The Betrayal of the Blood Lilly by Lauren Willig

#6 Pink Carnation
Copyright: 2010 (audio)
Publisher: Penguin (audio)
Genre: Fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: Strong Heroine, Audio book
Author's Website
My rating: 2/5  

Simple Description:
Penelope is hastily married to Lord Frederick Stains once it is found out that the two were in a room together..with no one else.  It doesn't matter that nothing happened, Penelope was compromised and Freddy did the "right" thing by marrying her.  It is definitely not a match made out of love, the two don't really like each other.   The end up going to India for Freddy's job right after the wedding.  The hope is that with them out of society in London, their fast marriage will quickly be passed over for other gossip.

Penelope knows there is another spy on the loose and she knows they are after it.   She suspects almost everyone, including Captain Alex Reid.  Unfortunately, Pen also finds herself attracted to Captain Reid.  There's just something about him.

My Thoughts:
I thought this book was good, but not great.  It's actually my least favorite in the series so far. I was disappointed at first because I didn't really like the beginning. I didn't really start to enjoy the story until about half-way through the book.  Then it seemed to get interesting and I warmed up a bit to the characters.   This is book 6, I've read 7 so far, so it's bound to happen that there is one in a series I won't really like.

I will definitely be continuing with the series at this point. I've thoroughly enjoyed the other books I've read and have high hopes I'll enjoy the rest (so far there are 9 books).   I will still recommend this series to others as well.


Audio Review: 
Hmm..oddly enough on Amazon the narrator for the Audio CD is not listed, it usually is.  I believe Kate Reading might be the narrator.  Regardless...the narrator did a great job.  There was no problem telling which character was talking or was telling the story.

Audio Book Challenge - Completed!

(Now being hosted by Queen of Happy Endings)

I completed the audio book challenge in September.   I can't believe I've listened to 20 audio books this year.  That seems like a ton!  Most of the time I have a couple audio books from the library and I'm able to complete one audio book and immediately start the next one.  However every once in awhile I'll finish one and my holds won't have arrived yet and I start freaking out.  What do I do?!   Well, duh, what I used to do before I started listening to audio books, listen to cd's.  But here's what I found out, I don't want to listen to music in the car anymore.  I want to listen to an audio book. I get so much more enjoyment from audio books rather than music. Call me crazy, but it's the truth.  Hello.  My name is Kris and I'm an audio book addict.  Please, no help yet, I'm enjoying this way too much to join a 12 step program for it.  Oh wait..that's right..there is no 12 step program, us audio book junkies disbanded that because there is now way this is an addiction.  Right?  Right.  I thought so.

I've found that I enjoy some books over others in audio book format.  There are some books that are sooo good I want to own the book as well.  There are some audio books I feel are best read and not listened to.  There are some audio books I feel I would have given up on had I read them, but ended up enjoying them over-all because I listened to them.

I have found that while I prefer to listen to books that I already own in print form because it makes me feel like I'm getting through my TBR stacks faster, I also use audio books as a way to "read" some chunksters I wouldn't normally take the time to read.   On a couple of occasions, I even used it for buddy reads instead of buying books (something Husband would be happy about if I bothered to tell him...which I won't because then he would expect me to do it for all future buddy reads and never buy a book again and that's just not gonna happen).

Here's the list of audio books I read for this challenge (in chronological order of when I listened to them):
(you can also see the list and all reviews by clicking HERE)

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs
Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce
Blood Brother's by Nora Roberts
Twenties Girl by Sophia Kinsella
Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot
Fearless Fourteen by  Janet Evanovich
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Best Kept Secrets by Sandra Brown
The Hollow by Nora Roberts
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

#15 Stephanie Plum
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Mystery
Pages: Audio
Challenges: Stephanie Plum Challenge, Audio book Challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 3/5

Simple Description: 
Things are the same with Stephanie Plum and friends.  If you have read any of these books, then you have an idea of what's happening in this one.    In this one, Ranger hires Stephanie to work for him and discretely check out some employee's.  Several of the houses that are protected by his security company have been burglarized and he thinks it's an inside job, but not sure who it could be.   Stephanie and Joe are on the outs again, but of course he still makes many appearances in this book.

LuLu's life is in danger.  She witnessed a beheading and now the two guys who did the beheading are trying to kill her before she figures out who they are and tells the police.

LuLu and Grandma also try to create their own BBQ recipe.  As you can imagine, this doesn't happen easily or without incident.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
I'm going to sound like a broken record, but once again I'll mention that if I was reading these books I wouldn't have continued with the series. However I'm listening to these books and I find them a lot of fun.  They are cute, have some funny moments, and perfect for when I'm in the car and my mind tends to wonder and not always pay attention to what I'm listening to.  

