Early Book Review: A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones is currently scheduled for release on April 7 2010. This is the start of a new series- but it follows the Charlie Davidson series, but newcomes to Jones' work will be able to enjoy this new start.

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose. Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, its strong cups of coffee—and a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff—an election her adorably meddlesome parents entered her in—and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of it's reminding Sunny why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that trouble at her daughter’s new school and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and Sunshine has her hands full. Enter sexy almost-old-flame Levi Ravinder and a hunky US Marshal, both elevens on a scale of one to blazing inferno, and the normally savvy sheriff is quickly in over her head. Now it’s up to Sunshine to juggle a few good hunky men, a not-so-nice kidnapping miscreant, and Doug the ever-pesky flasher. And they said coming home would be drama-free.

A Bad Day for Sunshine is a great start to a new series, even if I kept distracting myself by trying to make connections with the previous series. Sunshine and her daughter Aurora are two snarky peas in a pod. They are both smart, good detectives, and care more than they might want to about the world around them. I liked the way the town, and its cast of characters, were introduced. I liked the way characters I thought I knew- or should know-  were given the same amount of attention as those I thought were completely new. I thought the mystery of the missing girl and the escaped fugitive were very well built, and solved. I like that the characters do not take themselves too seriously and seem to understand that so much comes in shades of gray rather than simply black or white. The point of view does switch regularly between Auri and Sunshine, which was incredibly important and worked perfectly in some places. However, there were many places in which the switch was made with no division and it took me a while to figure out what was happening. I had to go back and reread a few paragraphs to figure out where the switch was made. I did enjoy the build up of the characters, the mystery, and that there were unanswered questions that left me wanting more without leaving me feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion. I look forward to continuing this series, and seeing how the connection with the prior series continue to grow. 

A Bad Day for Sunshine is a good start to a series, with connections and characters Jones fans will enjoy. 

Early Book Review: The Elephants' Guide to Hide-and-Seek by Kjersten Hayes, Gladys Jose

The Elephants' Guide to Hide-and-Seek, written by Kjersten Hayes and illustrated by Gladys Jose, is currently scheduled for release on April 1 2020. Elephants are great at many things...playing hide-and-seek is not one of them. But The Elephant Hobby and Sport League is here to help all those frustrated, always "found" elephants out there with The Elephants' Guide to Hide-and-Seek. This handy guide offers sympathy, support and superior hiding solutions to elephants who long to overcome their size disadvantage when playing hide-and-seek.

The Elephants' Guide to Hide-and-Seek is a fun and sweet story. I found the illustrations to be charming and I really enjoyed the style. The text and illustrations worked well together to tell the story, and managed to be encouraging while still including a good amount of humor- like an elephant trying to hide under the covers. I think it offers readers a good laugh, along with ideas (like volunteering to be it) that can make a game that usually offers frustration more fun. I really like that it also points out that playing the game can be fun because of who you are playing with, not just because of how well you play. 

Early Book Review: Shameless With Him (Less Than) by Carrie Ann Ryan

Shameless With Him is the third book in the Less Than series by Carrie Ann Ryan. It is currently scheduled for release on March 24 2020 and can stand on its own or enjoyed as part of the series.

Caleb Carr might have once been ready for commitment, but when the unexpected slams into him with the force of a two-ton truck, he knows he has to run away from anything that might be important. Zoey might well be his final temptation, but to keep her whole, he’ll walk away. Zoey Wager has loved Caleb since they were eight. And has had her heart broken from afar repeatedly ever since. It doesn’t help that every time she sees him—even when she’s running away halfway across the world—he’s with another woman. She’s watched him fall in lust her entire life. Now, she’s ready to watch him fall in love. With her.

Shameless With Him is a romance that pulls on the childhood crush trope. Zoey has loved Caleb for ever, and when they kind of fall together she is very cautious about going all in, because his relationships never seem to last long. Caleb is dealing with some issues that he is reluctant to share with his family, never mind the girl he counts as a friend and has wanted for years. Neither wants to blow their chance, but both are dealing with doubts, fear, and helping pull of the wedding of a lifetime for Zoey's baby sister. There is a good does of heart, some heat, and moments when readers will want to throttle one or more of the characters. The story works, and the cast of characters are well written. Maybe I just picked this book up at the wrong time. It was a good, solid romance but I never got fully invested or engaged with the characters and story. I love the author in general, so I think this might have been more of a me thing than anything about the book.

