Publisher: Headline Publishing Group

Review and Giveaway: Hello Again by Brenda Novak

Posted November 13, 2017 by Casee in Giveaways, Reviews | 3 Comments

Review and Giveaway: Hello Again by Brenda NovakReviewer: Casee
Hello Again by Brenda Novak
Series: The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles #2
Also in this series: Her Darkest Nightmare
Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: November 2nd 2017
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 352
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

From NYT bestseller Brenda Novak comes the next installment of Dr. Evelyn Talbot and her murderous home for psychopaths in Hello Again.

SHE CAN MAKE SENSE OF A COMPLEX CRIMINAL MIND.Evelyn Talbot, a psychiatrist at a maximum-security prison in Alaska, studies some of the world's worst serial killers. But she’s about to meet her most elusive patient at Hanover House yet: Dr. Lyman Bishop, AKA the Zombie Maker given his fondness for performing ice-pick lobotomies on his victims. A brilliant cancer researcher, Bishop is either the most cunning psychopath Evelyn has ever encountered—or he is wrongly convicted.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CRIMINAL CAN SEE INTO HER OWN?When a new ice-pick fatality occurs, it seems Bishop really was wrongly convicted. Except...Evelyn has a personal connection to the victim and that suggests the killer may be someone from her own past: Jasper Moore, her high school boyfriend who tortured her and left her for dead when she was only sixteen. Jasper also murdered three of her friends—and was never caught. Is he trying to send a message with this copycat crime? The only thing Evelyn knows for sure is that if Jasper is on her trail, she might not be able to escape again . .

It took me a bit to get into the book, but not because it wasn’t good. Once I was into it, I was glad I was on a road trip and it wasn’t my turn to drive because I couldn’t stop reading. Novack really has a way of drawing you in and keeping you on the edge of your seat. The suspense is thrilling in this book, breathtaking even, when you consider the danger that Evelyn finds herself in when the book comes to an end. Evelyn studies psychopaths so she can put away the one that got away. Jasper. The one who tortured and almost killed Evelyn and murdered two of Evelyn’s friends when she was sixteen. Evelyn finds the minds of these criminals fascinating and just wants to find Jaspar so she can stop living in fear; so her parents can stop worrying about her.

It doesn’t help that she doesn’t feel like she can start a life with Amarok who she loves desperately but can’t let herself go completely with. When he leaves to go investigate what he thinks are murders committed by Jaspar, Evelyn gets a taste of what life might be like without him and it’s something that she isn’t happy with. As for Amarok, he’s all in with Evelyn and if it means hunting Jaspar down himself, he is willing to do that. He will even go to the parents who helped him escape.

Meanwhile back home, Evelyn is dealing with the killer dubbed the “Zombie Maker”. Dr. Lyman Bishop was the last person anyone ever expected to be the Zombie Maker but they found the panties of the victims in his house. Evelyn isn’t sure of his guilt. At first. Then she sees the killer behind that facade he presents to the world and she knows he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be. Too bad it comes to light that the police planted evidence in the case and Lyman Bishop is about to be released. Evelyn is in a race against the clock to get Bishop’s sister out of his care, something that he has sworn he will retaliate against her for if she’s successful at. Evelyn isn’t someone that will give up and leaving someone to be victimized is unheard of for her.

I really enjoyed this book. Even enjoyed it more than Her Darkest Nightmare. It was more than just a criminal getting even with Evelyn because she was his doctor. It was matching wits against wits. Evelyn doesn’t apologize to anyone for who she is. When Amarok’s old flame comes into town and they come face to face, Evelyn holds her ground and it is divine. I didn’t care for the woman and how she came onto Amarok at all. I actually lost a bit of respect for Amarok during the exchange. Evelyn is a kick ass heroine, a survivor. And she will have plenty to survive during the next book because Jaspar is back.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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four-stars

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Guest Review: The Dare and the Doctor by Kate Noble

Posted January 16, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Dare and the Doctor by Kate NobleReviewer: Tracy
The Dare and the Doctor by Kate Noble
Series: Winner Takes All #3
Also in this series: Miss Goodhue Lives for a Night
Publisher: Headline Eternal
Publication Date: November 22nd 2016
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Dr. Rhys Gray and Miss Margaret Babcock are friends—strictly friends. But over the course of the year, as they exchange dozens of letters, they share personal details that put them on the path to something more. When Dr. Gray helps Margaret realize her dearest dream and she comes to his defense in the uproar that follows, it seems that their connection cannot be denied. But will their relationship stand the scruples of society and jealous intendeds, or are they destined to be only friends, and nothing more?

