Review: Uncommon Criminals

Title: Uncommon Criminals
Author: Ally Carter
Pages: 298
Rating: 5/5

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules (www.goodreads.com).

I ignored this series for a long time because of the covers. I thought they looked "fake" and boring and made the story appear as though it wouldn't have any depth. Then last year, I was browsing the libraries audio, I picked up Heist Society and through it in my book cart. I started it at work a few days later and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The characters were wonderful, especially our main character Katarina. I soon fell in love with her and her witty band of followers. I was hooked. I couldn't wait to get my hands on Uncommon Criminals and was disappointed.

In Uncommon Criminals, Kat is back after pulling off one of the biggest heists in the society of criminals. Suddenly she's known everywhere as the girl who did the impossible. And now she's been asked to the impossible again. Find the Cleopatra Emerald and steal it for it's rightful owner. The problem - the Emerald is said to be cursed - and it is the unspoken rule in Kat's family that they will NEVER go after this jewel.

Ignoring the warnings, Kat and her team seem to pull off the impossible, but soon things begin to unravel and it is here that the story because absolutely, 100% un - put - downable!!

Uncommon Criminals held all the same magic that I experienced with Heist Society. It was quirky, and mysterious. It kept me on my toys. I certainly couldn't predict what was goign to happen next. Ally Carter has created an irresistable series that I cannot wait to continue to read.

Speaking of irresistableness, W W Hale is back with a vengenance and more intriguing then ever. I absolutely adore the budding romance between him and Kat and love that Carter is keeping us on our toes. It's as unpredictable as the jobs at hand, which I think, makes it all the better!

Audio Review: 1st to Die

Title: 1st to Die
Author: James Patterson
Listening Time: 9 hours and 1 min
Rating: 3/5

Imagine a killer who thinks, "What is the worst thing anyone has ever done?"--and then goes far beyond it. Now imagine four women --a police detective, an assistant DA, a reporter, and a medical examiner --who join forces as they sidestep their bosses to track down criminals. Known as the Women's Murder Club, they are pursuing a murderer whose twisted imagination has stunned an entire city. Their chief suspect is a socially prominent writer, but the men in charge won't touch him. On the trail of the most terrifying and unexpected killer ever, they discover a shocking surprise that turns everything about the case upside down (goodreads.com).

1st to Die was my first Patterson audio, and I have to say that it absolutely freaked me out!!  I completely forgot how violent Patterson's novels can be, and 1st to Die was no exception.  I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened.  There were a few times I had to shut off my MP3 player and give myself a break.  It was that intense.  I'll definitely be checking out more of his books on audio because I think they bring a whole new feeling to his books.

However, the story itself seemed to be a bit lacking.  This was the first in the Women's Murder Club series.  Before this time, all the books I've read of Patterson's were from the Alex Cross series.  I'm actually looking forward to going back and re-reading these in order because I know I've missed some.  But anyways, back to the book at hand.  1st to Die introduces us to Lindsay Boxer, a tough, hard as nails detective, who is trying to solve a serial murder case involving newlyweds.  As the case moves along, Lindsay finds herself problem solving with her three friends: Cindy, Jill and Claire.  Hence, the women's murder club is born.

I loved the girls in the murder club, it was just the whole "mystery" aspect of the book that I found to be a bit absurd.  First off, I had the killer figured out by the time the book was half way over.  It kind of took a lot of wind out of the books sails, but I stuck on to figure out how Lindsay discovered everything.  Secondly, the epilogue threw me for a complete loop and left me feeling a bit sad and upset...not the type of feeling I like to have when finishing a book. 

So, basically, I loved the audio aspect, didn't really like the book itself.  I'm going to try 2nd Chance and see if I like that one any better.  I'll let you know :)

Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Title: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Pages: 288
Rating: 4/5

Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened–of himself or some other fiend (Cover Blurb).

