Book Reviews

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (Jolie Wilkins #1) By: H.P. Mallory

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (Jolie Wilkins #1) By: H.P. Mallory

Plot:

A self-deprecating witch with the unique ability to reanimate the dead. A dangerously handsome warlock torn between being her boss and her would-be lover. A six hundred year old English vampire with his own agenda; one that includes an appetite for witches. The Underworld in a state of chaos. Let the games begin. Life isn’t bad for psychic Jolie Wilkins. True, she doesn’t have a love life to speak of, but she has a cute house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a cat and a quirky best friend. Enter Rand Balfour, a sinfully attractive warlock who insists she’s a witch and who just might turn her life upside down. Rand hires her to help him solve a mystery regarding the death of his client who also happens to be a ghost. Jolie not only uncovers the cause of the ghost’s demise but, in the process, she brings him back to life! Word of Jolie’s incredible ability to bring back the dead spreads like wildfire, putting her at the top of the Underworld’s most wanted list. Consequently, she finds herself at the center of a custody battle between a villainous witch, a dangerous but oh-so-sexy vampire, and her warlock boss, Rand.

Review:

Super frustrated by this book. I’m not sure why, but I was excited to read this, I should have tempered my expectations after I read the first book in the Dulcie O’Neil series, also by Mallory.

All the character flaws I disliked in Dulcie were amplified in Jolie. She was stupid, emotional, and seemingly incapable of a logical thought. She only ever reacted to what was going on and almost never did anything to further the story herself.

I think the reason I hated her so much is because she reminds me of girls who rely completely on others to take care of them, and do nothing to prepare themselves for the future when someone will not be there and they’ll be on their own. I don’t understand people like that, they’re so helpless and in books they always seem to fail up.

She has almost no curiosity. She’s just been told she’s part of this strange new world and while she is being tutored, she evidently isn’t taking any initiative and asking questions that apply to herself. For someone who comes off as self-absorbed she doesn’t try to figure out anything about herself or her place in the world.

When she joins in on conversations I felt like slapping her because she was so stupid. It’s as though she wasn’t paying attention to anything that was going on and just said something relevant to the current conversation, but not taking into consideration everything that she should have already learned.

I’m not sure how I finished this book, it took forever. The ending brought yet another man infatuated with Jolie and all of a sudden she has a huge magical gift and is able to defeat a fairy turned dragon securing the fairies aid in the coming war. Once again a stupid, vapid girl somehow saves the day.

1/5

Read it and Weep (Library Lover’s Mystery #4) By: Jenn McKinlay

ReaditandWeep_(1)-210

Read it and Weep (Library Lover’s Mystery #4) By: Jenn McKinlay

Plot:

Answering Shakespeare trivia comes with the job description for library director Lindsey Norris. But when the Briar Creek Community Theater mounts their newest production of the Bard, she has no intention of leaving the stacks for the stage. Unfortunately a villain is waiting in the wings… Former Broadway actress Violet La Rue is holding auditions for A Midsummer Night’s Dream—and everyone from the sour spinster librarian Ms. Cole to Lindsey’s youthful library pages are trying out for parts. Brought in to play the mischievous Puck is the flirtatious professional actor Robbie Vine, who seems to have eyes for Lindsey. Before her blush has faded, the Bard’s dream turns into a nightmare—when one of the cast is poisoned. Now Lindsey and her crafternooners must take center stage to unmask the culprit before the final curtain call…

Review:

OMG the tension between Lindsey and Sully was crazy! It was like a romance and I honestly didn’t care about the mystery I just wanted to read scenes with these two. SPOILER There was no satisfying ending with them and it looks like McKinlay will be spreading the relationship issues through another book.

Even with the distraction of Lindsey/Sully I guessed the ending fairly quickly but I still enjoyed it and it’s not something done too frequently. I did find it annoying that a love triangle has been introduced, again. She just got rid of her ex-husband and now another man turns up. He’s not a bad guy either, really tired of love triangles.

The side characters didn’t play as big a part in this book, but that could just be me only remembering the heat between Lindsey and Sully.

I really love this series.

For some reason neither library system I have access to has the next book in this series, so I’ll have to search my used book stores or wait until I have some cash.

