Despicable- Timothy Bryan

Darryl: "It's not paranoia if it's true". Truer words were never spoken. 

Timothy Bryan has done it again. Last year I read, The Huntsman of Corvinus last year and really enjoyed it. So, when I saw this was up for an ARC I knew I had to check it out and I was not disappointed. 

Kalisa Kinigi is a refugee from a genocide in her home country of Rwanda. Surviving by hiding in a hidden cellar as she watched her mother and brother slaughtered. She survives and lands in Reno, Nevada of all places. She is a security guard at a local casino. She is also a gambling addict, a drunk and a single mom. She trying to rebuild her life after her horrific childhood, unfortunately she's failing, miserably. She is currently split from her husband, after she had an affair with a cop. 

Something is amiss in her little neck of the woods. People around her start disappearing, which is starting to make her paranoid, especially after she discovers she's being followed. Her lover, her teenage neighbor, a co-worker, and a tourist where she works. A savage creature is stalking her. Kalisa starts to investigate and enlists her estranged father to help her. They decide to leave town for a few days in the hopes that she can defeat the evil once and for all. Kalisa must mend her relationships and overcome her past to save her future.

 I really enjoyed this story. Sad and yet exciting, Timothy Bryan writes in a way where you can't wait to turn the page to see what happens next. The story starts out slow but as you get to the climax of the story, all hell breaks loose. The only issue I had was the first chapter. I was a little confused as to how it connects with the rest of the story but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I look forward to more from this author. I recieved this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.

7 Minutes to Freedom

I was gifted this book by the author for an honest review.

I don't normally get behind self-help books, it's just not my thing. However, when this author reached out to me, I figured why not? The description sounded intriguing, and I was able to add it to my morning routine with ease. 

Now a disclaimer- I have only done about 1/2 of the questions in this book but I went ahead and read all the chapters so I could give her a timely review. Throughout the book, there are so many in depth questions about relationships, with yourself and others. How you view yourself, moods and writing prompts, I feel this book could be used throughout my life, as each season of life would yield different answers. 

I believe this to be a wonderful source for discovering who you are and how you interact with the world around you. Each writing session is to take around 7 minutes, hence the title. These days with the hustle and bustle of everyday life and life constantly revolving around computers, I like having to sit and be still while writing in an actual journal. If you would like to dive deeper into yourself, then this is the book for you.

A Poisonous Page- A Sweet Fiction Bookshop Mystery #2

I absolutely loved this book. A mystery with a touch of romance in it is right up my alley. I was literally on the edge of my seat through this book and did not want to stop reading it. Another cozy mystery that is a part of an endearing series. I really like the name of the town and all the little sweet treat named businesses. My favorite quote from this book is "Ive watched all those. Have you seen Midsomer Murders? The ones with the original Barnaby, though, not his cousin." " I know. When they let his cousin take over, it ruined it for me." As a lover of British mysteries, I really felt this conversation and wondered if the author is also of fan of the genre. 

Lexi Jones runs the local bookstore, Sweet Fiction, in the town of Confection, Oregon. The local detective, Chad Berg, seems to have a strained relationship with Lexi (probably from events of the first book that I haven't read), he's always citing her and her dog for something. Marilyn Freeman, a local realtor and a woman with a not so nice reputation, has been found dead, in her home, of an apparent suicide. Not long after, her associate, Rachael Nevis is also found dead, this time in the backyard of Lexi's best-friends brother, Dash. Hes arrested and charged with both murders, as he had been intimately involved with both. As the story progresses, we discover that Marilyn was also murdered, and both had been overdosed with ketamine. Lexi and her book club, The Macaroons, which is also crime solving club, set out to find the killer, before Dash is convicted of murders, he didn't commit. 

Lexi gets herself into some pretty big ordeals throughout the book. Some are comical and others are dangerous but all in all the book is really clever, and I had no idea who the killer was. I love the characters in this little town. Lexi and her dog, Cookie are really cute, and I really enjoyed the ongoing tension between Lexi and Berg. I am very much looking forward to reading more of Lexi and her crew. I received this book free from NetGalley for an honest review.

