To Treasure an Heiress (The Secrets of the Isles #2) by Roseanna M. White

  

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Historical Romance, Clean Romance
Content: Clean

 

Beth Tremayne has always been drawn to adventure. During her childhood, she fed that desire by exploring every inch of the Isles of Scilly. As an adolescent, she dreamed of love in London's ballrooms. Now, stumbling across an old map on her family's property, she's found more adventure than she ever craved in the hunt for pirate treasure. Unfortunately, Beth can't escape the attentions of her family's guest, Lord Sheridan.

Sheridan has spent years pursuing whatever archaeological interests caught his imagination. And when he discovers that Beth's search connects with one of his favorite pirates of history, he can't help getting involved. Plus, he finds her irresistible, even though she insists he stole a prized possession of hers.

As they work together following different clues and drawing closer to danger, they start to piece together a story of tragic love and piratical adventure. But the true surprise is the treasure they discover in each other.

 

I've read several books by this author that have become favorites. The Shadows Over England and The Codebreakers series in particular are favorites, but unfortunately this book just didn't work for me. I read the first book in this series and gave it 3 stars because I liked quite a few things about it, even though I found the overall story slow and a little boring at times. This one is not only slow to progress, but I also found the characters to be annoying. From the beginning, the main character, Beth is very angry with Sheridan, who is obviously going to end up being the love interest at some point, and I totally get why she's so angry with him. Despite the fact that I get it, she still comes off a bit bratty at times.

Then there is Sheridan, who doesn't return something to Beth that, in all honesty, he should return. He also thinks he's in love with her and going to marry her one day, after knowing her for a very short time, and it seems based solely on the fact that he finds her to be so beautiful. At one point in the book, they decide to go treasure hunting together, and it ends disastrously, with Sheridan mad and jealous, and Beth purposely dumping him in the water from the boat on the way back, because he won't listen to her side of things. I really didn't blame her for doing it, even if she probably shouldn't have, because Sheridan's behavior was out of line.

To top it all off, Sheridan's inner monologue about the whole incident kind of infuriated me. He starts telling himself that he won't marry her one day, because she is probably the kind of girl that will just lead him on and then dump him. Um, what?? Beth has never once indicated that she even likes Sheridan in that way. She's been angry with him the whole time. But this guy builds up this fantasy in his head, and suddenly it's the truth. It also bothered me that Beth gets reprimanded for her behavior several times in the book when I think others should be as well, and they are not.

I kept trying to push myself to get through this book, because I figured it would get better, but the characters start out unlikable, the story is slow and uninteresting, and at this point I just can't bring myself to care anymore. So, I'm abandoning it, and I'm not even halfway through. Overall, this book just doesn't have the feel to it that this author's other books have, and I think that's true, so far, of the whole series, even though book one was more likable to me.

Since this is a companion series and the characters and stories are linked, I doubt I will read the last book in the series. Hopefully, the next series the author writes will be a better fit for me.

Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language; sex on a few occasions is described, but not in great detail

 

Selena Murphy is commuting home on the train when she strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat. The woman introduces herself as Martha and soon confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

Then the nanny disappears.

As Selena is pulled into the mystery of what happened, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, she begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover…

 

“Sometimes a stranger was the safest place in your life.” 

This was obviously inspired by Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith, and that's what drew me to it. I do need to admit that I haven't actually read Strangers on a Train yet, but I have seen the Hitchcock movie, and I liked it very much. So, any comparisons I made were based off the movie, and not the book. One thing that I liked about Strangers on a Train is the way the main character realizes that the man he met on the train is actually carrying out the "make believe" plan that was hatched on the train. This book went about things differently, and I didn't really feel that it had the same impact. That being said, I still enjoyed reading this very much. 

There were some crazy twists and turns in this and although I saw most of them coming, I wasn't bothered by that. The character, Selena bothered me a bit though, because I felt like she did some things that weren't very plausible. The biggest one was not seeing the huge red flags when the stranger she met on the train started contacting her. She had no idea how the woman got her number in the first place. This should have creeped her out. It was weird stalker-like behavior, but Selena eventually actually goes to meet this woman somewhere. After meeting her she gets what could be a plausible explanation of how the woman got her number, but I don't think anyone in their right mind would have gone to meet the woman in the first place.

