Book Review: Pretty Little Liars Deadly

Katie January 21, 2014 0 Comments

Deadly is the 14th book in the Pretty Little Lairs series.  I always want to try and not read these books while the TV show is back on the air, but unfortunately my schedule didn’t work out that way and Pretty Little Liars was already back for the winter when I started this book.  The two worlds are so different on the show versus the book I try to keep them separate so I am not totally confused.

In this book, it’s pretty much more of the same – Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily are trying to figure out who is helping A.  At first they thought it was Noel, Aria’s boyfriend, but some stuff ends up happening that they realize it is not him.  They have some clues and are trying to figure out who it may be – but then everything they have been framed of comes up and back to haunt them.

Remember Tabitha in Jamaica? Well, now the girls are being taken in for questioning on her murder and a very believable video of the 4 girls with Tabitha is released.  The girls know that it can not be them, they didn’t do it, but no one else believes them.   It was kind of funny to be reading the book and the girls freaking out that they may have to go back to Jamaica for their trial and jail time if they are convicted – while sitting at the pool in Jamaica.

I don’t want to give away too much of what happens in the end – but I have to say I do kind of wish that this series would wrap it up (again!)… I feel like as long as the TV show is going on the book series will continue and although I do enjoy both it’s kind of just the same old, same old every few books.

About the Book

Book Review: Freshman Orientation

Katie January 20, 2014 0 Comments

Freshman Orientation is a short novella about Ryan, a college senior who is looking for a hot new Freshman to hook up with.  His best friend finds 4 guys that he thinks that Ryan might like from the incoming Freshman.  Ryan narrows it down to 2, though he really likes one way more than the other.  He messages them both on facebook and gets a reply from one – but it took 36 hours.  While the one he liked the most, Sean, doesn’t message him back, he does turn up in one of Ryan’s classes!  The two end up hitting it off and have a fast relationship.  Although it seems like something is always coming up just when things get hot and heavy.  Ryan is worried that once they do finally hook up, that Sean will leave.

This is a gay erotic story – and I believe the first of it’s type that I had read.  If you’re not interested in reading that sort of thing, then click the little X in the top corner because this is not the book for you!  Beyond the relationship I thought it was a cute story.  I liked how Ryan’s best friend showed the guys to him in the order of who he thought he would least like to most like. Totally something I can see me doing with my friends too! And the reasons for their hookups not working out were pretty funny, though I am sure for them super annoying.  A fun story if this is a genre that would be of interest to you.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Welcome to Pauer Bautam University… where gays… young and old… come to play.

 
Hunky college senior Ryan Kelly hasn’t gotten any in weeks… but that’s about to change. A new wave of freshmen are swarming the college campus, and he’s got his eyes set on a young hottie named Sean. Will Ryan’s dry spell finally come to an end?

Book Review: Crazy For You

Katie January 19, 2014 0 Comments

The main character in this book is Mazie – who is out of prison after being wrongly accused of killing her husband. For about a week she lives with Ben Labeck – the gorgeous who helped her solve the case of who really killed her husband.  But when he leaves for Montana for work and she starts a job as a mystery shopper their relationship ends.  Her boss, Rhonda, is 6 weeks behind on paying her but she continues to mystery shop and write reviews.  When she writes a negative review of an establishment, but later sees it posted as all 5/5 ratings – she is called into her bosses office and is fired.  She ends up going to work at a coffee shop that she had previously shopped, where the dress code for the waitresses is lingerie.  Then her ex-boss turns up dead – discovered by her ex-boyfriend Ben.  Both of them are suspects in the murder, as Ben was the last person seen with her and Mazie had an altercation with her before she was fired.  The two now need to work together in order to find out who really killed Rhonda in order to get themselves off the hook.

I liked that this was a romance novel mixed with murder mystery.  There is a lot of action going on with the investigation, though not so much between Mazie and Ben as Mazie says that they must work strictly as friends, even though Ben seems like he wants a big more.  After they figured out who did it and can get them to confess, maybe then they can realize they never wanted to break up with each other in the first place?  A quick read, a lot of fun to read too.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

In the tradition of Janet Evanovich and Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Juliet Rosetti ups the ante in her laugh-out-loud funny Escape Diaries series, as Mazie Maguire must use any means necessary to keep her main squeeze out of the slammer. 

