The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Summary: "Nicolas Fox, international con man, thief, and one of the top ten fugitives on the FBI's most-wanted list, has been kidnapped from a beachfront retreat in Hawaii. What the kidnapper doesn't know is that Nick Fox has been secretly working for the FBI. It isn't long before Nick's covert partner, Special Agent Kate O'Hare, is in hot pursuit of the crook who stole her con man."


Another fun and interesting installment! The con in this book wasn't my favorite though. I prefer the elaborate cons with more glitz and glam rather than sewers and disease. 


304 pages

The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton

A beautiful, haunting family saga, which follows the Soames family of western Missouri.  Interpersonal relationships are beautifully developed, individual perspectives masterfully intertwined, and shocking revelations were revealed!  I just loved it - it made me nostalgic for a time period I haven't experienced, if that makes sense.  It made me think about life on my parents' family farms. An American classic.

318 pages.

"The Company We Keep" by Kay Simone

The Company is a gang run by A.R. Carrow and his handpicked family of criminals.  They pull off dramatic heists around southern California for themselves and others and have stolen billions in the process.  When their demolition expert is killed, they must find a replacement who not only won't blow them to bits but will fit in with their family of outcasts and misfits.  Enter Dustin Wrenshall, an explosives professional who seems to pass all of their tests and who pushes the self control of Carrow with his fearless flirtation.  However, Dustin is really Charlie Judge, an FBI agent who's been trained to infiltrate and take down The Company.  (No, this isn't a spoiler; it's in the book's description.)

This is the best book I have read in a quite a while.  Everything the author did was spot on, and she seamlessly went back and forth between past and present, including Charlie's and Carrow's childhoods.  I was totally hooked not just by the suspense but also the characters and their relationships with each other.  The struggle that Dustin/Charlie has with working the case and his feelings for The Company nearly tear him and everyone else apart.  It was a really unusual and well written story, and I can't wait to read more by this author.  271 pages (Kindle edition).

"Why Love Matters" by Jay Northcote

Alastair is a man who does not like to touch or be touched by other people.  Unfortunately, he will soon be going to Italy to carry out a business deal with demonstrative people who may take offense.  Luckily his administrative assistant, Martin, grew up on a commune where his mother still lives and runs cuddle workshops for people like Alastair.  He's dubious but willing to try in order to close the deal.  Martin is patient and funny and takes Alastair's anxieties in stride.  This was an enjoyable and charming novella.  55 pages (Kindle edition).

"Love Me Tenor" by Annabeth Albert

This touching and sometimes funny book centers on Trevor Daniels and his role in a reality television competition between boy bands.  The producers want him to pretend to be in a relationship with one of his fellow band members to up viewership.  Having recently graduated from a religious college and been kicked out of his family for coming out of the closet, Trevor figures he has little to lose.  Unfortunately, things don't go as smoothly as he'd hoped.  His poor self-esteem, loneliness, and recent diagnosis of diabetes, which he tries to hide from everyone, nearly does him in.  Luckily, he does manage to befriend the singer with whom he's been paired for "romance," Jalen Smith, a natural caretaker with a beautiful voice.  Can he help Trevor work through his problems enough for their group to win the competition?

This was a fun story with lots of characters and two likable, compassionate leading men.  Poor Trevor goes through so much with his health, his family, and his lack of confidence that it's not hard to root for the guy.  Jalen starts off a bit gruff but turns out to have a very caring side not just for Trevor but for his own family as well.  This was book two in the Perfect Harmony series; I did not read book one but do not feel like I missed anything.  232 pages (Kindle edition).

"Love in Transition" by Emma Marie Leya

This was a lovely story of Lexi, formerly Alexander, and her fight not to fall in love with John, a championship skier.  Although she is still biologically a man, Lexi has been confirming her identity by living as a woman for the past several years.  She was kicked out by her family and has been living with her best friend and working as a waitress ever since graduating high school.  Living in Park City, UT, has given Lexi the opportunity to indulge in her passion, skiing.  When she witnesses the collision of a large bird with a skier, she rushes to help not knowing that meeting the man will change her life forever.  She and John are immediately attracted to each other, but she insists that they can only be friends.  As they grow closer and spend more time together, Lexi knows that she will eventually have to tell him the truth.  Solid and empathetic writing and a unique main character in Lexi made this a sensitive portrayal of gender identity and sexuality.  133 pages (Kindle edition).

One Corpse Too Many, by Ellis Peters

This is the second in the mystery series featuring Brother Caedfell, a well-traveled monk who makes use of sharp skills of observation to solve mysteries.  These stories are set in the English middle ages, and Peters does a great job of making the setting, characters, and Brother Caedfell's detective role believable.  This is a fairly straightforward murder mystery, but also involves some intrigue over the rivalry for the English throne.  A fun read.  188 pages.

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

"They just know the nature of things too well to be caught in that wanting."  Steinbeck provides a snapshot of life as lived by the inhabitants of Cannery Row who value life experience over tangible comforts.

196 pages.

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was okay for the first 80%, and then the last 20% was all blah and not convincing. It also made me question the point of the story, and now, I am not not sure there even was a point to this story.