Overall, for a book that was inspired by a classic, I think it was good. It can be hard to live up to the original material, and maybe I liked this as much as I did because I didn't really expect it to. It was good as something that was inspired by a classic, but was also a story of its own, that I found compelling, if a little implausible at times. If you like psychological suspense then I recommend giving this one a try.

 

 

  

Fate's Ransom (The First Argentines #4) by Jeff Wheeler

 

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Ransom Barton has served three Argentine kings. The new successor to the throne is the ruthless Jon-Landon, a fallible strategist when it comes to war. After losing against the Occitanian armies, the king forces Ransom to bear the blame and removes him from the council. But Jon-Landon isn’t yet through with humbling the honorable knight of Ceredigion.

When a retaliatory battle succeeds, Jon-Landon invites Ransom back into his circle. Though Ransom’s Fountain magic is made stronger by his fealty, he’s once again forced to make a terrible choice. And this time, Ransom’s wife, Claire, and their sons could pay the price for Ransom’s loyalty.

But as tensions between Ceredigion and Occitania reignite and alliances at court begin to crumble, a desperate Jon-Landon discovers his only ally is the knight he betrayed. With the future of Kingfountain hanging in the balance, Ransom agrees to help. And as secret enemies reveal their endgame, Ransom knows that he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice for the survival of the Argentine dynasty.

 

I was hoping this last book in the series would be an improvement over book three, but unfortunately, I didn't care for it. I liked this one the least out of the four books in this series, and it was mainly due to the way things end up for Ransom. That's all I'm going to say about the plot, because I don't want to spoil anything. 

Sometimes I like Jeff Wheeler's story-telling a lot. At those times I can feel the struggles his characters are going through, as they try to make the right decisions, and deal with heartbreak and disappointments in their lives. Other times his protagonists come off as a little too perfect. I liked Ransom a lot as a character, but I feel like he was just a little too perfect at times, and that made him seem not as realistic. As for Claire, after reading book three, I was hoping that I would like her character again. She got on my nerves so badly in the last book, which is a shame, because she was a character that felt more real to me. Thankfully, she was back to being the Claire I knew and enjoyed reading about in books one and two, but her role was rather small here. 

Overall, I don't like this series as much as Kingfountain. It's one of those take or leave it ones for me. I've also reached a point in my reading of fantasy that I'm very tired of the "fated to happen" trope.

The Fortuna Coin by Karen Ann Hopkins

  

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Women's Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Romance
Content: Strong language, Brief descriptions of sexual encounters, Several forms of domestic abuse (written as mildly as possible, for the most part)

 

Wendy Catalano, a newly remarried mother of four, finds herself, her husband and her children, murder victims of her ex-husband. A family heirloom takes her back in time to the beginning of her relationship with her eventual killer where she’s given the magical opportunity to change the future and stop her family's tragic ending. But she isn't aware that she's reliving a tortured life. With only glimpses of the future, Wendy struggles to survive present day, unaware that a bloody and unforgiving destiny awaits her.

The Fortuna Coin is a haunting psychological thriller about second chances…but will the truth really set Wendy free?

 

It's a rare occasion when I read a book all in one sitting, mainly because there aren't very many that I absolutely can't put down, but that's what happened when I cracked open this book, or more accurately, turned on my Kindle last night. This book was impossible to put down. I just had to keep turning the pages to find out what would happen next and I ended up reading until past 3 am.

I've read several books by this author and I've enjoyed all of them. This book was very different from her others, and although I could tell it would be just from the description, I was completely taken by surprise, because it was still not at all like I expected it would be. 

There is the question that people get asked a lot about their lives, or choices they've made, "Would you do it all over again?" In this book, with the help of a mysterious coin that's been passed down in her family, Wendy gets the chance to go back and change things in her life. If you read the above description, then you know she is murdered by her abusive ex-husband. The answer a lot of people seem to give to the question of whether they would do it all again when they've been in an abusive relationship, is yes, because they wouldn't have their children. 

Except for small flashes of memory, Wendy doesn't remember how her life went before, when she is suddenly sent back to the past, and she doesn't understand what is going on. She also meets two men and is drawn to both of them in different ways. She just keeps getting a nagging feeling that something isn't playing out the way it's supposed to, until she visits a psychic for advice.