Once you escape from prison and ride off into the sunset with the gorgeous guy who helped you nail a killer, you live happily ever after, right? Well, not exactly—not if you’re Mazie Maguire, and the flow chart of your life looks like a pinball machine. Mazie has broken up with her guy, Ben Labeck, she can’t pay her rent, her car is infested with mice, and she’s working at a coffee shop where the dress code is teddies, thongs, and toe-cleavage heels. Now Ben is the chief suspect in a murder investigation, and Mazie’s tapping into her fugitive wiles to keep him out of jail. Strictly as friends, she vows. No kissing, no touching, no romance. But how is Mazie supposed to keep her thoughts platonic when her “buddy” is giving her erotic back rubs, and a make-believe-we’re-newlyweds charade puts her in the mood for a wedding night?

Book Review: Wanted

Katie January 17, 2014 0 Comments

When we first meet Angie, we are at a party celebrating her uncle’s life after he passed away.  Angie’s boyfriend, the FBI Agent is there, but he isn’t who she wants.  It just makes sense for a senators daughter to date an FBI Agent.  Who she really wants is Evan Black.  Even though her Uncle had told her time and time again that she shouldn’t even think about getting involved with him.  But her Uncle is gone now and there is nothing that can stop her.  She thinks that Evan might be in to her too, but is holding back because he made a promise to her Uncle.

Everyone leaves and Angie’s boyfriend is taking her back to his house.  But she tells him she wants to go back home and stay in her room.  He puts her in a car and Angie decides that she wants to go out and have fun instead, she is looking for a rush of excitement that her boyfriend Kevin just can’t get her.  When she’s approached by a guy at the club she stops at, she ends up rescued by Evan.  They end up getting a bit hot and heavy in the alley and then he brings her home – after protecting her from the creep and his pal.

He spends the night and comforts her but in the morning tells her that it shouldn’t have happened.  Angie thought that finally Evan was going to be with her but then things aren’t so certain.

That covers about half the book – but I don’t want to give away the rest of it.  There was an interesting story line going in this book in addition to the romance which I really liked.  Evan and his 2 friends – called the Knights by Angie’s uncle, may have been up to something that was not so wonderful that Kevin kept telling Angie about to stay out of it.  But she ends up involved with it and that whole sub plot was really interesting and a lot of fun to see how it all panned out.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey, Bared to You, and Release Me comes an all-new erotic series of three enigmatic and powerful men, and the striking women who can bring them to their knees.
 
He is everything I crave, all I desperately want—and he is everything I can’t have.
 
Evan Black embodies my every fantasy. He is brilliant, fierce, and devastatingly handsome. But he is also headstrong, dangerous, and burdened with secrets.

My family warned me to stay away, that I could never handle Evan’s dark dealings or scarred past. Maybe I should have listened. Maybe I should have run. But our desire is undeniable, and some temptations you just can’t fight.

And from the moment we touch—the passion between us consuming us both—I know that I will never be the same.

Wanted is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.

Book Review: Fraggle Rock Classics Volume 2

Katie January 16, 2014 0 Comments

This Fraggle Rock Comic Book was quite a blast from the past. I used to LOVE Fraggle Rock as a kid. (I may even still know the theme song…)  Although this is Volume 2, I am not sure I missed anything by jumping into it first, because the stories seem to be all separate.  There are 4 different stories in the book (though most have multiple parts) and all your favorite characters from the 80s are there! These look great – they’ve been digitally remastered from the comics that were released back in 1985.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Archaia Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company are proud to present a new reprinting of the original Fraggle Rock comic book series, which first debuted in 1985.

Completing the full original run, Volume 2 brings fans madcap adventure with stories such as “The Mean Genie,” “Exploring the Unknown,” “The Great Radish Caper,” and “The Greatest Race There Ever Was.”

Digitally remastered and beautifully bound in softcover for a new generation of Fraggle Rock fans, this series will make you want to dance your cares away — ’80s style!

Book Review: Great Expectations

Katie January 15, 2014 0 Comments

Great Expectations recaps the Toronto Blue Jays 2013 season.  From the winter meetings and off season signings of stars, to throughout the season.  Since there are a couple of my favorite Mets on the team now, I figured I’d check out the book.  There is some behind the scenes look at how they got Jose Reyes among others from the Marlins and how they got RA Dickey as well as some other players too. The ones I don’t care about 😉

An interesting inside look at a team that seemed stacked to do a bit better than they actually did.  Definitely a lot of thorough reporting on the team and an in depth look.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