Now, that being said, Stephanie had 3 cars ruined due to fire in this book.  I mean really.  3?  Evanovich, I think you are going a bit too far with this.   I also payed more attention to how Stephanie still hasn't learned how to successfully do her job and always needs a man to help her out and clean up her mess.  I mean..enough is enough.   These things are beginning to bother me again.  These are the reasons I stopped reading the series awhile ago...it was so repetitive.  Then I decided to try one on audio and loved it, and have (almost) finished the series that way.    I have #16 on it's way to me via the library, I have her newest on hold in audio.  I'm not sure I'll continue with the series after this.  Part of what has me saying I probably won't continue after I listen to #16 is that I think Evanovich isn't really trying anymore. It's the same thing story after story.  We need change!  We need Stephanie to have an over-haul!  

That being said..yes the audio is great.  I definitely recommend this series in the audio format, it's a lot more fun than actually reading the books.  Lorelei King is the narrator.  She does a fantastic job. She's the narrator of a lot of books, several authors that I like, so I'll be checking to see if my books has more of the books she has narrated.


This audio book was rented from my local library.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Copyright: 2005
Publisher: Little Brown
Genre: fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: audio, Year of the Historical
Author's Website
My rating: 3.5/5


Simple Description:
It all started with the narrator finding a book in her father's study.  It was old and had a dragon on it.  Thus begins the story of the search for Dracula's tomb.   There are three different stories that are being woven in and out of each other as this story progresses.   In present day, which is really 1972, we get the story of how the narrator lives with her father and he tells her the story of his earlier research regarding Dracula.   Then she goes on a journey  herself.

Another story is how the narrator's teacher began the search in the 1930's.  We learn about what he found, what dangers occurred, and why he stopped searching.

The third story is of the narrator's father and how he took up the search for Dracula with the woman who would later become his wife, and the narrator's mother.

The story is rich in historical detail.  We follow the individuals as they journey to different parts of Europe searching for the trial of what happened to Vlad after he was killed.  They do believe he is a vampire, it's not just a story.  

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
This was a really hard book to describe!  It's hard to go into details because this is such a detail oriented book.  There are so many places and dates and names.

I enjoyed the book, overall.  The historical figure of Vlad The Impaler interests me, so it's a wonder I waited this long to read the book.  I found it fascinating that these historians were searching for Vlad and that they truly believed he was a vampire, I mean the clues did support that after all.  So right away the subject matter held my interest.

I thought the writing was great.  There were several story lines going on at the same time but I didn't find it confusing at all.  The author did a great job of keeping them separate.  There was also just enough intrigue to keep me going.

The thing is, I'm not so sure this book is best for audio.  I found that while the story lines didn't confuse me,sometimes all the names and places did.  I think if I had seen the names of the people and places, it would have helped.  I also found my mind wondering at times.  I think this was partly the story and partly my mood at the time.  I say the story because, once again, there were so many names, dates, and places.  I think any of us would find our mind wondering at times due to that.  Unfortunately I think it caused me to miss out on things and several times I had to go back a track and listen to things again just to clarify things.

The narrators themselves did an awesome job though.  It worked very well that there were several of them, it helped keep the different characters separate.  My only issue is that sometimes in the beginning of the novel, the transition between narrators and stories wasn't as smooth as I felt it could have been.

The narrators were Joanne Whalley, Dennis Boutsikaris, Rosalyn Landor, Martin Jarvis, Robin Atkin Downes, and Jim Ward.

While I do recommend the book, I do recommend you consider whether the audio version would be a good fit for you before you rent/buy it.   Sometimes I think the detail heavy books are best read in print form, but of course that's just my take on it.

Oh..and if you noticed I am using this for the Year of the Historical challenge and feel it's not really a historical, let me clarify why I did.  Sure..the present day story takes place in 1972, even though that's 40 years ago I wouldn't consider it historical.  The other stories take place later than that but still in the 1900's.  Normally I wouldn't condisider that a historical either.  However, there is a lot of detail about what happened when Vlad was still alive.   Due to all the details regarding that, it read more like a historical for me and it felt like a historical.  I also know that some count WWII novels as historical and since the other stories take place close to this, I figured I was ok.


This audio book was rented from my local library, although I do own a copy of the book.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

#2 Outland series
Genre: Fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: audio book, year of the historical
Author's Website 
My rating: 2.8/5

Simple Description:
I don't believe I'm going to give anything away, especially when I looked at the description of the book on Amazon and this info was there.  However, if you don't want to read the following description, I understand.  Let me say this, I didn't read the description before listening to this book and I was rather confused at first and I think that set the tone for the book.

So...without further ado:

This book starts when Claire being out of the past into her present day, which is 1968 for us.  She has a daughter, Brianna.  Frank has passed away and this is the first time Claire travels back to Scotland and she brings her daughter with her.  Her daughter looks a lot like Jamie.  The first part of the book takes place in this setting, 1968.

Then we finally move on to when Claire is back in Scotland in the 18th century.   They arrive in Paris where Jamie works for a relative who is a merchant.  Lot's of stuff happens while in Paris.  It appears a rumor is going around that Claire is a bit of a witch, which actually helps her out of  a sticky situation.  She gets bored and decides to volunteer at a local hospital, where she meets some interesting individuals.  They are trying to keep Charles from going after the crown, yet have to appear that they support him.