I don't want to spoil how everything happens, but Wendy has a chance to never experience the abuse, but also never know her children. This is a tough decision, and this book had me feeling so many emotions. It was heartbreaking at times, and at times it was hard to read because of certain things that were happening. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can say that it's the best book I've read in a while. Certain parts might not have been easy to read, and could be triggering to some people, but I think it illustrated the effects of abuse on a person really well. Especially the more subtle forms of abuse and control that leave a person second guessing themselves. 

 

 

 

Shadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie Klassen

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Historical Romance, Clean Romance
Content: Clean

 

In pursuit of an author who could help get her brother published, Rebecca Lane stays at Swanford Abbey, a grand hotel rumored to be haunted. It is there she encounters Sir Frederick--the man who broke her heart. When a mysterious death occurs, Rebecca is one of the suspects, and Frederick is torn between his feelings for her and his search for the truth.

 

Every year I look forward to reading a new Julie Klassen book. While all her books have an element of mystery added to them, her last three books have all featured the mystery element more heavily. I wasn't as crazy about that in the last two books because I felt like the romance part was sacrificed a bit too much. There was a lack of chemistry for some reason in those two. The chemistry between the characters in this one was better, but still not up to par with her romance books. 

I liked Sir Frederick a lot and Rebecca as well, although I thought she should have trusted Frederick with the truth long before she finally did. Also the story takes too long to really get going, and I found myself a little bored in the beginning. I liked the setting of the old abbey turned hotel a lot, and the parts when Rebecca ended up exploring a little were some of my favorites, as well as when she and Frederick start to collaborate.

This book had elements that reminded me of several other books I've read. It felt rather like an Agatha Christie novel set in the regency era at times, but not nearly as clever as Christie's novels. The mystery here was pretty easy to figure out, but still enjoyable.

Though not a favorite, overall I liked this book and enjoyed reading it once it got going.

On a side note- I love the covers to Julie Klassen's books and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that there is always a part in her books where she describes what the main character is wearing and it looks just like what the character is wearing on the cover of the book. It seems like most writers don't have control over what the covers of their books look like, so I'm just wondering how she does this. Does she get to help pick the cover out with this in mind? I'll probably never know the answer to this, but it's just one of those random things that I wondered about.

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong language, an off page threesome

 

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.

Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.

That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.

 

When I originally read the description of this book it sounded pretty intriguing. I tend to like the books I've read that involve clones, and I thought it would be interesting to read about Mickey7 and Mickey8 trying to keep the fact that there are two of them a secret. Going into this, the story pulled me in right away and I was expecting it to stay that way, but as the book progressed the story began to get more and more mundane. 

There were so many parts of this story that could have been built out and explored. There is the problem with the alien species they call creepers, there is the problem of cultivating food and sustaining life on the planet, there is the problem of Mickey trying to stay alive through all the dangerous jobs he does, and then the extra Mickey who shouldn't be there. This all boded well for lots of tension and intrigue. Unfortunately the story never really lives up to its potential, because as I said, it goes the route of becoming mundane. 

We end up following Mickey around as he tends to duties on the colony, and interacts with a few other people, who, by the way, are never very well developed. The little tension that exists is over worrying when Mickey will be found out, because you know he will be, since there is no well thought out plan for how they will keep anyone from finding out. It's also funny how this is supposed to be two versions of the same guy, but from the moment I met 8, I disliked him. Maybe that's the way it was supposed to be? We are after all seeing things from 7s point of view. 

The author chose to focus mainly on the question of whether all these clones were really the same person, or not, and whether the original Mickey even still existed. I liked that, but didn't feel like it dug very deep into finding answers to those questions. And while that definitely something that should have been addressed in the book, I wanted more. Just more of everything that I mentioned above. Overall, I didn't dislike this book, I enjoyed it to an extent which is why I'm giving it 3 stars. I was just a little disappointed in it.

Also, if you read the description that compares this book to The Martian and Dark Matter, I have to warn you that this book is nothing like either of those books, so don't go into it with those kind of expectations. In general, I think those sorts of comparisons end up hurting rather than helping a book, because there are certain expectations that have to be met, otherwise disappointment ensues.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.