Stay, by Allie Larkin

BUY ON AMAZON

This well written, humorous story in the first person point of view of Savannah “Van” Leone, is not a favorite storyline of mine. The characters are well developed, especially Van, but Van finds herself drunk and whining and crying way too much for my liking. Kinda stuck in the muck and wallow phase. Absolutely love Joe the dog, and that he’s from Slovakia, thus he only understands commands spoken in his native tongue, Slovakian. So funny! Of course, Van was drunk when she bought the awesome german shepherd dog on the internet. I got excited on page 131, which seemed like a pivotal moment for Van from victim to freedom and control of her life. Then BAM! Peter, the love of her life who just married her best friend, Janie, calls from JFK airport, “Van, I need you”, and here we go again with the whining and drinking and crying. The author, Allie Larkin, pulls it all together in the end, plunging beneath the surface characters, into their hearts, and was able to illustrate deep-seated human experiences that are riveting, and relatable. Exquisite writing really. The story line just didn’t ring my chimes.

To Catch a Bad Guy, by Marie Astor

I enjoyed reading TO CATCH A BAD GUY, by Marie Astor very much. This was the perfect book for me to read while sitting on the porch with an ice tea, enjoying the last days of summer. It is an easy to read linear story centered around Janet Maple, a 29-year-old attorney. She lost her job at the District Attorney’s Office due to downsizing; or, more accurately, betrayal by her then boyfriend, Alex Kingsley, who took credit for her work in order to advance his own career, then fired her in the “downsizing” process.   Janet’s childhood friend and neighbor, Lisa Foley, gets her a job with Bostoff Securities as General Council, an in-house corporate attorney’s position. Unfortunately, Janet notices nonethical trading methods within Bostoff Securities that worry her. The best part is the revealing of how Lisa, as a friend, has somehow always caused Janet to end up on the bottom rung of the ladder, uncomfortable situations, in their relationship. Lisa is one of those self-absorbed, self-serving friends that ends up hurting instead of helping. I like that Janet always takes the high ground in their friendship. Regardless the discomfort brought on her by “the queen bee” high school friend, Janet remains a loyal friend looking out for the best interest of Lisa. Yeah! The type of protagonist that I can relate to, and be apathetic with.

Janet is so often victim to Lisa’s match making attempts. Lisa keeps trying to set Janet up with good looking rich men. In this story, these potential good husband-provider types all have questionable morals. Enters Dean Snider, aka Dennis Walker, an undercover agent working to catch the Wall Street criminals. Janet has an immediate attraction to Dean Snider when she meets him on her first day at work at Bostoff Securities, sitting at her desk in her office “fixing her computer” (bugging her computer). She throws up her defenses once she finds out he deceived her and is actually an impersonator; a spy. The romantic tension is delightful to the end where we are left hanging. Thus, I now have to read Book Two of the Janet Maple Series, because I am the cat that will die of curiosity until I know if they finally get together, or just become good friends and partners in crime, i.e., catching the bad guys. Gotta know!

BOOK REVIEW - WISHFUL THINKING by Kamy Wicoff

BUY ON AMAZON

I love this sort of fairytale science fiction. This story deals with a common issue that most single mothers who struggle to balance, or just survive, a very demanding job, plus maintain home and family with what’s left over of their exhausted self at the end of the day; raising kids as an absentee parent; missing recitals; wishing the babysitter would actually help, not leave a mess. Wishing they could be in two places at once. I also like that once Jennifer Sharpe, the protagonist of the story, is granted her wish by some fluke of fate, via a miracle application installed on her phone, the “watch what you wish for” conundrum surfaced.

The time travel, relatable characters, and commanding writing skills of Kamy Wicoff had me hooked. Then, the highly intelligent scientist, inventor, math genius, eccentric, Dr. Diane Sexton was thrown into the mix, along with her lover, Dr. Susan Terry, a renown physicist in the annals of scientific achievement, and a good story became great to me. Strong, intelligent, trail-blazing women are a favorite of mine.

Great story. Great writing. This one is a keeper.  

Frozen: Two Suspenseful Short Stories by Marcy Kennedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The five stars are for Marcy Kennedy's writing skill. I get the feeling that she whips these little horror stories out with no effort at all. The subject matter is gory. I am more of a 'Little House on the Prairie' sort of guy, but as a want to be writer I read beyond my comfort zone. The first of these short stories was about a wife being betrayed by her husband and best friend by making her think she was crazy, and just before being locked away she sees what they had done but it was too late. Sort of a one flew over the cuckoo's nest sort of thing. A thriller, but I could take it. The second story is about a young girl with a history of mental disease, who is so psycho she murdered, then murdered to correct the first murders because she realized they were a mistake - huge thriller. I did not take this one well, and may have to go seek professional help to get over the trauma. If you like thriller's read Marcy Kennedy's books.

View all my reviews

YAR, ME LIKES IT - BOOK REVIEW

Unicorn Western by Sean Platt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I put off reading this book because the title reeked of absurdities. My bad. UNICORN WESTERN is a delightful treat for readers, no matter their preferred genre. I don’t usually read fantasies, but I liked Johnny B. Truant's "The Fat Vampire", so I