In a one of a kind look at the Toronto Blue Jays 2013 season, two seasoned sports journalists take readers behind the scenes as the team stocks up on stars, revitalizes its fans and embarks on a campaign of shocking disillusionment. Great Expectations begins with a detailed look at how general manager Alex Anthopoulos pulled off the blockbuster trade that acquired flashy shortstop Jose Reyes, potential pitching ace Josh Johnson and steady left-hander Mark Buehrle. Then came the delicate, frenzied negotiations with the Mets that landed erudite knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the National League’s Cy Young Award winner in 2012. The book examines the challenges that Reyes, Buehrle and Dickey faced in their formative years and during the rocky 2013 season. It is also replete with details about Brett Lawrie, the team’s lone Canadian, whose kinetic style of play is a double-edged sword; José Bautista, the two-time home-run champion whose crown began to slip during a difficult 2013 season; Munenori Kawasaki, the genial, quirky infielder who became an overnight fan favourite; and Anthopoulos himself, who, by season’s end, was inciting the fury of the same fans who had praised him as a genius a few months earlier. Featuring insightful analysis and a colourful collection of candid photos, Great Expectations is a fascinating tale of a season gone wrong.

Book Review: We Are Our Brains

Katie January 14, 2014 0 Comments

I’m not sure why, but I am always fascinated with reading books about brains.  Maybe I’m a zombie or maybe it’s because my brain doesn’t quite function right and I’m determined to figure it out by getting an idea by reading a book.  Either way, when I saw We Are Our Brains I just knew I had to check it out.

The book focuses on the brain from the womb through all sorts of different conditions and issues that could affect your brain.  Alzheimers, Schizophrenia, Autism, Sexual Behavior, Addictive Substances, etc.  It has 21 chapters all of which are broken down in to even more sub chapters to focus more on specific things.

The book was really interesting and really made me realize (yet again) just how fascinating the brain is.  I could have done without a few of the photos though.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

A vivid cross-section of what makes us human.
 
Based groundbreaking new research, We Are Our Brains is a sweeping biography of the human brain, from infancy to adulthood to old age. Renowned neuroscientist D. F. Swaab takes us on a guided tour of the intricate inner workings that determine our potential, our limitations, and our desires, with each chapter serving as an eye-opening window on a different stage of brain development: the gender differences that develop in the embryonic brain, what goes on in the heads of adolescents, how parenthood permanently changes the brain.

Moving beyond pure biological understanding, Swaab presents a controversial and multilayered ethical argument surrounding the brain. Far from possessing true free will, Swaab argues, we have very little control over our everyday decisions, or who we will become, because our brains predetermine everything about us, long before we are born, from our moral character to our religious leanings to whom we fall in love with. And he challenges many of our prevailing assumptions about what makes us human, decoding the intricate “moral networks” that allow us to experience emotion, revealing maternal instinct to be the result of hormonal changes in the pregnant brain, and exploring the way that religious “imprinting” shapes the brain during childhood. Rife with memorable case studies, We Are Our Brains is already a bestselling international phenomenon. It aims to demystify the chemical and genetic workings of our most mysterious organ, in the process helping us to see who we are through an entirely new lens.

Did you know?
 
• The father’s brain is affected in pregnancy as well as the mother’s.
• The withdrawal symptoms we experience at the end of a love affair mirror chemical addiction.
• Growing up bilingual reduces the likelihood of Alzheimer’s.
• Parental religion is imprinted on our brains during early development, much as our native language is.

Book Review: The Rainy Day Killer

Katie January 13, 2014 2 Comments

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of romance novels so I was quite happy to read a murder mystery for a bit of a change of pace.  There is a killer on the lose dubbed “The Rainy Day Killer” because he waits until it is raining to capture his victims – offering them the protection of his umbrella.  Then he rapes and strangles them, dumping their body a few days later.  The rain also helps wash away the evidence so it has been difficult for the police to catch him.  After 2 victims showed up and they seem to be getting closer to figuring out who he is, the killer threatens to capture Detective Karen Stainer as his next victim!

The Rainy Day Killer seems to be quite smart – he is always one step above the police and even sends them videos to taunt them after each of the kills.  But once he threatens Detective Stainer and it seems like he is going to try and capture her at her wedding – all bets are off.  Oh, and did I mention she’s marrying an FBI Agent?  There will certainly be enough men in uniform around to foil his plan should he try anything – but the killer is cocky and thinks that he can outsmart them all.

But can he?

I know, but I won’t let you know the ending of the book! Be sure to check out The Rainy Day Killer if you want to find out!

I really liked this book.  It was easy to read, I liked the characters and it was a story that I could get involved in.  I was rooting for the good guys and hoping that the killer would mess up somewhere and leave some evidence that the police could work with and catch this guy!  If you’re into serial killers or murder mystery books I think that you will enjoy this book!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to participate in the book tour. I was not otherwise compensated.

Michael J. McCann‘s Bio: 

The Rainy Day Killer Book Summary: