60. Poisonfeather by Matthew FitzSimmons

#2 Gibson Vaughn

listened on Audible (KindleUnlAudio)

narrated by James Patrick Cronin

Unabridged audio (12:19)
2016
384 pgs.
Adult mystery
Finished 6/6/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 9074 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary rural WV

First line/s: "The lights thudded to life in cavernous sweeps of fluorescence.) 

My comments: Well created characters and a plot that is almost always able to follow, though complicated.  Definitely ended on a cliffhanger, will any of the characters other than Gibson Vaughan return for book number three?

Goodreads synopsis:  Gibson Vaughn, hero of the bestselling novel The Short Drop, returns in a smoldering thriller.

            When jailed billionaire Charles Merrick hints publicly that he has stashed a fortune in an offshore cache, a school of sharks converges upon his release from federal prison.

            Among his swindled victims is Judge Hammond Birk, the man who saved Gibson Vaughn’s life when he was a troubled teenager. Now Gibson intends to repay that debt by recovering Merrick’s victims’ money.

            But Gibson isn’t the only one on the trail of the hidden fortune.

            The promise of billions has drawn a horde of ruthless treasure hunters, including an edgy ex-con, a female bartender with a mysterious history, a Chinese spy with a passion for fly-fishing, and a veritable army of hardened mercenaries. To stay ahead of the sharks and win justice for his mentor, Gibson will need all his formidable skills. But at the end of the road, he’ll still have to face “Poisonfeather”—a geopolitical secret that just might get Gibson killed…or worse.

11. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Brynn Greenwood

listened on Audible

narrated by Jorjeana Marie

Unabridged audio (11:08)
2016
364 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 2/7/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.04 - 105,166 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary midwest

First line/s: "Amy: March 1975.  My mother always started the story by saying, 'Well, she was born in the back seat of a stranger's car,' as though that explained why Wavy wasn't normal."

My comments: Wow.  Just Wow.  Once I started the story I couldn't stop.  Difficult subject matter, but beautifully written.  So many reviewers have said it far better than I ever could, and I will copy some of their worda below.  So much to think about, so much to discuss.  This was a truly magnificent piece of storytelling that will stay with me for a long time to come.

     "What to say about a book like this? That's it's beautifully written? That you find yourself caring immensely about the two main characters? Or that it's a dangerous and disturbing plot line that deals with an inappropriate love? But if Wavy and Kellen don't care for each other, who will? Because these two have both had miserable lives without the benefit of anyone to take care of them, let alone love them. This book just rocked me. It had me questioning my assumptions about right and wrong".-Liz Wright

     "This book destroyed me. I have never read anything like it. If you know the basic premise - that this is a so-called "love story" between an adult man and a female child - you might be thinking Lolita! But nah, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is a completely different beast.
          Ugly and wonderful really are great descriptors for this story. The best thing about it is the completely unsentimental storytelling that, with its constant switching between perspectives, as well as alternating first and third person, beautifully presents a dark tale of childhood, family and abuse.
          It's so... not manipulative. The author narrates a series of events, using gorgeous writing, but it's a fantastic example of how showing works so much better than telling. We are never told how to feel. We are allowed to be disgusted, sad and angry on our own terms, and we are allowed to draw our own conclusions about the relationship this book portrays.
          I came to the end of the novel with my mind reeling, my emotions scattered, and completely unsure exactly what I did feel about it... but one thing is certain: I felt. Oh hell, I felt." - Emily May

Goodreads synopsis:  As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible "adult" around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking love story between two unlikely people that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer.

9. That Darkness by Lisa Black

#1 Gardiner & Renner

listened on Audible - also have on Kindle
narrated by Kirsten Potter
Unabridged audio (9:03)
2016
308 pgs.

Contemporary Adult Mystery
Finished 2/4/2021
Goodreads rating: 3.49 - 1699 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Cleveland, Ohio 

First line/s: "The room wasn't much, just a steel table and chairs, old paint on the walls with the occasional rust stain, two windows frosted by contact paper and a battered desk in the corner, well out of splattering range."

My comments: The story worked just fine for me, flipping back-and-forth between two protagonists to get each point of view pretty clearly.  One is a cop who is a serial killer, only killing the ultra-bad guy who gets away with his/her crime and the other a forensic pathologist who's expert at fingerprint and little piees of lint, lol!  It's how they come together at the end, to an uneasy truce of sorts.  There are more coming in the series, I wonder where the author will go?