Shameless With Him is a good romance, and I think fans of the author and second chance, or childhood crush, romances will particularly enjoy it. 

Early Book Review: Not According to Plan by A.M. Madden

Not According to Plan by A.M. Madden is a contemporary romance currently scheduled for release on March 23 2020. For one night of my life, I dared to do something reckless. My birthday. A bar. Karaoke. And a man so hot he could melt the sun. Sparks flew. Lust took over. For one night of my life, I felt alive. Then I was back to my “boring” life. Career-driven. Goal-oriented. Always planning ahead. But nothing could have prepared me for the positive pregnancy test. We weren’t that reckless.  There goes my “boring” life. And what happens when I tell the father?

Not According to Plan is a contemporary romance with plenty of complications, but recalled condoms seem to be the root of most. A one night stand resulting in a pregnancy is rough, add in split residency and another baby on the way and things are complicated right from the start. I liked Jade a lot, I could understand and connect with her desire to rock her job even when it did not meet her expectations, and actually agreed with her take on most of the issues in the story. Max was a nice guy, with way too much on his plate. I liked that he wanted to do right be everyone in his life, and understood how that might burn him out. I liked the extended family and friends for both characters, and thought that for the most part they offered support and advice that was heartfelt- and I thought that the naysayers were realistic and well done even when they made my heart hurt. I was not thrilled with the conclusion, they way they worked things out, but I cannot agree with everyone's choices even in fiction. I was hoping that a different solution would be found, even though I could not come up with a logical one either so what do I know. Overall I enjoyed the read, and it had some fantastic moments, but I was not wowed by it as a whole.

Not According to Plan is a romance with plenty of twists on the way to a happy ever after.

Early Book Review: Bears Behaving Badly (BeWere my Heart) by MaryJanice Davidson

Bears Behaving Badly is the first book in the BeWere my Heart series by MaryJanice Davidson. It is currently scheduled for release on March 31 2020. 

These social worker bear shifters give the term "mama bear" a whole new meaning! Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is a caseworker for the Interspecies Placement Agency. When a selectively mute and freakishly strong teen werewolf is put in her custody, Annette has to uncover the young girl's secrets if she's to have any hopes of helping her. And not even the growling of a scruffy private investigator can distract her from her mission. Bear shifter David Auberon appreciates Annette's work with at-risk teen shifters, but he's not sure if her latest charge is so much a vulnerable teen as a predator who should be locked up. All that changes when he, Annette, and her motley band of juveniles find themselves dodging multiple murder attempts and uncovering a trafficking cartel that doesn't just threaten the kids, but risks discovery of the shifters by the wider world of homo sapiens.

Bears Behaving Badly has a good deal going on.Annette and David had some great dialogue, and I enjoyed the clueless, thought to be unrequited love, aspect of the story. They were fun and I liked getting to know them. I also really liked the secondary characters- and found some of them more interesting and entertaining than the major players on occasion.  I like that parts of the character backstories are slowly revealed rather than having a massive information dump. I thought that the mystery of what was going on and who the mole was had a good pace and had a good balance of danger and character exploration. Although, I have to say that some of the big picture was a little obvious to me and I wanted to facepalm when Annette and David finally figured it out. The story was fun and enjoyable. However, there several occasions when the transitions were sudden and I had to go back and reread bits to see if I missed something, some clue, as to how they got to be somewhere or which line of dialogue when to which character. Everytime that this happened with a scene transition I was taken out of the story and it took away from my enjoyment a bit. 

Bears Behaving Badly is a fun romantic adventure with a nice balance of humor, mystery, and a touch of heat.

Book Review: Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids—Building Vocabulary Through Etymology, Definitions & Stories by Jess Zafarris

Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids—Building Vocabulary Through Etymology, Definitions & Stories by Jess Zafarris shows readers of all ages that the English language is made up of words from different places, events, and periods of time. Each of those words has an exciting story to tell us about where, when, how, and why they came about. It has easy-to-understand definitions and awesome word-origin stories, helping readers understand the history and meaning of English words, improve vocabulary and spelling, and learn to play with language. Explore how weird words like gnome, fun words like zombie, and common words like caterpillar came to exist. Discover why some words sound funnier than others (like cackle, sizzle, and twang) and why some groups of words start with the same few letters (like hydrate, hydrogen, and fire hydrant). 

