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12/31/2018

The Perfect Catch by Cassidy Carter | Book Review #136






The Bookish Island's Book Review:

The Perfect Catch by Cassidy Carter 






Are there spoilers?
There are some spoilers.

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Disclaimer:
This book was sent to me from the publishing company through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.



Title: The Perfect Catch 

Author: Cassidy Carter

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Pages: 270

Publisher: Hallmark Publishing

Published: 2018

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance

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Date Read: August 9, 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

In the small town of Parker Falls, Jessica Parker spends her time serving pie and coming up with ideas to save the failing diner she inherited from her grandfather. A single mom to eight-year-old Wesley, she has enough to keep her busy well into the future. But when her old high school love, Chase Taynor, unexpectedly pops up, Jess finds herself thinking not of the future but of her past with the handsome professional baseball player.

After a few bad pitches leave his dream career in limbo, Chase slides back home to Parker Falls…although the town may not be as safe as he’d expected. As Jess and Chase reconnect, old feelings return in a major-league way. With the possibility that Chase could return to the baseball diamond at any time, will their reunion be worth the risk to their hearts? Or will it be déjà vu all over again, with Chase choosing the limelight over the woman he loved before the fame?

The book contains a free original recipe for Bacon & White Cheddar Burgers with Spicy Mustard Relish. 





The Rating:



My Review:

The Perfect Catch was a book I read back in August. At a time when I wasn't reading that many books. So I barely remember much about it but I do remember that it was a book I got through NetGalley from the publisher. And I'm thankful that they gave me the opportunity to read it and that I actually finished reading it.

While I was reading this book I got this insane flashing light in my head telling me that I had experienced this story before but I could never figure out when or even what it was. I'm certain I didn't watch the movie but who knows. Maybe all the elements that made up The Perfect Catch just felt familiar to me.

I liked the mother-son relationship the main characters had. It was clear that she would do anything to make her kid happy and it showed in the scenes where she tried her hardest to help him practice baseball. I'm not the biggest sports fan (I especially know nothing about baseball) but I would have had the time of my life if I was that kid and she was my mom. I super don't get why he was embarrassed about her teaching him. Regardless if she was bad or not. I would have taken it as a great thing we would have shared as a family. Especially taking into account that the dad was super not in the picture. I should know mine wasn't and whenever my mom and I would do something together it would be a big deal for me because I knew she was doing her best to be mom and dad.
So I super didn't like his attitude sometimes.

It was also super shitty because, in comes our hero, who also happens to be a baseball superstar, and he replaces her role in helping her kid out. I mean I get it a boy needs a father figure in his life and what not but sometimes that's totally not some random strangers obligation/role. Even if he had a history with Jessica. The kid doesn't know that!

Whatever, Deep breaths all around.

Okay so besides that the romance was pretty much all over the place. Yes, I got some swoon-worthy moments here and there but other than that I wasn't completely rooting for them to have their happily ever after. But that's just me.

The food is also important for me to mention since this is one of those books that include recipes. The whole dinner sounded amazing to me before and after the renovation. I would have totally loved to sit down and order a burger there. And the recipes did sound pretty appealing. If I lived in my own place I would 100% give them a try.

Goodreads  


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Strawberries & Crème Murder by Susan Gillard | Book Review #135





The Bookish Island's Book Review:

Strawberries & Crème Murder by Susan Gillard




Are there spoilers?
There are some spoilers.

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Title: Strawberries & Creme Murder 

Author: Susan Gillard

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Pages: 150

Published: 2018

Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

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Date Read: December 10, 2018

Rating: ★★★




Donuts, deceit and the potential murder of a former assistant find Heather Janke at the center of a mystery in which she is a potential suspect and possibly the only one capable of discerning the truth. 



Was her former assistant Christa murdered and if so, why? 




Follow Heather as she searches for clues to get to the bottom of this sweet caper. 












The Rating:






My Review:

Strawberry Cream Murder is a super short cozy murder mystery with the setting of a donut bakery. Which was something that made me want to eat a donut while I was reading it but that wasn't gonna happen.

I liked most of the characters. Heather and Amy were great.  The detective was kinda cool too.
There were some that were a little annoying and obviously the bad guys but other than that I didn't have a problem with the characters in this story. 