Goodreads synopsis:  As a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department, Maggie Gardiner has seen her share of Jane Does. The latest is an unidentified female in her early teens, discovered in a local cemetery. More shocking than the girl’s injuries—for Maggie at least—is the fact that no one has reported her missing. She and the detectives assigned to the case (including her cop ex-husband) are determined to follow every lead, run down every scrap of evidence. But the monster they seek is watching each move, closer to them than they could ever imagine.

          Jack Renner is a killer. He doesn’t murder because he savors it, or because he believes himself omnipotent, or for any reason other than to make the world a safer place. When he follows the trail of this Jane Doe to a locked room in a small apartment where eighteen teenaged girls are anything but safe, he knows something must be done. But his pursuit of their captor takes an unexpected turn.
          Maggie Gardiner finds another body waiting for her in the autopsy room—and a host of questions that will challenge everything she believes about justice, morality, and the true nature of evil...

100. The Fix-Up by Kendall Ryan

Listened via Audible Escape
narrated by
Unabridged audio (
2016
345 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 6/27/20
Goodreads rating:
My rating: 2
Setting:

First line/s:

What I posted on Goodreads: nothing 

My comments: Such a ridiculous story, the feelings and emotions of the protagonists in no way reconciled with their actions.  It was just plain stupid all around.  The ridiculous plan that Cameron hatched to find a wife for Sterling, and even more so the two of them not realizing where their feelings for each other would lead was totally implausible.  The entire book was implausible.  A lot of delicious meals and steamy foreplay happened, though....

Goodreads synopsis:  From New York Times bestseller, Kendall Ryan, comes a sexy new standalone novel.
          My tempting and very alpha friend Sterling Quinn is someone I consider off-limits.
         It's not just that we're friends, he's also cocky, confident, and British, which means he's a walking aphrodisiac.
          But lately he's been giving me the look. You know the one. When he thinks I'm not paying attention, and his gaze lingers for too long.
          When we start working together, that's when the sexual tension between us gets so thick, I want to hack through it with a machete. I want to make all these deep feelings I've harbored for him disappear, because there's no way this can end well.
          The lines between business and pleasure become irrevocably blurred, and I'm stuck between a rock, and Sterling's very, very hard place.
          Rather than keep a level head about our growing attraction, Sterling wants to go all in, showing me just how explosive we can be together.
          But I've been around long enough to know that this British bad boy is more than my heart can handle. I'm not about to be cast aside like yesterday's underwear when he's done having fun.
          Sterling’s never been told no, and he's not about to put his ego aside and play by my rules. But I never thought he'd fight so dirty.
          *This is a spin-off from the HITCHED series, but can be read as a standalone.

73. Alien Fae Mate by Misty Kayn/Milana Jacks

listened on Audible Escape
narrated by Hollie Jackson
Unabridged audio (2:12) Novella
2016 Inked Refuge
80 pgs.
Adult SciFi Alien Romance
Finished 5-3-20
Goodreads rating: 3.34- 95 ratings
My rating: 2

My comments:  I wish I could find (free) short stories that have to do with science fiction/fantasy/aliens that aren't full of sex/smut.  They probably exist, but I can't find any in the free world of Audible Escape.  I've looked.  This story was full of sketchy outlining, the beginnings of creating a race that has invaded earth, but skims over what could really be interesting and super creative because either the author thinks that readers want lots of smut and steaminess or that's all they know how to write  What I want is out there, I'm sure, but apparently it's not free, lol...Steam is 3 out of 4, but I totally skimmed over these parts.  They're all the same in every book!

Goodreads synopsis:  He won’t risk losing her. She’ll risk everything to have him.
          Rain maintains the science projects that allow the Fae to walk on the iron-cored earth, but she can’t figure out what her Fae boss wants. She’s tried blonde, brunette, C-cup and D, slutty heels and flats. Nothing works. But with the Fae mating season coming up, she’s pulling out all the stops.
          Titan has explored the galaxy—and found the one woman he can never have. Rain is perfection, but he won’t risk losing her in a mating ritual that could kill her. Except her stepped-up steaminess is making his palms sweat, and his grip on his control is slipping...
          ***mating trope topped with HEA. A Standalone Erotic Romance Novella.

