Swann Dive (A Boston unCommons Mystery, #1) by Arlene Kay

Great story, its entertaining and captivating and OMG does it keep you guessing who the killer is to the very end. 

Eja Kane has been best friends with Cecilia "Cece" Swann since they were in grade school. When Cece dies by falling off a building, the cops scream suicide, but Eja knows Cece; and Cece had a fear of heights and was too full of life to ever end it by jumping off a building. 

Now, Eja must team up with Cece's snooty brother [sparks will fly because hey, what's a mystery without a little romance] and the rest of his family to find out what really happened to Cece. 

There are so many twists and turns you won't know which way to look. 

I could have easily given this story a 5 but at the end of the book there is one line from Deming that absolutely knocked it down for me. I won't tell you what that line is because that'd be cheating, I'll let you guess the line when you finish reading. 

This is book 1 in the series and with the way the author captured me in this one I can't wait for what's to  come.

Rating 4 out of 5

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Utrom Empire by Paul Allor, Andy Kuhn (Illustrations)

Not enough action for my liking but it was ok. We've got General Krang an Utrom trying to take over Earth, because well apparently Earth will always be the greatest planet in any universe or galaxy or dimension. The Utroms are squid like aliens whose home planet was destroyed and are now in a state of stasis with Krang trying to bring them back. 

The Turtles with the help of Fugitoid have to save Earth, slice of pizza right? You'll enjoy this series, because who doesn’t love knowing squid aliens want to take over our planet and we've got some bad-ass shell power stepping up to knock them right outta here.

Rating 3 out of 5

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Gate-Way: A New World by Joe Halpin Sr, Juanfrancisco Moyano (Illustrations)

Nice series has a lot of potential and the concept seems so cool. Dying and going to limbo and then the possibility of actually dying in limbo, crazy. 

The main character Jake, is a cop who gets shot and dies in a sting operation, he winds up in limbo and on his first day there meets Jessica a girl who died in a car crash; now I could be wrong but I got the hint of sparks between these two characters, lets hope I'm right because every superman needs his Lois Lane. 

In limbo we've got 3 groups; the bossy political types who reside and rule Hopetown, the anarchist who reside and just go crazy in Freedom Town, and finally we've got what I can only call the wasteland, which is ruled by the dark souls [ooooooooooooooooo, scaryyyy].  

This is the first book in the series and you must read to know the future of limbo, plus to know if anyone actually ever moves on from limbo.This book has a great storyline and the graphics are wicked, definitely worth getting yourself a copy.

Rating 4 out of 5

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Wonderland: Asylum by Raven Gregory, Patrick Shand

Started out good, who doesn't like a twisted version of all things fairy-taily. The illustrations are great, make me think of the Supergirl comic books and I loved that they made a James Franco joke; you know the guy is pretty hot when a villain decides to copy his look. 

Did lose points for me when Violet bangs the Void [James Franco look alike baddy] just to get her powers back; never fraternize with the enemy. 

Overall, twisted version of wonderland, more death and torture and it really brings out the fun; after all what's Wonderland without some really messed up characters left and right and up and down.

Rating 3 out of 5

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Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For (Sin City #2) by Frank Miller, Lynn Varley (Illustrations)

This novel is very Noir but totally awesome. It takes you think of old time Vegas, when the mobs ran everything and the 5-0 was used-oil dirty. 

The main character Dwight, now there's a poor sucker if you've ever seen one; he's too in love with this Dame, a stone-cold bitch named Ava who time and time again screws him over. This time Ava's gone too far and Dwight is out for revenge. 

This novel will keeps you at the edge of your seat all the time; I can't wait for the movie that is scheduled for release this year.

Rating 5 out of 5

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Worth The Trade (More Than A Game #2) by Kristina Mathews

This is book 2 in the series and this book focuses on Marco Santiago and Hunter Collins, both new characters. 

Hunter is the owner and managing partner of the Goliaths, the team Scottsdale plays for in book 1. Her dad recently died, so she took full control of the team. She's a bit of a tomboy, not really into dressing up or being too girly. 

Marco is supposed to be a stud, one of the hottest players in baseball, but he has issues of his own to mainly being that he wants to stop being traded and stick in one city long enough. 

Hunter and Marco meet when she picks him up at the airport and he thinks she's his entertainment, really funny opening. 

While trying to get the team to the World Series, dealing with scandal and a bit of conflict of interest [you know because, she's basically Marco's boss] these two have to find a way to make their love work. 

Like the first book, the story is captivating and engaging, the characters are likeable and entertaining and if you like the first book, you will definitely like the second one. I already can't wait for what's next in the series, hopefully Bryce and the reporter will get their own book.