Rhys is a doctor and a friend of Margaret’s father.  He came to visit and stayed at their house.  He and Margaret became friends and after he leaves to go back to Greenwich they start corresponding and build a great friendship.  When Rhys tells the London Horticultural Society about her hybrid roses and they state that they are interested in seeing them Margaret balks.  She’s not sure she can get to London and leave the home she’s known.  She finally agrees to go after hearing her mother whisper in her ear, “I dare you.”  Margaret’s mother has been dead for years but that was her favorite way of getting Margaret to do things she didn’t want to do.

After arriving in London Margaret gets talked into going to balls, etc., by her friends and hosts but she just wants to garden.  She does head to Vauxhall with Rhys but they both fear that her hosts, his friends, are trying to get them together.  They assure each other that they have no designs on each other and that they are just friends.  Margaret is happy to be friends with Rhys until she learns that he is to be married to the beautiful Miss Sylvia Morton.

Miss Morton is kind and strikes up a friendship with Margaret which includes heading to all of the events that Margaret would rather not go to.  She doesn’t want to hurt Sylvia’s feelings though so she goes.  She loves seeing Rhys at these events but unfortunately Sylvia is always there reminding her that Rhys isn’t hers.  She tells herself it doesn’t bother her but she lies.  She starts to fall for Rhys but knows she can never have him and it starts to break her heart.

This was a very sweet story of two very similar characters.  Rhys and Margaret are just such nerds and perfect for each other. 🙂 He loves hearing about her plants and she loves hearing about and seeing all of the things in his laboratory.  How either of them thought they could just be friends was beyond me.  I loved how comfortable they were with each other.  Their conversations weren’t strained for lack of anything to say and they took the other for who they truly were – not who they wanted them to be.

Rhys was really in a pickle with his mom having made an agreement with the Morton’s to have Rhys marry Sylvia.  It had been years since the agreement was made but both families were sticking to it.  Rhys truly didn’t want to marry Sylvia but he felt like he had to for the good of the family.  My heart went out to him in his predicament.  Of course Sylvia didn’t help matters because I could see how scheming she was from the beginning and didn’t like her one bit.

The book was sweet and I enjoyed it.  It was slow at times but for the most part a good, steady romance.

Rating: 3.5/3.75 out of 5

three-half-stars

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Review: My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis

Posted January 12, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: My Kind of Wonderful by Jill ShalvisReviewer: Rowena
My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge #2
Also in this series: Second Chance Summer, My Kind of Wonderful, Nobody but You, Nobody But You
Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: December 22nd 2015
Pages: 384
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three-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Fans of Jill Mansell, Debbie Macomber, Nora Roberts and Marie Force will fall head over heels for the new Cedar Ridge series from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis, featuring her trademark gift for humour, warmth and romance.

If you'd been given a second chance at life, what's the first thing you would do?

Now that artist Bailey is finally healthy for the first time in forever, she's living life to the full. First on her wishlist is skiing in the Rockies - at least it will be if she can get down the mountain in one piece...

Luckily, a ski patrolling Prince Charming comes to Bailey's aid. Learning that her mysterious rescuer, Hudson Kincaid, is also the subject of the mural she's been commissioned to paint in Cedar Ridge, Bailey is intrigued.

As she uncovers the real man behind Hudson's strong, silent facade, Bailey begins to realise that the life of adventure she has always dreamed of could be closer to home than she ever imagined.

Want more warm, funny romance? Don't miss the first Cedar Ridge novel, Second Chance Summer, visit spellbinding Lucky Harbor or experience some Animal Magnetism in Sunshine, Idaho in Jill's other unforgettable series.

My Kind of Wonderful is the second book in the Cedar Ridge series by Jill Shalvis and in this book, we got Hudson Kincaid’s story.

Hudson is a man with a million jobs. He takes care of everyone around him, including his employees, siblings and his mother and I think he kept himself so busy so that he didn’t give himself time to worry about the brother missing from his life. His twin brother, Jacob. You see, Hudson and Jacob are half-siblings to the other Kincaids (Gray, Aidan and Makenna) and before they all became the Brady Bunch, Hudson and Jacob were on their own. They took care of their mother because she lived in a fantasy world and for as long as they could remember, it was them against the world. They had plans but when they moved to Cedar Ridge, to be close to their new-found family, Hudson forgot all about the plan to skip town and see the world once they turned eighteen.

Hudson liked being a part of a family unit. He liked his siblings and wanted to be around them. He wanted to be accepted and wanted a stable life where he didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table and he wanted help in taking care of his Mom. He got all of that when he came to Cedar Ridge and he wasn’t in a rush to leave all that behind. So after a huge blowout with Jacob, Hudson stays behind and a rift grows with each passing year that Jacob is away.