63. A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

#1 Veronica Speedwell
listened via Audible
narrated by Angele Masters
Unabridged audio (10:51)
2016 Berkley Books
339 pgs.
Adult Historical Fiction Mystery
Finished 4/13/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.97 - 20,224 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting:  1887 England

First line/s:  "I stared down into the open grave and wished I could have summoned a tear."

My comments:  When I first began reading this book, I thought our protagonist, Veronica Stillwell, was going to be a prudish snob.  Oh my goodness, was I mistaken.  It is around 1890, and she is a strong, opinionated, extremely smart feminist.  And once she teams up with Stoker, following them from one far-fetched adventure to the next is an absolute  blast.  These include pretending they are married so that they can join a traveling circus where he can throw knives at her, trying to solve the murder of his very dear friend, sharing their interests in the  natural world, and eluding the bad guys who even throw them into the Thames River.  The entire story was totally satisfying, incredibly funny,and completely endearing.  It was read beautifully by Angele Masters...and there are four more to go, yippee!

Goodreads synopsis:  London, 1887.
          After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.
          But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth

56. Indentured Bride by Yamila Abraham

read on my iPhone: free AudibleEscape
narrated by Desiree Dunn
Unabridged audio (1:32)
2016
54 pgs.
Steamy SciFi/Alien Romance
Finished 3/21/2020
Goodreads rating: .3.41 - 199 ratings
My rating: 2

First line/s:  Tabitha cut the ridge of a saccus nut with her laser and then waited for her vision to stop blurring.  She separated the shell as carefully as she could with her trembling fingers.  Then she tried to nudge free the malleable core.  This is when things started going dark.  She closed her eyes and rocked gently in her seat.  If she tired to keep working she'd rupture the core.  She had to wait until the room stopped spinning.

My comments:  My favorites to choose of these free AudioEscape books are the books about aliens, I'm not sure why...and they're all pretty darn BAD.  I keep choosing to read them though.  This one was really just a short story, or perhaps a novella?  An hour and a half long, with the first hour introducing the characters, the setting, what's happened to earth, and a little about its alien invaders.  The protagonist is a slave who works 18 hours a day and also used as a medical guinea pig who has now been given the chance to become a concubine.  The last 20 to 25 minutes of the story is the steamy part, and the story would've been halfway decent without this in-depth explanation.  What really cracks me up is how many of these other galaxy aliens are physically constructed in the same ways as humans.  Maybe that's part of the reason I like Ice Planet Barbarians so much, there are at least a few outward dissimilarities that make it a little more believable.  I read this because it was short and alien-related.

Goodreads synopsis:  Cruel alien masters have oppressed Tabitha for the last ten years. An Alliance observer discovers that she’s been experimented on and pulls her from the slave colony. She’s going to be granted the privilege of becoming an indentured bride.
          Tabitha doesn’t see her new assignment as a privilege. Her duties seem pretty clear cut, and she knows what Hax-Rah aliens are like. The last thing she wants is to be stranded on a moon with one.
          Hex-Lord Jaxil took an isolated mission for a reason, and he never asked for a bride.
          A riveting and scintillating sci-fi romance novella by the author of Bride of the Keil Warriors!

52. 1001 Dark Nights: Hidden Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan

Listened to audio through Audible Escape
narrated by Gregory Salinas, okay but not great
Unabridged audio (2:57)
2016 Evil Eye Concepts
124 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance
Finished 3/16/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.25 - 1519 ratings
My rating: Crappy!  1

My comments: I wasn't even going to review this because I hated it so much, but I want to remind myself to never read this author again.  It's sort of like a blah blah blah blah blah blah, the same sort of stupid stuff over and over and over again.  The premise is great - a woman, recovering from breast cancer and double mastectomies and a man scarred badly from an explosion in the Middle East where everyone died except for him and he carries more internal scars than external scars.  However, it's handled in such an unbelievable manner that it made me cringe.  Maybe it's just the mood I'm in, in the middle of this pandemic, but my eyes are rolling, rolling, rolling.....

Goodreads synopsis:  The Montgomery Ink series continues with the long-awaited romance between the café owner next door and the tattoo artist who's loved her from afar.
          Hailey Monroe knows the world isn't always fair, but she's picked herself up from the ashes once before and if she needs to, she'll do it again. It's been years since she first spotted the tattoo artist with a scowl that made her heart skip a beat, but now she's finally gained the courage to approach him. Only it won't be about what their future could bring, but how to finish healing the scars from her past.
          Sloane Gordon lived through the worst kinds of hell yet the temptation next door sends him to another level. He's kept his distance because he knows what kind of man he is versus what kind of man Hailey needs. When she comes to him with a proposition that sends his mind whirling and his soul shattering, he'll do everything in his power to protect the woman he cares for and the secrets he's been forced to keep.