Then we eventually move back to Scotland where it appears war is imminent and there isn't anything Jamie and Claire can do to stop it.



Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
Ok..so I didn't go into a lot of detail with my description.  There is just so much that happens and it's such a long book that it's hard to do that.   I hadn't realized that the beginning of the book wasn't going to be set in the 18th century like the last one ended and it really threw me for a loop.  I was confused for a bit and I think that really set the tone for the book.    It picked up for me once Claire went back in time telling her story.  However, it was just so looooong.  Some things seemed to drag, I spent a lot of time thinking ok..let's move on. There was a lot of me just wanting the story to end.

I'm glad I did finish it though, I ended up liking it more than I expected to or thought I would based on the beginning.  I liked it enough to plan on reading the 3rd book in the series.   I just can't rate it higher because I did think it was too long and I did want it to end. I was tempted to stop listening to it several times.  I will say that the 2nd half was much better than the first and kept my interest more.    By this point, I've invested too much time the story of Jamie and Claire to just stop. lol!  

Also, one thing that was a pet peeve, if you will, it's really annoying that Jamie keeps telling Claire that she is his.  "You are mind Claire. Mine!"   Yeah..that just rubs me the wrong way.  I know that it's the 18th century and I'm a product of the 20-21st century.  That's the only reason it doesn't bother me more than it would if I was reading a more modern book.

Audio Review
Davina Porter is the narrator for the audio version of Dragonfly in Amber.  I think she does a wonderful job.  She changes her voice for Jamie and Clair (and others).  You don't have any trouble telling when the speaker changes.   Davina is very easy to understand.  I love that she does speak with a Scottish accent as well, that really helps bring the story to life.  I can honestly say that if I had read the book instead of listening to it, I probably would have given up on it.   I highly recommend this book in audio.

Keep in mind that it is in 2 parts, a total of 33 disks.  I rented this from the library (requested it online) and somehow got lucky that I selected one of the part 1 disks to rent first.  I knew that the cover said 33 disks and part 1 and that this was disk 1-17, but evidently that didn't register with me because when I was finished with part 1 I was surprised that the story wasn't over. haha!  I then had to rent part 2 and waited a couple weeks before I could get my hands on a copy.

The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts

#3 Sign of Seven trilogy
Publisher: audio version - Brilliance Audio
Genre: fiction
Challenges: Audio Book challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 2.75/5

Simple Description: 
In this final addition to the trilogy, we focus more on Gage and Cybil, the last duo.  Of course, like the other two books these two were not a couple at the beginning but they were by the end.  

It's getting closer to the date, the date that the 6 will need to come together and fight the evil that has been terrorizing Hawkins Hallow every 7 years since the three boys were little.   We find that Gage enjoys his single life and plans to get out of town as soon as it's over.  Then we find that it might take his sacrifice in order to kill the evil thing, and he's willing to do that.

Gage and Cibil both share the ability of precognition.  They band together to try and get a glimpse of what's to come so they can better prepare for things and for the final battle.


Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
I thought the book was good, but not great.  I liked it more than I liked the 2nd one in the trilogy and I think it's because I liked the character of Gage a lot more than I did Fox (the main guy character in the 2nd book).  I'm not sure why I didn't like this trilogy more than I did, I would expect to because it has a paranormal aspect to it.  I still thought it was good and a decent read.  It just left me wanting more.  

This is the first Nora Roberts trilogy I've tried and I have read a couple of other blog reviews and it seems this isn't one of her best.  With that in mind, I'll be giving another trilogy/series a try in hopes I like it more.

This trilogy was read by Dan John Miller.  I think he did an excellent job.  He changed his voice enough for each character that you could easily tell them apart and that always makes for a better audio book in my opinion.



 This audio book was rented from my local library.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

Genre: fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: What's in a Name?3, audio book
Author's Website (it's in french though), here's a website for Sarah's Key
My rating: 3.75/5


Simple Description:
Julie Jarmond is an American living in France and married to a French man.  She is a journalist for an American magazine.  She is assigned an article on the Vél' d'Hiv' roundup that occurred in France 60 years ago.   The roundup occurred during WWII, in 1942.  French police rounded up many Jewish families in one night and the parents ended up being deported to Auschwitz while the kids went to a camp in France.   Julie soon learns that the apartment she is about to move in to, that has been in her family for 60 years, was once inhabited by one of these Jewish families.


Julie researches this family.  She finds that Sarah was an 11 year old girl who survived.  She wants to know what happened to Sarah, what is Sarah's story, is Sarah still alive?    


In between learning about Julia and what she is going through, such as a cheating husband, a pregnancy in her 40's, and learning more about herself, we also get Sarah's story.


