The Surgeon's Daughter

 

The Surgeon's Daughter is the second book in the Nora Beady Duology. I was eagerly awaiting my turn to get the book after reading The Girl in his Shadow but since it was a big library read I had a long wait.

Nora is thrilled to have been accepted to the most prodigious medical school in Italy despite being a woman. Determined to prove her worth Nora works hard and does all she can to impress her all male classmates and professors. Feeling disheartened and like she will never be accepted as a surgeon Nora perks up with the only female doctor on staff returns from abroad. Venturing into the world of women's medicine, namely caesarean section, Nora works hard to prove herself to her peers. 

I really enjoyed how the story was also told from Daniel's point of view since I wanted to know what was going on in London while Nora studied in Italy. Most of Daniel's point of view was medical related and did not speak much for his feelings of Nora but I still understood he cared deeply for her.

The character development is fantastic, I actually had to take a break for a couple days due to the story being too intense. While this is not my usual type of novel I did enjoy the suspense of Nora trying to get a medical degree and being accepted by more then her adopted father Dr. Croft. Everything was tied up nicely and I did not finish the story with any questions or feeling like anything was lacking anywhere. 

Found

 

Found is the third and final book in the Mickey Bolitar trilogy. I had so many problems with the series overall but I will say I was extremely happy I had could check out the second and third book easily from the library. It is how I like to read series just start and finish it without having to wait weeks, months, or even years to get a book in a series.

Mickey is determined to find out the truth behind what happened to his mother, continue to help his friends, and find a way to be accepted onto the basketball team. Just like previous books I did not see much growth in Mickey nor did I really see anything go wrong for him. I get this is for young adults but people need to learn their are consequences to their actions. 

The writing was fine, the story moved at a nice pace, and I enjoyed not having much fluff in the story. What I did not enjoy is the way the story just stopped, nothing was resolved for anyone. All the kids were left emotionally traumatized, hanging in the air on what was going to happen to them, how the police and court system acted, and the biggest issue I have is the overall mystery of the series was left hanging. Sure you got a fast answer but no answer as to how things occurred. I did see that this was sort of a spin off of another book series Harlan Coben is writing but I will not be checking that series out. 

Seconds Away

 

Seconds Away is the second book in the Mickey Bolitar series. 

Once again the story is fast paced with little room for moments of calm. Mickey is continuing to get into trouble with his expeditions and it is hard to believe that so much has happened in less then a month. I still have problems with the way Mickey is portrayed he is 15 and acts way too mature and way too immature at times. It really makes it hard to understand him as a character. 

Mickey's Uncle Myron drives me crazy he just goes along with what Mickey does. It conveniently always around to bail him out of trouble and does not seem to really question irrational decisions made by Mickey. 

Ema is alright as a character she can be a bit touchy which would make sense for her since she is considered an overweight emo girl in a cookie cutter school. 

Spoon is my favorite of the characters but sadly he did not have much book time. Coming across as the typical nerd he does not really have friends until he befriends the new kid Mickey. Wanting a cool friend Spoon will do anything to impress him.

Just like last time the story ends on a big cliffhanger making you want to read the next book. I will see if the library has it but it is not a book I would consider buying it is not strong enough on its own to warrant reading more then one time. 

Shelter

 

Shelter was in the local free library so I grabbed it to give it a try. 

Mickey's life is all wrong, his father is deceased and his mother in rehab. Unable to talk to his estranged uncle Mickey does his best to keep his life in check as he starts a new school. On his first day he spies a lovely girl and decides to introduce himself. Soon he is considering the girl more then a friend but after a week or so of school the girl vanishes. She just never comes back to school, teacher have no clue what happened to her and when he goes to her house the middle age woman declares she has no daughter. Determined to find Laura Mickey starts investigating with his two new friends Ema and Spoon. Soon they are in way over their head as they learn not is all it appears to be.

Despite liking the story so many things were unbelievable and that really bothered me. Like Mickey getting two black eyes then a page later he can see just fine. Makes no sense at all. The writing was fine and went smoothly. It is a fast read, only took me a bit over a day to read. I do plan on continuing with the series only because it ended on a big cliffhanger. 

Someday Soon

 

Someday Soon is the first book in the Deliverance Company trilogy and if I had know that I would have read it before Sooner or Later.

Cain loves his job of saving people and is good at it. When no one else can extract the person Cain and his group of men get the job done one way or another. Life is going well when Cain meets Linette at Christmas party and cannot get her out of his mind. Unsure how to handle his feelings Cain stumbles around learning life is about more then work.

Linette has known sadness, her husband died far too young and she has slowly been working on moving on. Everything goes wrong though when she meets Cain and instantly feels attracted to him. Unable to accept Cain is a mercenary Linette decides to shut herself off to him and his dangerous line of work.

I really feel that Mrs. Macomber's early works have more life and depth to them then her current works. Some parts were not totally smooth but I still enjoyed the story a good deal. I read most of the book on a flight. I will have to find Sooner or Later to read. 

Moon Over Water

 

It was not until I got to the end that I realized I had read Moon Over Water before but that is alright since I enjoyed it just as much the second time. Nor did I catch that Moon Over Water was the third book in a series but it read fine as a stand alone.

Lorraine has her life figured out until her mother passes away in a car accident. Suddenly she learns her father is not dead but living in South American and she determined to go see him. Not understanding how rural of an area he lives in she phones the school he works at and then gets on a plane to go see him. It is not the reunion Lorraine expected when she is suddenly caught up with a smuggler and has to flee back to America on the boat of an ex mercenary. 

Jack wants nothing to do with Lorraine but he admires her father and gave his word he would get her safe to America. However Lorraine brings him nothing but trouble as his boat navigates the waters heading towards the boarder.

While I do occasionally read Mrs. Macomber's newer work it is really her older work that shines. I see why she became a best selling author but I do feel like she has lost some of the charm that her older stories had. I was able to read a large chunk while waiting at an airport but even without the time I could easily see myself getting lost in the story.