I read this book in one sitting. It is a definite page turner and sucks you in. But after the sublime high that was What I Did For a Duke, t3.5 stars.
I read this book in one sitting. It is a definite page turner and sucks you in. But after the sublime high that was What I Did For a Duke, this was a bit of a (small) disappointment. This book simply did not capture the sheer loveliness of the romance and the hilarity of the dialogue of that one.
Julian, the Marquess of Dryden is a trend-setter. Whatever he does is slavishly copied -- from what types of horses he buys, to how he wears his hair (there is quite an amusing/disastrous ripple effect in the story that is all based on an accidental hairstyle), to what he wears -- everything is studied and then repeated. With one word, one gesture he can make something IN or OUT.
His father was a gambling wastrel who, in a matter of mere years, managed to fritter away and destroy the family fortune that took generations to build. When Julian inherited the title at a young age, he studiously, carefully, ruthlessly built the family fortune back up property by property, cent by cent. Only one thing is left to retrieve, his mother's dowered lands which have been attached to another young lady's dowry. Figuring he has to marry anyway he enters into negotiations to marry Miss Lisbeth Redmond. He travels to Pennyroyal Green to begin his courtship.
Once there, however he runs into Phoebe Vale. A teacher at a local prestigious girl's academy. Phoebe immediately wrests his attention with her atypical reactions to him. The two embark upon a series of revealing conversations.
The conversations between these two are really the centerpiece of this book. Julian and Phoebe begin by lobbing soft balls at each other that quickly become fast paced volleys that would do the Williams sisters proud. They spar and tease and flirt and try to verbally out wit each other. Every time they come in contact it is yet another round of intimate revelations, conversational gems and fast paced repartee.
JAL also is a master at creating romantic set pieces. Julian and Phoebe begin to fall in love and there are several scenes where, while they do not acknowledge it, they are intensely aware of their building feelings. Some of the scenes are lightly comic and others are darkly romantic.
The book soars when it centers on Julian and Phoebe interacting. It stumbles when it forces them to wander around in a plot that felt disjointed and, well, plotty (for want of a better word). There were points when you could almost see the gears working in the background..."I need this character to be here and feel this so I am going to place this here." It felt...off.
Another smallish disappointment is that neither Phoebe nor Julia are either Redmonds or Everseas. So this book felt almost tangential to the series. Although random members of both families manage to be present in the course of the story, I miss the colorful characters that inhabit both families when a book is centered squarely on them. But, JAL does manage to sprinkle in a few more tidbits surrounding the mysterious romance/breakup of Olivia Eversea and Lyon Redmond.
The set up and first third of this story is actually great, filled with all kinds of angsty potential.
Ian Gregory and Angela, Lady Wriothstley were haThe set up and first third of this story is actually great, filled with all kinds of angsty potential.
Ian Gregory and Angela, Lady Wriothstley were having a torrid affair for more than a year. Finally they got the nerve to run away together only to be killed in a carriage accident during the getaway.
Their left behind spouses deal with the death and the affair in different ways. Leah George, the widow of Ian, has known about the affair for a whole year having walked in on them during a...moment. She isn't at all sad her husband is dead.
But Sebastian, the Earl of Wriothesly is devastated. He'd been madly in love with his wife and Ian had been his best friend. Now all those times in the past year when his wife was "too sick" to be with him take on a new meaning.
So, yeah, this is a great set up. Unfortunately as I read on I wasn't completely engaged in the aftermath of events. And sometimes I scratched my head at some of the actions of the characters, especially Leah.
I dunno, I wanted Leah and especially Sebastian to somehow come to terms with what their spouses did. I don't feel that happened very well. Leah felt so suppressed and imprisoned during her sham of a marriage as a result of the affair, that she acts out after her husband's death. Just a mere few months later she gives a house-party, scandalizes people and ruins her reputation. Why? How is this supposed to restore her self esteem or heal herself? What power does she gain in that time and place? It just felt like a bone-headed decision that killed about 2/3 of the book and the possibility of a great emotional read.
I also did not get why Sebastian fell in love with Leah. He was so in love with his wife. I mean, he was schmoopy in love! He does some grieving over the death and the affair, but not enough, imo, for a man who was that in love. Too much of what went on was from Leah's pov. I would have loved to follow Sebastian's journey from rage to acceptance of the affair. As it was, it happened off-screen and rather quickly.
Sadly, the most fascinating thing about this book wasn't the H/h but rather the two dead people. Each chapter opened with a snippet of one of Angela's love letters to Ian (Leah finds them after Ian's death). It is clear that Angela wasn't just having an affair, she was in love. Really in love.
Ian was a bit more enigmatic. There are no letters from him. And, disturbingly, even after Leah discovers the Angela and Ian together, Ian continues his conjugal relations with her.