On the night that Sarah's family was taken into custody her little brother was left in the apt, locked in a cupboard.  Sarah thought she would be going back later that night to let him out, if only she had known this wasn't the case.  We relive the terrible weeks when Sarah was separated from her family and sent to a concentration camp, and how she escaped.  We learn what happened to Sarah after she escaped and how she is tied to Julia's French family.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I thought this was a wonderful book.  I enjoy reading about books with a WWII theme and this one was different than others I've read because it deals with the roundup in France, something I have never heard of before.  I liked how the story goes back and forth between Julia and Sarah.  We get Julia's perspective of an American living in France..wondering how it is the French she asks don't usually remember learning about this.  How could they just forget something like this happened? I thought it was an interesting struggle for Julia.  Not only does she wonder how it is most French don't remember this, but she has to deal with her own family not wanting to talk about it or even being interested in it.    We get Sarah's story..during the roundup and after it.  We learn what she had to go through and you can just imagine what the kids who really went through it must have felt.   I just can't imagine.

There were some parts where I wished we didn't get so much info about Julia and what she was going through, but I also know that Julia is important to the story and part of this story is seeing how learning about Sarah changes Julia.

I think this is going to be one of those books that I think about for several days after finishing it.  I did look up the Vel' d'Hive roundup online and found this website that has more info.

I did listen to the audio version of this book.  Polly Stone is the narrator. I thought she was a wonderful pick for Julia.  It was very easy to understand her, she appeared American, however she could pronounce all the French words and names with an accent that made the story that much better - as if Julia really was telling me this story.  


This audio book was rented from my local library.

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

#18 Stephanie Plum (one of the "between" novels)
Genre: mystery
Pages: audio
Challenges: Stephanie Plum Challenge, audio book challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

Simple Description:
This is another of the "between" novels that features Diesel.   Stephanie and Diesel partner up to find Munch, an incredibly smart guy who recently stole some kind of machine from the company he was working at.  Stephanie isn't sure exactly what this machine does, but it must be something special since he stole it.  Diesel is searching for Wolf, a guy he's been hunting for awhile and who is currently helping Munch.  

Things are crazier than usual because the search takes them to a part of Jersey that has the easter bunny, big foot, and a lot of monkeys.  Speaking of monkeys, Stephanie is also watching Carl.  Carl is a monkey we were introduced to in one of the other novels.  Carl likes to give everyone the finger. He also rescue's Stephanie a couple of times.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I actually really enjoyed this one.  In the past I thought the between novels were ok, but not as good as the regular novels.  This one was a ton of fun though.  I loved how Carl was part of this one, what a fun character (even if he is a monkey).   I can't help but love the relationship between Stephanie and all the macho guys, really, I just can't help it.

I definitely think the audio versions are what has me loving this series again.  I'm so glad that I decided to give this series another chance.  I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to physically reading this series, audio's are the way to go for me.


This audio book was rented from my local library.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

#1 Mortal Instruments series
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: young adult
Pages: audio
Challenges: 101 fantasy, young adult, audio
Author's Website 
My rating: 2.75/5

Simple Description: 
Clary Fray's life changes forever when she goes to a night club called Pandemonium one night.  While there she witnesses a murder.  As if this wasn't bad enough, she soon realizes that nobody else can see the parties involved.  Within 24 hours her world is torn apart.  Her Mom is kidnapped, she realizes that vampires and demons do exist.   Oh, and demons are after her.   It appears her mom was a shadow hunter, a person who hunted down demons and other nasties in order to protect weak humans.  Something that happened that made her Mom run away from all that though.  Clary wasn't brought up in that world, although she has it in her blood.

Clary is determined to find and save her Mom.  With the help of Jace, Isabel, and Alec, three other teenagers, she embarks on an adventure of a lifetime.  She has run ins with vampires, worlocks, and werewolves.  She learns more about herself and her Mom, things she would have never guessed.

Don't think everything will be answered in this book though.  This is the first of 4, so while it does wrap up a bit in the end, the story is still left open in order to entice readers to continue the series.


Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
I enjoyed the book but not as much as I had hoped I would.  However, I'm not so sure that wasn't because I listened to it via audio.   I thought the story itself was interesting, there was enough going on that it would probably be a page turner (if I had read the book version).

I really do think part of my issue with the book is the audio part of it though.  There were times when the tone of voice and the infliction ( I think that's the right word) just wasn't right for me.  The narrator would say a sentence or two and I would think "I wouldn't read the line like that".  I also wonder if part of this is why I could Clary annoying at times, because she seemed to whine a lot.   At times it was hard for me to get past how it was being read and just enjoy the story for what it was.

I did read the last 15-20 pages and I enjoyed that a lot more than listening to it.  So I think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if I had read it.    I'm definitely going to plan on reading the 2nd in the series to see if I enjoy it.  I do have my hopes up that I will.   This is one that I do think others will enjoy and like, but I caution you to stay away from the audio version.

This audio book was rented from my local library.