In regards to the actual murder mystery part of this story.
The crime was good. It was a former employee of Heather that stole her recipes and opened up another donut shop nearby. She is found dead with a donut by her side.  And Heather comments that it was fou play because he was a neat freak and would never leave crumbs all over the place.

The one thing that bothered me about Heather and her involvement with the crime, was how she just freely walked into the crime scene without caring about the evidence getting messed up or even fearing she would get accused of being involved in the crime by having her footsteps and fingerprints all over the place. Also isn't there usually a cop watching over the crime scene at the beginning of it being a crime scene just in case situations like that happen. Like their job is to prevent anybody from stepping into the crime scene so evidence doesn't get tampered with. 

I did not know who the killer was despite this being such a short book. Or maybe I just got caught by surprise because I wasn't paying attention when the clues and observations got connected. So yeah 4 stars.



Goodreads  

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12/30/2018

Man Hands by Sarina Bowen + Tanya Eby | Book Review #134





The Bookish Island's Book Review:

Man Hands by Sarina Bowen & Tanya Eby 




Are there spoilers?
There are some spoilers.

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Title: Man Hands 

Author: Sarina Bowen & Tanya Eby

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Pages: 238

Publisher: Rennie Road Books

Published: 2017

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Contemporary

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Date Read: November 21, 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆



He puts the "screw" in screwball comedy...

BRYNN

At thirty-four, I’m reeling from a divorce. I don’t want to party or try to move on. I just want to stay home and post a new recipe on my blog: Brynn’s Dips and Balls.

But my friends aren’t having it. Get out there again, they say. It will be fun, they say. I’m still taking a hard pass. 

Free designer cocktails, they say. And that’s a game-changer. 

Too bad my ex shows up with his new arm candy. That’s when I lose my mind. But when my besties dare me to leap on the first single man I see, they don't expect me to actually go through with it.

TOM

All I need right now is some peace and quiet while my home renovation TV show is on hiatus. But when a curvy woman in a red wrap dress charges me like she’s a gymnast about to mount my high bar, all I can do is brace myself and catch her. What follows is the hottest experience of my adult life. 

I want a repeat, but my flying Cinderella disappears immediately afterward. She doesn’t leave a glass slipper, either—just a pair of panties with chocolate bunnies printed on them. 

But I will find her.



The Rating:





My Review:

Man Hands managed to be one of the most fun contemporary romance I've read all year. Not only does it feature a sexy main character that works as a home renovation tv personality but our heroine is a food blogger. Talk about # COUPLEGOALS.

I suffered through 2 swoons and got all teary-eyed on Chapter 36. It was so good in some parts and in others a bit too slow. I totally needed a few more swoon-worthy moments but other than that it was totally great.

Tom was fantastic. I loved that he was a manly man. And that he was in the home renovation business and ha his own tv show. Made me think about DIY or HGTV channels. And Brynn with her food blog and wanting more for herself with her passion for food. I just liked her a ton as a character. Which, with the books I've read, is pretty rare when I like a female lead in a romance novel.

I also loved that the fake engagement. That was fantastically done. 
Their sexy meet-cute was too much (in a good way) and that the whole story with Brynn and Tom was bot sexy and cute. 
They totally loved each other and the way they acted with each other made me fall for them.

Goodreads  

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12/29/2018

A Lie for a Lie by Robin Merrow MacCready | Book Review #133




The Bookish Island's Book Review:

A Lie for a Lie by Robin Merrow MacCready




Are there spoilers?
There are some spoilers.

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Title: A Lie for a Lie 

Author: Robin Merrow MacCready

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Pages: 208

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Published: 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary

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Date Read: November 24, 2018

Rating: ★★★☆☆



A gripping YA mystery about seventeen-year-old Kendra, an amateur photographer who discovers her father is leading a double life.

Kendra Sullivan loves taking pictures. But when a photograph reveals that her father is leading a double life, she sets out to investigate the situation. Before long, Kendra discovers her father's second family, which he has hidden for years. Kendra's knowledge soon turns into power; she is torn between exposing her father and destroying her family as she's known it, or looking deeper for the truth and suffering that outcome. This emotionally charged mystery pushes the boundaries between truth and deception, and the consequences one faces when dealing with life-changing information. of what it means to be a mother--and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.