Rating 4 out of 5

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El Deafo by Cece Bell

This book is more oriented to children who have recently lost their hearing and their parents, however, I would recommend for all readers. 

The story follows Cece a small 4 year old rabbit how after coming ill with meningitis loses her hearing. The story follows her feelings as to dealing with being deaf and how she comes to view her first difference and then superpower. 

Hearing loss can be very challenging especially for children, however, as this book shows, there's nothing wrong with being deaf and vocalizing your feeling goes a long way to make children come to terms with their conditions.

Rating  4 out of 5

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Tie Me Down by Tracy Wolff

It follows sort-of the same path as Full Exposure, except in this one the characters aren't as appealing.  

You have a cop investigating murders and then she starts a relationship with a complete stranger that may or may not be the killer and she doesn't even bat an eye. 

We have a documentary film maker who is investigating his sister's murder by the same unknown killer and as soon as he hooks up with the cop, it's like eh forget my sister. 

Plus, these two never really have a single real conversation so no, did not work for me. 

Rating 3 out of 5

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I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin and Benjamin Dewey

Bad kitty, bad. The main characters are Burma, the evil talking cat; Allison, the blogger/investigative reporter/biographer; and Reggie, Allison's friend/roommate/maybe stripper. 

Burma is a talking cat that has been trying to take over the world since the time of Egypt and now that he's at the end of his 9-lives he wants his memoirs written. Oh and just to be clear he's still trying to take over the world by adding food additives that make people lazy. This evil cat just ruined McD's for me. 

Even in books cats are evil. This book also made no sense as to how a bunch of spies are sent to kill Burma and they all fail. Hello, it's a cat, it's not that hard to kill; if spy movies have shown us anything is that poison, explosions and infiltration work best. 

So, nope can't rally for this story.

Rating 2 out of 5

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Cleopatra in Space #1: Target Practice by Mike Maihack

It was a nice sci-fi children's book. I can see this series becoming a cartoon in the future. 

The story focuses on 15 year old Cleopatra being transported to the future, where an evil dictator is trying to conquer the universe and everything is on the verge of intergalactic war. 

Through out the story Cleopatra or Cleo as she prefers is lectured on the importance of education and how studying will help her save the universe.

Rating 4 out of 5

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The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion by Christine Glover

Zach Tanner was in love with Kennedy Gibson, they were set for the happily ever after until tragedy strikes and Kennedy pushes Zach away. Five years later, Kennedy is still grieving, from tragedy and her loss of Zach; and Zach just spends his time from hoping from bed to bed. When a meddling friend and work bring them back together sparks fly.

The story was about second chances and it was decent, but not great. Zach hasn't seen Kennedy in five years, has barely spared her a thought and yet somehow the first thing he decides when he sees her again is "I wanna hit that", no that does not work. As for Kennedy, seriously, girl have some self-respect, he left granted you did push him away, but you were grieving and he just ran; he's had a long list of affairs since he left and now you actually suggest a friends with benefit thing.

I like second chance stories, but the concept was just too ugh. You couldn't really like any of the main characters.

Rating 3 out of 5

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Inn at Last Chance (Last Chance #7) by Hope Ramsay

OMG, this book was good. You have the two main characters, both in their mid-thirties, with a lot of demons/issues.

Jenny has all but given up on love and finding prince charming, which in a small town can be a real pain in the ass, because everyone and their cat has an opinion about someone staying single for the rest of their lives. Anyway, Jenny had a really bad experience with love, that being the douchebag was married and it somehow slipped his mind; well Jenny buys this old dilapidated house that she intends to turn into a bed and breakfast, only problem is the house is, if you guess haunted you guessed right. The house is haunted by the ghost of Gabe's brother [Gabe is the one who sold the house to Jenny], everything about this story will keep you flipping the pages to find out what happened to the ghost and what not.

Gabe is a mystery/thriller famous writer who is suffering from writers block, so he decides to visit the family home he sold. Gabe has demons left and right, I won't say what his demons are because you'll have more fun reading the book than me spilling. Well this writer eventually gets over his block in the most unusual of ways and along the way this city boy finds love.

The story may or may not be long, I finished it in one day, I got really caught up in it so I'm a bad judge for length, but as far as everything else, the story is engaging, the characters really get your attention, the only reason I gave it 4 stars was that the epilogue could maybe have been set a year in the future and had more detail. Overall, totally worth reading.

