The Shadow House

 

I really struggled with The Shadow House despite it having been on my reading list. It took me to almost the end of the story to realize some was being told from a current time and some from the past. The overall story made way more sense when that finally clicked for me. A date of the chapter that switched to the past would have been nice. 

Alex was so annoying she just complained all the time about her toddler crying a lot and her teenage son being moody. The story moved super slow and I fell asleep several time trying to read. I did end up skimming some paragraphs that seemed to add nothing to the story. Just not a mystery that clicked for me overall. 

The Nanny Diaries

 

I wanted a lighter read after finishing Dawnlands so I choose The Nanny Diaries. 

While the story held my attention enough to keep reading I was pretty bored with the overall plot line. Mom's who want their kids to be seen never heard and locked away when they do not want to show them off. Expecting a young child to be perfect all the time and not explore like kids want to just seemed so unrealistic. My other issue was the main character's name was not revealed until around page two hundred. I thought it was a disrespectful thing calling her Nanny and not her name but maybe it was a nickname? Add in a misbehaving child that just wants attention from his parents and you have an odd mix of a story with sad yet funny moments. 

The House in the Pines

 

The House in the Pines was a book I randomly choose from the local e-library. I should have known the Reese's Book Club would make it not to my liking.

The story jumped around a lot and was super confusing since the transitions were not clear at all. The "mystery" was loosely held together and never fully answered. I kept waiting for ALL the murders to be explained. Nothing was explained with the killer's family life beyond horrible abuse. Maya was annoying and whined about everything. Large parts of the story did not seem to add to plot line at all and I just skimmed those. Absolutely nothing was resolved at the end and it felt like the story just stopped. 

Dawnlands

 

I won an advanced reader copy of Dawnlands in November of 2022 and just not finished it. This is one dense read but a wonderful read with well rounded characters. 

While I have not read the first two books in the series I was not lost as to what is going on but I did major in history which was helpful for keeping the nobles and royals in order. I loved how each character was their own but woven into a full story that kept me wanting to turn pages. One of the best thing is that Mrs. Gregory always includes a date and location so I never once got lost as to where the story was moving to. All the transitions were seamless and well articulated.

I loved the Livia she is such a conniving thing and I could totally picture the wheels in her head turning as she thought out every issue well in advance to make things in her favor. No matter if it is her son, lover, friends, the queen, or husband Livia will do what it takes to get ahead in the game of court. Without a doubt she was my favorite character. 

The inclusion of a female Indian was interesting as well. I really wish that more of her people with their rich customs was mentioned but I understand that is was not the right story for that. Rowan was my second favorite character. 

Like usual Mrs. Gregory writes about strong female characters that are molded into the time period perfectly. She is a master at painting a well rounded picture that clearly takes lots of research, a wonderful editor, and many hours of outlining the flow of the writing. 

The Secrets We Share

 

The Secrets We Share was randomly chosen from the local library. I could not sleep last night due to how warm it was so I stayed up and finished the second half of the story in one sitting. 

This is a hard review to write since everything jumped around so much and so many different characters points of views. I ma not even sure who the main character was since it felt like no one character dominated the story. Layers of mysteries were intertwined to make the story work including mysteries from the past. I did figure out who the main "criminal" was around the sixty percent mark. I am not sure if I am getting better at solving mysteries or just choosing stories where it is more obvious. 

All in all a nice read that distracted my mind from the heat. 

How to Sell a Haunted House

 

I really have no clue why my sleep deprived mind choose How to Sell A Haunted House since I do not like horror stories. Good thing I found the "horror" humorous and was not even slightly scared. 

Warning spoilers ahead. 

Louise is happy with her life except for the drama caused by her parents favoring her irresponsible younger brother whom they baby. Despite that she focuses on raising her daughter and being the best single parent she is able to. All that changes when her brother calls to inform her that both her parents have died in a car accident. Horrified at both of them being gone Louise quickly bundles her daughter off to his father so she can fly home and help deal with the estate. 

I was expecting jump scares of things not making sense and a normal house. The house was far from normal and considering it was full of creepy dolls and odd looking puppets it was very obvious that one of the dolls or puppets was behind the "haunting." Personally I have never had a fear of dolls coming alive to kill me so maybe that is why the story did not scare me in the slightest. The writing was super fluffy with far too much time spent on naming each puppet or doll individually. The injuries were not believable, like getting bite to the bone by a dog on the ankle then still able to get up and run. Deep scratches but the hospital not tending to that. Just seemed out of whack with what would really happen in reality. 

The Crown

 

The Crown is the fifth and final book in The Selection series. I am so glad to be done with the series, parts of it were painful to read and the story was drawn out way too much. 

Sadly Eadlyn did not get more bearable and continued to behave like a spoiled brat. I really wanted her to mature and become into her own instead of just demanding people conform to her every whim. Everything was super predictable about her as well, she made all the same mistakes over and over. Did not care for anyone else but herself. Ignored good advice from her family and was willing to use anyone she could to get what she wanted.

Like the last story the writing stayed consistent with Eadlyn's character. The story was way too drawn out though with minor problems being blown up into major problems. It made no sense and was just drama. At least no love triangle was in this story.

 

Wanted: Perfect Partner is one of Debbie Macomber's early works. I really like the slapstick humor and light nature of Mrs. Macomber's early work.

Meg is perfectly happy with life of running a bookstore and being a single mom to her teenage daughter. Lindsey has other ideas for her mother though and decides to put a personal in the newspaper finding her mother a date without telling her. Somehow the teen talks her mother into meeting a man she has been corresponding with and a whirlwind of trouble soon follows. 

Nancy is determined to play matchmaker for her bachelor elder brother. Instead of admitting she is searching for love for him Nancy just sets Steve up on a blind date. Not wanting to hurt the woman's feelings by not showing up he goes to explain everything. Soon though he finds himself tugged into Meg's life whether or not he wants that. 

This is a short story less then two hundred pages but it is complete. Some small character development but mainly laughs that kept me reading. 

The Heir

 

I had hoped I would continue to like The Selection series with The Heir but I should have stopped once America's story ended. 

Eadlyn is one of the most annoying, bratty, spoiled, and rude characters I have ever read. I will give this she is consistent and does not have moments of breaking protocol on how horrible she is in the story. Most of the time I just want to shake her and tell her to stop being such a brat. Despite that I do realize she has a heavy burden on her shoulders, becoming the first ruling queen of a country that has had male rulers since it was found. Also it does not help that everyone spoils her, maybe if she was not so pampered she would have a chance at a more normal life. 

The writing held through the same as the selection and it was nice to see the story told from the point of the person choosing. I feel like I know none of the boys most of the story focused on Eadlyn going poor me why do I have to do this and people should just love me. Just for the sake of finishing the series I will stick with the story and see if the library has The Crown available to borrow.