This Chick Read: Shiver by Suzanne Wright

Shiver is one of the most surprising novels I’ve read this year. The main character, Kensey Lyons, has one of the most original background stories I’ve read in a long while. When Kensey was a small child, her mother wrote to and married a serial killer on death row. Raised going to the prison to visit her step father, Kensey has mixed feelings about the man she loved as a child and the man she knows killed 30+ women. Working as a waitress in a bar owned by her godmother, Kensey retreats from reality by writing horror fiction under a pen name. When Blake buys out a silent owner and meets Kensey for the first time he makes a terrible impression. He insults her intelligence, calls her a drug addict and believes every lie her enemies have told him. He needs a long ladder to climb out of the big hole he dug when he realizes that he wants and has to have Kensey for his own. She’s not stupid, even though she’s incredibly attracted to him, she doesn’t want anything to do with him and makes his chase very difficult.

I have read a couple of Suzanne Wright’s Phoenix pack shifter series and really enjoy her style of writing. Blake reminds me of an Alpha in a pack. A bit he-man but cares for and wants to take care of his woman. Kensey is not your usual woman. She has a ton of baggage and is also being stalked by a man who thinks he is her step father’s son and wants her out of the way. A story that is just as much a mystery as a romance, Shiver is deftly written and I applaud the author for intermixing the two plots so well.

I found it really interesting being inside of Kensey’s head and watching/listening to her manage her feelings about her mother and step father. When she needs her step fathers insight into who may be stalking her, those scenes are very chilling, the flip between loving father and psychopath like a switch turning on and off. I have to admit, I favored the mystery plot line a bit more than the romance. Blake was a little controlling, although I did like how their relationship progressed to trust and love. They both had a lot of baggage and seemed to be a match made in heaven.

If you are looking for a dark and sexy novel then you must read Shiver. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Shiver

Click this link to purchase! Shiver

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: Does the Weather Outside Affect Your Book Choice?

It’s April, but a lot of the US is still feeling the effects of winter. Luckily in Nashville the temperatures may be cold, but we are not seeing the snow the Midwest and Northeast are getting. Nashville is just getting a ton of rain. I hope wherever you live, you are seeing a true spring, instead of the bi polar temperatures we have been seeing in our country!

The wonderful thing about reading a book is that it is enjoyable in any type of weather! So hunker down under a blanket, or enjoy that beach you are laying on and start the next chapter. This is a great segway into what I want to talk about today.

Does a change in weather affect our book reviews? Or at least the books we pick to review? My first inclination is to say yes. After all, our moods are affected by a long winter, right? Those of you getting snowstorms on April 8th are probably about to be the star of your own mystery novel right about now!  But seriously, are we more apt to love mysteries in the winter and romance novels in the summer? Or do we like to read summertime romances in the winter and dark mysteries in the summer? Of course, it’s all subjective because every reader is different. I can only tell you my own habits, and unfortunately they aren’t that clear cut!

I love the lighthearted vacation books that come out in the summer. Yeah, yeah, I’m generalizing. Of course, serious bestselling novels are also released for those who may have time to read while on their vacation, but I like getting away from reality and love a get away novel with a hero and heroine I can root to find their HEA. I don’t want to read a 500 page family saga. I like the feeling of completion you get when you can read a 350 page novel in a few days.

In the winter I have more patience because I’m at home in the evenings hunkering down with my mug of hot chocolate. I have the attention span to read a mystery or longer fantasy novel, maybe even that bestselling fiction novel everyone is talking about. (OK probably not, but I wanted to make myself sound more intellectual…) Do publishers take all of these feelings into account when they plan a release? I really don’t know, but I would think so!

Now that you know what types of books I like to read at a certain time of year, has this made you think of your own habits? We book bloggers can be moody as hell. Is that in some part due to the weather?

What do you like to read in the winter, spring, summer and fall? Does it matter? Does the weather make you pick a certain book to read? Please share your comments below, I really would like to know!

Until next Sunday,

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Future Lost (Future Shock #3) by Elizabeth Briggs

Elena and Adam have traveled to the future several times, initially as part of a team hired by a tech firm, Aether Corporation. Each time they have traveled, they have seen different visions of what their future would be like, and those future’s keep getting more and more grim. After things went wrong in the previous novel, Future Threat, Elena and Adam and their friends are determined to never make that trip to the future again, but Adams search for the cure to cancer becomes and obsession. When he disappears one day, Elena finds out that he took a trip back to the future again, alone.

