Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A smattering of death ...

Circle of Enemies (Twenty Palaces, Bk 3) by Harry Connolly (library copy) -

Ray Lilly visits his past life (and I'm not talking time-travel here) ... where the group he used to hang out with and steal cars with are dying.  As anticipated this book gave me a better grasp of Ray, where he came from, and what made him him (repeat intended).  This series as a whole is so intense and the magic is dark and powerful... add Ray, with his flaws and qualities, and you have a complete package.  And the ending was a great lead into future books.  Now to the big disappointment ... IT'S OVER!!!! No book 4, or at least not any time soon.  I just found this out when I was trying to find a title for book 4.  Now I'm gonna be in a funk the rest of the day.  =<  He (the author) does say he's working on a prequel with more background deets, which is cool, but still...

Death by the Dozen (Cupcake Bakery Mystery, Bk 3) by Jenn McKinlay (library copy) -

I'd already forgotten basic stuff from the previous books, which was frustrating, but the story itself was still enjoyable.  And a new character, Oz the intern, was introduced.  It sounds like he's a permanent addition, and I'm glad because he was cool.  I look forward to reading book 4, Red Velvet Revenge.
Mind Your Own Beeswax (Queen Bee Mystery, Bk 2) by Hannah Reed aka Deb Baker (library copy) -

I'll be honest... I put off reading this.  While I enjoyed book 1, I found the bullet points and text speak a tad annoying.  But I finally sat down and started and found out that... I enjoyed this story too.  It's paced well enough to keep my interest.  I guessed the murderer early, but that's never bothered me.  Only real problem was the bullets (though better this time than last) and text speak...again.  But I'll keep reading because so far the stories are enjoyable enough that they're worth the irritation.  So I will be reading book 3, Plan Bee.

A Sheetcake Named Desire (Piece of Cake Mystery, Bk 1) by Jacklyn Brady aka Sherry Lewis and Sammi Carter (personal copy - obtained via paperbackswap.com) -

You'll notice I read a lot of cozies, and I say most are enjoyable... and they are.  I wouldn't be such a huge fan of the genre if they weren't.  But the real judge of a good cozy - to me - is if it moves quickly.  I don't mean the story itself is fast paced.  Just that I can read it quickly.  The ones that take me longer to get into aren't as successful, IMO.  And all that to say this was a quick cozy.  I started it yesterday morning, I read it all through lunch, I came within the last two pages during my 15 min break, and I finished it as soon as I got home.  Success.  Not that it was perfect or anything.  For instance, Rita made a big assumption towards the beginning that I disagreed with.  And I didn't connect with some of the secondary characters like I suspect I was supposed to.  But overall, I enjoyed it.  I look forward to reading the second in the series, Cake on a Hot Tin Roof.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, you are reading alot of cozies! I need to get to these series, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a lot of cozy series to get to still myself. So many new ones come out, it's hard to keep up.

    ReplyDelete

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