Once Upon a Word is an accessible and entertaining resource for readers of all ages. I like that it uses the history of words, the building blocks of words, and how different languages have created and continue to change the English language. After the rundown on the building blocks and things that have shaped language starts the actually dictionary part of the book- explaining each word in detail. This is a great tool for gaining a better understanding of favorite or interesting words, but it is not the most entertaining part. I really enjoyed the two sections that follow, which explore food  and music related words. Since food and music are two of my favorite things I found this to be very interesting.  I think that this would be a good classroom or school library resource for middle grade readers and older. However, it might also be helpful to those approaching the high school horrors of standardized tests that seem to be very important to their adults. The understanding of the roots and building blocks of words that are laid out in the beginning of the book can help all readers with their vocabulary and the ability to guess the correct meaning of most words- especially in a multiple choice test. I thought that some of the color and formatting choices really broke up the text on the pages nicely, making the read book as a whole less intimidating to readers. 

Once Upon a Word is a well organized and written resources that will help its readers understand some of the building blocks and influences of the English language while offering some humor and interesting tidbits along the way.

Book Review: Murder at Pirate's Cove (Secrets and Scrabble) by Josh Lanyon

Murder at Pirate's Cove is the first book in the Secrets and Scrabble series by Josh Lanyon. Ellery Page, aspiring screenwriter, Scrabble champion, and guy-with-worst-luck-in-the-world-when-it-comes-to-dating, is ready to make a change. So when he learns he’s inherited both a failing bookshop and a falling-down mansion in the quaint seaside village of Pirate’s Cove in Rhode Island, it’s full steam ahead! Sure enough, the village is charming, its residents amusingly eccentric, and widowed police chief Jack Carson is decidedly yummy (though possibly as straight as he is stern). However, the bookstore is failing, the mansion is falling down, and there’s that little drawback of finding rival bookseller—and head of the unwelcoming-committee—Trevor Maples dead during the annual Buccaneer Days celebration.  Still, it could be worse. And once Police Chief Carson learns Trevor was killed with the cutlass hanging over the door of Ellery’s bookstore, it is. 

Murder at Pirate's Cove is a cozy mystery that grabbed me from the start. I liked Ellery as a character, he is smart and thoughtful with a curious mind and the ability to admit his mistakes. I did think the blurb was a little misleading, since he is a Scrabble player but that only plays a minimal role in the story, although I think it will mean more as the series continues. I liked the set up, and thought the characters and town building was well paced and well done. The mystery was layered with plenty of twists, and I liked the way it was built and revealed in small portions to keep interest and attention. I did not want to step away from the book at any point during the read, wanting to see how things would play out in the next moment. I am interested to see where the series goes from here, and if the promised connections continue to grow in the future. 

Murder at Pirate's Cove is an engaging read and I look forward to continuing the series. 

Book Review: Imaginary Numbers (InCryptid) by Seanan McGuire

Imaginary Numbers is the ninth book in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. While I do suggest reading the series in order, and as a series, the books can stand fairly well on their own but newcomers will be missing out on some great backstory and character references that enhance the read. Since this is the first story from Sarah's perspective, there are worse places to start.  

Sarah Zellaby has always been in an interesting position. Adopted into the Price family at a young age, she's never been able to escape the biological reality of her origins: she's a cuckoo, a telepathic ambush predator closer akin to a parasitic wasp than a human being. Friend, cousin, mathematician; it's never been enough to dispel the fear that one day, nature will win out over nurture, and everything will change. Maybe that time has finally come. After spending the last several years recuperating in Ohio with her adoptive parents, Sarah is ready to return to the world--and most importantly, to her cousin Artie, with whom she has been head-over-heels in love since childhood. But there are cuckoos everywhere, and when the question of her own survival is weighed against the survival of her family, Sarah's choices all add up to one inescapable conclusion. This is war. Cuckoo vs. Price, human vs. cryptid, and not all of them are going to walk away.

Imaginary Numbers is another well written story from McGuire, with dynamic characters and a healthy dose of danger. I have been wanted more from Sarah for a long time, and I am extremely glad to have this story. I got much more action that I really expected, and a little less Artie and Sarah together, but everything worked together quite well and I was happy with the way it all came together. I enjoyed getting inside Sarah's head, quite literally. There were a couple twists I did not expect, some explanations that tied some things up for me, and a few twists that I am hoping to see pop up in the next book. I do not want to go into too much detail, because it was a great ride and I want everyone to enjoy it as much as I did. My biggest complaints are that I missed the book before this somehow, which I am off to rectify now, and the story ended in such a way that I am pretty desperate for the next instalment already. 

