Friday, March 16, 2018

Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

Hot and Badgered by Shelly LaurenstonI only got two chapters of this book as an ARC from NetGalley so I can't really review the whole book. There wasn't a great glimpse of either Charlotte (Charlie,a badger shifter) or Berg (grizzly shifter) so I'm not sure how the rest of the book is going to go. We know that Charlie has at least two sisters (or that's the impression), one of which needs watching every moment of the day. Oh, and the book opens with men breaking into Charlotte's hotel room just as she gets a warning call. She drops down to the room below which just so happens to be the one where Cooper (famous pianist, jackal shifter) who we met in the last book is being guarded by Berg.
I'm a little trepidatious about how this book is going to go but I trust Laurenston so I'll definitely read this book as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Three stars
This book comes out March 27th
ARC of first two chapters provided by NetGalley

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Unicorn of Many Hats by Dana Simpson

Phoebe and Marigold are off on a new set of adventures that capture Dana Simpson's incredible imagination and wit. Marigold learns to write fan letters (you can definitely assume you know who the first person she writes one to is). Phoebe finds a like-minded individual on the internet but then finds out she might not like the person so much IRL. And we get to see Marigold's house as well as learning about unicorn elections and how the friends spend their holidays (let's just say Marigold is not about to let a Christmas tree out-sparkle her.)
As usual, a highly entertaining read. Well worth picking up.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out March 20
Follows Phoebe and Her Unicorn in the Magic Storm
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Big Nate: Silent But Deadly by Lincoln Peirce

Another great entry to the Big Nate canon. We get a little bit more story about Gina with a brief crush as well as a trivia competition between her and Francis. We also get a little Christmas time that I don't remember seeing in previous Big Nate books.

Four stars
This book comes out March 20
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

I'm Not Your Sweet Babboo! by Charles M. Schulz

A good dose of nostalgia, this book introduced me to a few Peanuts storylines that I didn't know including Linus' potential girlfriend who lives in the country. When she and Sally come face-to-face, Linus is left hanging in the wind on the roof. We also see Snoopy on the verge of marriage and in long-running feud with the cat next door.
Not my favorite Peanuts book but fills that nostalgia-need.

Three stars
This book comes out March 13
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Saturday, March 3, 2018

I Know What You Bid Last Summer by Sherry Harris

I Know What You Bid Last Summer by Sherry HarrisSarah Winston is running a little bit different sale; this time, she's helping a school raise some funds. Most of the items are used sports items but she also gets some high ticket items like a signed jersey. Too bad she's knocked over the head the night before the sale and most of the more highly priced items are stolen. And the day of the sale, Sarah finds the school's principal dead in a back room.There are enough layers to make this story interesting but not so many that any of the stories get lost. I really like that CJ is gone, the will-they-won't-they of that whole relationship is more annoying than intriguing. And there are parts of this story that get a little repetitive. Maybe it's the whole series but I feel like every other book gets good.

Three stars
This book comes out February 27
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows A Good Day to Buy
Followed by The Gun Also Rises

Friday, March 2, 2018

Chloe #3: "Frenemies" by Greg Tessier

Chloe #3 by Greg TessierChloe is a freshman who has to do an internship because... I'm not sure why? But the original one she has set up falls through but there is an opening at the same place as her frenemy (though I don't see how the two are actually friends). At first, it seems that Chloe and a rather slovenly boy named Yanni aren't going to do well at the internship but Chloe helps to guide him. Too bad she won't be happy for long since she's going to hear some bad news about her boyfriend, Alex.
The cover of this book was interesting and so I requested it from NetGalley. This isn't a series you can jump into the middle of. And it was incredibly short. A fine story that would be worth buying if it were in a volume with others in the series.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out March 6

Thursday, March 1, 2018

The Darkling Bride by Laura Andersen

Switching between the present day and the late 1800s, Laura Andersen brings to life the story of the Darkling Bride (who we don't actually learn that much about), a woman who very much identified with her, and the contemporary researcher who is learning more about them both.
When Carragh Ryan gets the chance to help catalog the library of the Gallaghers before the current lord gives the castle to a public trust, she jumps. Though she is not Irish by blood, her adoptive and incredibly loving family was, her grandmother even leaving her Dublin house to Carragh. But the castle is dark and creepy and the family is not exactly welcoming. Great-aunt Nessa hires Carragh but continually looks down on her, the present lord's sister seems high-strung and passionately unhappy, and then there's the lord himself, Aidan. At ten, Aidan was the one who discovered his father dead in the library. And, though ruled a murder-suicide (his mother being found dead soon after), the investigation seemed rushed, to say the least.
This story is interspersed with that of Jenny Gallagher and the handsome writer, Evan Chase. Though Evan and Jenny seemed to have a great love, he never wrote another book after her death.
An interesting story that kept me reading. The romance between Carragh and Aidan didn't need to be there. It was almost tucked in at the end as if someone told the author it needed to be a love story. I didn't get a sense of them truly being in love.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 6