A Bittersweet Murder- Heart of Texas Murder Mysteries

I have a deep love of mysteries and in the last year or so I have really taken a liking to the sub-genre 'cozy' mysteries. They all have the same basic formula, yet every one of them is different. With endearing characters and perfect locations. This one is no different and I'm glad to say this is looking to be another great series. 

Rosie Hart is a caretaker for an elderly woman in the small town of Airlie, Texas. Alice Auchinschloss, is a longtime resident and one whom everyone in the town dislikes. Rosie is attending her funeral as the book opens and is the only one there. Not one person from the town has shown up for her funeral. After the funeral, Rosie is met with Alice's lawyer and is informed that she is now the recipient of Alices' entire estate. 

Not long after that reeling piece of news, more shocking news comes to Rosie. The local sheriff informs her that Alice did not die from natural causes as first suspected but was in fact poisoned. Even worse, it was from something she ate, and Rosie was the only one that prepared her meals. Rosie is now suspect number one. 

Things from here don't get much better. There is another murder and two attempted murders and a fire all while Rosie is trying to clear her name and solve a decades old murder mystery. This story was filled with so much intrigue, twists and turns, that you will not be able to put this one down. A real page-turner and I really like how everything was wrapped up in the end. I am very much looking forward to seeing what else Rosie gets herself into. This is a series to look out for!  I received this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.

The Secret They Kept- J.S. Ellis

Emily Clarke is in digital marketing. She recently bought a house in Greenwich and life is good. Her longtime boyfriend will be moving in soon and the neighborhood is mostly older folks making it the perfect place to work from home. Across the street from her house is a cute house with a yellow door. She hasn't met them yet and they seem to just keep to themselves.

As the story progresses, we find out that the Jones family in the house with the yellow door are little odd. The husband, although retired, spends his days away from the house. The mother, seems out of it, often staring off into space and once found wandering outside her home. The son, well he's a different story. A tall, gorgeous specimen with white hair and perfect features. The neighborhood nosy lady, Mrs. Parker, informs Emily that the Jones' once had another son and that he had gone missing some years before. 

Emily is informed that before she moved in a couple lived in her house. They were seen arguing and then the wife disappears. The husband had a solid alibi, and her disappearance was never solved. After a fight with her boyfriend, Emily cuts off all ties with him. Not long after, he disappears. Weird stuff starts happening, like a rock thrown through her window and her external hard drive is stolen. 

Three disappearances, a son, a wife and a boyfriend. Are the disappearances connected? And if they are, why? 

This was a fantastic read. Suspenseful, tense, and mysterious, this book will keep you guessing until the very end. A true page turner, I was able to read it in a few hours. If you love suspenseful mysteries like I do, then this is the book for you. I received this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.

Feast of the Swamp Goblin- A Horror 'B-Book'

We have a love of B-horror movies in this house. My husband suggested this book for me to read and I have to say that I was not disappointed. Dubbed by the author a horror 'B-Book', it's just that and it's so much fun.

Five 20-something kids go into the woods on a graduation hike across the Canadian wilderness. They have no idea what they are walking into. They're the typical B-horror movie characters, the jock, the pretty one, the average girl, the guy in love with the average girl who has no idea and the nerd, throw in a grizzled old man on a vendetta to kill the "goblin" as he calls it, and you have the perfect story.  If this was a B-horror movie, it would have all the tropes that make them so wonderful, partaking in drinking, drugs and sex, plus splitting up and they saying, "I'll be right back"(clearly, they don't know the rules of a horror movie). This book oozes B-horror, from the beginning to the very end and you will not be disappointed. It's a fun, quick read that will keep you entertained from page one. 

Her Final Goodbye-Meg Dawson #2

I originally received this book after being accepted to an ARC team by the author. I love a good mystery and this one definitely grabbed my attention. I am happy to see it's a part of a series, so I'll get to see what other kinds of trouble Meg gets herself into. I haven't read the first book and although there were references to the plot of the first book, I was still able to enjoy this story by itself. 