Imaginary Numbers is a must read for the McGuire's fans, and a solid story for other readers that might want to dive in to her well crafted worlds. 

Early Book Review: American Sweethearts (Dreamers) by Adriana Herrera

American Sweethearts is the fourth book in the Dreamers series by Adriana Herrera, and is currently scheduled for release on March 30 2020. I have not read the previous books in the series, but it stood well on its own.

Juan Pablo Campos doesn’t do regrets. He’s living the dream as a physical therapist for his beloved New York Yankees. He has the best friends and family in the world and simply no time to dwell on what could’ve been. Except when it comes to Priscilla, the childhood friend he’s loved for what seems like forever. New York City police detective Priscilla Gutierrez has never been afraid to go after what she wants. Second-guessing herself isn’t a thing she does. But lately, the once-clear vision she had for herself—her career, her relationships, her life—is no longer what she wants. What she especially doesn’t want is to be stuck on a private jet to the Dominican Republic with JuanPa, the one person who knows her better than anyone else. By the end of a single week in paradise, the love/hate thing JuanPa and Pris have been doing for sixteen years has risen to epic proportions. No one can argue their connection is still there. And they can both finally admit—if only to themselves—they’ve always been a perfect match. The future they dreamed of together is still within reach, if they can just accept each other as they are.

American Sweethearts is a wonderful romance. I am not big into second chance stories, it is just not my favorite trope, but this book might have changed my mind. I loved that Juan and Priscilla know each other as well as they do from the start of the story. They come together with good and bad history and are both working hard to get what they need from life. Their love story is as much about coming to terms while what they each really want as it is about making it work together. Their honesty with each other, even when it comes down to knowing when the other is not ready for a conversation was extremely well done, and the open discussions of sex and what they want is something that should be a relationship goal for most couples. Even when things went sideways I could understand both sides, and it was all so real that I was completely lost in the story from page one.  I absolutely loved the cast of secondary characters, they were very well written, and I enjoyed getting a good look at the friendships and family bonds that shaped the characters so much.  I look forward to reading more, in fact I plan on going back to read the first three books in the series as soon as I get a bit further ahead in my reviews, because I have a feeling there will be some binge reading involved. 

American Sweethearts is a fabulous read. Fans of the author will need this book, and newcomers like me might just be adding a new name to their must buy list. 

Early Book Review: On the Corner of Hope and Main (Blessings) by Beverly Jenkins

On the Corner of Hope and Main is the tenth book in the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins and it was just released released on March 3 2020. I have not read the previous books, so there was a good deal of catching up to do, but I think other newcomers can fully enjoy the book without the prior reads as well, although I am likely to go back and read the whole series from the start now.

Citizens of Henry Adams, Kansas, know there’s never a dull moment in their small town. Trent July has been the mayor of this historic town for the past four years, but now he’s ready to let someone else take up the mantle. Barrett Payne, a former Marine, decides he wants the job. But when a surprise candidate also enters the ring, the town has opinions on who would be the best candidate. And of course that’s not the only drama, as Malachi “Mal” July continues to make reparations for the damage he’s caused and to the people he’s betrayed, especially his lady love Bernadine. Is she finally ready to forgive him and let the past go? As the residents of Henry Adams have learned, life will throw obstacles their way, but it’s how they come together and rise above these challenges that keep the bonds of their close-knit community strong.

On the Corner of Hope and Main is a book I requested from Netgalley without even reading the description. I had seen so much from authors I follow on social media about what a wonderful person and writer the author is that I knew I was missing out. I did not even read the description before starting reading, and it took me a bit to get into the story- mainly because I have no idea of the genre or that it was book ten in a series when I started. However, the book does a wonderful job of sharing the needed history to understand characters, their relationships, and specific interactions. Readers get the viewpoints of so many characters that the story is that of the town, rather than a single person or family, and I really enjoy it. The character work was so well done that even when a character was doing something shady or underhanded, when they were making a decision that I could not agree with, I still understood how and why they got to that point. Each of the characters had such depth, and the machinations of those who want power or money were completely on point. I just got lost in the depth and layers of the stories, and feel like the characters faced such real problems that I think that everyone can relate to one or more of the characters as they all just try to get through the day and do the best they can for their families and town. Isn't that what we are all doing, even if we don't have a crazy hog or greedy oil company at our door.

On the Corner of Hope and Main is a wonderful book with solid characters and a ton of heart. My only disappointment is that it took me so long to pick up one of the books from this series.