But I was intensely fascinated by the adulterers. What made them fall in love so much so to cheat on the spouses who by all accounts loved them so? How did Ian feel about Angela? Obviously he loved her enough to run away with her. But I wanted to know why? What did Angela say or feel when Leah came upon them?
See? This it is not a good sign when I want to know more about the dead pair than the live pair.
The book had potential but did not live up to it, imo. ...more
I am not normally a fan of novellas. I usually need length to feel satisfied. So many novellas leave you feeling like you just had a small nibble fromI am not normally a fan of novellas. I usually need length to feel satisfied. So many novellas leave you feeling like you just had a small nibble from a teensy snack tray.
But I have to give it up to Ilona Andrews. In all their novellas I have read Silver Shark, Silent Blade and this one as well, I feel like they manage to pack a LOT of story in a little book. And while I don't feel 100% full, I at least feel like I had a really meaty appetizer that will tide me over til the full course is ready.
The main story was a neat race against time where Kate and Curran do their mighty best to save a little boys life. In true K&C fashion they manage to kill a few people (& things) and piss off a few people (& things). It felt like a full-on Kate Daniels adventure. I marvelled at how many aspects of the world they managed to tie into the one story and manage to propel the overall story arc in a tiny but potentially significant way.
A welcome little Xmas gift treat from the Andrewses....more
The detail of the job of firefighters. When the book when there is was great. Not too much, not too teachy,The good parts of this book were very good:
The detail of the job of firefighters. When the book when there is was great. Not too much, not too teachy, rather just the right amount of excitement and danger so that you know you aren't reading a book where the characters aren't artificial flavoring fire-fighers.
The romance between Jenny and Grady was great. It was a pitch perfect friends-to-lovers story, where given their background, you had to wonder why they never tried before. They have been friends since they were five years old. They live next door to each other in a side-by-side duplex where they cut the wall out between the two houses and built a french door so they have access to each other's houses easily. It is a no-brainer why their other relationships never worked out. Nobody could match the connection they had with each other even when it was only a friendship one. But it was well done how freaked out they got when they started to think of each other that way.
The ensemble of characters were also great. The big Malvaso family, which was close and loving but full of neurosis was fun to read about. I also am gratified that Zach's ex-wife was a good, decent person but not a noble martyr. Good for her sticking to her guns.
But not so fantastic parts are what dragged the book a bit, though.
I never understood why Zach was the way he was. There was nothing to explain his demons.
Infidelity was rampant in this book.
Mitch was a bit of a wuss. I just wanted him to put on his big-boy pants and deal with is wife.
Megan was a Mary Sue. She was just too perfect, imo.
Mitch's wife was a cardboard monster. We know we are supposed to not like her to clear the way for Mitch and Megan, but really she could have used some depth.
There are two other books in the series but I probably won't follow up. ...more
I would characterize this book as one where the parts are better than the whole.
This is the author's debut novel and I must give my biggest praise forI would characterize this book as one where the parts are better than the whole.
This is the author's debut novel and I must give my biggest praise for the writing. There are moments of absolute brilliance in the writing here. Places where Theo's thoughts are almost poetic or where one of Martha's observations (usually about male sexuality) is so dry and dead-on that I was startled into laughter.
She also created a very strong sense of place. I felt very much the poverty of the tenant farmers on Theo's land and the class distinctions that existed between the titled class, local gentry and the laborers.
Theo was also a well developed character that didn't feel like a typical romance hero. He is a wastrel son and acts like it. But not in the dissipated, don't-give-a-damn alpha hero way. But rather in the way a spoiled heir would behave. He has no discernible skills but his father exiles him to their Sussex estate to make him grow up a little. Underneath it all he is a good person who through the book learns responsibility. He is also warm and approachable. And while you might sometimes wonder at the ease in which he enters into a bargain with a total stranger to make a baby, you are never in doubt of his sincerity in trying to connect with the heroine on both a physical and emotional level.
And therein lies what I think is one of the more problematic issues with the novel. The heroine Martha. In some ways she is a great character construct. She is somewhat of a reformer, believing in education of women and the bettering of the poor. She is high minded and somewhat of a rigid moralist (the whole conceive-a-baby-and-pass-it-off-as-your-dead-husband's-to-keep-an-estate scheme notwithstanding). I really didn't mind the more rigid aspects of her personality or even the prickliness of her nature, necessarily. But Somehow everything added up to her being a very distant person who I found to be hard to really like. I really tried to put my finger on why I found it so difficult to warm to her. In the end I think it is because her inner dialogue and thoughts didn't really let me in. Her private thoughts were just as distancing as her external actions. So as a reader I couldn't really get in sympathy with her.
