Serenity's Plain Secrets

I've been reading the Serenity's Plain Secrets series for a couple of years. It's pretty similar to the Kate Burkholder series, only not as dark. If you've read my reviews for those books, then you will know that I mentioned reading another Amish mystery series before I started that one. Well, this is that series. I finished reading the fifth book yesterday, so I thought I would post my reviews of the previous books, along with my review for that one. Here are my reviews for books 1-5 of the series:




Lamb to the Slaughter by Karen Ann Hopkins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: It's been a while so I don't remember, but these books generally have pretty non-descriptive or fade to black sex scenes.
 

Reviewed on July 24, 2016

The death of a teenage Amish girl in a cornfield looks like an accident, but sheriff Serenity Adams suspects foul play. To solve the murder, she must investigate the nearby Amish community with the help of a man who was shunned years ago.

Lamb to the Slaughter is a story about the intertwining lives of three unlikely people in an Indiana Amish Community and the devastating results when a rebellious teenage girl is found shot to death in a corn field during the harvest.

I'm a sucker for an Amish mystery and Lamb to the Slaughter did not disappoint. The Amish community is a little creepy, but innocent at the same time and that's what I think I like about it. So far I've enjoyed reading about Serenity and Daniel. Serenity is believable as a Sheriff, although sometimes I want to hit her upside the head for being so stubborn and closed off to other people, especially to Daniel.

The only real criticism I have about this book and the others in the series is that it could have used better proofreading. There are several typos that include missing words, wrong words, and missing letters in words. I have been able to overlook those things and still enjoy the books so far. I'm definitely hooked.




Whispers from the Dead by Karen Ann Hopkins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: It's been a while so I don't remember, but these books generally have pretty non-descriptive or fade to black sex scenes.


Reviewed on July 30, 2016

Sheriff Serenity Adams and Daniel Bachman are once again partnered up in a criminal investigation, when they travel to a northern Amish settlement that has been riddled by arsons for the past two decades. Serenity quickly discovers that there is a lot more going on than just barns being set on fire in the touristy community of Poplar Springs. And this group of Amish has their own secrets to hide. Serenity begins to unravel an extensive criminal underworld that threatens to destroy everything that the simple people of Poplar Springs hold dear, and once again puts her own life in jeopardy.

Sorry just a short review here since I read this while on vacation.

Whispers from the Dead was a good second installment to the series. I'm enjoying the budding relationship between Serenity and Daniel and the Amish and their secrets continue to keep me on the edge of my seat in these books.

This series is a light vacation read for me and I'm completely enjoying it. Still the same issues with the typos, but otherwise no complaints.




Secrets in the Grave by Karen Ann Hopkins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: It's been a while so I don't remember, but these books generally have pretty non-descriptive or fade to black sex scenes.


Reviewed on August 2, 2016

Just when Sheriff Serenity Adams thinks life is getting back to normal, the death of a young, pregnant Amish woman rocks the community. Is it circumstance…or murder? It’s up to Serenity and her ex-Amish boyfriend, Daniel Bachman, to discover the truth about the new shaman-type medicine man who’s brought his dark secrets to Blood Rock.

But Serenity has secrets of her own, and if she and Daniel don’t work it out, the reappearance of a woman from his past could threaten to ruin their relationship.

I liked Secrets in the Grave a little less than the first two books in the series, mainly because the main character, Serenity has begun to get on my nerves a little bit. Serenity's lack of trust in Daniel and petty jealousy is getting old. Also, we know Daniel is a good looking man, we don't need to be reminded of it at least twice every book. And Serenity is a 35 year old town sheriff; can she stop with the teenage stomach fluttering every time she looks at him? Serenity also made a pretty poor decision in this book and then freaked out at the possible consequences. I'm not going to spoil what it was about here, but this probably bothered me more than the above mentioned things. Be an adult and be responsible for goodness sake, and don't freak out about it if you're not.

Despite those annoyances I still liked the book and I still like the series as a whole. I thought the mystery was pretty good, but easy to figure out. The same problem with typos and words or letters missing in sentences is still an issue in this book, but I'm still willing to overlook it because the books are entertaining. There is one more book that has been written in the series and I will read it, but I'm kind of hoping it is the last one. I'm not sure how much longer this series will hold my interest.