When the television show Dexter first came out in 2007, hubby and I watched the first couple of episodes together.  I somehow managed to quickly lose interest, while he has continued to watch through the four seasons.  I did however, buy the first few books, and absolutely was going to read them right there and then.  Now four years later, I can say I read the first one!
Needless to say, Darkly Dreaming Dexter is totally different than almost all other books that I have read.  A mix between a dark comedy and a slasher horror film, Dexter leaves the reader with a lot of confused emotions.  On one hand, I feel a bit sorry for our vigilante serial killer.  On the other hand, I'm extremely disturbed by his whole story.  After reading this book, I almost want to go back and try re-watching the first season.  The book, of course, has opened up a whole series of questions for me now that I didn't realize even existed when I watched the show.

Despite the subject matter of the book, I really enjoyed Lindsay's writing style.  He took a subject that was extremely dark and created something extremely fresh and rather enjoyable.  I definitely had a hard time putting this book down and finished it in two days.  The character of Dexter is entertaining, and it's definitely interesting to see the different places that his mind takes him.  I like really knowing the inter workings of a main character.  However, I wouldn't want to read these books one right after the other either.  The subject matter is still quite heavy and can be thoroughly chilling at times.

There are five books total, so far, in the Dexter series.  I'd like to continue reading them, but I'll need to space them out over time.  I own the next two in the series: Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark and hope to get to them sometime later this year. 

This book counted towards the 1st in a Series Challenge and the Mystery and Suspense Challenge of 2011.

Review: Size 12 Is Not Fat

Title: Size 12 Is Not Fat
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 345
Rating: 4/5

HEATHER WELLS ROCKS!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two—and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen—not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives—even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . . (megcabot.com)

I finished this one a few weeks ago and am just now getting around to writing the review.  This was actually my last read of 2010.  This is the second Meg Cabot book that I've read and I really really enjoyed it.  She is a wonderful author with a fun way with words.

Size 12 is Not Fat introduces readers to Heather Wells, a quirky ex pop star turned assistant dorm director.  Heather is full of energy, funny, and just plain suspicious of everyone around her.  Especially when several of the dorm residents are found dead in the elevator shafts.  I loved reading about Heather, and how she went about solving the mystery.  Plus, her relationship with her boss and landlord Cooper is a nice (looking) extra edition to the story.  I love how Heather swoons over him and he seems almost clueless.  It will be exciting to see where Cabot takes this relationship in the coming books. 

There are two more books written so far in this series: Size 14 is Not Fat Either and Big Boned.  I have both of these and dabbled with Size 14 but ended up getting distracted by other things and haven't gotten back to it.

All in all, I recommend these to readers who are looking for a light, fun read with a bit of mystery tossed in!

Review: Aunt Dimity's Good Deed

Title: Aunt Dimity's Good Deed
Author: Nancy Atherton
Pages: 276
Rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to Aunt Dimity, Lori Shepherd was lucky enough to have had a fairy-tale courtship complete with a Handsome Prince and a cozy, honey-colored castle in which he popped the question. It all happened so quickly, so effortlessly, that Lori fell in love with her blue-blooded prince before she really knew who he was. And maybe that's where she made her first mistake. Now married for two years to said prince - Bill Willis, a workaholic lawyer who is, she admits, "honest and scrupulously considerate about his socks" - Lori finds herself inconsolably depressed. She loves Bill dearly but all he does is work, work, work - even their honeymoon was interrupted by a flurry of faxes. And to make her feel even worse, her busybody aunts-in-law keep badgering her about when they will have a new little Willis! But how will that ever happen if she never even sees her husband?

Seeking to recapture the romance in her young marriage, Lori plans a second honeymoon at Aunt Dimity's English cottage. But at the last minute, Bill, true to form, can't make it, so Lori's reliable as-the-sunrise father-in-law stands in (how romantic!) - only to disappear minutes after their arrival, with Lori's pink flannel bunny, Reginald, in tow. Inspired by Aunt Dimity and accompanied by her very precocious twelve-year-old friend Nell, Lori packs the car and sets off on a backroads search for Willis, Sr. Nell proves herself a helpful guide (keeping Lori on the right side of the road!) as well as a mistress of disguise, while Lori finds herself aghast at her own unseemly attraction to Bill's dashing English cousin, Gerald. Soon Lori, Nell, and the ghostly Aunt Dimity find themselves at the center of a centuries-old Willis family scandal that, if revealed, could mean the end of life as they know it, for Willises on both sides of the Atlantic (bn.com).

