Tag: book review

This Chick Read: Warcross (Warcross #1) by Marie Lu

Set in a futuristic world where video games and real life interface, Emika, a seventeen year old bounty hunter, faces a moment of temptation that will change her life forever.  During the Warcross World Championships Emika hacks the game in a way that shows her face to the world and she goes from on the edge of homeless to world famous and a wild card entry into the Championships.

Hideo Tanaka is the child genius who invented glasses that interfaces his Warcross video game with real life. When Emika hacks his game he offers her a job as bounty hunter and gives her entrance into the Championships to work as his spy.

I do not play video games and was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get into this book because of that but I shouldn’t have worried. The world Marie Lu created was vivid, had amazing energy, and painted a 3-D picture for me to visualize and engage with. The games themselves were exciting, the action well written and Emika’s thought process as she deconstructed play exciting. I loved the game!

There was plenty of action to keep this book moving along at a fast pace, and when the action slowed down Emika’s relationship with Hideo painted the page with soft brush strokes. I didn’t know if I liked the fast paced gaming or the slower paced relationship better.

The only negative I had was about the ending to this book. However, I will have to trust that Marie Lu will manage to pull it all together in the next novel.  ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase!   Warcross Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: Chasing Christmas Eve (Heartbreaker Bay #4) by Jill Shalvis

I have been intrigued by Spencer throughout this series and was excited to finally be able to read his story! He has always been somewhat of a mystery. He is a millionaire, owns a businees and invents things, but in the previous novels we’ve only learned as much as those characters story arc’s brought us in contact him, and that was usually as supportive friend and sometimes troublemaker. In Chasing Christmas Eve we finally get the skinny on Spence, his background, how he made his money, and why he seems to be kind of a loner. 

Colbie Albright is new to Heartbreaker Bay and happens upon their charming courtyard fountain and is about to make a wish into it when she gets pushed into it by a wayward dog. Spencer comes to her rescue and is immediately charmed by her and feels that tug of interest. The chemistry between these two is explosive and pretty soon it makes Spencer forget his reasons for holding back from relationships. Colbie, although running away from her problems seems to find her muse, and true love in Spence. 

I love these Heartbreaker Bay novels. I mentioned before that as each story is written and we learn a little bit more about this group of friends, they become our friends. I’m totally invested in living through each of their stories and building that relationship with them even more. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️


Click this link to purchase!  Chasing Christmas Eve: A Heartbreaker Bay Novel

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: Balancing the Scales (Brits in Manhattan #1) by Laura Carter

Becky Fletcher is a patisserie chef in a hot Manhattan restaurant when she meets hotshot lawyer Drew Harrington at a bagel cart. He is immediately drawn to her looks and is attracted by that fresh British accent. Becky is a bit standoffish until Drew shows up at her work and starts to charm her with his cocky American humor. She is not interested in a relationship or hookup and despite their attraction and Drew’s busy schedule they agree to be “just friends”.

Of course, laws of attraction, and the rule romance books dictates that their just friends rule, will turn into a friends with benefits situation. As they get to know each other, they come to care for each other and that title of friend starts to not be enough. What Drew doesn’t know, and the reader finds out slowly, is that Becky left some baggage behind in England that she needs to clean up.

Drew and Becky at first glance don’t seem to be the right fit. He’s trying to make partner at his law firm and she works bakers hours. Yet somehow the two of them find a connection that works. I liked Becky’s sweet personality and once I learned her back story admired her for taking a stand and walking away from a bad relationship. Separately they each needed to grow, and together they gave each other the strength and support required to do it. A couple to root for and feel good about!

If you are a fan of Laura Carter’s you may miss the romantic suspense from her other novels, but you won’t be disappointed. This is a sweet love story with heart and a fun Saturday afternoon read. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

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

Click this link to purchase! Balancing the Scales (Brits in Manhattan)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: My book review guidelines…

I follow my own set of book review rules. I mean, they aren’t set in stone, but I do try to be consistent with how I write my review, my ratings system, and well, I try to be honorable. I try to respect the amount of work that goes into producing a book. Most of the time.

I thought I’d share my book review process. It’s not set in stone or anything, but this is generally how I craft my review.

