Category Archives: Review

Cut to the Bone
Author: Jefferson Bass
Series: #.5 in the Body Farm series

Review Copy Provided by Author via Sisterhood of the Traveling Book

Description:
In the summer of 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee Senator Albert Gore begin their long-shot campaign to win the White House. In the sweltering hills of Knoxville at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Bill Brockton, the bright, ambitious young head of the Anthropology Department, launches an unusual-some would call it macabre-research facility, unlike any other in existence. Brockton is determined to revolutionize the study of forensics to help law enforcement better solve crime. But his plans are derailed by a chilling murder that leaves the scientist reeling from a sense of déjà vu. Followed by another. And then another: bodies that bear eerie resemblances to cases from Brockton’s past.

The police chalk up the first corpse to coincidence. But as the body count rises, the victims’ fatal injuries grow more and more distinctive-a spiral of death that holds dark implications for Brockton himself. If the killer isn’t found quickly, the death toll could be staggering. And the list of victims could include Brockton . . . and everyone he holds dear.

Review:
After a bit of a disappointing read in the previous book in the series, I have to admit that I was a bit scared to pick up this one. But I was pleasantly surprised. This book took the reader back in time, a time when Dr Brockton’s wife is still alive (for those who have read the series, you know how that plays out) and a time when his relationship with his son was less fractured/ more like what you would expect a father son relationship to be like. It also featured many of the secondary characters who have appeared through-out the series from Art Bohanan (the fingerprint technician who plays a significant role in most of the books) to the disgraced (well, in the later books) Medical Examiner Garland Hamilton. It was really weird not to have Miranda though because she is one of the characters who has made the series for me, although I didn’t mind Tyler (although, I can’t remember if he has appeared in later books).

One of the interesting things to me was seeing how far that study of forensic anthropology/body decomp had developed from the time period when this book was set to the more modern books in the series. How, (while the authors admit in the author’s note that the timing was a bit different to how the body farm came about in real life (the real farm was established much earlier), the body farm was actually established – trying to get a space to conduct these often gruesome experiments, figuring out how body’s decompose (which i can’t say is something that I would actually like to study, but hey, to each their own right?). The experiment with the flies wearing Tennessee orange just made me giggle (but you have to read the book to see what I mean).

Anyways, overall, I gave Cut to the Bone 4 stars and felt that it was a big improvement on the previous book in the series that was released. This would be a good book for either someone starting the series as a brand-new reader, or someone well-established in the series.

When We Touch
Author: Brenda Novak
Series: #.5 in the Whisper Falls series

Description:
You’re invited to a wedding in Whiskey Creek, Heart of the Gold Country
Unfortunately, it’s the wrong wedding. Olivia Arnold is arranging the festivities—and it’s the hardest thing she’s ever done. Because she should be marrying Kyle Houseman. They were together for more than a year…. But her jealous sister, Noelle, stole him away—and now she’s pregnant.

All their friends in Whiskey Creek know as well as Olivia does that Kyle’s making a mistake. His stepbrother, Brandon, knows it, too. But Kyle’s determined to go through with it, for his child’s sake.

Olivia’s devastated, but surprisingly Brandon—the black sheep of the family—is there to provide comfort and consolation. The intensity between them, both physical and emotional, shows Olivia that maybe Kyle wasn’t the right man for her…
But is Brandon?

Review:
This was my first exposure to Ms Novak’s books and if she hadn’t actually approached me to review her newest book on my blog, I probably never would have picked it up. And then I never would have discovered the world of Whiskey Creek. My initial thoughts up after finishing this short story, was that it kind of reminded me of the Virgin River books by Robyn Carr, but more developed and less preachy (its hard to explain what I mean here, so just trust me).

When We Touch is what I would describe as a slice of life type book – it was short (I think only about 100 pages), so it didn’t have the fully fleshed out feeling of a traditional length romance, yet at the same time, it felt complete. There were a beginning, middle and end. I wasn’t left wanting over how the story worked out, but I was left wanting, wanting to know more about the town and its inhabitants.