4.5/5

Dark Chocolate Demise (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #7) By: Jenn McKinlay

Dark Chocolate Demise

Dark Chocolate Demise (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #7) By: Jenn McKinlay

Plot:

Scottsdale, Arizona, may not be the liveliest place on earth, but it’s never been as dead as this. Hundreds of fans have gathered together for the first annual Old Town Zombie Walk, and Mel, Angie, and the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew are donning their best undead attire to sell some horror-themed desserts to the hungry hordes. But the fun turns to fright when Mel finds a real dead body in a prop casket outside of the bakery’s truck—and the corpse looks alarmingly like a zombie of their own. Knowing that Joe, Angie’s brother and Mel’s former flame, has been working on a dangerous mob case, Mel worries that the murder is a hit gone wrong and that someone near and dear was the real target. To keep any of her friends from winding up six feet under, Mel will do whatever it takes to find a killer—no matter how scary things get…

Review:

Lots of relationship stuff with this one, which I loved. In fact it was most of the book. There was, of course, a mystery but it wasn’t like the others. It had more to do with what’s going on with Joe and his case against a mob boss.

I love the relationships and characters in this series. The side characters bring as much to the story as the main character.

Lots of sugar and I find myself wondering how these people don’t have diabetes the amount of cupcakes they eat. Anytime something happens let’s eat two cupcakes. Ummm… I’d love to do that but I’d be the size of a house and shooting up insulin. Oh to live in a book world.

Anyway, I’m caught up with the series and now must wait like everyone else. Waiting sucks, but at least the cliff hanger on this one isn’t as big a deal to me. I mean it’s a big deal, but I can set it aside and not die a little bit everyday while waiting.

4.5/5

The Burning Man (Fringe #2) By: Christa Faust

The Burning Man

The Burning Man (Fringe #2) By: Christa Faust

Plot:

The critically acclaimed Fringe television series explores the dramatic and grotesque as impossible crimes are investigated by the government’s shadowy Fringe Division, established when Special Agent Olivia Dunham enlisted institutionalized “fringe” scientist Walter Bishop and his globe-trotting son, Peter, to help in investigations that defy all human logic – and the laws of nature. Author Christa Faust (Choke Hold, Supernatural) is working hand-in-hand with the television writers to create new adventures uncovering the secrets of the series. The first novel revealed how Walter Bishop and William Bell discovered the drug Cortexiphan–and the alternate universe! Book two will explore how Olivia Dunham first was subjected to Cortexiphan experiments, with catastrophic results.

Review:

There were some really horrific moments in this book. Lots of unnecessary death, though, I guess it wasn’t technically unnecessary because it did a great job of making the bad guy seem unhinged.

The last part of the book was lots of gore and disgusting Sci-Fi stuff. Not what I normally like to read to be honest, though it’s normal for the Fringe universe.

I didn’t find this book as interesting as the first one. It was well written and seemed in character, but it was somehow more graphic. I felt helpless a lot of the time while reading, there was so much bad going on and none of it was being resolved.

The epilogue brought closure and picked up shortly before the TV show started. I’m curious to see what happens in Peter’s book, but I’m not in a hurry to read it.

3.5/5

 

Sugar and Iced (Cupcake Bakery Mysteries #6) By: Jenn McKinlay

Sugar and Iced

Sugar and Iced (Cupcake Bakery Mysteries #6) By: Jenn McKinlay

Plot:

Normally Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura wouldn’t be caught dead at a beauty pageant, but when Mel’s mom asks them to provide cupcakes for the seventy-fifth annual Sweet Tiara contest as a favor for her best friend, they can’t say no. Plus, between cooking up a daily display for the three-day event and sponsoring a cupcake creation challenge for the participants, Fairy Tale Cupcakes will get great publicity.

But the world of pageants is even hotter than Mel’s kitchen. A high-strung judge and a pushy stage mom target Lupe, a young friend of Mel and Angie’s, at the competition and aim to take her out—by any means necessary. When the same judge shows up dead underneath Mel and Angie’s cupcake display, Lupe is crowned the lead suspect. Now Mel and Angie will have to find the real killer quickly or Lupe may be strutting the catwalk in prison pinstripes…

Review:

I started reading this almost immediately after the last one and ended up not being in the right frame of mind. I was mad that in the three months since the last book ended the characters hadn’t learned to straighten up and fly right and I was feeling slightly depressed about life in general. By the end of the book I felt so much better.

Things are not perfect with Mel, Angie, and Tate, but they’ve made significant progress. The ending was another relationship cliffhanger and I don’t know how long I’m going to hold out on reading the next book in the series.

McKinlay certainly let you know what she felt about pageant shows and the picture was not pretty. In the last book pretty much all the characters introduced were nice, not so in this one. Honestly I didn’t care who was the killer because they all deserved to get a dose of bad karma.

Happy with the series and I’m really looking forward to the next one.

5/5