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Showing posts from September, 2022

Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...

Book Review: Berry the Evidence (Cranberry Cove, #7) by Peg Cochran

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Berry the Evidence (Cranberry Cove, #7) by Peg Cochran takes place in Cranberry Cove, where it's autumn.  Things start to get toasty when Monica's stepmom, Gina, arrives at her house and is frantic.  Gina had fallen asleep in her realtor's car.  When she woke up, Rip was dead from a gunshot, and Gina refuses to go to the police.  Monica decides to investigate in hopes of keeping her stepmom safe. A big thank you goes out to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the Advanced Readers Copy of Berry the Evidence (Cranberry Cove, #7) by Peg Cochran.  I was happy to receive this ebook for free in exchange for my honest review. I wasn't familiar with the author, Peg Cochran, prior to reading Berry the Evidence , so I wasn't sure what to expect.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  The novel was well written and paced perfectly.  I felt like I was right there in the town as I read the book.  Although it's the seventh book in the series, Be...

Book Review: Music From The Dead by Bebe Faas Rice

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Music From The Dead by Bebe Faas Rice is a young adult horror novel originally published in April 1997.  Marnie and her cousin Peter drive up to the mansion that Marnie's father rented for the summer ahead of her father.  When the cousins arrive at the mansion called Stonycraig and settle in, Marnie is nervous because she thought she saw a shadow in one of the windows.  Then, she starts hearing a woman crying late at night.  Are the stories about Stonycraig being haunted true? This is a book I originally read as a teenager, and I remember being impressed by the storyline and writing.  I recently decided to reread it as an adult to see if it was as good as I remembered.  I have to say it was phenomenal.  Well-written and unputdownable.   Even though there were parts that came back to me as I made my way through Music From The Dead , I still found it to be perfectly eerie and creepy.  There was even a little bit of romance but nothing ina...

Product Review: Vital Proteins & Jennifer Aniston, Peanut Butter Fudge

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A while back, I received a Vox Box from Influenster for free in exchange for my honest review.  The package contained three different flavored protein bars that are in the Vital Proteins & Jennifer Aniston line.  One of the flavors I received is Peanut Butter Fudge. Of all the flavors I received, the Peanut Butter Fudge bar is the one I was most excited to try, and I thought that this would be one of my favorites flavors.  However, I was disappointed in it.  It tasted very artificial, and I didn't care for the texture because it was a little waxy.  With that being said, it has less than one gram of sugar and fourteen grams of protein making it a great snack prior to lifting weights. Two out of five stars is what I give the Peanut Butter Fudge flavor of Vital Proteins & Jennifer Anniston protein bar.  I'd be willing to give it another try. Follow Us On Social Media

Book Review: Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta

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Book Review: Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta opens with John Goertz calling a meeting to deal with Y2K, but he bypasses the normal procedures and makes enemies at work, one of them being Steve Galanos.  After awhile, John and Steve become good friends.  After a few years, John leaves the company for a startup, and the two men's lives start going in different directions.  When John gets a windfall of money from a successful IPO, gets married, and buys a house, distrust builds to the two friends.  Yet, it's a housewarming party for John and his wife that leads to a tragic event. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the Advanced Readers Copy of Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta.  The synopsis and the cover of the book had me intrigued, so I was ecstatic to be selected to read and review this book ahead of its expected publication of October 6, 2022. The storyline for Many Are Invited is exactly what I tho...

Book Review: Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart

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Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart is a collection of three novellas with an expected publication date of September 27, 2022.  I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Kensington Books for free in exchange for my honest review.  I was delighted to have been chosen to read and review this collection ahead of publication. All three stories in this collection had a common thread . . . they all had characters that knitted and a scarf played an important part in each story.  Each story was a continuation of a cozy mystery series. Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O'Connor is about a theft at a local nursing home in Ireland.  When a dead body shows ups at the local tractor parade with the missing scarf around the deceased's neck, Siobhan O’Sullivan must connect all the dots.  This story started off slowly for me, and I found some of the slang difficult to figure out.  With that being said, the pre...

Product Review: Vital Proteins & Jennifer Aniston, Dark Chocolate Coconut Protein Bar

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A while back, I received a Vox Box from Influenster for free in exchange for my honest review.  The package contained three different flavored protein bars that are in the Vital Proteins & Jennifer Aniston line.  One of the flavors I received is Dark Chocolate Coconut.   I was worried that I wouldn't like this particular protein bar because I'm not a fan of dark chocolate because I find it to be bitter.  With that being said, I was completely surprised that I enjoyed the Dark Chocolate Protein Bar.  It wasn't bitter at all.  The coconut counter acted the bitterness of the chocolate.  The entire bar had a very enjoyable flavor and did not leave an after taste.  One of the best things about it is that it had less than one gram of sugar but still was sweet tasting.  The texture of the bar had a nice consistency. This bar is a perfect snack to grab and go on the way to the gym.  It's extremely filling without being to heavy on...

Book Review: The Invitation by Diane Hoh

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The Invitation Diane Hoh is a Point Horror novel for young adults published by Scholastic in September 1991 and is about five unpopular high school students receiving an invitation to the party of the year by one of the most popular girls in school.  The five unpopular students hope this will be a night they'll never forget. Diane Hoh was one of my favorite authors as a tween and teen, and I thought I had read all of her books with The Invitation being one of them.  However, in reading this book as an adult, none of it really felt familiar with the exception of maybe a line or two, so I don't think I ever read it. The majority of the characters were unlikable, and I was surprised that there was such an overabundance of unpleasant characters in this novel.  I found it even more remarkable that a couple of them were down right cruel.  The only two characters that I found likable are Sarah and Riley. With that being said, as a whole, The Invitation by Diane Hoh was w...

Book Review: The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond

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The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond is a Young Adult Novel about a young adult named Hannah Doe who time travels between the present day and 1347.  Hannah is brought into Belman Psych after what police thought was an episode in New York City and is told she is schizophrenic.  Is she really though? Thank you, NetGalley and LittleBrown Books for Young Readers, for the digital format of an Advanced Readers Copy of The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond.  I was delighted to be selected to review this book before it's publication. The synopsis for The Girl in the Castle was intriguing, and the cover art was amazing.  When I sat down to read this book, I wasn't sure what direction the authors were going to take.  I was expecting this book to be YA Fantasy.  There was a twinge of disappointment when I realized that it wasn't.  However, this book was a phenomenal read and one that took me less than twenty-four ho...