Rating 4 out of 5

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Catch Your Breath (The O'Leary's #4) by Shannyn Schroeder

Moira O'Leary has been in love with Jimmy O'Malley since she was young; Jimmy has also had a thing for Moira, but he keeps his distance because that his besties little sister. Plus she has three other brothers that would murder him if he did anything that hurt Moira, you know like being a self absorbed control freak.

Jimmy has been attracted to Moira since they both hit adolescence, but he's best friends with her brother, so he has always done everything possible to push Moira away, which usually involved being really mean to her.

By chance work intervenes and bring them together, Moira wants the inside scoop and Jimmy needs to find a thief; along the way, work turns into love.

Granted there has to be a little drama, because well, what romance novel doesn't have the guy making mistakes or saying stupid things. Eventually, Jimmy foes get his head on straight and we get the HEA every reader expects.

The characters are relatable, they're very into their families and trying to be good people. So the story works, however, they could have done more the crime angle, this is what brought Jimmy and Moira together so it deserved more detail.

Rating 4 out of 5

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The King's Dragon (Three Thieves #4) by Scott Chantler

At first it seems more child oriented, but then you've got all this murder and assassins left and right.  

The story was okay, it focuses on Captain Drake following a thief the Queen wants murdered. Drake is a decent knight, still believes in the honor and all that, but the conspiracy that killed the king still plagues him. 

Anyway, I would have given it a higher score if I had been shown what the mysterious letter everyone is killing for said.  

Pretty engaging and captivating, the graphics aren't too great, but they're not bad.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

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The Strain (The Strain #1) by David Lapham, Mike Huddleston, Sierra Hahn

I can totally see this getting turned into a movie. 

The story follows Ephraim a doctor for the CDC, he has a son named Zack and he has an ongoing relationship with his coworker Nora, another doc for the CDC. 

The story starts off with a very creepy old folklore tale, that captivates the reader. 

Then we jump to present time and we've got a mysterious plane landing in JFK where everyone is dead, I know creepy. Then we learn that vampires are real and they're like parasitic worms that feed on blood. 

Then we meet an old man, who is like vampire worm extraordinaire and he starts educating them on how to fight these things and whatever is coming. 

The graphics are so awesome, they're gory and disgusting and gruesome; just like a vampire comic book should be. The only reason this book lost point with me is, don’t introduce me to the Master and not show me how he was made. That does not jive, I demand drawings depicting his creation. 

Overall, you should get yourself a copy of both the graphic novel version and the book version by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Rating 4 out of 5

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The Bossman by Renee Rose

The story focuses on Joey a mobster and Sophie the daughter of a mobster. The story was engaging and the characters were entertaining; but, here's what killed it, the way the characters act I would put their ages at somewhere like mid to late twenties for Sophie and late twenties to early thirties for Joey. In the book, Sophie is 30 and Joey is 40, but the characters didn’t give off that vibe. 

Next, Joey's in the mob and his big brother Al is the head of the mob, could there maybe have been a scene in there where someone get whacked, maybe a trip to the docks or a midnight stroll, just saying. 

Other than that, the story is short fun read, so I say get yourself a copy. Personally, I look forward to reading more from this author, her writing style has a way of engaging the reader. 

Rating 3 out of 5

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Full Exposure by Tracy Wolff

I would have given this story a 4.5 out of 5 if it weren't for that last line in the book, which I still hope was just a type from the ARC because if not Ms. Wolff owes me a sequel, she can't just leave me hanging like that. 

The story focuses on Serena and Kevin. Serena, is just wow, poor girl; after the trauma of her past it’s a miracle she can even function. Kevin, is an artist with issues of his own when it comes to love, mainly being his ex was a bitch. 

Kevin falls hard for Serena, but with all her traumas and demons, she just can't accept it. After suffering through the entire book with her denseness, she finally tell Kevin how she feels and why she ran and the book ends with Kevin thinking her feelings are superficial just like his ex. 

Like back the hell up, that last line was way out of context, these characters suffer so much with their feelings and all the bad stuff going on throughout the book and finally we get a real good happy ending and we get that line. Unacceptable,  I demand a sequel; which will probably not happen and line was an error, so get this book, you won't want to put it down.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

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Mini-Break

I try to post reviews almost daily, so it means I spend a lot of time reading. But, since this week is finals week I will be a bit on the non-posting side.

That is unless anyone is interested on reading my case reviews, which I highly doubt.

Hunt the Wolf (SEAL Team Six #1) by Don Mann, Ralph Pezzullo

I can totally see this book series becoming a film series.

The story is very action packed and very military oriented, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

The story deals with a team going after terrorist and eventually winning. Because hell yeah the good guys always win.

