Girl, Forgotten

 

The first book I checked out on the Libby app and no where did I see Girl, Forgotten was the second book in a series. 

Emily is pregnant and unsure how, having no memory of the event she decides to investigate and attempt to figure out who could be the father of her child. Soon though she is asking the wrong questions and ends up barely clinging to life in a dumpster. Sadly Emily does not make it but her child does and years later a freshly initiated Marshall has reason to figure out who killed Emily and fathered her child. 

Andrea just wants to forget her father and that he is in prison but suddenly his past comes back to haunt her. Having graduated as a full fledged Marshall Andrea is shocked she is being given an assignment protecting a judge. Determined to do her best she is floored when she learns the assignment takes place with an unsolved murder and the town her father grew up in. 

Since I knew nothing about what Clay had done to Andrea and her mother I was in the dark about that it was never explained but mentioned a few times. I did not really feel a connection to Andrea but I did Emily. I skimmed a lot of parts just taking in the main parts of this story and nothing from the previous story. The writing was okay it switched between the past and present every chapter. 

The Year My Sister Got Lucky

 

Since I have not learned how to use Libby yet I choose a random book in my Nook library. I believe The Year My Sister Got Lucky is an old Free Friday book. 

Everything was told from the younger sisters point of view and boy was Katya (or Katie) annoying as heck. While I understand she is a fourteen year old girl all she did was complain. It was clear Katie was majorly jealous of her older sister, Michaela, and her talent at ballet. If only she could think about someone else and their personal struggles maybe she would have been more relatable. 

While I did not like the personality of Katya I did enjoy how the writing was consistent, it went smoothly and never had hiccups that left me confused. Besides Michaela all the other characters felt one dimensional and more like an after thought which was disappointing. I wanted to see Katya get closer to people besides Micaela. It was nice to take a break from all the mysteries I have been reading lately. 

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.