Paige Davies finds her world turned upside down as she becomes involved in her best friends nightmare. The strong-willed Paige doesn't know which is worse: someone trying to kill her, or losing her dog to the man she loves to hate.
FBI Agent Cole Parker can't decide whether he should strangle or kiss this infuriating woman of his dreams. As he works the case of his career, he finds that love can be tougher than bringing down some of the most powerful men in America.
What a great ending to the Bluegrass Series by Kathleen Brooks. The last book in the series definitely didn't disappoint. It also introduces us to Paige's brothers who become the main characters in Brooks' next series, Bluegrass Brothers. I'm actually reading the first in the series right now. It's called Bluegrass Undercover.
All of the books in the Bluegrass Series are very similar when it comes to the romances in each one, and even though each love story was fairly predictable, they were all still fun to read. What kept me reading, however, was the mystery/suspense element in the books. I think it was done really well.
Goodreads Summary...
Danielle DeLuca, an ex-beauty queen who is not at all what she seems, leaves the streets of New York after tracking the criminals out to destroy her. She travels to Keeneston, Kentucky to make her final stand by the side of her best friend, McKenna Mason. While in Keeneston, Danielle meets the mysterious Mohtadi Ali Rahmen, a modern day prince. Can Mo protect Dani from the group of powerful men in New York? Or will Dani save the Prince from his rigid, loveless destiny?
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This is the second book in the Bluegrass Series by Kathleen Brooks. I really liked the first book in the series, Bluegrass State of Mind, and I knew right away that I wanted to read the rest of the series. It just took me a little while to get around to it. I'm really glad I finally did though because I loved Risky Shot.
I loved the setting and the supporting cast of characters from the town of Keeneston. The three main characters from the series, McKenna, Danielle, and Paige, each narrate a book but are present throughout the series. I love the growth and closeness of their friendship--that feeling of camaraderie
Risky Shot is a romance, so of course there is "romance" in it. It's clean romance though, with no graphic sexual content. It's mystery, suspense as well. I love it when a book blurs the line between genres, and I find that if there's a mystery element to a book I can't help but read it quickly.
So if your looking for something quick and fun to read, you might want to give this series a try.
Summary from Goodreads...
From the author of One for the Money comes the second clever comic mystery featuring irrepressible bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Here, Stephanie finds herself on the trail of a killer who happens to have a distant relative who's a vice cop with questionable ethics, a libido in permanent overdrive, and a habit of horning in on Stephanie's investigations.
This was my second Janet Evanovich book. I read the first book in the Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money at the beginning of March. I really liked it, so I thought I'd give the second in the series, Two for the Dough a try. I wasn't disappointed. This was such a fun book and a pleasure to read!
Stephanie is still trying to make a living bounty hunting, and is still bad at it. She still has a knack for getting herself into bad situations that her love-hate childhood crush Joe Morelli always seems to be there to get her out of. The interaction between Stephanie and Joe is one my favorite parts of these books. Another great character in this book is Grandma Mazur, Stephanie's grandmother. She is hilarious!
I laughed out loud at this book several times, and that's rare for me. There are lots of books that have made me cry, smile, or chuckle, but not many that have made me laugh out loud. I'll definitely be reading the next one in the series.
I'm really enjoying Two for the Dough! I'm about a 1/3 of the way through and I think Stephanie Plum is even more hilarious in this one than the first one. I love reading about her 90's style...
From the back cover... Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems. Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family...
Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got in her pants, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water--wanted for murder...
If Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight--and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man...
This month has not been a very productive reading month for me, I finally finished my first mystery for the month, and it was a good one.
I had never read anything by Evanovich before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had seen the previews for the movie, and I have to say I wasn't that impressed. After reading the book though, I'm sure I'll watch it.
This was a really fun book. Stephanie Plum is funny and honest and I really liked her. I started to care about her early in the book, and that's always a plus for me. I like to settle into a book early and stay there. There was enough action, danger, and intrigue to keep me interested. All around I really enjoyed it, and I'm sure this won't be the last Stephanie Plum book I read!
After watching the preview again, I'm super excited to see this!
I'm really enjoying all of my Spring magazines this week. I'm particularly loving Southern Living and all the beautiful gardens, decorating ideas, and delicious looking food. I'm loving the weather, and my daughter and I have walked on our local walking trail several times in the past week. We've been playing catch, gearing up for softball season. BRING ON SPRING!!!
My daughter purchased a couple of books at the book fair today, and I thought I'd share them with you. She's particularly excited about the first one. She has a real interest in Greek mythology. I think I'm going to read Sound Bender as part of mystery month. It sounds pretty good.