I will however say that the prologue really stuck with me, the reason being that the Sargent was going to marry on her next leave and she dies. I love my romance novels, so her dying really bummed me out and stuck with me.

Other that, the story was great, you should definitely get yourself a copy.

Rating 4 out of 5

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Where Aspens Quake by Tory Cates

This book is reprint, the original was published in 1984 and I have to say that maybe this story worked then, but now, you just think how much of masochist can a girl be.

The story focuses on Kristen and Gray.

Kristen is film photography artist [which tangent here is a great medium, the complexity and depth that film can capture is incredible; especially black and white, it acquires a trans-dimensional quality, at least in my opinion] who flees from Albuquerque after her one woman show is massacred by a critic. Kristen flees to High Country to apply for a position as a cross country skiing instructor.

Gray is the owner of High Country and a single father to a girl with down syndrome. Because he had a bad experience with his ex-wife, he no longer does real relationships.

Gray spends the entire book basically teasing Kristen and having romantic encounters with her before pushing her away. Kristen spends the entire book pining for his attention and going back to him no matter how hurtful he is to her.

The ending really wasn't that enjoyable, Kristen is getting ready to finally leave and all Gray has to do is say "I'm sorry, I love" and they end up kissing, THE END. I think perhaps an Epilogue where Gray and Kristen are together might have slightly made for a better redemption for Gray.

Rating 2 out of 5

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I Married a Billionaire: A Valentine for Mr. Thorne (I Married a Billionaire #1.5) by Melanie Marchande

Didn't really like this short novella. The entire story takes place around Valentine's Day; ugh, dumbest commercial holiday ever, no my hatred of the holiday doesn't come from a failed relationship or anything, it comes from how materialistic this day has become in recent years and how thing get so overpriced around this day.

Anyway, Maddy is trying to find a gift for her hubby, except they didn't start off like normal couples, so they don't really know each other on an intimate level, so finding the perfect gift for their first V-Day is going to be huge struggle.

Well sure enough Daniel has a hard time finding a gift also, but hey its V-Day and material things aren't always the best gifts.

It's a quick read, if you like the angst of V-Day you'll probably get a kick out of this.

Rating 3 out of 5
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Bridesmaid Lotto (McMaster the Disaster #1) by Rachel Astor

If you're looking for Shakespeare this ain't it, but if you want a feel good, light hearted rom-com well read on. Personally I liked it, the easiness of the story cheered me up. It's funny and sweet because most of us have that over bearing mother that wants to set us up with one hair brained scheme or another.

The story focuses on Josephine McMaster (Josie for short) who has an off the reservations mother, that wants to see her married, because by her standards married = happy. Josie is pretty chill/laid back and when she along with everyone in the country hear about Bridesmaid Lotto contest thrown by a rich girl and her rich fiance, who happens to be related to Jake Hall [the books Chris Evans, if you don't know who he is google him because you're missing out], she doesn't care and won't enter much to everyone's shock. But mommy dearest decides to enter Josie and well, it is Josie's book so she wins one of the coveted spots. The story ensues and shenanigans bring and the drama of a bitchy backstabbing roommate make for a good fun read.

Obviously, Josie and Jake hit it off and end the book as a couple. A lot of people felt the book was too superficial and the characters were not well developed and argued this was not a romance, which like I said at the beginning this is a PG-13 rom-com.

Rating 3.5 out of 5
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I Married a Billionaire (I Married a Billionaire #1) by Melanie Marchande

I got this book free on Amazon and read on my phone on my way back from San Diego. Its a quick, enjoyable read.

The book is told by Maddy Wainright, a graphic designer who leads a pretty quiet and romantically depressing life.

Maddy works for Daniel Thorne, really rich, obviously good looking (because when is the main guy ever not good looking), and smart guy; who is about to get deported back to Canada. Of course Mr. Smart Guy has a plan to avoid deportation; a marriage of convenience (because that never goes wrong). 

Well, Daniel makes Maddy the offer, they marry, she gets to live a life of luxury and gets a few of her bills taken care of, who can really say no to having those dreadful student loans paid off, hells I'd take that deal right now. It wouldn't be a book if Maddy had said no; so yeah, she takes the deal, who wouldn't, oh, and did I mention at the end of the agreement she gets two million dollars.

Of course, Maddy falls for Daniel, who turns out to not be such a jerk, a little quirky, but overall really thoughtful towards Maddy. Don't fret, the attraction isn't one sided, they just both think that because, who really wants to tell their crush "hey I like you". 

I enjoyed the book, the love story is sweet, I've already gone ahead and gotten the rest of the books in the series.

Rating 4 out of 5
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