Future Lost does a great job of subtly recapping the previous two novels into the plot, so I could quickly become engrossed in the plot and root for Elena to finally find security and happiness in her life. When Adam goes missing I knew where he went and eagerly looked forward to seeing what their future world looked like now. Without getting into the intricacies of the plot, I’ll just say “Apocalyptic” would be a good description.

Elena is an easy character to root for. She’s led a tough life and has found happiness with Adam and seen a future that she is willing to fight towards. Hope is one of Elena’s greatest characteristics, but unfortunately she has to set it aside and go back to a darker place using some of her darker skills to fight the Aether Corporation and save her future. Adam starts off this novel in a darker place than Elena and it’s interesting to see how her initial hopefulness and his desperation to find the cure for cancer seem to run on a parallel path to each other, only meeting when her hope turns to desperation and his desperation to hope.

Future Lost was the darkest of the three novels but that glimmer of hope ran through the story like a grain of gold waiting to be mined. The plot took me on a journey of feelings, despair, desperation, sadness, love and most importantly that hope. On any other novel I may have felt the conclusion was a little too perfectly wrapped, but I think the feeling of calmness I felt was a kind of conviction that the characters finally found themselves in the right place, at the right time. Their happily ever after stretching out in front of them. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

To read my review of Future Shock click HERE and Future Threat click HERE

I was given a copy of this novel through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

Future Lost

Click this link to purchase! Future Lost (Future Shock)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Out of the Ordinary (Apart from the Crowd #2) by Jen Turano

Gertrude Cadawalder and Harrison Sinclair were introduced in Behind the Scenes, Jen Turano’s first book in the Apart from the Crowd series. Gertrude is a paid companion to Mrs. Davenport, who has a horrible habit of stealing trinkets from hostesses, leaving Gertrude to find a way to return them without that theft becoming known. A job that is way above her pay grade! Mrs. Davenport also thinks herself something of a clothing designer using Gertrude as her runway model and unfortunately making her unpopular with society’s upper crust. This lack of being dressed to society’s standards is something Harrison shares with Gertrude as he is somewhat color blind, always pairing the most unfortunate colors and patterns. However, his wealth and overall good looks more than make up for the fact that he dresses like a clown.

When Harrison throws their good friends an engagement party and invites Mrs. Davenport her nimble fingers unfortunately go to work and she steals a few of his sisters belongings. Gertrude, when returning those items gets caught and his mother throws her into jail. While defending her to his mother, Harrison finally begins to see Gertrude as more than a friendly aquaintance.

Jen Turano writes with such warmth and humor that it makes enjoying her novels very easy. As an Inspirational Romance writer she deftly ties faith into the story so that it pairs naturally with what is happening in that moment, and except for the innocent nature of the “romance” I wouldn’t know I was reading an inspirational novel. I have really enjoyed this series and if you are looking for a fun, witty novel that is light in nature but not in plot, you need to pick up one of her novels. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Out of the Ordinary Click this link to purchase! Out of the Ordinary (Apart From the Crowd) Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman

Other People’s Houses looks behind the curtain into all of the relationships in a block of houses in the Larchmount neighborhood of Los Angeles. Frances Bloom, as the volunteer driver of all of the neighbors children, she gets an eyeful into the lives of her next door neighbor that makes everyone take a second look into their own marriage.

Although the point of view changes from character to character I mostly identified with Frances, the mother of four, slightly overweight stay at home wife who spends her days making other peoples lives easier. Not to say that I make people’s lives easy, but she was more the “everyman” character in this book, so seeing through her eyes was easier and her point of view was very clear. When she catches one of her neighbors in infidelity she keeps her mouth shut, but her knowing creates a cause and effect that builds into a tsunami that breaks over that neighborhood, changing the lives of not only the adults but all of the children as well.

I LOVED Abbi Waxman’s first novel The Garden of Small Beginnings. It too dealt with a difficult subject as the main character, widower and mother of two, Lili, was still trying to get over the death of her husband. It was a story of letting go and moving forward told through humor. The infidelity in Other People’s Houses was also hard to read, but more so because of how it affected all of the children. There was still a bit of humor but I cried more than I laughed in this book. The funny commentary between mothers and children were present but it was almost bittersweet because of the lesson they were all learning from someone else’s mistake.

