BOOK REVIEW- SILENT MELODY by Mary Balogh

Lady Emily Marlowe is beautiful, independent, and unspoiled. Deaf since childhood, she appreciates her family’s efforts to nurture her spirit, but the man they’ve chosen for her betrothal can never fulfill her. The only one Emily has ever desired is bold and reckless Lord Ashley Kendrick. Her childhood amour inspired her fantasies and vowed never to forget her—even as he left her for a new life in India and a new love.

Seven years and countless dreams later, Ashley has returned a desolate widower to Bowden Abbey and, true to his promise, to Emily. Yet his heedless proposal of marriage has left her unexpectedly conflicted. Though the heat of passion still burns, Emily fears that it’s only a sense of duty—not love—that has brought him to bended knee. And what is she to make of those seven lost years clouded in secrets too dark for Ashley to share?

For Emily, her greatest and only love now becomes one worth fighting for, one of startling revelations and second chances, and one, like a melody, too beautiful for words....  AMAZON 3.5 STARS

Lovely book cover and some lovely moments but I feel like it had more potential that it didn't meet, for me at least.

It had it's good points.  I really liked the main characters and felt like they had really good depth.  I liked reading about how she interacted with nature and found some her grounding in being free there. 

 It was an emotional story with good secondary people too.  She had a loving family but some at times were trying to mold her in their image of proper.  Some of it tried to stifle who she was.  

It had mysteries and secrets but on the down side, it felt like there were too many secrets.  Ones that weren't communicated and they could have been and saved a lot of grief for all. 
Of course I understand sometimes that is a necessary part of a story. 
It just felt like some of it went on too long.  And the same emotional issues of Emily and Ashley was repeated too many times for my liking. 
It also slowed the pace of the book for me.

A plus was that there were some twists and turns that added to the enjoyment of the story. Some dangerous mysteries were revealed.
The tenderness that Ashley showed Emily, "his little fawn" was sweet.  But he often unintentionally hurt her too.  There interaction as they learned to communicate over the years and now added tenderness to the story..
All in all, I guess I would have to say it was a mixed bag for me.  I think that I have read other books by this author that I liked better. 

BOOK REVIEW- HUSHED by Shereen Vedam

Don't say a word!

In one day, young TAMARA goes from being the king's favorite, his first born and much-loved thirteen-year-old daughter, to having her father brutally murdered. Then she's trapped by a time spell where no one hears her screams. Once she'd finally freed, she's determined to stay that way. So, when she turns eighteen and her mother attempts to marry her off for "her own good," Tamara is having none of it.

However, is going on a quest across realms to find her lost nephew the best plan? She'll meets marauding giants and wily talking lizards. She'll have to face spirits who should know better than to leave their graves and resurrect memories best left buried. Most important of all, she'll have to come to terms with her greatest weakness, or strength, depending on her point of view. All the while, in the stillness a danger lurks that could destroy the rest of her family, and perhaps even her entire world.

For once, will Tamara be up to the task of being the one to save the day?  AMAZON 5 STARS

Loved it!  Great main characters, great secondary people, plenty of action and mysteries.  There was interesting world building in several different "places", something I have to give the author credit for. This book did keep me at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. 

I really liked Tamara, flaws and all.  I found her to be an easy person to relate to.  Because of her experiences she had a rigid fear of enclosed places and attempts of people to control her.  She still felt like an outsider even years after being freed.  She also had a ton of resentment toward family though, especially her mother.  Now, her mother I found hard to like even though she did make a tough choice that did save what was left of her family.  
There is also a romance that most  people would have considered unlikely but it was well done.  And when it began to happen I enjoyed watching how that developed. 
I don't want to give too much away because it was fun to let the story unfold on it's own.  But I will say that there will be some major twists towards the end of the story and I enjoyed every single one of them! Now, I am looking forward to reading more by this author who is new to me.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book and this is my honest opinion of it. 

BOOK REVIEW- SWEET LITTLE LIES by Jill Shalvis

(A standalone Heartbreaker Bay novel)

Choose the one guy you can’t have . . .