51. The Substitution Order by Martin Clark

listened to audio - Chirp
narrated by David Aaron Baker
Unabridged audio (13:22)
2016 Knopf Publishing
352 pgs.
Adult mystery/legal thriller
Finished 3/11/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.92 - 1051 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting:   contemporary suburban Virginia

First line/s:  "For years I was an excellent lawyer, as honest and effective as you would ever want, and I'm a decent enough person, and despite my mistakes, which -- I concede -- were hellacious, I deserve better than this misery."

My comments:  Talk about clever!  This mesmerizing story was so well crafted that I couldn't put it down.  A remarkably likable protagonist weaves his way through nail-biting trauma to come out just fine on the other side.  I don't usually like legal thrillers as much as I like police procedurals, but as long as I could recall the cast of characters I was totally entrenched in the story.  It was really good.  And I was really sad when it ended.  Id love to know what becomes of Kevin Moore now.

Goodreads synopsis:  From Martin Clark--praised by Entertainment Weekly as "our best legal-thriller writer"--comes a wickedly clever, tenderhearted, and intricately plotted novel about a hard-luck lawyer's refusal to concede defeat, even as fate, the court system, and a gang of untouchable con artists conspire against him.
          Kevin Moore, once a high-flying Virginia attorney, hits rock bottom after an inexplicably tumultuous summer leaves him disbarred and separated from his wife. Short on cash and looking for work, he lands in the middle of nowhere with a job at SUBstitution, the world's saddest sandwich shop. His closest confidants: a rambunctious rescue puppy and the twenty-year-old computer whiz manning the restaurant counter beside him. He's determined to set his life right again, but the troubles keep coming. And when a bizarre, mysterious stranger wanders into the shop armed with a threatening "invitation" to join a multimillion-dollar scam, Kevin will need every bit of his legal savvy just to stay out of prison.
          A remarkable tour of the law's tricks and hidden trapdoors, The Substitution Order is both wise and ingenious, a wildly entertaining novel that will keep you guessing--and rooting for its tenacious hero--until the very last page.

44. Assigned a Mate by Grace Goodwin

#1 Interstellar Brides
listened to Audio/ Audio Escape
narrated by B.J. Pottsworth and Audrey Conway
Unabridged audio (4:43)
2016 Stormy Night Publications
156 pgs.
Adult SciFi Steamy Romance
Finished 3/4/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.79 - 1979 ratings
My rating: I forgot to write this down.... 2.5?

First line/s:  "My mind was fuzzy, as if I was just waking up or had too much alcohol in my system."

My comments:  I found it interesting that other than being a little bit taller and larger, all the aliens on Trion are exactly the same as Earth humans.  Hmmmmmm.  Steam factor four our of four and that pretty much says it all.  Shame on me, I listened to the whole thing.

Goodreads synopsis:  When a potential threat against her life forces Eva Daily to seek shelter on another world, she has only one option available to her. She must offer herself to the Interstellar Bride Program. After a deeply humiliating assessment of her suitability, Eva will be assigned a mate and transported to his world to become his bride.
          Upon arriving on the desert planet Trion, Eva soon learns that things are quite different than she is used to on Earth. Her assigned mate, the powerful, handsome High Councilor Tark, makes it clear that she will be expected to submit to him completely, and she quickly discovers that disobedience will earn her a painful, embarrassing spanking on her bare bottom.
          An intimate examination from her new mate leaves Eva blushing crimson, but to her surprise Tark’s mastery of her body arouses her beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Soon enough she finds herself naked, bound, and unable to resist the urge to beg for more as his skillful lovemaking brings her to one shattering climax after another.
         It doesn’t take long, however, for Eva to realize that there is much more to Tark than just a dominant brute who will not hesitate to take his misbehaving wife over his knee and redden her bare bottom thoroughly. But just as her passion for him begins to blossom into love, events back on Earth threaten to tear her away from him forever. Can Eva find a way to remain at Tark’s side and in his bed, or will she be left with nothing but memories of the man who has claimed both her body and her heart?
          Publisher’s Note: Assigned a Mate is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, sexual scenes, medical play, anal play, elements of BDSM, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.   