Hidden in Plain Sight by Karen Ann Hopkins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: It's been a while so I don't remember, but these books generally have pretty non-descriptive or fade to black sex scenes.

Reviewed on August 5, 2016

In the fourth installment of the bestselling Serenity’s Plain Secrets’ series, Serenity must work with US marshals to uncover the truth behind a shockingly brutal fifteen-year-cold murder.

Desperate for answers, Serenity finds herself in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where she unravels secrets that threaten to tear her and Daniel apart. But digging up the past is dangerous, and the quaint Amish settlement isn’t as safe as it seems.

Hidden in Plain Sight is apparently NOT going to be the last book in this series. I was afraid of that. That might sound odd coming from someone, who for the most part, enjoyed the series, but I just feel like I won't be able to keep reading this series without losing interest. The first two books were very compelling and the Amish felt somewhat sinister in the way they dealt with things. I liked that a lot about the first couple of books. Now that Serenity has gotten to know and understand them better they have lost that secretive, sinister feel. Now it just sort of feels like the mystery of the week kind of thing.

In this book Serenity's trust issues have abated somewhat, which I was very happy about. There was also less about how hot Daniel was and next to no stomach fluttering, which was an improvement. There is a point where Daniel hides something from Serenity that pertains to himself and the case she is working on. Serenity kind of freaks out over it, which I thought was silly since she knows Daniel well enough that she should realize there must be an explanation that doesn't involve him helping with the murder. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't have just asked him about it instead of pretending she didn't know. And Daniel surely would have known she was going to find out that he withheld the truth about something, so why do it? It was just manufactured drama that I could have done without.

There were some implausibilities in this book, like federal marshals asking a small town sheriff to accompany them to another state to investigate a cold case. I could see them consulting her about the part of the case that pertained to the Amish in her town, but there would surely be someone in that other state who would know the Amish there well enough to help them.

Mostly this book was dull compared to the other ones in the series. We only got Serenity's point of view in this one. I can understand why we didn't get a point of view from Daniel (the whole mystery about what he was hiding and all), but it just felt like something was missing without it.

I enjoyed reading these. I won't completely rule out reading another book in this series, but for now I feel like I've been there, done that and now I need to move on.





Paper Roses by Karen Ann Hopkins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content:A couple of pretty non-descriptive sex scenes.



Reviewed on March 30, 2018

When the mutilated corpse of a young Amish woman is discovered in Blood Rock, Sheriff Serenity Adams embarks on her most terrifying case yet, facing a killer unlike anything she’s seen before.

Paper Roses is the fifth book in this series and I feel like the series has gotten weaker as it has progressed. I didn't feel as enthralled with this one and I picked out the killer easily. Also, despite the grisly nature of the killings, I didn't feel like this was Serenity's most terrifying case, even though that's what the synopsis says. The first two books in the series were more terrifying to me, simply because of the unknowns involved with the Amish,and their creepy behavior.

In my past reviews I've mentioned how Serenity seemed like a love struck teen around Daniel and how her focusing in on his looks and how he made her feel got old. Well that is completely absent in this book, which wasn't a bad thing. This time around Serenity is starting to have some reservations about their relationship because she feels like they are so different in some key areas and beliefs, which are actually valid concerns. Mostly though, the romance between them takes a backseat here. Daniel is featured but is mostly in the background.

In this book we get chapters from the point of view of Serenity and her friend C.J. I found myself forgetting whose point of view I was reading at times and confusing the two, but I really liked C.J. The forbidden romance aspect of her story was good, but a little too insta-love for me. This being a short book, I didn't feel like the characters spent enough time with each other before bonds were formed between them, and I don't just mean between C.J. and Joshua, but between C.J. and his kids as well. This resulted in the feelings between them not feeling as genuine as I would have liked.

My biggest complaint however is that this book just like the rest of the series needed more proofreading. There are a lot of typos in the Kindle version; missing words, words added into sentences that didn't belong, the wrong word in a sentence. These are mistakes that could be easily eliminated by proofreading.

Overall this was an ok addition to the series, but not as good as the others. After reading book four, I was feeling a bit weary of this series, but after a long break from the series I'm feeling more interested in it again. I mostly want to see where things go with the relationships so I'll continue reading when the next book is published.



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