As captain of a San Francisco Bay tour boat, Pru can handle rough seas—the hard part is life on dry land. Pru loves her new apartment and her neighbors; problem is, she’s in danger of stumbling into love with Mr. Right for Anybody But Her.

Fall for him—hard . . .

Pub owner Finn O’Riley is six-foot-plus of hard-working hottie who always makes time for his friends. When Pru becomes one of them, she discovers how amazing it feels to be on the receiving end of that deep green gaze. But when a freak accident involving darts (don’t ask) leads to shirtless first aid, things rush way past the friend zone. Fast.

And then tell him the truth.

Pru only wants Finn to be happy; it’s what she wishes for at the historic fountain that’s supposed to grant her heart’s desire. But wanting him for herself is a different story—because Pru’s been keeping a secret that could change everything. . . .AMAZON  4.5 STARS

I really liked this book. And it's true to its description when it claims to be a stand-alone novel.
Pru had almost NO filter but it wasn't in a offensive, nasty way. It was in a Hilarious way! I grinned and laughed out loud more than once. And she was PURE heart. She cared about people so deeply and carried such a grief over the injustice done to people because of her parents. She went above and beyond any duty to make sure they were all okay.
Finn is definitely all right/okay according to the picture painted of him. I'm talking about his looks and his body being said to be top notch. The rest of his life? Work, work and more work. He was basically working himself into the ground. He spent many hours working in the bar with his fun-loving brother Sean. the emphasis being on fun, on Sean's part. Finn was a great guy and I enjoyed his personality and his honorable way of living his life. Finn might not have much family left other than his brother but his "crew" of friends have become part of his family. With both male and female members, who were unique and often funny too. They may have his back but they weren't slow when it came to needling him.

Thor is Pru's dog, who is like no other and a hoot all on his own. He added a lot of smiles all on his own with some of his antics.
Jake also added drama all of his own to the story. He is Pru's boss and friend. And his often vocal conscience. He also said some pretty funny things too and they happened out of the blue, which kind of blindsided me. Other members that added to the fun were Mrs. Winslow. She felt because of her age, nothing was off limits to say. Funny but also unexpectedly wise in some of her statements.

I will say that at least one point or another, it felt like the story dragged a little bit. I think it had to do with some of the dragging of the feet about the "lies." Felt like it went on a little bit too long.
But it was a good book overall.

On last thing. Once sex happens, there is a LOT of it. It's well done but something to consider for some of us.

There is a peek into another book, "Accidentally on Purpose". It delves into the Archer and Elle and their story. There is also a couple of other previews too.

BOOK REVIEW- DO NOT TELL ME NO by Kathryn Jane

When a kick-ass woman decides she will find her missing family, the special agent assigned to keep her safe is in for the ride of his life.

Cassandra - Exceptionally smart, but every now and then, her stubborn streak and sense of adventure get her into trouble. Riding into the mountains after a runaway horse might not be her brightest idea--but there's always Plan B.

Gage - Ten years with Special Forces and now running his family's security company, he's trained to the nth degree, and doesn't do failure. But for the first time ever, he's screwed up a mission and can't get a handle on the frustrating woman he's supposed to be keeping out of trouble.  AMAZON 4 stars

I liked it with a few reservations.  
When they described Cassandra as a kick-ass woman in the book blurb?  They weren't kidding.  She had learned to be tough, she had to survive her childhood and her mother. When pushed, she shoved back. It wasn't very hard to like her pretty quickly.  
Gage was also a pretty interesting character, although at times he had me shaking my head.  He and his "team" keep her in the dark too much of the time to my way of thinking and I didn't like that.  Also it was weird that they expected her to just fall in line with them, when they kept manipulating her and messing with her mind.  They weren't smart enough to see that keeping her in the dark in just about everything wasn't going to bite them in the butt?  Maybe it was over confidence in their abilities?  And they did have abilities and some really good "toys".

There is plenty of action, twist and turns.  They were some really good descriptions of locations, safe houses and things used to keep her captive and safe.  The secondary people were good too.  Well, not all of them were good but they were well written.  