Other People’s Houses needs to stand on it’s own and not be compared to The Garden of Small Beginnings, and I think I did it a disservice at first for being so eager to look for a laugh. I was disappointed when I didn’t get it until further into the book. Abbi Waxman still did an amazing job creating credible, real, emotional characters. I really liked these people so was able to get involved in their stories, but it did take me a little bit to understand that this was not going down the road I had wanted to take and my journey was going to be a lot more emotional. If you enjoy reading books about heartbreaking relationships with an occasional laugh then you will really like this book. If you read The Garden of Small Beginnings, be warned, you are not getting the same uplifting novel with Other People’s Houses, but you will still be enthralled with the story. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

Other People's

Click this link to purchase! Other People’s Houses

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads1 Comment

Have a Happy Easter!

This is one of my favorite times of year. I look around and see the daffodils and tulips blooming, the tree’s budding, and the grass growing in that green color you only see at the beginning of the season. Beautiful, right?

Easter’s message of Hope and New Beginnings means that we can shed all of the bad things that have happened in the past year and start over. We can start a new book, a new chapter in our lives.

I hope that you all have a Happy Easter filled with hope and new beginnings!

Start a new chapter in your book and enjoy!

Until next Sunday,

Deb

I had to share the cake I made for Easter dessert. Blueberry-Lemon cake with blueberry butter cream frosting.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads9 Comments

This Chick Read: The Gravity of Us by Brittainy Cherry

Graham Russell is a best selling horror author who has been abandoned by everyone in his life. He was raised by a father who was not capable of loving anyone but himself. Graham never learned how to love, and if he had he certainly wouldn’t trust it. When we meet him, he’s getting ready for his father’s funeral service. His very pregnant wife, Jane, has to practically drag him to the service, which he reluctantly attends. At the service he meets Lucille, one of the florists who provided flowers for his fathers service. They are briefly trapped together outside and strike up a conversation. This conversation defines who these two people are- Graham is an unemotional bastard and Lucille has a skip in her step and an optimistic view of life.

This novel is not a typical romance. This is a book about learning to love. Graham, for the first time in his life falls head over heels in love, with his baby girl. He would do anything for her and he does by reaching out to the sister of his wife (yes, Lucille is his sister in law!) to help him figure out how to care for his daughter. Lucille is immediately all in. Even though her sister abandoned she and her other sister in their greatest time of need, she doesn’t even think twice about helping Graham out, devoting all of her spare time. As they spend more time with each other Lucille falls in love with her taciturn brother in law. Looking at him through her eyes, I can see why. He is in love with this little girl and it brings out the humanity in him. A humanity that he soon has trouble shutting the door on. As his daughter melts his heart, Lucille’s generosity of spirit and wholesome love opens his heart to another kind of love.

Once again I’m going to reiterate that this is not your typical romance. Based on the cover you’d think it would be a sexy love story. There is a little of that much later in the novel, however the sexiness in this novel isn’t physical. The sexy in this novel comes from the warmth of love. The basis of their relationship is a friendship that builds throughout the entire novel. I loved that. The only negative for me was that he was married to Lucille’s sister.  Jane disappeared after giving birth to a sick child and was obviously emotionally inept. That contrast between she and Lucille needed to be extreme for Gabriel to learn love. In fact that contrast between those two women, for me showed how much Gabriel emerged from the darkness into the light. That journey to a healthy love made the happily ever after even more rewarding. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

The Gravity of Us Click this link to purchase! The Gravity of Us (The Elements Series) (Volume 4) Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads1 Comment

This Chick Read: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Alice and her mother were always a step ahead of bad luck until one day it caught up to them. Living in New York, Alice’s mother had married a wealthy man and seemed to have stopped believe in their bad luck. Working in a coffee shop, Alice see’s a familiar face from her childhood. A man who had kidnapped her to take her back to her grandmother, a famous author of dark fairy tales, at her home in the Hazel Wood. When she spots this man, he doesn’t look a day older than he did ten years ago, so she doesn’t believe her instincts. When she gets home and finds her mother has been kidnapped by the people they had been running from, Alice has to find her grandmother’s estate, hoping that is where her mother is being taken. This is a story of adventure and self discovery for Alice and like the dark fairy tale’s her grandmother wrote, her journey also follows a dark path.

As I started reading The Hazel Wood I loved the world that Melissa Albert had created. Alice, like Alice in Wonderland, seemed to have fallen down a dark hole and as Alice and I learned more about the fairy tale’s that her grandmother wrote it became hard to second guess where the story was leading. When Alice got to the Hazel Wood and her existence was revealed I’ll admit that it became harder for me to like. This was not a Disneyland fairy tale and even though there was a happy ending I didn’t feel very happy at the end.

