler here, read more like a scene out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of English Regency gone afoot - well, slightly awry. Decent book overall. Will I keep this book? Probably send it to relatives who might get a good chuckle out of it or off to the library as a donation.
4704959
I really would like to do more of a 3.5.

Its a pretty typical read. I've never read one of Moriarty's books but this was so highly rated I thought I would try it. It was an easy read about suburbia, mother's. father's and their children. I thought the whole murder thing was a little far fetched for me and it didn't really entice me to read more such as it did for others.

I did however enjoy the characters, especially Jane and Ziggy, and the town they lived in. It's summertime so I enjoyed the simple read, although some of the story was a bit cookie-cutter for me. I didn't really enjoy how the ending played out, it all was too convenient. Maybe for me this book needed to either be a suspenseful murder mystery or a romantic novel, the combination fo the two didn't work for me. But I could see how others would enjoy this.

I will give Moriarty another chance later down the line, but there are too many other good books authors out there for me just jump to her right away again.
2114033
Laurann Dohner, author of the Mating Heat series has brought to life a unique world where humans and shifters coexist and shifters have a period of "mating heat" that they all go through (both male and female). An interesting spin on the world of shifters.