  1. READ A BOOK: This one is pretty easy! I have to admit that I don’t stretch my reading boundaries a whole lot. I like Romances, YA, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and a little Mystery, though typically my type of mystery is romantic suspense and not a cop procedural. I do like to watch Law & Order, but I don’t like to read about it. So, I stay in my wheelhouse. I find if I go outside a genre I enjoy, then my rating for the book suffers. It may be a great book! It’s just not a book I usually like to read. So, I don’t.
  2. CHARACTER GROWTH: I am a reviewer that likes to identify and feel something for a character. I talk about the hero, heroine, villain etc. If I don’t see growth from my main characters through the novel the rating suffers. I like to feel a connection and more importantly, I like the characters to connect with each other.
  3. PLOT DEVELOPMENT: This one seems pretty obvious to me, but there must be some sort of conflict that the characters are trying to overcome in order for there to be a resolution and an end to the novel. I’m sure you’d all agree that you hate wasting time on a book that doesn’t go anywhere!  I hate those cliffhanger novels where I have to read 3-5 books just to get to the resolution of the main conflict. AARGGHH!!! Kill me now!
  4. FEELINGS: Humor, passion, anger, pain, hell- even hunger!  Let’s pack that novel full of emotions. Please, please, make me FEEL something. If you can make me laugh, cry, fall in love, then most likely you’ll get at least a three rating from me. If the feelings are not there I probably won’t like the book. Don’t like? Don’t review.
  5. RATINGS: I don’t think I’ve ever given a one star- or heart actually, since I give hearts not stars. However, I have given out a couple of two ratings. I will only give out a two or two and a half rating and review it if I was upset by something in the story line or was sickened by the direction an author has taken and want to make a statement against that plot point. I can think of one off hand where I gave the book a two and a half rating and ranted about the hero in the novel. He was a stalker yet they created a romance out of it. I wanted to ask about why women find that attractive. So I reviewed the book. Normally I would respect the authors efforts and just not review the book.
  6. FUDGING: This is kind of a side note, but do you ever give a book a five rating and then re-read the book and ask why you gave it that rating, when it was really only a four? I’ve done that, I think everyone has! I have some authors that I just love, love, love. Maybe I give them a half point higher than the book deserves because I just love the author that much. I’m in the moment, I’ve finished the book and am in the haze of that world while writing the review. Maybe I should’ve sat on it for a week. Oh well, I’m not going to lose sleep on it, I doubt anyone will fault me for it. Will you?
  7. REQUESTS: I have received a TON of book review requests from independent authors lately. I love that! However, I am one person writing on my blog and only have so much time in a week to read and write. So, unfortunately I have to limit my requests to just an occasional newbie. When I do read a brand new author’s book, I try to read it with the same eye for character development, plot growth and feelings I mentioned above. Every writer is equal in my eyes. (Unless you’re a favorite, HA!) I have read quite a few brand new (to me at least) authors this year and have been pleased to add them to my list of must reads.

I’ve seen a lot of book review bloggers write about trying to read outside their comfort zone, but I have to ask why?  OK, sure, every once in awhile I read a best seller that I normally wouldn’t have picked up. I’ll admit to feeling pretty good about myself for making that effort. However, if I love to read in a certain genre, and I write 3-4 reviews a week, shouldn’t I spend more time reading what I love so my writing will be a reflection of those feelings?

Do you read outside your favorite genres because you are bending to peer pressure?

How do you handle reading your favorite authors novels? Are you fair?

Do you ever make a statement with your review? Should a reviewer make a statement?

What are your book review rules???

I’d love to have a discussion and learn about you!

Until next Sunday,

Deb

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This Chick Read:  a Chapter Excerpt of Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

Shelly Laurenstons new novel Hot and Badgered doesn’t come out until March 27th, but when offered the chance to read a chapter in advance of the release, I just couldn’t pass it up! I zipped through this chapter, once again loving the humor, dialog, and action. Her novels are unlike any other shifter novels. 

Here’s the synopsis:

It’s not every day that a beautiful naked woman falls out of the sky and lands face-first on grizzly shifter Berg Dunn’s hotel balcony. Definitely they don’t usually hop up and demand his best gun. Berg gives the lady a grizzly-sized t-shirt and his cell phone, too, just on style points. And then she’s gone, taking his XXXL heart with her. By the time he figures out she’s a honey badger shifter, it’s too late.

 Honey badgers are survivors. Brutal, vicious, ill-tempered survivors. Or maybe Charlie Taylor-MacKilligan is just pissed that her useless father is trying to get them all killed again, and won’t even tell her how. Protecting her little sisters has always been her job, and she’s not about to let some pesky giant grizzly protection specialist with a network of every shifter in Manhattan get in her way. Wait. He’s trying to help? Why would he want to do that? He’s cute enough that she just might let him tag along—that is, if he can keep up . . .

Unfortunately, we have a little while to wait until this fun new novel in The Honey Badgers series comes out. I can’t wait!


Click this link to pre-order! 

