Cupcakes, Trinkets, and other Deadly Magic has been on my Nook for awhile, I think it was a Free Friday book. I really need to start reading books on my Nook instead of constantly choosing library books. 

Jade is happily running her bakery and not interested in any drama in her life. Unfortunately for her drama shows up at her doorstep when a vampire suddenly makes himself known by hanging outside of her bakery. Lucky for her the wards her Grandmother put up keep the creature at bay however Jade cannot live inside her whole life and thus has to exit at some point knowing the vampire will be waiting. 

A light read with some fun characters, I like how Jade developed into her own strength as the story progressed. She did seem a bit teenagerish when she was determined to handle all her problems on her own which was a bit annoying. The side characters were vibrant and full of life, I look forward to learning about more of them as the series progresses. 

Rock Paper Scissors

 

Rock Paper Scissors came up as a recommendation from the e-library. Not wanting to search too hard for a book I decided to give it a try. 

Amelia was an interesting character, she seemed sort of flat at the start but slowly grew into her own. Desperate to save her marriage she is willing to do anything including driving a crazy snowstorm for a weekend away at a converted chapel. 

Despite things being told from Adam's point of view for a good portion of the book the only thing I got from him was he is face blind. It seemed like he enjoyed making it his identity. I really wanted to know more about him and how he felt with first being a rejected screen writer to becoming a screen writer for a world famous author but that was never touched upon.

I find it hard to review mysteries without giving away any of the mystery. Rock Paper Scissors had me up reading way past my bedtime due to all the twists and turns. While it did not start off with a bang it did start out with enough plot to keep me reading. I would highly consider reading more of Mrs. Feeney's work. 

A Sky Beyond the Storm

 

A Sky Beyond the Storm is the final book in the An Ember in the Ashes series. It took me a long time to finish since I had to keep taking breaks to get my emotions in check. I should have known it would be a roller-coaster of emotion since the friend who gave it to me loves when characters die.

The world is breaking, everyone who dies feeds the maelstrom and it is only a matter of time until enough people die and the storm breaks free. Laia will do anything to keep that from happening even giving up her humanity if she must. 

Helen knows war and death yet people around her are determined to remind her she is more then The Blood Shrike. Wanting all her emotions to go away Helen is content to just fight on forgetting all those she has loved died. 

Elias is worried there are not nearly enough dead to pass to the other world and thus his job is not being done properly. Lost in an emotionless void Elias seeks answers as to where the dead are going. 

My biggest complaint with the series is no index with names of characters and a brief biography for each one of them. Along with no glossary of terms for words the author used that were either made up or in a different language. This use to be common practice and it needs to come back.

The story ended, I was left with no questions. The characters will stay with me for a long time though. The world was richly written with a well defined map which I highly appreciated. While I really loved the story I am not sure I will seek out more work by Sabaa Tahir since so many characters die throughout the span of the series. 

The Night She Disappeared

 

The Night she Disappeared was an impulse checkout from the digital library. Even though I have three library cards I still struggle to get books on my to read list due to a long waiting time for them.

I really loved the first chapter and how the writing drew me into learning the story. I started to loose interest after Lisa was introduced. Made no sense having her working on the mystery of a teens who disappeared when she did not know them, was not connected to the town, and only interested because she was a mystery writer. 

The plot got super confusing as it jumped around between people and time periods which made no sense. The only reason I really continued to read is because I had nothing else to read at the time. I did not care about any of the characters and the overall mystery seemed far fetched and highly unbelievable. I will not seek out more of Lisa Jewell's work.

Five Total Strangers

 

I have not been interested in reading before bed and I could not figure out why but apparently it was just the books I was trying. Five Total Strangers kept me up reading long past my bed time. Unfortunately the main reason I kept reading was never answered at the end. A huge plot hole which was a moving point of the plot not being answered is beyond frustrating. 

Mira is on her way to see her mom for Christmas when a storm grounds all planes. Determined to get home she agrees to ride with a girl who sat next to her on the plane. All is going well until she realizes the plane companion has invested three other people. Still determined to get home Mira ignores her instincts and gets into the car with four strangers. 

Of course nothing goes smoothly along the journey and soon Mira realizes she is in way deep. Still determined to get home Mira does her best to ignore her strange companions as mother nature fights to keep them from moving onward. 

The writing was okay, nothing stand out. Character development was not existent but since the story focused on five people you really do not learn much about any of them. One of the main mysteries is never solved. Other problems as well occur and when you get to the end it is so weakly held together I wonder why I spent so much time frantically reading to figure out who was lying. I will not be seeking out more of Mrs. Richard's work since I like mysteries to be solved not left to the imagination.