Reading Fanatic Reviews
Books to Add to Your TBR list... or Not!Hey, ya’ll! I’m VERY behind getting my reviews up on the website! I’ve increased the reading and reviewing, leaving less of my leisure time available to update this website. I’ll do weekly posts with links to my reviews at Amazon; you can also check out my Amazon and Goodreads profiles.
By the way, I’m now a top 50 Amazon.com reviewer (#12 currently) and the top 8 US reviewer of all time on Goodreads (and top 9 in the world)… and the #6 US reviewer and #8 in the world in the past year. Cool stuff!
I hope to make updates to this site soon!
Gilded Dreams by Megan Steer
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Thalia, and Bol.de
Gilded Dreams*
Odd, Unsatisfying Book
This is an odd book that I’m not quite sure what to make of. I don’t read many historical romance novels set in the United States or during the Gilded Age, so this book intrigued me. Now having finished it, I can say I just found it odd. I didn’t quite buy the setup, that this relatively inexperienced young woman would seek out her friend for training on how to become a courtesan because she no longer wanted to be dependent on the largesse of her brother (who had attempted to sell her off in marriage to a despicable man). Why would such a young woman want to go from depending on one man to depending on several? She is definitely naive to many of the ways of the word, though not innocent. Her friend, Gabrielle, nearly turns the request down but agrees to educate her on the ways of becoming a high-class call girl. After this decision, the book just seems to wander somewhat aimlessly for the bulk of it, without much point. Yes, the young woman meets a friend of Gabrielle’s, Declan, and they hit it off, enjoying each other’s company even though he has somewhat of a reputation himself. That relationship between the heroine and Declan had strange fits and starts, and I never quite bought that they developed an affection for each other. Just a strange book that in the end was quite unsatisfying.
Black Widow by Lucy Leroux
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Black Widow*
Good at First, Then Goes Off the Rails
I am not quite sure what to write for this review. I was surprised by this book, but not in a good way. When I read the book description, I just read the summary, not the quotes from other reviewers within the blurb; I never read those or other reviews before I read a book. From the couple paragraph description, I was expecting a somewhat standard historical romance. And the first part of the book and delivered on that, along with a little romantic suspense—which I also enjoy. The heroine has a variety of secrets that neither we nor the hero is privy to for a while. We learn from the first chapter that the heroine is not a murderer, as first suspected by the hero. I actually enjoyed watching their initial dance, shall we say, as they became reacquainted with each other and he tried to figure out if she had anything to do with her husband’s death.
But then it got weird. And, frankly, I didn’t see it coming. I read a variety of books, so I don’t have anything necessarily against weird so long as I am prepared for it. I certainly did not expect the book to go the way it did in the last roughly 40%. Actually, I kept thinking it would straighten back out into a standard story instead of going into a paranormal aspect that wasn’t appropriately foreshadowed and therefore felt entirely out of place. It almost felt like a deus ex machina move, which I never like in a story as it feels like a cop-out. I did enjoy watching the push-me, pull-you relationship of the hero and heroine at first, and the heroine’s naivete was surprising (in an intriguing way) in a story about a widow (and I liked watching the hero’s education of her). I do feel that there were too many intimate scenes after a certain point in the story; they did detract from the rest of the plot because, at times, it felt like the plot existed as something to happen between the intimate moments so it wouldn’t be just all that. So, I actually enjoyed the first part of the book, but the second half fell apart for me once it appeared as though the paranormal aspect was meant to be real.
Conversational French Dialogues by Lingo Mastery
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Conversational French Dialogues*
Not Sure If You’ll Learn…
This is the first time I have been introduced to this way of language learning done by Lingo Mastery. I was put off from the start by the English mastery of the writer. I found that the English in the introductory section as well as the English translation of the French conversations to be odd and somewhat stilted. Occasionally, wrong words were used. Does anyone in an English-speaking country refer to teeth cleaning as descaling or plaque as calculus? The poor English made me question how good the conversational French part would be. If there are so many issues in the English sections, would there be such issues in the French parts that I wouldn’t really have enough knowledge to know? I did take French in high school and college, but I still can’t say whether the French is correct. I would definitely be leery of trusting the French to be accurate, though, given what the English is like. I thought some choices for the conversational topics were odd. Some make complete sense, like ordering food and drinks or asking for directions. But how often would an English speaker going to France need to ask about pet grooming or pest control?
This book definitely is not for a beginner learning French. You certainly have to have a background in French to appreciate some of the nuances. I can’t imagine this being someone’s first (or even second) introduction to the French language; it would be akin to reading gibberish. And, of course, you would have no idea how to pronounce these French words unless you bought the audiobook version as well—or had previous knowledge of French. There is no pronunciation guide given. I wonder, too, if the book would have been better organized if it had each sentence in the conversation in both French and English one right below the other, so you can more quickly assimilate new words as well as associate phrases between the languages. It can be a pain to flip back and forth between Kindle pages. All in all, I found myself disappointed in this book, though I would probably refer to it if I was planning to go to a French-speaking country. Although, I would not be reading about dog grooming!