The Rating:








My Review:

A Lie for a Lie was a disappointment for me because I thought it was going to be an interesting YA mystery about a girl who takes a photo of a murderer or whatever in the act of doing something bad. But that wasn't the case. It was just the story of a girl who is obsessed with taking photos of everything and everyone and t just so happens that she catches her father with another woman and a child. And instead of doing something about it or tell her mom (which I would so do if it was me) she, you guessed it, takes a photo of them being all happy together. 

She kinda gets a little too obsessed with the other woman and her kid by following them around and breaking and entering. Which I thought was going to go somewhere dark and that would have fixed this story for me. But that didn't happen. She is also okay with telling her friends and the guy she's into but not her mom. That pissed me off.  

Yeah, the story ends with her having killed her grandma and the kid's hamster but the whole parental situation was way too awkward and weird for me. Or at least the way it was dealt with. I'm glad she got out of there and got with her best friend who had a crush on her since forever and s so sweet to her but that bit before and most of the middle could have been a lot different and I would have liked this book lots. 

The one good thing about this book was the love interest for the main character. Not the guy she's into but the guy who is into her. He had been her best friend since they were kids so he knew her all too well. Which at first was a little too creepy (I so thought he was gonna assault her and he kind of did) but it was the latter half of the book's version of him that made it enjoyable. First half was a little too creepy but later half was cool.

Like I said in the beginning, I thought this was going t be along the lines of the movie, The Lovely Bones, (and I say movie because I haven't read the book, so I don't know how it's different from the movie) but it wasn't like that. And that's okay but the cover totally had a mystery/thriller look to it and the beginning of the book felt that way too. I'm just so caught on to that because I read the whole book thinking it was gonna be one thing but ended up being a whole other thing. I enjoyed some of this story, but because of the confusion, it ended up just being that. A book I enjoyed and nothing further. 

I just didn't get it. It's not for me and I'm sad because I picked it because I thought I would love it. Maybe I should pick it up again in the future and go into it with no expectations and a clear mind.



Goodreads  

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12/27/2018

The Serial Dater's Shopping List by Morgen Bailey | Book Review #132





The Bookish Island's Book Review:

The Serial Dater's Shopping List by Morgen Bailey




Are there spoilers?
There are some.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Disclaimer: This book was sent to me from the publishing company through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


Title: The Serial Dater's Shopping List

Author: Morgen Bailey

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Pages: 334

Publisher: Bloodhound Books

Published: 2018

Genre: Women's Fiction, Romance

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Date Read: July 24 > July 25, 2018

Rating: ★★☆☆☆





31 dates in 31 days – what could possibly go wrong?

Isobel MacFarlane is a recently-turned-40 journalist who usually writes a technology column for a newspaper based in Northampton, England, but her somewhat-intimidating boss, William, has set her the task of meeting 31 men, via a local internet dating site, all within a month.

Having an active, though fruitless, social life with her friend and ‘Health & Beauty’ colleague Donna, she knows what she wants in a man, so creates a shopping list of dos and don’ts, and starts ticking them off as she meets Mr Could Be Right Except For, Mr Not Bad, Mr Oh My Goodness and Mr Oh So Very Wrong.

Follow the ups (there are a few) and downs (there are many) of the dating process and intertwined with her experiences, get to know her colleague and family, including her niece Lola who, apart from being an amazing storyteller, can eat ambidextrously whilst wearing a Princess glove puppet on her right hand, and Baby, William’s non-too-healthy African Grey parrot.




The Rating:







My Review:

The Serial Dater's Shopping List is about Isobel who is tasked to write articles about her experience going out with 31 guys on 31 dates.

It read more like an article the entire way than a fictional novel in the romance genre. Though I guess the romance aspect is Izzy going on those random dates with the guys.

I didn't understand what was happening most of the time as I was reading this. I kept trying to find someone Izzy would have matched up with by the end. I thought something was going to happen to her and her boss. And something sort of happened but I didn't get it. Because it happened in the last 100 pages.

Izzy's life in this was super simple. She would work and gossip with her co-worker/friends. Then she would go home and spend just enough time either watching a movie, a series or read a book before she gets dressed and goes out. During the night she goes and meets up with the guys she had chosen and they talk and stuff. Usually, it doesn't go smoothly and I think that's when the interesting bit was supposed to happen but I just found them meh. Not boring but not entirely entertaining. Then again it was probably just me and the time I was reading this book.




Goodreads    

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12/25/2018

Plum Deadly by Ellie Grant | Book Review #131






The Bookish Island's Book Review:

Plum Deadly by Ellie Grant




Are there spoilers?
No.