          (How embarrassing....I can't believe I'm actually posting this on my blog!

38. Collision by Victor Dixen

#3 Phobos
read the book - translated into English from the original French
originally published in 2016 in France
published in English in 2019 by Hot Key Books
725 pgs.
YA SciFi
Finished  2/28/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.02 - 1112 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:  Mars, in the future

First line/s:  "I'm alone, even if the people who've lived with me through the most important moments of my life are all around me:  them, the Genesis pioneers - the space heroes - the condemned of Mars."

My comments:  Wow, what a trip.  Ups and downs and all sorts of craziness, bt I couldn't wait to get back to the story every time I had to leave it.  The first volume was the best, the most fun, but the intricacy of this last volume, number three, was also really interesting.  Victor Dixen has quite an imagination.  I don't   think it would hurt to look into some of his other writing, if I can find any.  The series was written in French and I'm so tickled that it was translated into English, even though it was difficult to get hold of copies and hasn't been published in Kindle or audio as far as I can tell.

Goodreads synopsis:  The third book in a heartstopping, high-octane new space series.
          The Genesis Programme reality TV show has brought twelve young astronauts to Mars, to face unprecedented hostility. An even greater danger is now threatening Earth, but the viewers are too glued to their screens and the rescue mission to see what is really happening. 
          Leonor is ready to risk everything to bring out the truth and warn the world. She can never admit defeat - but can she fight her last fight alone?

9. Angels Burning by Tawni O'Dell

Listened to Audio Book on Chirp
narrated  by Susan Bennett
Unabridged audio (10:25)
2016 Gallery Books
288 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery/Police Procedural
Finished 1/14/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.94 - 1536 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: contemporary rural west-central PA

First line/s:  "The last time I was this close to Rudy Mayfield he was leaning across the seat of his dad's truck trying to grope my recently ripened breasts."

My comments: This is the story of two families in a west-central Pennsylvania town.  One we get to know because she's the chief of police. 50 year old Dove Carnahan  is investigating the murder of a 17-year-old girl, Cameo Truly.  These are the two families, and although they intertwine, the two stories run parallel to each other and are both very fascinating and full of mystery.  I love that the protagonist is 50 years old, still appealing, very very smart, and witty to boot.  I totally enjoyed the story, which was well read in a voice that might've been just a little too young for the protagonist...but totally worked for me.

Goodreads synopsis:  “Compelling, fast-paced.” —Library Journal, starred review
          “Stellar.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
          “A page-turner.” —Kirkus Reviews
          From the New York Times bestselling author of the Oprah Book Club pick Back Roads comes this fast-paced literary thriller about a small town police chief who’s forced to dig into her own shadowy past as she investigates the murder of a teenage girl.
          On the surface, Chief Dove Carnahan is a true trailblazer who would do anything to protect the rural Pennsylvanian countryside where she has lived all fifty of her years. Traditional and proud of her blue-collar sensibilities, Dove is loved by her community. But beneath her badge lies a dark and self-destructive streak, fed by a secret she has kept since she was sixteen.
          When a girl is beaten to death, her body tossed down a fiery sinkhole in an abandoned coal town, Dove is faced with solving the worst crime of her law enforcement career. She identifies the girl as a daughter of the Truly family, a notoriously irascible dynasty of rednecks and petty criminals.
          During her investigation, the man convicted of killing Dove’s mother years earlier is released from prison. Still proclaiming his innocence, he approaches Dove with a startling accusation and a chilling threat that forces her to face the parallels between her own family’s trauma and that of the Trulys.
          With countless accolades to her credit, author Tawni O’Dell writes with the “fearless insights” (The New York Times Book Review) she brought to the page in Back Roads and One of Us. In this new, masterfully told psychological thriller, the past and present collide to reveal the extent some will go to escape their fate, and in turn, the crimes committed to push them back to where they began. 

7. Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

Listened to Audio Book//Chirp
narrated  by Karissa Vacker and Jesse Bernstein (whose voice didn't quite match the character, methinks)
Unabridged audio (10:10)
2016 Delacorte Press
373 pgs.
YA Contemporary Magical Realistic Fiction
Finished 1/12/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.75 - 2728 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: Contemporary America

First line/s:  "There's something awful about the sun."