Lori is really struggling with her life. Her husband Bill, who was the world's sweetest man when they first met, has turned into the biggest workaholic on the planet. To make matters even worse, Lori is feeling incredible amounts of pressure to have a baby and she can't figure out how that will ever happen when Bill's never home!

Lori plans a second honeymoon, hoping the time away from the office and the fresh England air will due Bill a world of good. However, things quickly go down hill, when Bill is called away on business and Lori makes the trip with her father in law. Then to make matters worse, Willis Sr disappears on a wild goose chase trailed by none other than Aunt Dimity and Lori's flannel bunny Reginald!

Lori sets out with Nell, Emma and Derek's daughter in tow and always seem to fall one step behind Willis, Sr. But along the way, they met several family members of the English side of the family and mysteries and secrets abound. Furthermore, the whole situation is complicated by Gerald Willis, Bill's dashing English cousin who seems to take a liking to Lori.

There's nothing I like more than family drama! And boy this book had it all...secret affairs, murder, mystery and mayhem. It was great to see how it all fit together, and how Aunt Dimity touched the lives of others. I just cannot seem to get enough of this great series and hope that it continues to be this enjoyable!

Review: Aunt Dimity and the Duke

Title: Aunt Dimity and the Duke
Author: Nancy Atherton
Pages: 288
Rating: 5/5

Emma Porter is forty, fat, frumpy, and a passionate amateur gardener. When her longtime lover dumps her for a younger woman, Emma escapes the cloying sympathy of family and friends by setting out on a summer-long driving tour of England 's glorious gardens. A Dimity-contrived coincidence brings her to Penford Hall, a sprawling Gothic mansion in Cornwall , where the Duke of Penford is awaiting a miracle. An ancient artifact known as the Lady's lantern must light of its own accord or the Penford line will come to an end--but the lantern is missing.

Convinced there's more than one mystery to solve at Penford Hall, Emma accepts the Duke's invitation to stay on and restore the once-glorious chapel garden to its former beauty. The dark rumors surrounding the death of rock star Lex Rex, who drowned five years ago in the Duke's yacht, and the suspicious near-death of the Duke's beautiful, supercilious cousin, set Emma--with Aunt Dimity's ghostly guidance--on the path to Penford Hall's secrets and the discovery of unexpected love (aunt-dimity.com).

Once I got over the fact that this book would make no mention of Lori or the Willis family, I really enjoyed it. This book actually takes place before the time of Aunt Dimity's Death, and tells the story of Lori's numbers at Dimity's cottage in Finch.

We are first introduced to Emma and Derek in Aunt Dimity's Death. Emma had completely redone the garden, and Derek was in charge of all the home renovations. Also, it is mentioned several times throughout the book about an incident that happened at a chapel in Penford Harbor. Well, this book tells the story of that chapel and it was really well written and a great read.

I really enjoyed the character of Emma. She is so uncertain of herself in the beginning of the novel, and not really happy with her life. She's convinced herself that all is right in her world, and heads out on a journey to see all the famous gardens in England. After a chance encounter with the Pym sisters, Emma finds herself a guest of the Duke of Penford Hall. There she is asked to redo the garden for an old chapel that holds great meaning to both the Duke and the town of Penford.

Derek, and his two children Nell and Peter are also at the hall, hired to make some renovations on the property. Derek is still grieving the loss of his first wife, and his children are hiding a big secret from him. It takes both the hall and Emma to make him see what is really going on in his life.

One thing I loved about this novel, was the mystery and the intrigue surrounding this massive hall. Even the Duke and his loyal servants come across as a bit creepy and secretive. Towards the end of the book, this was really a page turner, and I couldn't wait to find out the answer to the mystery. The twists and turns made for a great surprise at the end!