Henry and Sophie by Grant Eagar
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Henry and Sophie*
Elements Out of Place
I was not wild about this book. I’m having a hard time putting a finger on precisely why I didn’t like it. Maybe part of it is the opening scene where there was a catfight, brief though it was, that didn’t seem to fit with the story. I felt other elements seemed out of place. I was so looking forward to digging into a steampunk story, as I don’t read them that often and I usually find them quite fun. The book does have some action, though, so if you read it, you won’t be bored. And perhaps you won’t find it to be such an odd combination as I thought it was.
The Christmas House by Elizabeth Bromke
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Christmas House*
Odd Story; Didn’t Work For Me
I found this to be a very strange book that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. I usually enjoy second-chance romances and romances where the couple is middle aged, as I don’t think that people north of thirty are given enough romance plot lines. I was at first intrigued by the heroine and the constrained life that she chose to lead. But it actually became a bit tiresome. I also liked the tease of the texts from years ago showing the budding relationship between the couple before that relationship fractured. The story seemed to focus more on the heroine pulling herself together rather than on the romance. But the way the author had her do so wasn’t really compelling reading. It felt like slice-of-life stuff rather than heightened drama like we hope for in novels. Honestly, it didn’t feel like there was much of a point to the whole thing. I thought the hero abandoned the relationship initially for poor reasons; who would want to get back with someone who just leaves when the going gets tough? The story does end up where a romance is supposed to, but I didn’t quite buy the ride as I didn’t get a sense of the couple taking proper advantage of their second chance to learn more about each other and come to a deeper appreciation of their relationship. The couple didn’t really have a lot of screen time. So this story just didn’t work for me. There are lots of Christmas novels out there; if you love the genre as I do, I suggest that you find a better one.
Strian by Celeste Barclay
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Strian*
Extreme Violence and Hatred
I have read this entire book series. While I quite enjoyed the first book about Leif and Sigrid, I have had varying opinions of the ones that followed. I had trouble with this book on several levels. I just didn’t understand the extreme hatred that all of Ivar’s tribe, except for a few, seemed to have for the heroine. Gressa grew up among them and was even treated like a daughter by the jarl. Yet on her return after being enslaved by captors for ten years, they treat her terribly—as an outsider and a traitor. In fact, if you have any triggers about attempted rape, do not read this book. It just seems hard to fathom the way nearly everyone treats her. It feels like the author tried too hard to make everyone against her. I also didn’t understand the way that Gressa acted when she first arrived back, preferring to be treated like a thrall or servant instead of as her husband’s wife. It just seemed nonsensical to me.
I found this particular installment to be incredibly violent, and not just in acts of war—which may be justified—but in personal violence: man against man, woman against woman, and man against woman. It also seemed strange that Strian could murder several of his tribe without any sort of punishment, even though he was in the right to protect his wife. Another thing I found nonsensical was the stupidity of Strian and Gressa in getting caught in the middle of the book. They both knew the dangers. Why would it just happen like that? The answer is actually a simple one. It is what the author needed to happen, and therefore it was done. But that’s not the way things are supposed to be in fiction. Rather, the plot should have turned on points that were driven by the essence of the characters she created instead of plot necessity.
I also thought that the story felt fractured, like there was one story about the couple and another about the political intrigue—but that they didn’t mesh well. Obviously, I’m disappointed on several counts of this book: the violence, out-of-character, pivotal action, things that weren’t explained, and events that happened only because the plot needed them to happen (not because they grew out of character).
NOTE: After this review, the author banned me from reviewing her books on Booksprout. My review was honest and very specific even if it wasn’t unfavorable. Readers, don’t support authors who aren’t willing to accept honest reviews. Authors, don’t pump out poorly done books if you want good reviews!
Bound by Truth by Suzanne Cass
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Bound by Truth*
Thriller Romance on Small Island Off Australia
It’s rare to have a genre mashup of thriller and romance, but this book manages to pull it off. The story seemed to start out slow for a thriller, as the heroine first meets the hero when they’re taking a ferry to the island where she lives (and where he’s about to start a job as a cop) and she discovers that her home has been broken into and trashed. The hero and heroine do have chemistry, especially after he gets to know her as he takes part in the police investigation of the robbery. There’s a deep history with a stalker and some abductions. I don’t want to give too much away because part of the fun of a thriller is to follow it step by step. I thought some of the language was a little off and unnatural. There were definitely issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage, but I found this to be a minor distraction. In general, I liked the story, and I definitely felt the characters to be believable and relatable—which I love in a story.