Hot and Badgered (The Honey Badgers)

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This Chick Read: Sweet Tea and Sympathy (Southern Eclectic book 1) by Molly Harper

Margot Cary’s career as an event planner in Chicago ends with the biggest splash in Chicago’s elite society and her name becomes synonymous with failure. What she needs is some time off for people to forget what happened, and for her to dust off her resume and find a new job. Out of the blue, her great Aunt gives her a call and asks her to come help run the family business, The McCreary Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. Yep, you wouldn’t think the two would have anything to do with each other, and no, they did not use someone’s toes as bait. Margot is skeptical about the job and doesn’t know anything about her father or his side of the family, but desperation and the need for a job makes her accept the job, at least temporarily. However, along with the job comes a family that she never knew she wanted, and a father who she thought didn’t want her.

This novel is a little bit family saga and a little bit romance. Don’t let that hint of romance fool you, this novel is about a girl who never knew she was lost, until she was found.  I loved the contrast of Margot’s fish out of water city girl attitude and the kookiness of her small town family. They had a ton of heart and the way they melted Margot’s endeared them to me and made me relish those scenes.

When Margot and Kyle meet, Margot is drawn to his sweet sadness. I don’t want to say their love story was lackluster, but it was certainly secondary to her need to learn about this new family and get to know a father that she felt abandoned her as a child and that didn’t disappoint me at all. Kyle was certainly wonderful, but he had a lot going on in his head too. I liked how the gentle Southern pace of their romance allowed the reader to focus on the other more central story line about family and roots and also made Kyle’s journey of acceptance of this new relationship feel real.

The name of this book, Sweet Tea and Sympathy was certainly apropos both to the southern roots of Margot’s family and also some of the challenges that needed to be overcome by both Margot and Kyle before finding happiness. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Sweet Tea

Click this link to purchase!  Sweet Tea and Sympathy (Southern Eclectic Book 1)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Amor Towles has written an elegantly worded story about Alexander Rostov, an aristocrat who was sentenced to house arrest in the grand Metropol hotel in Moscow. Set in 1922 when being an aristocrat was considered dangerous to the new Bolshevik regime, this fascinating glimpse into life at that time captured my heart, as did Alexander Rostov. 

You may think Alexander’s life would be encapsulated, and in some ways it was. He couldn’t leave the Metropol, but as it was located across the street from the Kremlin, everyone at some point passed through its doors. Alexander, used to living in the upper eschelon of society, did have to make changes. Gone were the large room of suites he had inhabited before his sentence. He was now relegated to life in a room the size of a closet. However, his life was really lived outside of his rooms. He dined in the beautiful restaurants in the hotel and his family became the people who worked and stayed in the hotel. His culture and charm are completely alien to the age we live in now, but the wording was so descriptive that I could easily visualize it, although I’ll admit to seeing it’s scenes in black and white, with Cary Grant cast as Alexander.

The true heart in this story were in the relationships he built with the people around him. Nina, a young girl of six at the beginning of this book was his adventurous friend who led him on a journey of secret passageways and scientific experiments. His friend Mischa, who came and went from the hotel bringing news about the outside world and the political changes Russia was going through. Anna, an actress that he builds a longstanding relationship with, Marina, the seamstress and friend, and his evolving relationship with the Maitre’d and chef at the restaurant who eventually become his best friends. Sophia, however was the relationship that helped Alexander evolve beyond a gentleman into a father. Their relationship at times touched and broke my heart.

I listened to the audio for this book and while it was long, Nicholas Guy Smith’s voice wove this tale and did justice to the beautiful prose. The story of Russia’s growth from a monarchy to communism was a part of history that I wasn’t that familiar but became enraptured. I will definitely be looking for more books from this era.  ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️


Click the link to purchase this book!  A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chicks Sunday Commentary: What is your Passion?

I know this headline caught your eye! What in the world is Deborah talking about? I know, I know, we all have likes. I like taking walks on cool fall days watching my dog hunt for squirrels. I like sitting on the couch next to my husband, holding his hand while we watch a tv show. I like having dinner with my family and wondering at the random subject changes and how we got from point A to point B in the conversation. I could go on and on about my likes. My world is filled with Deborah likes…

What is your Passion is an interesting question isn’t it? For some people their passion is their faith, for others their passion may be their jobs or family. If we were to take away the obvious- no husbands, wives, family, god, food. As much as i love chocolate, no that isn’t a passion! Passion is what is in your gut. What makes you thrive for life?