My comments:The story captivated me right from the beginning, a brand of magical realism that had only just a touch of the magical, but unfortunately there was one drawback.  Of the two protagonists, I could not understand one of them at all.  I tried, but every time I thought I'd figured her out, I was wrong.  Perhaps I've never know anyone like her.  I "got" Marshall, and I'm glad that (of course) they got together in the end (don't they always?), but I'm not sure she deserved him!  Perhaps it was just a little too deep for me?  Or perhaps I was trying too hard to figure her out?

Goodreads synopsis:  For fans of Lauren Oliver and E. Lockhart, here is a dreamy love story set in the dark halls of contemporary high school, from New York Times bestselling author Brenna Yovanoff.
           Waverly Camdenmar spends her nights running until she can’t even think. Then the sun comes up, life goes on, and Waverly goes back to her perfectly hateful best friend, her perfectly dull classes, and the tiny, nagging suspicion that there’s more to life than student council and GPAs.
          Marshall Holt is a loser. He drinks on school nights and gets stoned in the park. He is at risk of not graduating, he does not care, he is no one. He is not even close to being in Waverly’s world.
          But then one night Waverly falls asleep and dreams herself into Marshall’s bedroom—and when the sun comes up, nothing in her life can ever be the same. In Waverly’s dreams, the rules have changed. But in her days, she’ll have to decide if it’s worth losing everything for a boy who barely exists.

5. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

Listened to eAudio/Chirp
narrated  by Lucy Price-Lewis
Unabridged audio (9:13)
2016, William Morrow/Harper Collins
384 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 1/10/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.85 - 41,335 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:   Birmingham, England, and rural Scotland

First line/s:  "The problem with good things that happen is that very often they disguise themselves as awful things."

My comments:  Set first in Birmingham, England, then moving shortly to the Scottish Highlands (and read beautifully with both British and Scottish accents) Nina purchases a HUGE van that she turns into a bookshop on wheels.  She's never driven anything like this, never mind a stick shift, but she has otherworldly luck in purchasing books everyone want for next to nothing, creating s huge  clientele, and actually making her new business a success.  Throw in a weird relationship with a midnight train, a Latvian immigrant, a gruff sheep farmer, and a cast of well-meaning characters and you have one entertaining - though somewhat unbelievable - story.  A simple, clean love story for book lovers.

Goodreads synopsis:  Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.
          Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.
          From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

129. The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

read on my iPhone/Kindle
2016
352 pgs.
YA CRF Romance
Finished 12/20/2019
Goodreads rating:  3.71 -2125 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  contemporary summer at UNH

First line/s:  "It starts when Jed makes the final turn off I-405."

My comments:  Very interesting concept, full immersion for eight weeks during the summer before her senior year the in the French language at a university in New Hampshire.  The story follows typical YA romance structure/format - girl meets boy, girl doesn't like boy, girl starts to like boy...very much....then there's a misunderstanding, girl and boy part, girl and boy make up.  It was very entertaining and I like the twists and turns.  I adore the protagonist and I think most YA girls who love romance would greatly enjoy this story.

Goodreads synopsis:  Seventeen-year old Abby has only one goal for her summer: to make sure she is fluent in French—well, that, and to get as far away from baseball and her Cubs-obsessed family as possible. A summer of culture and language, with no sports in sight.
          That turns out to be impossible, though,  because her French partner is the exact kind of boy she was hoping to avoid. Eight weeks. 120 hours of class. 80 hours of conversation practice with someone who seems to exclusively wear baseball caps and jerseys.
          But Zeke in French is a different person than Zeke in English. And Abby can’t help but fall for him, hard. As Abby begins to suspect that Zeke is hiding something, she has to decide if bridging the gap between the distance between who she is and who he is, is worth the risk.

113. The Contract by Melanie Moreland

Listened to Audio
narrated  by John Lane & Tatiana Sokolov
Unabridged audio (8:43)
2016 Enchanted Publications
298 pgs.
Adult "Romance
Finished 11/15/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.02 - 19,353 ratings
My rating: 4

First line/s:  "I bent over the table, the din of the busy restaurant fading into the background as I struggled to contain my anger."