The basically premise of the story, kind of reminded me in part of the movie, The Wedding Date, starring Debra Messing, minus the date for hire (although, he was soo hot in the movie). But the returning home to the wedding of a sister, who is marrying someone the person used to date (there is off the scene cheating in the story, involving the main character, but Olivia the mc didn’t cheat). Then there is the guy who comes out of nowhere to rescue her (in this case, the step-brother of the guy who cheated on Olivia). And to top it all off the guy who rescues her is not just hot and nice, but all a champion skier recovering from an injury, which makes for some nice added tension. So overall the story was nice and convoluted and awesome.

When We Touch definitely made me want to go back and visit Whiskey Creek in the future – and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. Overall, I gave it 3.5 stars and would recommend to people who like cute contemporary romances.

Five Flavors of Dumb
Author: Antony John

Description:
The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band’s manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she’s deaf?

Piper can’t hear Dumb’s music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Review:
Sometimes my favorites books are ones which I pick up at random, and Five Flavors of Dumb was one of those books. I don’t even really remember how I ended up picking it up…I was in the YA section of the library, looking for another book (although for the life of me, I can’t remember what book it is), and this one caught my eye, so I figured what the heck. The first thing that I noticed on the cover was the gold award sticker and it was for an award that I had never heard of (which when I explored, it was for the accurate portrayal of a teenager with a disability in fiction – in this case, deafness).

It seemed to me that the author had some sort of experience working with individuals who were deaf because there just seemed to be a sense of realism in not only Piper’s character, but how people interacted with her. The father who struggled with her progressive deafness as a child, her brother who is her confident, and her mother, stressing about not only Piper, but about her new baby sister, born deaf. He also managed to bring in the use of technology to help individuals who are deaf, from hearing aids, to cochlear implants (on Piper’s baby sister). That was what made the story unique.

However, on the other hand, it had what seems to be the requisite teenage angst and drama that seems to be a dominant theme in YA fiction now days. While I thought the author did a good job of developing Piper and her family as characters, I thought that the band members of Dumb were very one-dimensional. there just wasn’t really anything about them that made me care about them. There was the golden boy pain in the ass; the magical musician, the requisite hot chick and the bad girl…I just didn’t really care about them all that much.

Overall, I gave Five Flavors of DUMB 3.5 stars, but i do think that people interested in the deaf culture would enjoy it. And i’ll be interested to see what else he writes in the future.

Tempting Bella
Author: Diana Quincy
Series: #2 in the Accidental Peers series

Review Copy Provided By the Publisher

Description:
Mirabella can hardly remember the man she married as a girl. And it’s just as well. She feels nothing but contempt for the man who wed her for her fortune and promptly forgot she existed. The ton may call him “The Saint” but Bella knows better.

Forced to marry as a teen to rescue his family from certain ruin, Sebastian has been apart from his child bride since their wedding day. When he encounters an enchanting impish beauty at the opera, he’s is thrilled to find she is none other than his long-ago bride and he is more than ready to make her his wife in truth.

Too bad the beguiling beauty has no intention of coming meekly to the marriage bed.

Review:
I’ll admit, i’m a sucker for the arranged marriage trope…and even better, the forced marriage in order to settle a debt – so I got the double joy in Tempting Bella. Its interesting that I was reading this book and reading a thread on the Amazon forums about age differences in between characters in romance novels. And while there isn’t a significant age difference (7 years), it did make me think. Especially since at the beginning Bella was only 13 (yes, you read me right)…but thankfully the author did a nice job forward in time to when Bella was a bit older and more mature (although at times, I do say that tongue in cheek).

I liked the idea of finding love with a couple that had actually been married for several years, although they had never officially been together. And how an individuals perceptions of one influences their behavior and beliefs (yes, that is the psychology geek in me speaking). While this is #2 in a series, it could easily be read as a stand-alone, but I am interested enough in going back and reading the first book, as well as later ones in the series. Overall, I gave Tempting Bella 3.5 stars and would recommend it to people who like historical romances with arranged marriages.