Book Review

New York to Dallas

new york to dallas

New York to Dallas (In Death #33) By: J.D. Robb

Plot:

When a monster named Isaac McQueen-taken down by Eve back in her uniform days-escapes from Rikers, he has two things in mind. One is to pick up where he left off, abducting young victims and leaving them scarred in both mind and body. The other is to get revenge on the woman who stopped him all those years ago.

Review:

***Warning***

This book is about a serial child rapist so be forewarned.

Now that was a good J.D. Robb book. I did guess who Sylvia/Stella/some other ‘S’ name was before Eve did so I guess that makes me a better detective. :-p

You got to hear about the first case that put Eve on the map and got her on the way to being a great detective. There was suspense and I was if I didn’t know there were books after this one I could have been in fear for Eve’s life.

Great story, good mystery, excellent character development.

4/5

Treachery in Death

Treachery in Death

Treachery in Death (In Death #32) By: J.D. Robb

Plot:

Detective Eve Dallas and her partner, Peabody, are following up on a senseless crime — an elderly grocery owner killed by three stoned punks for nothing more than kicks and snacks. This is Peabody’s first case as primary detective — good thing she learned from the master. But Peabody soon stumbles upon a trickier situation. After a hard workout, she’s all alone in the locker room when the gym door clatters open; and — while hiding inside a shower stall trying not to make a sound — she overhears two fellow officers, Garnet and Oberman, arguing. It doesn’t take long to realize they’re both crooked — guilty not just of corruption but of murder. Now Peabody, Eve, and Eve’s husband, Roarke, are trying to get the hard evidence they need to bring the dirty cops down — knowing all the while that the two are willing to kill to keep their secret

Review:

So at number thirty-two I think it’s safe to say I like the In Death series. There have been some hit or misses, some I’ve really liked, and some I’ve thought were just eh.

Treachery in Death could be described the same way. There were parts I liked, there were parts I didn’t, and there were parts that were just eh. Overall the good parts outweighed the bad, there was a particularly horrible scene in an arcade that I felt was so bad I had to read out loud to my husband.

The story was great, though I didn’t think the villain was up to a battle with Eve Dallas. Eve expertly maneuvered everything and I never really thought there was a moment things were out of her control. On one hand it’s nice to have a hero that much in control on the other hand it kind of dulls the impact of what is being accomplished in story. It makes it seem kind of easy.

3.5/5

Moonlight in the Morning

Moonlight-in-the-Morning

Moonlight in the Morning By: Jude Deveraux

Plot:

Sparks are flying between Jecca Layton and Dr. Tristan Aldredge. At the urging of her dear friend Kim, Jecca put the ruthless New York City art world on hold to spend the summer pursuing her passion for painting while enjoying Edilean’s tightly knit artistic community. For years, Kim’s cousin Tris — the town’s handsome and dedicated doctor — felt a deep connection to Kim’s college “sister” Jecca, though they had met only once before. Now, Jecca is swept off her feet by this strong, sensitive man in a summer of sensual delights. But when long shadows announce Jecca’s return to “real life” and the big city, the lovers must decide: Can they survive the distance? And who will sacrifice the life they’ve created for themselves to be together?

Review:

I think Jude Deveraux might be a pantser when it comes to writing. Every now and then she’ll write something and then a page later write something that has to explain what she’d previously written away. Personally I would have edited it out, but then it might not have worked without it, not sure.

Even with that I really liked this book. So happy that I’ve got her back in my life. Already looking forward to reading the next book, though hopefully I don’t end up staying up until four am reading it.

Her men tend to be a bit unrealistic but I don’t read romance for realism. I did want to scream the word compromise at her couple, that happens a lot for me though.

4/5

True Love

truelove

True Love (Nantucket Bride Trilogy): By Jude Deveraux

Plot:

Set on the magical Massachusetts island, True Love introduces characters from a new generation of Montgomery-Taggerts, the beloved family from Deveraux’s classic novels. Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming nineteenth-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman’s relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix—fresh from a romantic breakup—but for reasons of her own Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friend’s storybook wedding. But unseen forces move behind the scenes, creaking Kingsley House’s ancient floorboards. It seems that Adelaide Kingsley had a rather specific task for Alix: to solve the strange disappearance of one of the Kingsley women, Valentina, more than two hundred years ago. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Alix must deal with the arrogant (and extremely good-looking) architect Jared Montgomery, who is living in the property’s guesthouse. Unbeknown to Alix, Jared has been charged with looking after her while she lives on the island—an easy task for him, considering the undeniable chemistry between the two. But Jared harbors secrets of his own, which, if revealed, may drive a wedge between the pair. With a glorious Nantucket wedding on the horizon, sparks fly, and the ghosts of the past begin to reveal themselves—some of them literally. Finding their lives inextricably entwined with the turbulent fortunes of their ancestors, Alix and Jared discover that only by righting the wrongs of the past can they hope to be together

Review:

I almost didn’t make it out of the prologue. I thought she made the men say things in a way no man would ever speak. Then she threw me a curveball and I was back in the game.

Overall I like the story and I’m looking forward to the sequel. I did think her men were a little bit too feminine in how they spoke, but I could have just read too much Eve Langlais and Kristen Ashley.

I was actually really happy with this book. The last two Jude Deveraux books I read (Secrets and Lavender Morning) I really didn’t like, which made me sad because I love Jude Deveraux. I was afraid she’d entered a new phase in her writing that I was really not going to like, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case now.

It did surprise me that she’s doing a trilogy because I only remembered one other one she’d written and it wasn’t like a normal romance trilogy. Looking at her bibliography I saw that she wrote another trilogy fairly recently so I guess it’s her new way to do things. Nora Roberts has worked this way for a while so maybe she decided to try her hand at it.

I’m happy to see Deveraux back to writing the romance I love her for and I’m really looking forward to book two.

3.75/5

Steelheart

steelheart

Steelheart (Reckoners #1) By: Brandon Sanderson

Plot:

There are no heroes. Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills. Nobody fights the Epics… nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Review:

Why do people feel the need to kill babies in books? It kills me. The book would have to be the most poorly book ever written and still I would probably cry. This book was obviously not poorly written and even though it’s done at the very beginning and just sort of offhand I still boohooed.

Totally not a world of superheroes I would want to live in, incredibly dark though not quite as depressing as I thought it would be. I must have been in a good mood because thinking back it’s a pretty depressing book.

Makes me sad that all the Epics are basically evil.

Loved the twist at the end, though I did call one of the things Sanderson did. Still loved it. Really looking forward to the next book, wish it was out now so I could read it and then demand the next book.

5/5