My comments:  Again, one heck of a lot of people have read - and enjoyed - this book!  What an adorable romance.  Shoot me, I like it!  Lots of build up, a little too much sap, the requisite amount of steaminess - not over-the-top, but enough - and plenty of opportunity for eye-rolling.  Don't think I could take too many of this type of book in a row, but once in awhile, sure.  I cannot believe how my taste and genre has tilted in the recent weeks.....

Goodreads synopsis:  A tyrant by day, a playboy by night. That is the reputation that precedes Richard VanRyan. He lives life the way he wants, no concern for the opinion of others. He cares for no one, is completely unrepentant, and he has no desire to change his ways.
           Katharine Elliott works under Richard as his PA. She despises him and his questionable ethics, but endures all the garbage he sends her way, because she needs the job. Her end goal is far more important than the daily abuse and demands she tolerates from her nasty tyrant of a boss.
          Until the day, he asks her for something she never expected. A new role with a personal contract — fiancée instead of PA.
          What happens when two people who loathe each other, have to live together and act as though they are madly in love?
          Sparks.
          That’s what happens.
          Can the power of love really change a person?
          Will they survive the contract?
          What do you do when the one person you hate the most becomes the one person you can’t live without? 

112. Mister O by Lauren Blakely

listened to Audio
narrated  by Sebastian York
Unabridged audio (7:55)
2016
308 pgs.
Adult "Romance"
Finished 11/12/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 17,249
My rating: 3.5
Setting: contemporary NYC

First line/s:  "Ask me my three favorite things and the answers are so easy they roll off my tongue:  hitting a homerun for my softball league, drawing a killer cartoon panel, and, oh yeah, - making a woman......."

My comments:  Boy, one heck of a lot of people have read this book and really enjoyed it - look at those Goodreads ratings! And talk about a steamy Goodreads synopsis, it's almost embarrassing to post here!   70% steamy sex - or thinking about it in detail - and 30% decent story, this was certainly entertaining.  I could've done with more story because it was a pretty decent one.  A 29-year-old cartoonist who has made it big on the small screen has a huge crush on his best friend's sister, who is a magician.  Set in New York City with great, interesting characters and an awesome narrator, I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Goodreads synopsis:  Just call me Mister O. Because YOUR pleasure is my super power.
          Making a woman feel ‘oh-god-that’s-good’ is the name of the game, and if a man can’t get the job done, he should get the hell out of the bedroom. I’m talking toe-curling, mind-blowing, sheet-grabbing ecstasy. Like I provide every time.
          I suppose that makes me a superhero of pleasure, and my mission is to always deliver.
          But then I'm thrown for a loop when a certain woman asks me to teach her everything about how to win a man. The only problem? She's my best friend's sister, but she's far too tempting to resist--especially when I learn that sweet, sexy Harper, has a dirty mind too and wants to put it to good use. What could possibly go wrong as I give the woman I've secretly wanted some no-strings-attached lessons in seduction?
          No one will know, even if we send a few dirty sexts. Okay, a few hundred. Or if the zipper on her dress gets stuck. Not on that! Or if she gives me those f*&k-me-eyes on the train in front of her whole family.
          The trouble is the more nights I spend with her in bed, the more days I want to spend with her out of bed. And for the first time ever, I'm not only thinking about how to make a woman cry out in pleasure --I'm thinking about how to keep her in my arms for a long time to come.
          Looks like the real Adventures of Mister Orgasm have only just begun.... 

Poetry Picture Book - When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons by Julie Fogliano

Illustrated by Julie Morstad

2016, Roaring Brook Press

HC $18.99

56 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.27 - 1341 ratings

My rating:  5
Endpapers: solid red

My comments:  47 exquisite poems, truly exquisite.  No matter how short, each one really packs a punch!  Thoughtful, creative, and incredibly insightful, they are perfect for a bit of reflection, a small smile, and a whimsical look at life through the seasons.  There's no punctuation or capitalizationg, so it's easy to make beautiful pictures in your mind!  My only drawback is that each one is titled with a date, and for me it limits their usage a bit....if I want to use the "september 10" poem in April, it might be a bit disconcerting for the listener's imagination....

