Mischief Becomes Her

Mischief Becomes Her by Kasey Michaels

Description:Jessica Sunshine and her sisters will do anything to prove that their father was murdered and that he did not kill someone. So in an effort to prove it they decide to take on the dead PI's cases and solve them. One of them must lead them to the murderer.

Jessica Sunshine is a TV reporter who will stop and nothing to get her man. She may be younger the homicide detective Matt Denby but she definitely is a match for him. Neither can deny their attraction for one another. Matt must keep Jessica out of trouble while helping her solve a case if he wants to put his friend (and her father's) name to rest.

Thoughts:
I am very interested in seeing where this series ends. I love the little mysteries in the story that help the main characters progress along in their relationships. Unfortunately I feel like there are still a lot of things to be solved before it can end - and as far as I can tell there is only one book left.

What genre would you consider this?
Romance

Overall:

Whacked

Whacked by Jules Asner

What was this book about?

Dani Hale is the stalking type. She has had a relationship with a man and can’t help but follow him, read his email, and find out all she can from him. And when she suspects him of cheating it is the end of that relationship and the beginning of a new chronic stalking mentality.

Dani should have it all. She has enough money to live on comfortably, a job in Hollywood allowing her to write for a CSI like show “Flesh and Bones”. She has good friends (who only begin to understand what she is like beneath the surface).

Dani feels she needs to know it all and she is going to figure it out one way or another. Life is just one big mystery that she can solve.

What did you think about the book?

I don’t know if I liked Dani or thought she was crazy. A big part of me thinks she is just crazy. I know many people have done something like that – read someone’s email, try to break their password to see their accounts, listen to their voice mail or see who they called last. But to do it continuously and to everyone (not even men she has an intimate relationship with) sees unstable.

But dispite all this it is a fun quick read.

What genre would you consider this?
Mystery that isn’t a mystery

Overall:

Where Are You Now?

Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark

What was this book about?

Carolyn has spent her teen years and twenties wondering what happened to her brother. One day he was a happy college student and the next he was missing. He calls back every Mother’s Day to tell her mother and her that he is all right. But is he really? She decides that she needs to find out the truth. Why is he hiding from all of them? When she tells him during his regular mother’s day call that she will be looking for him – he warns her away from it. What secrets does he have?

As she begins her investigation she opens the door to all sorts of possibilities. Including danger! When another girl goes missing in the same area as her brother people begin to wonder if he is to blame for all these missing girls.

What did you think about the book?

A mystery in the classic sense. You are given the ability to look into various people’s minds and actions to figure out if they are the kidnapper. Then you are given a glimpse at the kidnapper’s mind – with no sense of who he is to figure out his thoughts. So you are given all the puzzle pieces and you get to put them together with no help until the very end of the road.

In general it was interesting and has a happy ending (to some extent).

What genre would you consider this?
Mystery

Overall:

Dial M for Mischief

Dial M for Mischief by Kasey Michaels (Sunshine Girls Romantic Caper)

What was this book about?

Three very different sisters – Jade a detective who stayed with her father Teddy and built a business, Jolie who always wanted to be an actress and followed her dream and now is one, and Jessica a investigative reporter always in to figure out the story. Their father, a former cop, is accused of murdering the Mayor’s wife and killing himself. But none of his daughters believe that is true.

They take on the cases that he was working on at the time of his death, knowing that if they solve the right case they may also find their fathers killer.

Of course they can’t do this alone – it is a dangerous road. So they reconnect with lost loves and possibly future loves to figure it all out.

Jolie has always loved multimillionaire Sam Becket. She left him to see if she could make it and when things go from bad to worse he is always there to pick up the pieces. Can she leave behind the glitz of Hollywood for him? Last time she wouldn’t? Can he help her figure out the truth of her father’s death?

What did you think about the book?

I enjoyed this book a lot. Of course it has a semi-resolution that doesn’t leave yoou completely hanging in Jolie and Sam figure out their case. But there are still more out there for her sister’s to find.

I am not sure how I feel about the “extra” story in a story of Sam’s and Court’s cousin and the family legacy of leaving a fist sized emerald somewhere. It is only supposed to be found when it’s bad luck has run out. When she gets to that story I am sure it will fit better – but for right now it just seems like an extra plot point thrown in.

What genre would you consider this?

Romance

Overall:

Hold Tight

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

What was this book about?

Having a teen can be difficult work. When Mike and Tia’s son, Adam, begins acting weird they want to do everything they can to help him. His best friend recently committed suicide and they will do anything to keep him from repeating that mistake. So they decide to put a spy program on his computer. That way they can keep track of him.

Betsy Hill the mother of the teen who died of suicide – just wants to figure out what happened to her son. She figures out that Adam may have something to do with it and must track him down.

Next door neighbor Lucas Loriman is about to die if he doesn’t get a kidney transplant. But his father and him do not know what secrets his mother has – that could prevent it from happening.

When Adam disappears things are brought to a head. There is a lot going on in this neighborhood of what seems to be perfect, quiet families.


What did you like/dislike about the book?

I like how it all wrapped up at the end. Everything was brought in. They seemed to be almost divergent stories that you may not realize have something that makes them all intertwined.


What genre would you consider this?

Fiction

Overall: B

Goodnight Nobody

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

What was this book about?