We had a really busy weekend, so I got very little reading done. I did make some progress on The Thorn Birds, and I continue to like this book very much. My goal is to finish The Thorn Birds and Daughter of Joy by the end of February bringing my romance total for the month to eight books, and my total for the year so far to sixteen.
Next month I'll be reading mysteries...March is Mystery Month for the Cupcakes War Reading Challenge 2012 which is hosted by Brenda at Curling Up With a Good Book. I've started downloading books to my Kindle Fire and searching out books that I may want to read. There are a couple I'm pretty sure I will read to kick off mystery month.
They are...
This one will be a group read for the reading challenge. Source: Goodreads
I woke up this morning to my eight year old daughter (*S*) jumping on my bed and saying "breakfast will be on the table in 3 minutes". She and my husband cooked breakfast this morning...eggs, bacon, biscuits, gravy, and my daughter made the pancakes and coffee all by herself. She was very proud and even took a picture of the table all laid out with the food. It was really good and I'm extremely full (: It's gray and rainy outside, and I feel a day of reading, movies, and a game of Monopoly coming on.
Photo Credit: *S* (8)
Last night was date night at our house, so my husband (being the great husband he is) agreed to go see The Woman in Black, so we went out for dinner and a movie. My sister (aka fellow book lover) kept *S* for us. She had big plans for the night...playing outside, pizza, video games, and movies. My seven year old nephew (*C*) knows how much his cousin loves Goosebumps. He and my sister were picking out movies before they picked *S* up for the night, and he spotted the Goosebumps movies. He offered to put the movies he picked out back if they could just get *S* a Goosebumps movie. Of course my sister told him he didn't have to put his back and they could still get a Goosebumps movie, but I think it's so sweet that he offered. It just so happens that he picked out the movie for the book that *S* had just finished and returned to her school library earlier that day. Needless to say *S* was super excited!
Now as for the movie version of The Woman in Black...
First of all we were in the movie with A LOT of teenagers, therefore it was loud in the theater. I was a bit surprised by this, and I thought maybe they all came because it was a "scary" movie. Then my husband suggested maybe they were all Harry Potter fans and there for Daniel Radcliffe. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes good sense. Whatever the reason, the theater was full of kids.
I thought the movie was visually stunning. The village, the marsh, and Eel House were exactly as I had imagined them in the book, very dark but beautiful at the same time. I loved Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps. I thought he did a very good job. So much of the movie was him reacting to things...no words...just the expression on his face, and I thought he was great.
As I expected, the movie was very little like the book. The names of the characters, the woman in black, and the circumstances that made her are all that remain of the book. The movie did have those "boo" gotcha scary parts...you know those parts in a movie that you know are coming but you still jump when they do. It might not have been so bad if the little girl next to me (I'd say she was 14) didn't scream like like a banshee at every scary part. My husband and I did a lot of laughing at the kids. You could tell they were bored at the first half of the movie, but when the action started they were into it.
Over all I liked the movie, but I think it's more of a mystery than a scary movie. And my husband, who knew nothing about it going into the movie agrees. He said it was a decent mystery movie for him and an appropriate scary movie for young teens...nothing to heavy....just a good ghost story.
So if you like historical movies with a great setting, if you like mysteries, if you like light ghost stories, or even if you just like Daniel Radcliffe, go see it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Next month's date night...The Hunger Games!!! They showed a preview for it before the movie last night, and my husband says he's interested in seeing it. Excited!!!!
Summary of Murder on the Orient Express from Goodreads...
"Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again."
Well, I thought at page 163 that I had the whole thing figured out. I must admit that I was very, very wrong. I really liked the book though, and I'm absolutely positive that I will read more Christie books. As a matter of fact there is a list titled, "The Agatha Christie Collection" at the beginning of the book, and I plan to read them all.
The Agatha Christie Collection (Listed in Murder on the Orient Express)
4:50 From Paddington
A Caribbean Mystery
A Murder Is Announced
After the Funeral
Appointment with Death
At Bertram's Hotel
Cat Among the Pigeons
Death on the Nile
Evil Under the Sun
Five Little Pigs
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Murder at the Vicarage
Murder in the Mesopotamia
*Murder on the Orient Express
Peril at End House
Sad Cypress
The A.B.C. Murder
The Body in the Library
The Hollow
The Moving Finger
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mystery of the Blue Train
The Tuesday Club Murders
If you like the detective in Murder on the Orient Express, Hercule Poirot, you will be happy to know that there are lots more Agatha Christie books starring this funny Belgian. If you want to read more about them click HERE.
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott. I'll definitely be checking those out!
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In 1974 a movie version of the book came out. It was nominated for and won many awards including an Oscar.
It had a star studded cast including: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, and many more.
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If you are interested in the present day Orient Express you can visit their website by clicking HERE. You'll find pictures of the trains, layouts of the rooms, and maps of where it travels.