Goodreads:
 december 29

and i woke to a morning
that was quiet and white
the first snow
(just like magic) came on tip toes
overnight 
          Flowers blooming in sheets of snow make way for happy frogs dancing in the rain. Summer swims move over for autumn sweaters until the snow comes back again. In Julie Fogliano's skilled hand and illustrated by Julie Morstad's charming pictures, the seasons come to life in this gorgeous and comprehensive book of poetry.

march 20

from a snow-covered tree

one bird singing

each tweet poking

a tiny  hole

through the edge of winter

and landing carefully

balancing gently

on the tip of spring

april 3

today

the sky was too busy sulking

to rain

and the sun was exhausted from trying

and everyone

it seemed

had decided

to wear their sadness

on the outside

and even the birds

and all their singing

sounded brokenhearted

inside of all that gray

august 3

if you want to be sure

that your are nothing more than small

stand at the edge of the ocean

looking out

september 10

a star is someone else’s sun

more flicker glow than blinding

a speck of light too far for bright

and too small to make a morning

october 15

because they know

they cannot stay

they fade and fall

then blow away

because they know

they cannot stay

they leave 

and leave

and leave

february 3

with snowy arms sagging

the spruce seemed to know

that beautiful outweighs the snow

                     

25. Widowmaker by Paul Doilron

#7 Mike Bowditch, Maine Game Warden
listened on Audible - from TPPL
read by Henry Leyva
Unabridged (10:00)
2016, Minotaur Books
306 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished March 5, 2019
Goodreads rating:  4.03 - 1668 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting:  Contemporary Maine Woods

First line/s:  "On my first day as a cadet at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, the instructors showed my class the most disturbing video I had ever seen."

My comments:  Mike Bowditch, much like Harry Potter did through each of the continuous novels about him, grows up and learns and becomes more and more of a thinker, better and better at his job and his impetuousness, as the years pass. He's really grown on me, and these stories - both the complex plotting and the much-loved setting in the woods of Maine, make these mysteries one of the very best series I've ever read.,

Goodreads synopsis:  In Paul Doiron's Widowmaker, When a mysterious woman in distress appears outside his home, Mike Bowditch has no clue she is about to blow his world apart. Amber Langstrom is beautiful, damaged, and hiding a secret with a link to his past.. She claims her son Adam is a wrongfully convicted sex offender who has vanished from a brutal work camp in the high timber around the Widowmaker Ski Resort. She also claims that Adam Langstrom is the illegitimate son of Jack Bowditch, Mike’s dead and diabolical father. He is the half-brother Mike never knew he had.
          After trying so hard to put his troubled past behind him, Mike is reluctant to revisit the wild country of his childhood and again confront his father’s history of violence. But Amber’s desperation and his own need to know the truth make it hard for him to refuse her pleas for help.
          In search of answers, Bowditch travels through a mountainous wilderness to a place hidden from the rest of the world, where the military guards a top-secret interrogation base, sexual predators live together in a backwoods colony, and self-styled vigilantes are willing to murder anyone they consider their enemies.
          Mike Bowditch must exorcise the demons of the past before the real-life demons of the present kill him first. 

11. Fiance for Hire by Nina Strych

read on my iPhone (Kindle Unlimited)
2016 self published?
183 pgs.
Adult romance
Finished 1/25/2019
Goodreads rating: 3.79 - only 42 ratings so far
My rating: 2.5 (Sizzle factor 3/4)
Setting: Contemporary Washington, DC

First line/s: "Gianna's phone buzzed with the ring-tone that belonged only to her mother."

My comments:  Ha ha - I love that the end of the Goodreads summary it says that these Escort books are "a series of stand-alone contemporary romances, each featuring a new woman and her escort as they take their unique path toward love."  Crack me up!  Unique path towards love!  You've read one, you've read them all...but I keep on reading them, lol, for light, humorous pleasure! (It WAS free, after all...)

Goodreads synopsis:  Gianna’s family has almost driven her to insanity. On her thirtieth birthday, things went too far when her mother wore black and cried over Gianna’s single state. Her career in bustling Washington, D.C. is all she wants to focus on for the moment, so she develops a plan that should stop all the pressure for good. If they want her to marry, she’ll get that fiancé they crave for her...and won’t they be sorry she did.
           As a fake fiancé, Logan is ideal. Handsome, bright, funny, and up for the game. The only problem? He’s too handsome, bright, funny, and a match for every game Gianna can devise. As he quickly escalates from escort to co-conspirator, Gianna finds herself far too eager for every appointment. Whether at dinner with the parents or swimming in the sea, every glance or touch sends her body into overdrive. As the game intensifies, so does the electricity between them…and Logan might be just the live wire she’s been waiting her whole life to touch.