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig

Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: What's in a name (plant), Year of the historical, audio book
Author's Website 


Simple Description:
When Mary Alsworthy learns that her new brother-in-law, the man she was supposed to elope with, is going to help finance her last season, she decides to take Lord Vaughn up on his offer.  He offered her money in exchange for her help to flush out the Black Tulip.  While Mary would love to actually "catch" Lord Vaughn, he does have a lot of money after all, Lord Vaughn does not want to be married again.  He had all he could take from his first wife.  However, it appears that while neither one of them wants to admit it, they are falling in love with each other.

Lord Vaughn only takes Mary to one meeting before she is contacted by the Black Tulip.   When she meets him, he claims that he doesn't know if he should trust her to work for him.  He sets up another meeting with her, where he will give her instructions on how to prove her loyalty to him and France.    When Mary finally learns what she has to do, it's the last thing in the world she does want to do.

So the saga continues....will we find out who the Black Tulip is in this novel?  Will we learn more about the British spy ring?


Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
I just adore this series.  The books are so much fun.  I love how, so far, each book revolves around two people we met in previous books and how (of course) they don't really like each other but end up falling in love.  We get more answers in this one, we do find out who the Black Tulip is, but there is still some mystery surrounding the Black Tulip at the end.

This is definitely a series that you have to read in order (at least I think it is).  It's a great series though, one of my favorites.


 This audio book was rented from my local library.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking-Penguin
Genre: Fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: 
New-to-me Author: yes
Author's Website 


Simple Description: 
CeeCee is a 12 year old girl when her mother dies.  The thing is, her mother suffered from mental illness and caused a lot of issues for CeeCee, but she still loved her and feels her loss.

Her father is a traveling sales man (it is the late 60's) and has never been around much for CeeCee.   After her mother's death, CeeCee meets her great Aunt Tootie and moves to Savannah Georgia to live with her.
Living with Aunt Tootie opens up a whole new world for CeeCee.  She quickly finds love and wisdom in both Aunt Tootie and her cook Oletta.  She is taken care by these woman, whereas in the past she has had to take care of her Mom.   There are also some eccentric neighbors and friends that CeeCee meets too.

Throughout the story you grow with CeeCee as she comes to terms with her childhood, her Mom, and possibly even her Dad.


Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
This book has been getting a lot of exposure in the book blogging community.   Part of me was really excited to read it and part of me dreaded it because I was afraid of disappointment. I'm here to tell you that I wasn't disappointed.   I just loved this book, adored it, didn't want it to end.

You can't help feeling sorry for CeeCee because of what she has experienced.  Then when she moves to Georgia and is taken in by her Great-Aunt Tootie and her Cook, Oletta, you see her finally getting the love she  needs.  

There is also this concept of a life book.  This is something that CeeCee's neighbor, before she moved, told her about and it shows up in the story several times.  I won't describe it here for you, but let's just say it's one of the main things that really stuck out in this book and made me like it so much.

I actually read several reviews on Amazon where this book received poor reviews.  Mostly the problem was that people thought CeeCee was too mature for her age, thought the story was predictable and had been done before, and thought Oletta should have sounded more educated than she really did.   Sure..I could agree with all of those, but I could also argue with all of those.

I for one, am going to give this book a 4.5/5 stars.  Yup..I liked it that much.

I did listen to the audio version of this book.  jenna Lamia is the narrator and I think she did an awesome job.


 This audio book was rented from my local library.

The Hollow by Nora Roberts

Genre: mystery
Pages: audio
Challenges: audio book challenge
Author's Website

Simple Description: 
This is the 2nd book in the Blood Brother's trilogy, I reviewed the first one here.
This book follows all of the 6 main characters as they battle the evil spirit that brings pain and destruction and death to the town of Hawkin's Hollow every 7 years.  At first they don't experience any of the evil but they know it's there..and waiting.   When things do start to happen it's even worse than the girls could have guessed and worse than the boys have seen in awhile.  It's getting stronger.  Sybil feels like part of the key might be in making the three pieces of stone the boys have become one.  This will require a blood ritual.  Will it work or will it cause more destruction?

This book we focus mostly on Fox and Layla.  Fox wrestles with being attracted to Layla and finally makes a move on her.  She is more hesitant to get into a relationship even though she does like Fox.   It doesn't help any that Layla is also currently working for fox as his administrator.  Of course, they are also paired up because they seem to have the same ability, they can read minds, kind of.  They can know what people are thinking and feeling.   Fox tries to help Layla get used to this new ability and also show her how to use it and to block things out.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
This one was just ok.  I didn't like it as much as I liked the first book in the series but I think that's in part because I don't like Layla has much as I liked Quinn (the main girl in the first book).  I thought Layla needed to just calm down and not get so upset/pissed off about things that  Fox did or that happened.  I can understand where she is coming from, but it just seemed like she was too quick to anger.   The story itself is what kept my interest in the book and why I kept listening to it.  I do enjoy the idea of it, the three boys and the 3 girls pairing up and using their special talents to fight this evil spirit that has been causing issues in Hawkins Hollow for years.  I'll definitely be renting the 3rd audio book in a couple of months so I can finish this trilogy.

I give this book a rating of 2.5/5 stars.


 This audio book was rented from my local library.

Best Kept Secrets by Sandra Brown

Genre: Mystery
Pages: Audio
Challenges: Audio book challenge
Author's Website

Simple Description: 
Alexandra Gaither was raised by her Grandmother because her mother was murdered with Andrea was just a baby.  Now, 25 years later, Alexandra is an attorney and she has been given the time and resources to investigate her Mom's murder, since the case was never completely solved.   Sure, a man was accused but he was never convicted.  The man was the town idiot, basically.  Alexandra believes the man wasn't responsible. Instead, it had to be one of three men who are now prominent citizens in their small town.  You have Junior.  The son of a rich man who owns and breeds and boards race horses and is the richest man in town.  Angus, his father.   And Reed, the town sheriff.   Reed and her mother dated in highschool and Junior was their best friend.

Alexandra is told countless times that she should stop messing around with this murder investigation and nothing good will come of it.   She begins to uncover secrets that the three men would prefer stayed buried.   She also finds herself falling in love with Reed, while being sought after by Junior.  

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I thought the book was pretty good.   I had some issues with it, such as Reed and Junior both being attracted to Alex, even though they were both attracted to her Mom.  I mean, that just made me feel a bit disgusted.  I realize that Alex is a beautiful woman, but still.   It would be equivalent to me dating one of my Mom's former boyfriends. That's just not going to happen.   Aside from that, though, the book was pretty good.  There were enough twists and turns to keep me interested in the story.  I figured out who the murder was, mostly because I thought it couldn't be some characters, there had to be a twist, and who did I think would make for a good twist or a good murderer in this story, and I just happened to be right.  

I did listen to the audio version of this book and I definitely recommend it in audio.  It's read by a male but he does a really good job of changing his voice for the different characters and putting a lot of emotion into it.

Again, no pretty pictures for my rating, but I would give this one a rating of 3/5.

This audio book was rented from my local library.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Genre: fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: New author, audio book
New-to-me Author: yes
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Jacob Jankowski is just finishing his degree at Cornell, he's going to be a vet and work alongside his father.  Then the unthinkable happens, Jacob's parents are run off the road and killed.  When he goes to their town to take care of things and figure out what to do next, he finds out that the bank is taking the house.  He tries to take his last exam but can't do it and blindly starts walking.  He ends up jumping a circus train and being offered a position.  

While working for the circus he comes to fall in love with Marlena, one of the performers, who happens to be married.  Her husband is a nasty man and abuses her.   Jacob has to find a way to get her away from him.

Along the way Jacob learns what circus life is really like.  He makes some friends, and some enemies.
You meet Rosie, a circus elephant who doesn't appear to know how to actually perform. You can't help but like Rosie though, especially what she does at the end (and no, I'm not going to tell you what she did..that would be a spoiler).

The novel is told from the point of view of Jacob, as the story happens in the early 1930's as well as Jacob, in present day as an old man in a nursing home.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
This is another case of "I expected the book to be better because of all the hype".  I did like the book, I thought the story was good and very interesting. I've never read a book about a circus. So that aspect was interesting.  However I don't think it was as good as I was lead to believe.  I know too many people who told me it was the best book of the year or how the just loved it.  I think it was good, but not that good.  I do think it's worth reading, I just caution you to not get your hopes up.

I did listen to the audio version of this book. I liked how they used two different narrators for Jacob.  There was a younger Jacob and an older Jacob.  I think it worked very well for this book.


This audio book was rented from my local library.

Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber

Genre: fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: audio book challenge
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Anne Marie recently lost her husband and found herself a widow.  This is the first Valentine's day as a window and she spends it with friends, who are also widows.  They decide to come up with 20 wishes.  These are 20 wishes for things they want in life.  Depending on the woman, this ranges from a pair of red boots to falling in love to traveling to Paris.  While there are several characters, Anne Marie is probably the one we learn about the most.  She wanted a child, but her late husband didn't.  Soon Anne Marie finds herself looking after Ellen, a second grader.   She also finds herself forming a new relationship with her stop-daughter.

This is part of the Blossom Street series, but the other characters that we know and love from that series don't really show up in this book.  I feel the only reason it's part of the series is because Anne Marie owns the bookshop that is located on Blossom Street and therefore it takes place in roughly the same area.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I thought this book was pretty good.  I enjoyed it, but didn't enjoy it as much as I have the other books in the Blossom Street series that I've read.  I don't know if I would have preferred to have read this one rather than listen to it, or if it's just that I wanted the other characters back.   This book was good though and if you are reading the Blossom Street series I definitely recommend not skipping this one.


This audio book was rented from my local library.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Genre: fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: audio, new author
New-to-me Author: yes
Author's Website



Simple Description:
I'm having a hard time even wanting to give a description because I know this book made it's way into many blog reviews.  I feel like most of you have either already read the book, plan to read the book, or know what it's about but don't have an interest in reading it.

So for those of you who maybe haven't heard of this book yet here's some info ( because I'm sure there are some of you, I can't possibly be the last one to read it can I?).

Guernsey is a British Island that was occupied by the Germans during WWII.   This book is a story of those islanders as told via letters and telegrams.  It's after the war, 1946,  and they talk about things going on now and things that happened during the occupation.   There is one outsider, Juliet, she befriends the Islanders and they are telling her their stories and she's working on a book about the island and what they islanders went through and how they coped.

Sounds interesting but not enough to make you  run out and buy it though right?  This is a really hard book to describe!

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
Following the above comment, you must go out and buy it!  I am!  I actually borrowed this as an audio book from the library but I know it needs a spot in my library and I know I'll buy myself a copy.   You get so wrapped up in island life and what they islanders went through and learning about the different individuals through Juliet's eyes.  You don't want it to stop.   This is an excellent book, I can't recommend it enough.  Since I can see into the future (snicker) I can tell you that this will make it as one of my top reads for the year.

Now, you might say that you don't usually read books dealing with WWII so of course this isn't for you.  But it could be!  See, WWII is definitely an important part of the book but it's not the whole book.  The book is about the people.  You want to meet Darcy.  You want to play with Kit.  You want to go to one of the literary meetings and talk about your book, you want to meet all these people and have tea.

Of course, you also want to visit Guernsey.   I think it's funny that last weekend I was in my car headed home after a run, and the current letter being read was about the island.  It's something like 7 miles long and 5 miles wide (that's what I think was said and I'm too lazy to actually look it up) and the only thing I could think of was "Wouldn't it be cool to run across the island?"  Now yes, I know there wouldn't be a road or path that went straight across the island, but I still think it would be cool to go running on the island, take a long run and start at one beach and run across to the other.  Sounds like fun right?  yeah yeah..I'm nuts, I know.

However, I still can't help be want to visit Guernsey and go to the museum of the underground hospital, visit the castle, stay at a manor house.  I did actually look to see how expensive a stay would be.  I found the Hotel Fleur du Jordin which is restored farmhouse and rates start at 46 pounds per person per night. I can handle that.  Let's be honest, who wants to go to an island like this and stay in a modern chain hotel? Where would the fun be in that?

I also found this article at at Boston.com with an article about Guernsey and a video that somebody took visiting it, talking to some of the islanders, etc.  I didn't read the article, but loved the video.

Don't worry, I found pictures for you too.  Who wouldn't want to visit after looking at these pictures?
I just need to figure out how to convince the husband he wants to travel for 10 hours on a plane so we can visit this island and take a Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tour!  Better yet..why bring the husband when he wouldn't enjoy the tour like we would, what say you and I make plans to meet there? We can spend our afternoons reading on the beach and our evenings blogging about it.  Where do I sign up?


This audio book was rented from my local library.

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Genre: Mystery
Pages: audio
Challenges: Stephanie Plum Challenge, Audio Book Challenge
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Fearless Fourteen starts out with Stephanie convincing Loretta to go to the police station to get a new court date and promising to look after her teenage son if she doesn't get out in time to pick him up from school.  I suppose you can guess that she doesn't get out in time.    Mario, the son, is taken to Morelli's house where he spray paints the dog and the garage door and other things.  When Loretta finally gets bonded out again, she disappears.

Stephanie and Morelli think this has something to do with her brother, Dom Rizzi.  Dom recently got out of jail , he was in there for robbing a bank.  He had 3 other partners and it appears they want the 9 million Dom hid before he went to jail.  Loretta is being held hostage until the 4th, unknown, partner gets the money.

Meanwhile, Lula has surprised Tank by convincing him they are engaged and wanting the wedding to be the following month.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I have to admit, when I first started to read this series I loved and read a lot of them fairly quickly.  Then I hit that mark where the books were just the same time after time and I didn't care to read them and went for awhile without actually reading one.  Then I decided to get one on audio.   Fantastic idea!  I love the audio versions of these books.   I thought this one was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it.  I'll definitely finish this series, but I'll wait a month or two to listen to the next one.



This audio book was rented from my local library.
I am an amazon associate.

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Genre: Fiction
Pages: Audio
Challenges: Chick Lit, Audio Book
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Laura is not looking forward to going to a funeral for her Great-Aunt Sadie.  She didn't even know the woman, doesn't see the point in going.  While at the funeral, however, she see's the ghost Sadie.  Instead of appearing as a 105 year old woman (which is how old Sadie is when she dies) she appears as a girl in her twenties, wearing a flapper dress.   Sadie screams at Laura until Laura puts a halt to the funeral.  Sadie doesn't want the funeral because her necklace is missing.  The necklace is one she has had since the 20's and has a dragonfly on it.   She convinces Laura to help her find it.

At first Laura views Sadie as an annoying ghost.  Sadie convinces her to ask out a complete stranger, dress up in vintage 20's clothing and makeup, and find this necklace.   The more time Laura hangs out with Sadie, the more she comes to enjoy her company.  Not to say that things always go as expected.

While trying to find the necklace Laura realizes that her Uncle Bill is looking for it as well.  Bill owns Lington Coffee and is rich.  He claims he started it with just an idea and two coins.  When Laura tries to talk to him about the necklace he isn't happy and tries to pass her off as crazy.   Something isn't right.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
My overall thought regarding Twenties Girl is that I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.  While listening to most of it, though, there were days when I would really like it and days when I thought it was just so-so.   I think this has more to do with my mood than with the book though.  I think if you like chick lit and you like the author's other books, you will enjoy this one as well.   I have to admit that there is one part where Laura and this other character, Ed, are on a sight-seeing adventure in London.  They decide to make stuff up about the different attractions and pretend they are reading it from a guidebook.  I loved this part of the book, it was a lot of fun.



This audio book was rented from my local library.

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Genre: fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: Audio book
New-to-me Author: Yes and No, I have read J.D. Robb book and since it's the same person than technically I have read a book by the author, however this is the first Nora Roberts book I have read.
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Welcome to Hawkins Hallow, where every 7 years the towns people go a little crazy. When three boys, Caleb, Gage, and Fox, decided to camp put at the pagan stone on their 10th birthday, they unleashed a demon and the man who tried to trap it. Now, every 7 years, in the 7th month, the town has a week where there is murder and mayhem and most act a bit nuts.

This year it might be different though. Quinn has heard about the strange things going on in the Hallow and she has the ok from Caleb to investigate it. She knows the three men, because they are in their 30's now, have something to do with it.

Caleb and Quinn immediately hit it off and are soon a couple.

Two other women end up in The Hallow that also seem to have a connection to what is going on. Layla is from New York and one day she has the urge to go to the hallow and gets there, although she has never heard of the town before. She meets Quinn and is then introduced to Caleb and Fox (and Gage when he shows up). Quinn also calls one of her friends to come to the town and help out with what is going on, Cybil.

Will the 6 of them be able to stop the demon that shows itself every 7 years?

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I suppose this is the first book I've read that I would label a romance, for some reason I think this is more of a romance than the Heather Graham paranormal books I read. Either way, it was a different read for me but I enjoyed it a lot. I kept being told to read this author and that her books were good, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So finally I looked at her trilogies and this one sounded like something I would enjoy because there is a bit of a paranormal aspect to it. I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and read one. I definitely plan to finish this trilogy and I'm sure I'll read more by the author too.

I did listen to the audio version of this one. I thought the reader did a very good job. Unfortunately the copy I borrowed from the library had several disks that skipped a lot, so I missed part of the story but not a lot. It was more annoying than anything else. I'm definitely going to see if the library has the rest in this trilogy for me to borrow.

Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

Copyright: 2004
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Young Adult
Challenges: Audio Book, Young Adult, TBR, 101 Fantasy, New Author

(wow...I can't believe one book can help me in 5 challenges. haha!)
New-to-me Author: yes
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Ali isn't sure what she wants to do in life, well, kinda. Her mom is The Lioness, the best female fighter in her country. Her Dad is a spy. Ali wants to be a spy, a field agent, but her parents forbid it. If she can't be a spy, what else can she do? When her Mother comes home for a rest and makes Ali her project, Ali decides to take an unexpected trip to a city close by. She leaves a note for her parents and leaves early in the morning before anybody is awake to stop her.

Unfortunatly things don't go as planned. Ali is captured by pirates to be sold as a slave. Luckily she made herself seem like a "fighter" and when nobody wants her she is given to a family for free. Luck is with her because this is a very nice family who treats her well. They are royalty and forced into exile by the current king.

Ali has plans to escape but before she can the Trickster god comes to her with a deal. If she agrees to stay with this family through the summer and keep their daughters safe, the god

will deliver her safely to her home and make sure her parents let her become a spy. Ali takes the deal.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I thought this was a great young adult book. One thing I love is that Ali is such a strong female character. Not to bash the Twilight books (heck..I did love them) but Bella is so weak. I've read several blogs where that's a concern or a complaint rather. But Ali, she is so freaking strong! She's a great role model for young girls, in my opinion anyway. Ali is super smart and courageous.

The story itself kept my interest. I wanted to know what was going to happen to each of the characters and how the book was going to end.

This is definitely a book I recommend to others who like young adult and a bit of the paranormal. Well, do I call it paranormal? I suppose. Maybe Urban fantasy would be a better genre to put it in. Ali has some "gifts" that are passed down from parents to their children. One of the characters, Nowat, is a crow who becomes a Man so he can help Ali in her attempt to keep the royal family safe.

I did listen to this book. I thought the reader did a very good job. I admit to be confused at times but think that I probably would have been even if I read it, there were a lot of people mentioned in this book. Also, my mind kept drifting while I was driving. I don't think this had anything to do with the book though, rather just with things going on in my life right now.

This book is part of my collection and was either bought or given to me. (I did read the very end of the book last night at home. I knew I was close to the end and couldn't possible wait till the next day to finish the story. haha!)

This audio book was rented from my local library.