Book List 2023 · Reviews

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Title: Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
Author:
Elle Cosimano
Series:
Finlay Donovan
Source:
Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Genre:
Mystery, Thriller.
Trigger Warnings:
Violence, death, wouldn’t say too graphic but take care of yourself.
Explicit?
Low level spice.
Summary:
Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls’ weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are―seeing as it’s actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero’s childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car―it won’t be all fun and games. When Finlay’s ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride.

Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all―he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for―Marco’s already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike―and after Finlay’s night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?

Continue reading “Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano”
Book List 2018

Review: Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich

hardcore twenty fourTitle: Hardcore Twenty-Four

Author: Janet Evanovich

Genre: Mystery

Summary: Trouble comes in bunches for Stephanie Plum. First, professional grave robber and semi-professional loon, Simon Diggery, won’t let her take him in until she agrees to care for his boa constrictor, Ethel. Stephanie’s main qualification for babysitting an extremely large snake is that she owns a stun gun—whether that’s for use on the wandering serpent or the petrified neighbors remains to be seen.

Events take a dark turn when headless bodies start appearing across town. At first, it’s just corpses from a funeral home and the morgue that have had the heads removed. But when a homeless man is murdered and dumped behind a church Stephanie knows that she’s the only one with a prayer of catching this killer.

If all that’s not enough, Diesel’s back in town. The 6-foot-tall, blonde-haired hunk is a man who accepts no limits—that includes locked doors, closed windows and underwear. Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli isn’t pleased at this unexpected arrival nor is Ranger, the high-powered security consultant who has his own plans for Stephanie.

As usual Jersey’s favorite bounty hunter is stuck in the middle with more questions than answers. What’s the deal with Grandma Mazur’s latest online paramour? Who is behind the startling epidemic of mutilated corpses? And is the enigmatic Diesel’s sudden appearance a coincidence or the cause of recent deadly events?  

Review:

Janet Evanovich puts out a Stephanie Plum book and I buy it. I got this one because I heard Diesel would be back, and I’ve loved him since he first appeared. He was not disappointing here.

But Stephanie, girl, at some point you have to choose, and I’m beginning to think you should probably choose someone who isn’t Morelli or Ranger because it doesn’t seem to be working out too well for you. One of them doesn’t want you to do what you do so well (well sort of) and the other one won’t commit. It’s time.

This book was an amusing romp, and I did enjoy it. It was a nice quick read, and fast paced. The edition of zombies was amusing.

I think it might be time for a bit of a refresh in some way though.

Book List 2016 · Reviews

Review: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

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Overall Rating: ★★★

This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming. . . .

And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.

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Book List 2013

A Beginners Guide to Acting English by Shappi Khorsandi

A Beginner's Guide To Acting EnglishA Beginner’s Guide To Acting English by Shappi Khorsandi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is absolutely brilliantly written and I can’t believe it took me so long to get to it.

While I do love Shappi for her comedic side, this book is a touching, wonderful book which made me cry, laugh and smile all throughout.

The honesty with which it is written is refreshing and I couldn’t put it down.

Shappi is one of my favourite comediennes and I never could’ve imagined the life she lived before she came to England and even after.

It was so vivid, and detailed and amusing but there were parts that left me with an inexplicable sadness. Even if you aren’t a Shappi Khorsandi fan read this book, because of its human element.

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