Stay at home mom (and former journalist) Kate Klein found herself in the position she is currently in – through no planning of her own. She went from being an up-and-coming city girl to a stay at home suburban mother of three children under the age of 5. Kate is doing everything she can to fit in with the suburban mom crowd but she just doesn’t seem to get it right.

Then everything changes when one of her neighbors and mother is killed and Kate is the one that finds her. Kate cannot help but be drawn into the story – she wants to find the truth. With the help of her friend carpet heiress Janie Segal she will find everything out. Her neighbor definitely had many secrets.

When one of these secrets puts Kate back in touch with her former flame, Eric McKenna, Kate must make a decision. Is the family that she has built worth the excitement that she is missing.

What did you like/dislike about the book?

For me in some parts it was just a little slow. You never know much about the killed housewife until she died (which may be good – no time to mourn her). But it just seems odd that it is that small of a world – that they are all connected.

What genre would you consider this?

Mystery/Fiction

Overall: B-

Suddenly

Suddenly by Barbara Delinsky

What was this book about?

This book is a book of relationships. A small town is torn apart when doctor, friend, and mentor Mara O’Neill commits suicide. Everyone thought they knew her – especially her best friend Page Pfeiffer, but they had no idea the thoughts and secrets that she had hidden away in her mind.

We learn about how this affects Page. We follow Noah Perrine the headmaster of the private school in town. Noah can’t help but be attracted to Page, but Page has her own ideas about where her life is going and how things should move forward.

Other doctors in the practice Angie and Peter also have their own problems. Their lives aren’t as perfect as they thought they were. Angie’s marriage is falling apart and she hadn’t even noticed it. Peter has been in love with Mara, but has his own issues about his life and coming from a small town that he needs to get past before he can truly love anyone.

What did you like/dislike about the book?

The dynamic of the relationships were interesting. It seemed so real. All of those things happen: the person who seems fine but has a wall and secrets that make them kill themselves, the person who can’t open themselves up to love because of the plans they have made, the person whose marriage is falling apart partially because of focus on their child and lack of focus on the person they are in a relationship with. It all just seems so real.

What genre would you consider this?

Fiction

Overall: B+

Guilty

Guilty by Karen Robards

What was this book about?
Kate White has a past – she was one of several teenagers involved in a convenience store hold-up. To make matters worse an off-duty cop on the scene is shot and killed. Kate is forced to run and become a “new” person. She becomes a mother, a lawyer, and a prosecutor. Things are finally starting to work out for her.

Then things blow up in one of her court cases and she is blackmailed by one of the other people involved in the holdup. He is willing to make things up and tell everyone she killed the policeman if she doesn’t do as he asks. Cop, Tom Braga doesn’t believe her made-up stories of how things went down and investigates her. Their attraction cannot be denied.

Unfortunately the bad people who have found Kate will do anything to get her to do what they need her to do. Whether that involves her, Tom, or her son Ben.

What was your favorite part about this book?
The relationship between Ben and Tom is great. Tom can’t help but want to be a friend to the kid and it has nothing to do with his interest in the mom or the case.

What was your least favorite part about this book?
I thought I would have a hard time getting past her committing a horrible crime such as was committed. Thankfully the way the story was told – it wasn’t hard to get past it and just think that she was a mom trying to do her best for her kid. (Though I probably would have fessed up to Tom before she did and that was a little frustrating.)

What genre would you consider this?
Contemporary Romance

Overall: B-, generally good but not on the top of my list.

Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter

Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter by Nancy Atherton


What was this book about?
Lori Shepard is like any other mother. Her twins are finally ready to leave the house and start attending school and she can’t help but worry about them all the time. It is leaving her a little out of touch with reality. Then along comes a mystery she can’t help but try to solve. Her 5-year-old twins saw a vampire at her friend’s local estate. She and her friend Kit, look to find out what they really saw and find so much more.

What was your favorite part about this book?
I enjoyed the story of Kit’s always love Nell who is so good both inside and out people follow her just to be in her presence.

What was your least favorite part about this book?
Aunt Dimity doesn’t fit with the theme of the rest of the book. Aunt Dimity is some person who died, and magically can respond via a book to Lori.

What genre would you consider this?
Fiction

Overall: C-, I just didn’t enjoy it at all. It tried to be a mystery but didn’t pull that off, tried to have a paranormal twist and didn’t pull that off. Generally it just wasn’t at all what I expected based on the title or the inside jacket.

If I was to nominate this book for an award it would be: Book that tried to be a paranormal mystery and just can’t quite pull it off.

Blood Dreams

Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper

What was this book about?
Dani knows her dreams are more then dreams but often prophesies and that leads her back home to her twin sister Paris and the man she left behind. She is brought forth into the paranormal FBI world by Bishop and Hollis who need her to help solve a serial killer case. Dani already knows how things are supposed to end. Can she help change the future?

What was your favorite part about this book?
I liked the whole thing – I wanted it to keep going. I love Kay Hooper’s paranormal twist on mysteries. She keeps you interested and keeps giving people new and exciting “powers”.

What was your least favorite part about this book?
When it was over. I want more! Looks to be a series though so I can be happy.

What genre would you consider this?
Paranormal Suspense

Content in the book:
Romance: Some –Dani falls back in love with her old flame, the sheriff in her small town
Sex: Some
Mystery: Definitely you don’t know who did this until the very end.
Violence: This is about a serial killer so it inevitably has violence. This serial killer is not a nice person
Overall: A-, Loved it, loved it loved it! Can’t say more then that.