I had mixed feelings about this novel. The writing was excellent and it was a unique story but in the end I felt “meh”. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

The Hazel Wood

Click this link to purchase! The Hazel Wood: A Novel

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads6 Comments

This Chick Read: His Wicked Charm (The Mad Morelands #6) by Candace Camp

What do you get when you combine a conservative young woman in regency dress with a charming scamp? A lively and fun historical romance novel by Candace Camp! Constantine Moreland is handsome and almost too charming for his own good. His flirtatious personality makes him very well liked by the ladies, with the exception of Lila Norcutt. However, his twin brother just married her best friend so they are paired together more than she’d like. When his mother and sisters end up being kidnapped while at a suffragette rally, Lila joins Con in the hunt to rescue them and ends up loosening up her corset strings and actually having fun with the man she professes to hate.

I found His Wicked Charm to be a lot of fun to read. It wasn’t a very serious historical romance (thank god!) and I was able to just relax and read it in an afternoon. Although Con’s personality annoyed Lila at the outset of this novel, he was the perfect remedy for a gloomy Saturday afternoon. Luckily Lila changed her tune and started to relish the chemistry that she and Con had and their romps through the countryside turned into a different kind of romp altogether!

I have not read any of the other books in this series but the characters do all seem to be a bit mad, or at least different for the time period. It seems that they each have a different psychic gift which may make their romantic pairings a bit more interesting. I liked this novel and am willing to give another Mad Moreland a try! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review, and it was honest!

His Wicked Charm

Click this link to purchase! His Wicked Charm (The Mad Morelands)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: My Pet Peeves with Female Fictional Character Traits

I tend to gravitate towards female authors because they predominantly write from a woman’s perspective which I enjoy being a woman myself, but after finishing another novel where I was disappointed in the female lead I wondered what was the point to this character? Why even write about her? I started to doubt myself. Is it just the way I’m reading this book? My mood? Admittedly, being a strong willed woman myself I have little patience for reading  from a weak heroines perspective and I definitely have my favorite female personalities. I have also noticed that if I’ve had a rough day at work I have little patience, and I do keep that in mind.

Why is it that romance novels show so many female main characters as being weak and submissive to a man? I’ll admit, I like to read romances where the man is take charge. However, if the woman is in jeopardy too much or is too submissive it takes my head out of the story. I get a little offended for womankind that this is supposed to be a fantasy or role model for women who read these novels. Am I supposed to like this?

YA novels actually do a great job of giving their readers strong female role models. Authors like Sarah J. Mass and Victoria Aveyard wouldn’t be caught dead with a weak female heroine. Worlds would collapse and Kingdoms lost! Their heroines aren’t perfect by any means, but they always learn a lesson and grow as characters. (Although I have my doubts about Mare). I am ecstatic that YA authors seem to take their roles seriously? Why give younger women weak role models to emulate when we can teach them to lead countries and conquer worlds?

Some romance authors make a living by writing novels that let men control their woman. Alexa Reilly comes immediately to mind. They write really well, but their formula is a weak brainless woman who is seduced by the man’s money and will. I’m sure you’ve guessed this isn’t my thing. But why is it anyone’s? People rave about Jamie McGuire’s aptly titled Beautiful Disaster. That female lead was a hot mess! People give 5 star reviews to that book. It amazes me. I know, I know, reading, like admiring art, is in the eye of the beholder. It’s totally subjective. I love that! I do really get fired up about having bad role models for women though, even if it’s just fiction.

My favorite female to read is the warrior. Even if a woman is just a lawyer fighting for a cause I get a charge out of it. If she’s in a fantasy world wielding a sword even better! in romance that sword could be words and clever dialog with her man. I do see a place for learning what NOT to do from reading about weak willed characters. Or those women who start off weak and learn a great lesson and use that knowledge to change their life. Those women are redeemed!

OK, I’m sure you’ve heard me rant enough. I want to ask you, what kind of women do you like to read about?

If you are a writer and have a perspective or thought on why some female authors write about women in the victim role I’d love to hear it!

What books have you read where you’ve LOVED the female lead character? I’m always looking for a new book to read and if the female lead is awesome I definitely want it on my radar!

Until next Sunday,

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads15 Comments