It won’t come as a secret to any of you but my passion is discovering a special book. A book that takes you completely by surprise and makes you think! I spoke with the founder of a website for authors called Reedsy. There’s a section on this website with a list of book review bloggers and The Reading Chick is on this list. (whee!) When he and I were talking he asked me what percentage of books have I given five stars to.. I thought about it and really, haven’t a clue but figure it must be somewhere around 20-25%. I have very few books that I review below three stars because I want to honor the work an author puts into producing that book.  So that percentage may be higher. There should be a sixth star for books I feel passionate about and believe it or not, there haven’t been that many. But there have definitely been a few.

Let’s get back to that question though, What is your Passion? My passion is to find that one great book. The one that catches me by surprise and that I can’t wait to tell my friends and family about, the one where our conversation makes you curious, makes you hit that on click buy button.

What is your Passion? I would love to hear it! I know you love your kids, wives, husbands, and of course, god. What is your passion?  Shout it out!  Or, just put it in the comments below. I want to hear it.

Until next Sunday!

Deb

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This Chick Read: Rituals (Cainsville #5) by Kelley Armstrong

The final book in the wonderfully weird and paranormally powerful Cainsville series. I couldn’t wait to read it! Olivia Taylor Jones and her boyfriend Ricky broke up at the end of the previous novel because she had feelings she needed to explore with Gabriel. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, in this series, Olivia, Ricky and Gabriel are re-living the lives of Matilda, Arwyn and Gwynn a love triangle that ended tragically.  Having learned their story, the three of them are determined that they are going to do things differently, with their love and friendship, most improtantly for them to avoid the tragic ending.  Of course, there is another evil force that is blocking their path to happiness. Will they be able to conquer evil and live their happily ever after?

Finally! I have been waiting for Olivia to give Gabriel a chance. Yes, he’s broody, kind of odd and anti social. But he’s also sweet, strong and overbearing. Did I say overbearing was a good thing? Not necessarily, but in his case it is ok. Ricky’s new role as friend, rankles him a bit, which isn’t a surprise. However, he stepped aside gracefully which made me like him more than I already did. He saw the writing on the wall and stepped aside.  The fact there is love and respect between all three of them is something we can all learn something from in our own often tumultuous relationships. I love these three! I love them even more when they are fighting evil together.

I was sorry to see the ending to this series. It’s quickly become one of my favorites just as Kelly Armstrong is one of my favorite authors. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️


Click this link to purchase!  Rituals: The Cainsville Series

Copyrigh 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: Why Do Dukes Fall in Love? (Dukes Behaving Badly #4) by Megan Frampton

Indeed, why does anyone fall in love? Michael, the Duke of Hadlow is way too busy being Duke-ish to concentrate on his love life. He is determined to not rest on his Duke-ish laurels and spends most of his time in business pursuits. He doesn’t have patience for small talk or common courtesies, so going to a ball and meeting a woman isn’t high on his list. Lucky for him, a woman, in the guise of a much needed secretary falls in his lap. Edwina, recently widowed and needing to support she and her daughter Gertrude, interview for the position of the Duke of Hadlow’s secretary. Edwina, having invested her previous husbands money successfully before her brother in law mis-managed and lost it all, is very bright. A trait that the Duke finds extremely attractive. Of course, the fact that she is gorgeous doesn’t work against her either. To give the Duke credit though, it is her mind he is the most attracted to and the fact that she isn’t offended by his discourteous disposition.

I’m sure the names Edwina and Gertrude were common names historically, however, it did seem odd to me that their names seemed old fashioned yet, the Duke’s name was the more current and very common Michael. Ok, does this have anything to do with the plot or whether I liked or disliked the book? Not really, other than it was jarring to hear the name Michael in concert with the names Edwina and Gertrude. But, I’m letting myself get sidetracked… I liked quite a few things about this novel.

  1. Edwina, although gorgeous, was liked because she had a brain. Very unusual for this time!
  2. Gertrude at six, had quite a few things in common with the Duke. They were both impolite, asked too many questions, and weren’t concerned with how others perceived them.
  3. I loved how when Edwina would teach Gertrude how to be polite, use please and thank you, consider how she would like to be treated as how she should treat others… The Duke was learning at the same time. Kind of a reverse pygmalion.
  4. Edwina, decided to give in to her widowy (word?) rights. You betcha. She was going to sleep with the Duke!

There was a bit of humor in the telling of Edwina and Michael’s ( don’t their names sound funny?) story.  There was a LOT of passion. The Duke, although insensitive, did learn and get less insensitive. He also (finally) saw Edwina’s worth and fought for her. As the hero should in all historical romances! This was my first novel by Megan Frampton and I liked her writing style! I also love a happy ending, and by the end of the book, I definitely knew why this particular Duke fell in love. ❤️❤️❤️


Click the link to purchase!  Why Do Dukes Fall in Love?: A Dukes Behaving Badly Novel

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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