BOOK REVIEW- MERCURY STRIKING Scorpius Syndrome Series, Book 1-by Rebecca Zanetti

With nothing but rumors to lead her, Lynn Harmony has trekked across a nightmare landscape to find one man--a mysterious, damaged legend who protects the weak and leads the strong. He's more than muscle and firepower--and in post-plague L.A., he's her only hope. As the one woman who could cure the disease, Lynn is the single most volatile--and vulnerable--creature in this new and ruthless world. But face to face with Jax Mercury...

Danger has never looked quite so delicious...AMAZON  4.5 STARS

Wow, that was one intense book.  I'm going to have to go read some light romantic story next just for a change of pace.  

This story starts out in a dramatic way, and hooks the reader right off the bat.  Yes, because of the setting there will be violence, sex and death.  There will also be romance of a sorts, a community built into a tight knit group and careful friendships.  Why do I say careful friendships?  Because getting too close to people comes at a high cost.  The pain that comes when they die.  
The main characters were interesting and complex.  As were some of the other people in the story.  
There is also some tender moments among people who thought that they had none of that left anymore.  That felt that all emotion had been killed off in the quest to just stay alive. Lynn is one of those people who is numb but she does have a small bucket list before she dies. And she feels like her death isn't really all that far away.  Many people fear her thinking she is carrying an even worse form of the plague.  I really liked Jax who became a leader without even trying.  He just saw some people who needed protecting and he stepped up.  

The plague is not the only enemy that they face. There are ruthless gangs, any government is questionable if it still exists and there are Rippers.  Rippers have survived the plague and fall into two categories and both are highly dangerous.  One group out there is crazy violent.  The other is now brilliant but serial killer brilliant crazy.   There are some survivors that are not Rippers but it's still up in the air how stable or unstable they are.
 There is also one gang leader (Cruz) in particular who wants Jax to suffer and die.   Then he plans to take over Jax's territory and all that he has.  Cruz carries a grudge which makes him even more dangerous.  He is clever, mean and powerful in his own way. 
The story has plenty of action and surprises and kept me involved from the first page.  I don't read that many of this type of book but it was really well written.  Now I want to read the next one in the series which we caught catch a quick peek at the end of this book.  "Shadow Falling" is lined up  in my TBR pile. 
Yes, like other reviewer I was disturbed by Jax beating her with the belt... This whole book had some dark and disturbing things to it.  But it was also about survival and trying to remain human.  


On a side note, the author's dedication brought a smile to my face.  Blue Heart it is. 

BOOK REVIEW- THE DEADLY THIEF by Mallory Crowe

Hunter is a killer. 
Don't invite him in.
Don't believe his lies.
Don't trust him with your life.
And whatever you do, don't fall in love with a deadly thief. Because Hunter will leave nothing but broken hearts and blood in his wake...  AMAZON 4 STARS

It has an interesting start that had me wondering right off the bat.   So did the sub-title on the cover about "Some loves should stay lost".  Ooh, that doesn't sound good for those of us who like H.E.A.'s in our books.

Not only is Hunter deadly but he is also a man of few words.  I liked that we got both main characters P.O.V.'s.  You could "see" the struggle the two had when it came to how much they wanted each other.  And how sure they couldn't see how that could work out.  Hunter feels like he is like "poison" to Gabby and he cares about her enough to want a better life for her.  He figures once he takes care of the threat, he will leave and she will just move on.  Gotta like that about him even if it is a "Dumb Man" move. Still, they can't seem to keep their hands off each other.

Gabby can't move on, she has so many "what if's" when it comes to Hunter.   And she also has a lot of hopes when it comes to him. She hurts also from some guilt when it comes to what she figures he suffered because of saving her life the first time.  She has no idea about all of it but she knew it had to be bad.  
It was nice to have previous people show up in this book, it was woven in nicely.  It also didn't interfere with it being a good stand alone story. 

Yes, there will be plenty of action and danger in this book, with a MAJOR twist towards the end.  I'm not sure I was totally happy about the ending of the book with Hunter and Gabby,  seemed a little tame.  But not sure what other way it could.   But overall I did enjoy the story.  


I did notice that the cover for this book is different from the usual in the series but I also get why.  It made for an interesting change.


I volunteered to read an ARC for my honest opinion and this is it.

Nike Women's Ad - SNL

This one made me laugh so hard