Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Books of January and February 2011

I read a lot of books (though it's not obvious by this skimpy list) but don't feel inspired to review all of them fully. So monthly or bi-monthly (depending on how much I read), I'll give mini reviews for all the books I read. Stars are based on a basic scale: 1: Hate it, 2: Didn't like it, 3: It was ok, 4: I liked it, 5: I loved it

Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday - It was a light mystery with romance and chick lit mixed in. Maddie Springer is a typical chick lit character- the frazzled blonde in love with shoes and fashion who finds herself often looking ridiculous in front of an attractive guy she may for may not like. But this is also a mystery so Maddie has to stumble her way through an amateur investigation. The story is not the most unique but I found it entertaining with a good number of funny moments. I figured out the who of the mystery half way through but thought the why was a little weak. Maddie also got a little annoying at times, but there were plenty of good smaller characters to help even it out. I'd recommend this book for anyone who likes funny, light mysteries- but I would not go in expecting this series to be just like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. I'm definitely going to read the rest. 4 out of 5 stars

Naked in Death by JD Robb -This is the first book in a looooong on-going series about Detective Eve Dallas. After I had someone rave to me about these books, telling me this series is the only one she actually collects, I decided to give it a chance. It's romantic suspense, focusing on a murder investigation and including Eve Dallas falling against her will for the bad boy. I didn't think the murder was that hard to figure out and I didn't really find it that suspenseful. I was also thrown by the fact that it takes place in the future. It wasn't bad, however, so I'll read the next two (I bought it in a 3 book set) before I decide whether I want to invest in such a long series. 3.5 out of 5 stars

Balefire by Cate Tiernan - I've actually been passing this one by since it was originally published (I think in 2005). I'd read her Sweep series when it first came out about 10 years ago and, while I liked it okay, I didn't feel compelled to try any more of her stuff. But I'm a sucker for covers I like, so I saw the bind up in the store and picked it up. I found this book much more interesting than the Sweep series. There were plenty of interesting characters, though sometimes I thought there were too many. I often forgot about a few of them that didn't make as many appearances. It had a very interesting story that was really well told until the end. It felt like there should have been another book that took place a few years later in order to actually wrap it up. 4 out of 5 stars

Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan - Balefire was good enough for me to start the Immortal Beloved series. This is the first of a planned trilogy that focuses on an immortal who is scared into trying to change her hedonistic ways. Actually almost nothing happened in this book, yet I still wanted to continue reading to find out what was going on. This first book really only showed how Nastasya started to change and revealed her heritage. It only started to set up what her old friends wanted from her. I'm actually a little concerned about the pace of the rest of the trilogy because this one was so slow. But I am going to read the rest because I do want to know what happens. 4 out of 5 stars

Killer in High Heels by Gemma Halliday - This is the second book in the chick lit mystery series about Maddie Springer. The character is the same as she was in the first book and they added another secondary character that was only mentioned in the first book. If you liked the first one, this is about the same. The mystery was actually a little less convoluted and made a lot more sense than the first one. 4 out of 5 stars

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves - I read her first book, Bleeding Violet, and it was crazy. Even now, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. But I saw this one for pre-order and decided that it would be my first pre-order on my Nook. I actually gave up on this one after trying to read it for a month. It wasn't poorly written. I just wasn't interested in reading it.
 

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