It's a backwards twist on a bucket list, which was fun. The best part is the adorable relationship between these two best friends. The worse part is that the story lies about character emotions, throughout, in order to inform the final outcome, which is typical and uninspired, at best.

Page: 288

Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate

Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This has 7 POVs, and they aren't all distinct. The female voices, in particular, really blend together. I listened to this on audiobook, which made it even harder to settle in to the story.

Overall, it's still a good story. Typically, I love multiple POVs, but this felt like a gimmick, instead of an effective storytelling solution. In fact, I think the story would have been significantly better, had it been reduced to only a few POVs.

It's 3.5 stars for me, but I rounded up, since it attempted to maintain my attention. The writing is decent. The story is okay. It's just hard to fully settle down or get invested in anyone, and the lack of voice can be really disconcerting at times, especially when you're trying to keep 7 different perspectives straight.

So now I've made it sound really terrible, but there were still things I enjoyed about it, including the writing style, in general. I kept reading, which means it kept my attention, despite the fact that I was unclear about 70% of the time which character was currently telling the story.

I don't recommend the audiobook. The performance is good, but it makes it even harder to differentiate between the 7 POVs. This is one where you need to pause at the start of every section and think about who is talking before you start reading, otherwise you'll spend half the book uncertain who is currently telling the story.

Pages: 352

Leaving Everything Most Loved: Maisie Dobbs Book 10, by Jacqueline Winspear

Only a few months has elapsed since Maisie investigated the gruesome death of costermonger Eddie Petit, in 1933.  Her trustworthy assistant Billy Boggs was badly beaten during that investigation, leaving all of the investigative work to Maisie. She is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his sister two months previous. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
The case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie's personal life.These novels have always considered the class stratification that is British life; Maisie has transcended both gender and class rules, but race enters the picture in this novel.  The British are clearly prejudiced against the Indians despite their colonization of the subcontinent.  Maisie does a brilliant job of putting the class and race hatred in its place as she solves this difficult crime.
Bringing a crucial chapter in the life and times of Maisie Dobbs to a close, Leaving Everything Most Loved marks a pivotal moment in this outstanding mystery series.
368 pages

Elegy for Eddie: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, Book 9, by Jacqueline Winspear

The time is early April 1933: To the costermongers of Covent Garden -- sellers of fruits and vegetables with horse-drawn carts on the streets of London - Eddie Pettit was a gentle soul with a near-magical gift for working with horses. When Eddie is killed in an especially violent accident, the grieving costers are deeply skeptical about the cause of his death. Who would want to kill Eddie -- and why?
Maisie Dobbs' father, Frankie, had been a costermonger, so she had known the men since childhood. She remembers Eddie fondly and is determined to offer her help. But it soon becomes clear that powerful political and financial forces are equally determined to prevent her from learning the truth behind Eddie's death. Plunging into the investigation, Maisie begins her search for answers on the working-class streets of Lambeth where Eddie had lived and where she had grown up.
The inquiry quickly leads her to a callous press baron; a has-been politician named Winston Churchill, lingering in the hinterlands of power; and, most surprisingly, to Douglas Partridge, the husband of her dearest friend, Priscilla. As Maisie uncovers lies and manipulation on a national scale, she must decide whether to risk it all to see justice done.
368 pages

A Lesson In Secrets: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, book 8, by Jacqueline Winspear

1932 finds Maisie Dobbs being asked to take an first assignment for the British Secret Service!  She leaves her business in her assistants' hands and goes undercover to Cambridge as a Classics professor—and leads to the investigation of a web of activities being conducted by the emerging Nazi Party.

When the college's controversial pacifist founder and principal, Greville Liddicote, is murdered, Maisie is directed to stand back as Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane and Detective Chief Inspector Richard Stratton spearhead the investigation. She soon discovers, however, that the circumstances of Liddicote's death appear inextricably linked to the suspicious comings and goings of faculty and students under her surveillance.
To unravel this web, Maisie must overcome a reluctant Secret Service, discover shameful hidden truths about Britain's conduct during the Great War, and face off against the rising powers of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the Nazi Party—in Britain.
352 pages

An Incomplete Revenge: Maisie Dobbs Book 5, by Jacqueline Winspear

In this mystery, the psychologist/investigator, Miss Maisie Dobbs must dig deep into a village's long-buried secrets. The adult son of Maisie's benefactors, Lord and Lady Compton, tycoon James Compton, wants to buy an estate in the bucolic hamlet of Heronsdene, but is wary after a string of mysterious fires. Maisie soon proves Compton's suspicions correct when she encounters the shady current landowner and a vaguely menacing band of Romas (Gypsies) in town for the seasonal harvest. The locals are also curiously tight-lipped about Heronsdene's wartime tragedy, when a zeppelin raid wiped out a family. Teasing out Heronsdene's secrets will take all the intrepid former nurse's psychological skills and test her ability to navigate between the Roma and gorja (non-Roma) worlds. Winspear vividly evokes England between the wars, when the old order crumbled and new horizons beckoned working women like her appealing heroine.