I was intrigued by Hudson’s character in the last book in this series and I was pretty excited to jump into this story and get to know him better. When he meets Bailey Moore, I thought their meet cute was…cute.

Bailey was an interesting heroine. She had non-Hodgkin lymphoma and survived to tell the story. After she gets the all-clear after her three month checkup, she’s stoked. She’s finally got a future to look forward to and she’s not about to waste it. She’s got a list of things she wants to do and she’s going to do them. First up? Paint a mural for the ski resort run by the Kincaids.

Hudson and Bailey circled each other for a little bit and I’ve never encountered a heroine quite like Bailey before. She wasn’t sick anymore but she was still a bit frail and she was regaining her confidence in herself and I liked her attitude toward her scars and her past. I loved that she wasn’t embarrassed to face Hudson. I liked her.

The romance between Hudson and Bailey was, I’m not quite sure what. I liked the both of them but I can’t say that I was in love with their coming together…with their story. I don’t know what it was but their romance fell a bit flat for me. It felt like I’d read this story before and the more I dug in, the more I felt it. I get that romances recycle stories and plots but it’s normally the characters that can sell me on a story and while I liked Hudson and Bailey, I didn’t absolutely love either of them.

I’ll definitely read the next book in the series but a little of my excitement is down. This book had Shalvis’ standard humor and cuteness but I was left wanting more from the romance and the book itself so I’m giving this one a 3 out of 5. There was enough to keep me satisfied but not enough to make me fall in absolute love.

Grade: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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Guest Review: The Laughing Corpse (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel) by Laurell K. Hamilton

Posted April 16, 2008 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 6 Comments

Guest Review: The Laughing Corpse (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel) by Laurell K. HamiltonReviewer: Melissa
The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton
Series: Anita Blake #2
Also in this series: Guilty Pleasures, Circus of the Damned, The Killing Dance
Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: October 1st 2009
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 300
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

'The older the zombie, the bigger the death needed to raise it.'
After a few centuries, the only death 'big enough' is a human sacrifice.
I know because I'm an animator. My name is Anita Blake. Working for Animators, Inc. is just a job - like selling insurance. But all the money in the world wasn't enough for me to take on the particular job Harold Gaynor was offering. Somebody else did, though - a rogue animator.
Now he's not just raising the dead... he's raising Hell. And it's up to me to stop it.

The Laughing Corpse is the second book in the Anita Blake series. I enjoyed the first, the second is just as good, and now I’m hooked. This is another piece of Anita’s life, and what she is up against. Anita is a very busy girl: she raises the dead to pay her bills, works on the side with the Police RPIT department (Regional Preternatural Investigation Team) handling supernatural crime, and slays vampires.

Jean-Claude, the new master Vampire, is still after Anita. He is trying to make her his human slave. Which totally has it benefits, but Anita has a strong attachment to her soul, so she fights her attraction to him. Anita is an animator by profession, which means she raises corpses, making them zombies. Mr. Gaynor, potential client, wants her to raise a 283 yr old corpse. But, in order to do it, she would have to sacrifice a human. She refuses. Man o’ man is he persistent. Money, violence, blackmail whatever it will take, Mr. Gaynor will try.

In Anita’s side job working for the police, she is chasing after some THING. Whatever it is, just scares the hell out of me. It is going across the city, consuming families, the whole family, very messily, leaving body parts here and there. And if that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, the most powerful voodoo priestess in the Midwest, Dominga Salvador, is trying to recruit her. Dominga plays in the dark side of Voodoo and Anita doesn’t want anything to do with it. But, Anita is Anita, and offends Dominga. Not good, not good at all, someone who can conjure up creatures of the night is not a person you want to piss off.

I like how there is more than one bad guy, and multiple things going on at one time. The story itself is good. I also like the characters, old and new, they are all interesting. It really makes the pages just fly by.

My favorite quote from the book:

I nodded. “Okay, you got a deal.” It was a business expense. Computer paper, ink pens medium point, one prostitute, manila file folders. See, it fit right in.

Now for the parts I didn’t like. Anita’s relationship with Jean-Claude isn’t moving fast enough for me, but I will survive. The other piece that I did not like has to do with children. Families are being eaten. I can deal with that, but there are just some parts that have to do with the children that are too graphic for me. (Spoilers, highlight to read)One part in particular, at a crime scene she picks up a toddlers hand (that is all there is left of the child) and pretended to throw it at a cop. It straight up made me gag. I have small children myself, not something I want to picture.

Overall a little graphic, but I’m still addicted.

4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

four-stars

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