Review: Aunt Dimity's Death

Title: Aunt Dimity's Death

Author: Nancy Atherton

Pages: 244

Rating: 4.5/5

When Lori Shepherd was a little girl she used to lie in bed at night with a stuffed rabbit named Reginald and listen to her mother's stories of the indomitable Aunt Dimity, who lived in far-off England . But now Lori is a newly divorced, down-on-her-luck grown-up, her mother is dead, and Lori's long since realized that Aunt Dimity was just a character in a comforting bedtime story.

Or was she? One day the bedraggled Lori is summoned from the latest of her dreadful temp jobs to the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis. There Willises Junior and Senior inform her that Aunt Dimity was indeed a real person--a very rich real person who's just died and left Lori a respectable bequest. Unfortunately, there's one catch: Lori must visit Aunt Dimity's English cottage and find a secret hidden among the treasure trove of letters written by her mother and Dimity over the four decades of their friendship.

What begins as a fairy tale in an improbably cozy setting becomes a mystery--and a ghost story--as Aunt Dimity's gentle spirit leads Lori on an unotherworldly quest that Dimity could not fulfill in her own lifetime. And for Lori, Dimity's bequest is even greater than she dreamed, as she discovers that in this life, true love can conquer all (aunt-dimity.com).


What a great start to a really cute series!! I really liked Lori, and instantly feel in love with Aunt Dimity. I flew through this book, and can't wait to read more of the series.

I'm new to this whole cozy mystery thing, and I do enjoy a bit of murder and intrigue in my mysteries, but I found the premise of this book to be just what I was looking for. This is the type of book that you can curl up with beside a warm fire, wrapped up in your favorite blanket and get lost in. I loved the descriptions of the Dimity's gardens, and found myself longing to take a trip to England to enjoy the English countryside.

One thing that I thought made this book, was Bill Willis and his father William Willis Sr. This father and son team of lawyers are so sweet, and Bill's love for Lori is adorable. I'm looking forward to reading more about this relationship in coming books. Also, I think William Willis Sr is one of the cutest older gentleman characters I've read about in a long time. He truly cares about Lori and what happens to her.

I've already finished the next two books in the series, and should have the reviews up today. What I'm wondering is, are there more series out there written with the same type of style as these? Like I said, I don't know much about cozy mysteries, but I really am enjoying them, and I'd like to here your recommendations for other series I might enjoy also.

Review: Eye Contact

Title: Eye Contact
Author: Cammie McGovern
Pages: 288
Rating: 4.5/5

Two children disappear into the woods behind Woodside Elementary School. Hours later one of them, nine year old Adam, is found alive, the sole witness to his playmate's murder. But Adam is autistic and can say nothing about what he saw. Only his mother, Cara, has the power to penetrate his silence. When another child goes missing and Cara's unsettling past emerges from the shadows, she has to ask herself whether her efforts to protect her son have exposed him to unimaginable danger. Eye Contact is a thriller of hypnotic suspense and a powerful story of the bond between a mother and a very special child (Cover Blurb).

I've been cleaning out my bookshelves, accessing the books I have and deciding if I want to keep them or pass them on to someone else. My shelves are overflowing with books I wanted to read and just had to have. Eye Contact is one of those books. I'm not even sure where I heard about this novel or when and where I inquired it, but I really wish I would have read it sooner. It was an absolutely amazing read.

I read this book practically in one sitting because it was just too good to put down. There is a mystery to this story, but the even bigger plot is the mystery of relationships. Adam's mother Cara has let so many relationships go over the years, and isolated herself from her friends, that we get to see a re-awakening in her as she realizes the power of a good relationship and friendship. Furthermore, I really liked that autism was front and center in this book. I often feel that people push this aside, and McGovern faces it head on. Her understanding of the disease was right on, much to do with the fact that McGovern's own son is autistic. However, the reader must understand that this is not a book about autism, but rather a book about the relationship between mother and child.

