Untimely Death by Elizabeth J. Duncan

by Carol2 Comments
Untimely Death was my last read for R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril this year. I do enjoy this event. Thanks goes to the Estella Society for hosting this year. Untimely Death started out a little rough for me. Foreshadowing's all well and good, but phrases like  "but this year was going to be different; changes were coming. She could feel it." and, on the very next page, "And although she'd never been part of a real-life murder, that was about to change," are a bit heavy-handed, especially for what is quite clearly a cozy murder mystery. Happily it improved. There are certain settings I tend to enjoy, and behind the scene at a play is one of them. Charlotte, a talented costume, is our amateur sleuth who just so happens to be dating one of the local policemen. I liked her a lot. She just seemed like a good, nice person, who knows her job and the theater well. the other characters are well-developed, especially her assistant Aaron,...
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Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

by Carol4 Comments
Wicked Charms is silly and funny and cute. It's an adventure story/ treasure hunt, but it's all over the top. Lizzie is pretty sane, but she is surrounded by oddballs, like a young man who tends to talk like a pirate and her friend who tries out spells with varying degrees of success. We've got a very rich man who wants to become a demon incarnate - if he can quit barking. Diesel is sexy and a bit dangerous, a typical character for this kind of story, but his monkey pal is rude and a riot. There are a couple of moments of true danger for Lizzie, but she keeps her head, and - surprise- Diesel rescues her. I know the whole thing is goofy, but it made me smile, just like candy. It's a short read too, so I don't want to give too much away. There's not a lot of meat to the story, but that's the style. I actually...
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Candy Corn Murder by Leslie Meier

by Carol2 Comments
Candy Corn Murder is the first Lucy Stone I've read, even though it's #22 in the series. The cover is just too cute to pass up. That being said, maybe if I had read earlier ones in the series, I would have enjoyed this one more. The author spent a lot of time introducing the characters and getting us involved in the town life. As this was my first time in Tinker's Cove I appreciated it, but I feel like if you had read the others, you might be thinking "get a move on." Of course, I can't tell which are recurring characters and which are new to the series, so maybe it was all necessary. The murder itself and the solution was interesting, as was the reason a certain somebody was against the Halloween festival. I liked seeing Lucy hunt down the clues and put it altogether, but it was a bit rushed. My main problem, though, was I didn't really like...
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The Quick by Lauren Owen

by Carol3 Comments
The Quick was this year's RIP read-along, co-hosted by The Estella Society and Amanda at Fig and Thistle. I listened to the audio version and to be honest, I found it a bit boring. It was slow and atmospheric, but even the "exciting" parts didn't really grab my attention. I was kept waiting for something to happen and then when it did, it was rather anti-climactic. Here are the discussion questions and my comments. 1. What genre (or genres) would you say THE QUICK falls into? What genre or author influences do you see in this book? I think it's a mix between historical fiction and horror. There have been so many vampires over the years, but I think these fall more along the lines of Dracula and Anne Rice's set, although not nearly as sexy as hers. They are definitely monsters. 2. Emily Richter figures into many of the book’s most pivotal early scenes. How much do you think she knows or doesn’t know about James...
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The Visitant by Megan Chance

by Carol5 Comments
I don't usually read ghost stories, but this seemed like a perfect fit for RIP X and I do love Venice as a setting. To me, The Visitant had three parts: the setting, the ghost story, and the romance. The story is set in Venice but most of it takes place in the Basilio palazzo. It's the perfect setting: a crumbling old mansion, too cold and grey, in a city that, while romantic, is also decaying. The servants are hostile to Elena and the aunt is just flat out odd. There is a lot of time establishing the atmosphere. Elena is hoping to see Venice but seems trapped in this house. the setting is probably my favorite part of the story. The ghost story was not scary enough to keep me up at night, but progressed well. The ghost was clearly angry, and, unlike Elena, the reader knows it's a ghost from the beginning - the title tells us. It doesn't take...
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Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs by Erik Didriksen

by Carol4 Comments
Pop Sonnets is a cute, quirky little book. Didriksen takes popular songs from over the years, oldies through today's hits, and Shakepereanizes them, with the appropriate vocabulary and meter. There are few books I read parts of out loud to my husband, but this was one of them. It's fun to see how he takes songs we know and transforms them. Here are the opening lines of a couple of my favorites: Guns 'n' Roses, "Sweet Child o' Mine" Her smile, it doth recall a simpler time - the bygone years when I was but a boy; each day held some discovery sublime, each exploration brought some newfound joy. Spin Doctors, "Two Princes" Two noblemen before thee genuflect, entreating thee in ernest for thy hand. The first, he garners riches and respect; the other's only flights of fancy plann'd. Hmm, showing my age there, aren't I? The Eagles' "Hotel California," is immediately recognizable. I drove my carriage o'er the darken'd road when faintly I observ'd a distant inn. When I arriv'd, their greeting did forbode the vile debauchery I...
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