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Title: Plum Deadly 

Author: Ellie Grant

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Pages: 304

Publisher: Gallery Books

Published: 2013

Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

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Date Read: Dec 13 > Dec 14, 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆



In this cozy mystery, a young woman is framed by her boss for embezzlement and flees to her aunt’s pie shop—but when her ex-boss turns up dead on their doorstep she must start her own investigation to find the killer—before he finds her.

CHOCOHOLIC CREAM. BOUNTIFUL BLUEBERRY. LOTSA LEMON MERINGUE. EVEN DANGEROUSLY DAMSON. 


Who could resist such pies? Who would even want to resist the pie shop that makes them? Certainly not the residents of Durham, North Carolina, and the little bakery and café called Pie in the Sky is one of the most popular meet-up places in town.


Unjustly accused of cooking the books, Maggie Grady is forced to retreat from her high-flying New York financial career to the town where she grew up. Her aunt Clara greets her with open arms and a job at the family-owned business that has baked the best pies in the South for over forty years. Unfortunately, while Maggie is determined to return to banking, her reputation there seems permanently in the pits. That is, until her old boss, Lou, visits with news that he’s found the real crook. Before he can reveal the details, though, Maggie finds his body right behind the pie shop.


With only her own word that Lou planned to exonerate her, Maggie is in the spotlight. The police seem to suspect that Aunt Clara’s damson pie may not be just dangerously delectable, but downright deadly. Maggie doesn’t just have her own name to clear; she has to make sure that her aunt’s beloved business isn’t harmed, either. Yummy local reporter Ryan Summerour appears eager to help, and Maggie can’t help hoping that it’s not just the police who find her a person of interest—but Ryan, as well. She’d thought it challenging to make the perfect pie crust that Aunt Clara demands, but that turns out to be nothing compared with finding a murderer. . . .




The Rating:





My Review:

Plum Deadly is a fantastic example of a food-based murder mystery. Maggie is down on her luck. Having just lost her job, home and the people she knew after being accused of embezzlement at her former job. But she still has her only family member her Aunt Clara. And Clara gladly takes her back and gives her a room in her home and a job at her bakery, Pie in the Sky. And since the two are practically mother and daughter their chemistry is great and supportive in everything the two get themselves into. Which comes into account when Maggie gets a spot in the top suspect of the murder case of her former boss, Lou. Who had shown up at the bakery to tell her he was gonna fix everything and clear her of everything that happened but leaves without telling her who the true suspect of the embezzlement is. And shows up dead at the back of the bakery. 

This is a very short story but I didn't mind it at all. In this, you don't know who the murderer is until the very end when they lay it out for you. I didn't even get it until the end. And I usually good at putting two and two together. The murder weapon was a poison and only one person died. So it's a very classic murder mystery. 
But even with all that, there were a lot of characters. I counted them and it was over 15 character. If you exclude the characters that were obviously good guys; meaning, the main character, Maggie, her Aunt Clara, Frank, the chief of police, the guy who sold produce and his son who sold furniture, you don't really get a chance to even guess. Meaning, most of the characters were suspects, and you'd be less likely to guess who the killer actually was. 

The whole case was still very good and didn't give out a lot of clues and I liked that the first case didn't have more than one murder victim. There were one too many obvious bad and greedy people. And at one point the ladies got their home broken into and the power got cut off which got me to be on their side so much more. I wanted the bad guys to lay off and let them bond. 


Also is anyone else interested in seeing this as a show or movie, because I totally do. Just so I can see Maggie's outfits. Since she wore her mom's old clothes. Talk about retro making a comeback. I loved that she would go into her mom's old stuff and pick stuff out for herself. I also want to see everyone react to her wearing those clothes. seriously! That would be gold.




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Top Ten Tuesday #15 | Books I Hope I Find Under My Christmas Tree This Morning

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.



December 25: 
Books I Hope I Find Under My Christmas Tree This Morning 

I know there won't be any books under my Christmas tree but I did make a purchase on BookOutlet. But who knows when that will get to me. Still here are some of the books I know I'll be getting.

Merry Christmas Every Bookworm!
&
Happy Holidays too.

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Mind Games (Lock & Mori #2) by Heather W. Petty



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Emma by Jane Austen



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My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendrix



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Heidi by Johanna Spyri


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The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells


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