Breathe, Empower, Achieve by Shonda Moralis
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Thalia, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Breathe Empower Achieve*
Helpful Mindfulness Breaks for Women
As a person who has an interest in self-help books, I found the concept of this one to be fascinating. Mindfulness is such a buzzword these days, and I will admit that I am a bit leery of its use everywhere. Mindfulness itself is a hard word to define fully. It definitely has to do with being present, whatever that means for you in a given moment. But there is much more to it. In this book, the author offers 5-minute tune-ups that will either help you calm down (breathing mindfulness), see and get past self-limiting beliefs (empowering mindfulness), or figure out actionable plans as you learn more about yourself (achieving mindfulness).
First she talks generally about what the book will have in it; she also does define mindfulness and why she considers it to be important. The book has been broadly divided into three sections: breathe, empower, and achieve mindful breaks (as laid out by the title). These are mostly short concepts to meditate on although some of them do require you to write or do other actions. Each of these exercises is preceded by a fairly lengthy essay describing what the exercises is meant to do for you and some of its background. I found the essays engaged my mind and made me more interested in trying the exercise. Meditation and inner awareness have been subjects that have interested me for decades, and I enjoyed this spin on it. By the way, this book is geared toward women specifically. The author states that women have some unique responsibilities and challenges that require special acknowledgement and handling. I think each of the book’s parts have value. It is so easy to get stressed and overwhelmed; the breathe section can help with that. If you have beliefs that stop you from going after what you want, the empower section is tailored to that. I recommend this book.
The Little Book of Speaking Up by Jutta Ritschel
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
The Little Book of Speaking Up*
Not Quite What I Thought, But Good Read
I’ll admit that when I first read the title and subtitle of this book, I thought that the subject matter was going to be somewhat esoteric. I thought that the book would explore finding your voice so that you can be comfortable speaking up. I saw it as a self-help book. But it is definitely much different than that. It actually does refer to your speaking voice. After reading the introduction, where the author explains that she is a breathing coach and has enjoyed singing, it becomes clear the direction that this book is going to take.
Divided into six chapters of exercises—most of these exercises not taking long at all if done singly—the book is organized simply. Surprisingly, the author first looks at the body as a whole, not concentrating on the voice just yet. I’ll admit that I had a hard time seeing the connection of this chapter to the rest of the book, but the exercises were still interesting. The next chapter focuses on breath while the next chapter is the one that specifically focuses on speaking, song, and sound in a very physical way. The exercises here are meant to get you more in touch with the sounds of words and the sounds your vocal apparatus produces. I actually found myself jumping in; I couldn’t help but do some of the exercises as I read along. After all this focus on the self—from the whole-body perspective down to the voice—the next chapter switches to listening to others and being aware of sounds. The second-to-last chapter is a way to help you be more mindful of voice and sound throughout your day. The final chapter talks about speaking and voice under pressure, when you have to speak publically, like for a work presentation or an oral examination.
This book was not what I expected, but I still found it quite fascinating. It is an unusual subject to go into in such depth. The exercises are simple, straightforward, and definitely get you in touch with your body, your breath, your voice, and the sounds created by others and the world. It certainly offers a unique perspective. I found it to be a fun, participatory read.
The Paranoid’s Pocket Guide to Mental Disorders You Can Just Feel Coming On
Available at Amazon in paperback only
The Paranoid's Pocket Guide to Mental Disorders*
Somewhat Irreverent Guide to Offbeat and Typical Mental Disorders
As the title might suggest, this book is meant to be a lighthearted guide to some typical and rare mental disorders. I know; that seems like a strange concept. The author does address this in the introduction, where he states that he knows that mental disorders are a serious subject. He has written some other somewhat humorous books on difficult topics, like diseases and deviant behavior. When you actually start to read about the various syndromes within the book, over half of each disorder is actually quite serious. The causality and the treatment sections actually seem like solidly researched information about the actual disorder. It’s only in the first parts of the section—namely the quiz, inner monologue, and diagnosis sections—that humor seems to reign. I actually found this combination of slightly silly parts and on-point parts along with sometimes rather bizarre cartoons to make for a fascinating read. I am an RN and have some experience dealing with mental disorders, so that may be why I found this to be a book I couldn’t stop flipping through.
Jamie Brydone-Jack
Reader, Editor, Writer
I’m an avid reader, for both fun and work/business. I enjoy a wide variety of books, including literary fiction, romance, thrillers, cozy mysteries, and fantasy for fiction and history, contemporary issues, philosophy, music, medicine, and cookbooks for nonfiction. I’m a freelance copyeditor who also does beta and alpha reading. I have two websites that are all about romance and mystery. You can also follow my reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
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