I finished this book over five days ago, and still cannot stop thinking about it. It's a novel that will stick with you, make you think, and make you want to hug your children and friends.

Review: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Title: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Author: Katherine Howe

Pages: 371

Rating: 4.5/5

Connie Goodwin should be spending her summer doing research for her Ph.D. dissertation in American History. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she's compelled to help. It's not long before the time she's set aside for research is instead spent sorting through her grandmother's ancient possessions, discovering a woman she barely knew.

One day, while exploring the dusty bookshelves in the study, Connie discovers a key hidden within an old bible. And within the key is a brittle slip of paper with two words written on it: Deliverance Dane. Along with a handsome steeplejack named Sam, Connie begins to dig into the town's records, looking for references to Deliverance Dane. But even as the pieces begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the witch trials so long ago, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past than she could have ever imagined.

Written by an author completing a Ph.D. in New England Studies, and whose ancestors were accused witches in Salem, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the trials in the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery and discovery (Powell's Books).

Have you ever read a book filled with so much mystery and intrigue that you can't stand to put it down for even a second? That's how this book was for me. I actually grabbed this book on a whim. It was on one of the "hottest books of the summer" shelves at Borders one day when I went to relax at lunch. I was getting sick of reading the same old same old and was looking for a change and thought this might do the trick. I was definitely right in this pick.

I absolutely loved the main character Connie. Watching her discover so many new things about herself was so uplifting and I absolutely love the path that the author set in motion after Connie discovers the old key hidden within an old family Bible. However, despite this, my absolute favorite parts of the novel where the sections where the author takes us back to Salem in the 1600s. This made the book so real, and hit home with me due to the fact that I'm a huge history buff.

I really hope that Katherine Howe continues to write and I will definitely book on the look out for when she does.

Review: Never Tell a Lie

Title: Never Tell a Lie
Author: Hallie Ephron
Pages: 288
Rating: 4/5

It all started with the yard sale. Ivy was eight months and one week pregnant when she insisted that she and her husband, David, clean out the junk they'd inherited with the old Victorian house they'd bought three years before. Call it nesting, call it nerves—she just wanted it all gone: the old electrical fixtures, the boxes of National Geographics from the 1960s, the four black wool greatcoats.

Neither she nor David recognized the woman at first. But it turned out that the customer asking about the lime-green glass swan dish—the woman who looks just about as pregnant as Ivy—was none other than Melinda White, a former high school classmate of David and Ivy's. When Melinda was a child she used to play in their new house, she explained. It looked like they'd been doing some work. Would it be all right if she took a look around? David took Melinda inside. And she never came out.

Now David's under police suspicion, and Ivy finds herself digging deep into the past to clear his name. But David's history, she begins to discover, is not necessarily the history she remembers, and before long Ivy has uncovered a twisted web of deceit, betrayal, and lies, both the ones we tell those we love and the ones we tell ourselves. . . .

Relentlessly fast-paced and disturbingly creepy, Never Tell a Lie is a page-turning thrill ride about how well we know the people we love, and how far we are willing to go to protect the secrets of our past (Cover Blurb).

I heard about this book when J. Kaye reviewed it for her blog and immediately wanted to read it. I'm not a huge fan of thrillers (I used to be and think I burned myself out reading them one after another) but this really sounded good. I was planning on getting it from the library or waiting for it to come out in paperback when I stumbled upon the website BookSwim. Its an awesome website where they loan you books and then you send them back for free (like a Netflix but with books). Well of course I had to try it out and Never Tell a Lie was in my first book package that I received on Tuesday.

I had hit a brick wall with my reading, and hadn't even picked up a single book all weekend, so I was super excited when my books arrived. I started this book late Tuesday night and quickly flew through the first 100 pages. I really enjoyed this book and the writing style of the author. The characters were well developed and believable. I really liked Ivy, the main character of the story, and pushed for her to overcome the evils of the story the entire time.

The reason I only gave the book a 4 rating is because I had it figured out by the first 100 pages. It was slightly predictable, but still rather enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it to other readers who are looking for a fast paced, quick read.