Meg Dawson thought she would be following in her father's footsteps into a career as a police officer. Failing to pass the psychological test, she ends up writing for The Puget Sound Journal in Seattle. When she catches the story of a local teen that's been brutally murdered in what looks like a break in gone bad, she has no idea what she's gotten herself into. She finds a corrupt school sports team, drug manufacturing and hidden secrets that threaten to destroy several families in the area. She starts receiving threatening notes, is run off the road and eventually kidnapped. Can she help find the killer before she herself is a victim?

This story is full of action and is a definite page turner. The author does a good job of connecting all the threads and in the end all of it makes sense. A nice, suspenseful murder mystery. I will definitely be reading the first book and I look forward to seeing what else Meg gets into. 

An Antique Murder-The Oldminster Mysteries-Book #2

When I requested this book, I did not realize that it was book #2 in a series, however, even with it being a part of a series, I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Sir Frank Taylor is a famous, retired British actor, living in the Irving Home for Retired Actors. At 94, he's not in good health, cancer and a deep fear that his life will be snuffed out by an assassin. HIs fears come true when he is found murdered, an authentic SS Nazi dagger sticking out of his chest. What is the connection between this dagger and Mr. Taylor? 

DI Paul French and DS Glyn Edwards are sent out to investigate his murder. They immediately surmise that it couldn't have been an outsider but instead had to be someone on the inside due to the intense security measures taken around the retirement home. The detectives start asking around and as they progress the plot thickens. The search for the truth involves delving into one the worst and most heinous times in world history. Long held secrets, that have been hidden are forced to the surface and threaten to destroy more than one life. 

I found this to be a really intriguing story. With rich background stories on the plot, blending both modern times and historic WWII.I felt the pacing was slow in the beginning but picked up about 1/2 way through. Since the book is set in England and involves a lot of German words as well as a few other languages, it was nice to have a glossary at the end of the book. Several times throughout, I thought I had the killer pegged, only to discover at the end that I was wrong. I love a good twist and to be surprised in my mysteries and this story did not disappoint. Knowing now that this is a series, I am looking forward to reading the first book. I received this book free from NetGalley for an honest review. 

Upside-Down Magic

My daughter has read all the books available in this series so far. She came to me not too long ago and said I should read it. I figured, why not?

Nory is a ten-year-old girl with a special gift: she can turn in to animals. The problem is, she always turns into wonky animals, a skunk with an elephant trunk or a beaver with a kitten body. On top of the wonky animals, she loses her human mind and ends up destroying things as the animal. Her father is the headmaster of the prestigious Sage Academy, and it has come time for her to sit for The Big Test, for admission to his school. All she has to do is turn in to a black kitten and keep her human mind while she's doing it. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen, and she is forced to go to a public magic school, Dunwiddle Magic School. Even worse, her father sends her to live with her aunt, without telling her. Her father is pretty much absentee, since her mother passed, and her older brother is doing much of the fatherly duties around the house.

At the new school, she is placed in a new class for people like her, who do "wonky magic", called the Upside-Down Magic class. Within this world there are 5 schools of magic:

1) Fluxers-transform into animals

2)Flares- light things on fire

3) Flyers-can fly and can, rarely, take passengers

4)Fuzzies-who can do animal magic

5)Flickers-can make objects or even themselves invisible

Nory meets another "wonky" kid, Elliot, who instead of lighting things on fire, freezes things. They, with several other kids, make up Ms. Starrs class of upside-down magic kids. She teaches them that they aren't wonky, they're just different and its her job to teach them how to use the magic they have and to not be ashamed that their magic isn't "normal."

I really thought this book was cute and I'm glad my daughter asked me to read it. We have 7 of the books, so Ill add this series to my stack to read for the year. The chapters are short, and it was a quick read, only took a few hours. The theme that I gleaned from this book is that it's okay to be different and you should learn to accept those differences and, in some cases, even hone what skills you have that make you different.