352 pages

Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope somehow falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nick's twin sister, Georgina, isn't so sure, so she calls on Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. It isn't long before the evidence surrounding Nick's death leads Maisie to the beaches of Dungeness in Kent and the underbelly of London's art world, in another confrontation with the perilous legacy of the Great War.
319 Pages

The Mapping of Love and Death: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, book 7, by Jacqueline Winspear

August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California’s beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe. Michael—the youngest son of an expatriate Englishman—puts duty first and sails for his father’s native country to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed among those missing in action.
April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Michael’s parents, who have recently learned that their son’s remains have been unearthed in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among Michael’s belongings—a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the soldier’s family and even Maisie herself. Over the course of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her growing awareness that she is once again falling in love.
368 pages

Among the Mad: Maisie Dobbs Novel, book 6, by Jacqueline Winspear

It's Christmas Eve 1931. On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. The following day, the prime minister's office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met - and the writer mentions Maisie by name. After being questioned and cleared by Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane of Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch, she is drawn into MacFarlane's personal fiefdom as a special adviser on the case.
Meanwhile, Billy Beale, Maisie's trusted assistant, is once again facing tragedy as his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their young daughter, slips further into melancholia's abyss. Soon Maisie becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and will to inflict death and destruction on thousands of innocent people.
303 pages

Pardonable Lies: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

A deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world. In accepting the assignment, Maisie finds her spiritual strength tested, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission also brings her together once again with her college friend Priscilla Evernden, who served in France and who lost three brothers to the war, one of whom, it turns out, had an intriguing connection to the missing Ralph Lawton.
359 pages

Birds of a Feather: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

Somehow I began this series with the second book, but one of the best features of the series is each book's ability to stand on its own.  Maisie is an intelligent, clever woman working as a private investigator and psychologist in and around London, during the period between the world wars. Her background makes her uniquely suited for the work; she began life under the stairs as a serving girl in a great house in London.  However, starved for knowledge, she would sneak up into the grand library and spend her nights reading, which came to the attention of her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton. She became Maisie's patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan's friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to complete her education. But when the first World War broke out, she lied about her age and went to the front as a nurse.  The station where she worked was destroyed by artillery fire leaving her injured and the doctor she had fallen in love with, a shell of a man.  The writer is vague about his injuries, but he remains in hospital the rest of his life, unable to speak.  Maisie returned to her studies and an apprenticeship with Maurice Blanche, which explains how she came to her career as an investigator with profiling skills.
In Birds of a Feather, it is spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. But what seems a simple case at the outset soon becomes increasingly complicated when three of the heiress’s old friends are found dead. Is there a connection between the woman’s mysterious disappearance and the murders? Who would want to kill three seemingly respectable young women? As Maisie investigates, she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.
320 pages

United as One by Pittacus Lore

Summary: "The seventh and final book in the #1 New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series! With United as One, this action-packed series comes to a surprising, breathtaking, and utterly satisfying conclusion. The Garde didn’t start this war, but they’ll do whatever it takes to end it once and for all. . ."

I can't believe this series is over. 

It's been a part of my life for almost 5 years now, and I don't want it to end! 

The Garde finally have their ultimate knock-down, drag-out showdown with the Mogs. The battles were more intense than I ever expected. I was crying and freaking out for a large portion of the book. 

No other book series has quite matched the level of teamwork and ragtag family vibes as the Lorien Legacies. I wish more book series developed this level of friendship and value among its characters. It's truly a special reading experience. 

For your reference, the book order goes:

I am Number Four
The Power of Six
The Rise of Nine
The Fall of Five
The Revenge of Seven 
The Fate of Ten
United as One

There are also many short stories and "lost files" that supplement the books (I haven't read those). 

467 pages

When We Collided by Emery Lord

When We Collided by Emery Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story is chaotic and delightful on so many levels. Vivi and Jonah are complex, well-developed characters who are dealing with a lot of big issues, such as Vivi's bipolar disorder, and the fact that Jonah's mom checked out after his father died, leaving him to carry the burden of parenting his younger siblings.

This story manages to be both playful and heavy. It probably deserves a 4.5, but I'm going to stick with my original gut-impulse rating system.

Pages: 352

Pivot Point by Kasie West

Summary: "Perfect for fans of Sliding Doors, Kasie West's riveting novel Pivot Point follows a girl with the power to see her potential futures.

Addison Coleman's life is one big "What if?" As a Searcher, a special type of clairvoyant, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she is able to look into the future and see both outcomes. So when her parents tell her they are getting a divorce and she has to pick who she wants to live with, a Search has never been more important. With so much to lose in either future, Addie must decide which reality she's willing to live through . . . and who she's willing to live without."

I love Kasie West's books, and I devoured Pivot Point. Her books are so fun and easy to read. Kasie is really good at building friendships and relationships between her characters. I also appreciate the humor that peppers all of her books. It's a nice relief! 

Some of the sci-fi elements of this book was a little confusing, especially telekenetic football...it just didn't make sense. But, I did enjoy the similarities to Maybe In Another Life - the dual life format is thrilling! 

343 pages