There was also a layer of hypocrisy there as well. Truthfully Martha does acknowledge this, but still, I couldn't help but dislike the fact that she felt very moralistic and judgey regarding Theo's attempts to actually get her to enjoy sex. She couldn't like having sex because that would be wrong. But propositioning a stranger to get you pregnant to steal an inheritance was ok?
My other main issue with the book is the pacing. The lion's share of the book took too much time with Martha being distant & moral and judgey and with Theo trying his mighty best to thaw her out. It was sometimes uncomfortable to read about her unbending will to stay unaffected and his disappointment in his efforts. It had the effect of making the book feel like it was standing still. The bedroom scenes served to stall the forward momentum because it seems like Theo was making no progress whatsoever.
When Martha gets into the groove, begins to enjoy herself and actually has an orgasm (finally!), I noticed only about 77 pages left in the book. But it was as if that opened up a dam or something because those last 77 pages moved much better than the first 269 pages. The pace crackled, events got exciting, I couldn't wait to see how the whole plan turned out. While I struggled a bit to get into that first part of the book, that last bit became a real page turner.
I liked how things did turn out and I liked the ending. So while this book didn't work for me on some levels, I would definitely look for future books by this writer....more
This book and the previous book #4 in this series Line of Fire were improvements over the first three books in the series, imo. My biggest peeve of thThis book and the previous book #4 in this series Line of Fire were improvements over the first three books in the series, imo. My biggest peeve of the series up through book #3 was that I felt a dearth of fire-fighting to justify these characters being actual fire-fighters. The last two books seemed to remedy that. There was a definite up-tick in the work element.
I was looking forward to this one the most because Sean's story arc that began in book #1, as the embattled alcoholic who was trying to numb the pain of watching his family die and his daughter burn alive, was really intensely interesting and carried me through the series quite a bit. I also am a sucker for unrequited love (when done well). I thought Eve's quiet longing for Sean throughout the series was quite affecting and a great set up for when they finally got their story. I was already so invested in them that I connected with them immediately while reading.
So while one of my biggest dissatisfaction with the series so far has been somewhat addressed, my other big problem with the series was still in full force in this book. The villain. I think the villains have been the achilles heel for this whole series. They were too broadly written, no nuance whatsoever. We get a lot of their inner dialogue and planning. And unfortunately much of it sounds like it could have been accompanied by evil laughter and ominous piano music.
The romance and the connection between the couples remains the strongest element in these books. And frankly it was what kept me coming back even with the eye-rolling villains. Sean and Eve were no different. They have incredible chemistry and squeaked past Howard and Kat from the first book Trial by Fire as my favorite couple of the series (Howard, though, remains the series MVP, love that guy!)
I was happy to see Sean working through his demons finally and accepting Eve's love. They even had a few bumps that were nicely realistic. Eve is also a fantastic character. She had been established throughout the series as a tough, straight shooter who was one of the few who had no problem confronting Sean while he was drunk. Her character remains true in this book. She doesn't mince her words, she doesn't play games and she can piss with the big boys.
Not sure if this is the last book in the series. If so then it is going out on a high note. If not, that is good too because it feels like the series has finally hit it's stride....more
I skipped over the 2nd book in the series because my library didn't have it, but I don't feel I missed anything by skipping it.
Another book that goes I skipped over the 2nd book in the series because my library didn't have it, but I don't feel I missed anything by skipping it.
Another book that goes down easy. The things that make this book good are the same things I liked in the first book, Trial by Fire. And the things that stopped this book from being a five or even four star for me are the same things that I had problems with in the first book as well. Mainly the thin details on fire-fighting and the villain.
At this point I almost feel that the fact that the characters are fire-fighters is almost incidental. A hook or gimmick to connect the stories. We get maybe one, if we are lucky, two incidents that have anything to do with firefighting. The rest is bound up in the suspense storyline. The characters could have been almost any profession really.
This book was also a bit hampered by what I call coincidence-itis. I thought there were too many places where the hero's past and present converged in a way that didn't feel completely plausible.
But I continue to like the character interaction, especially among the team. I also like the continuing sub-plot with Sean. The intervention was a great scene and I think how the author is dealing with his struggle with alcoholism feels realistic and is paced really well. ...more
My overall impression of this book is that is was a fine read for a Saturday afternoon. I gravitate toward books that feature a largish ensemble cast My overall impression of this book is that is was a fine read for a Saturday afternoon. I gravitate toward books that feature a largish ensemble cast that do interesting things. So I am pretty pre-disposed to like a book like this.
The romance between Kat & Howard (<---BTW, I Love that the hero's name is Howard!) was a tad quick for my taste, but I thought it was executed well enough. I enjoyed how both characters were giddy over the fact that the other liked him/her. There was a sweetness about that.
I really enjoy the seeds being planted about the background of the other firefighters in the crew that will no doubt feature more in future books of the series. The most promising being that of the captain, Sean and his battle with depression and alcoholism.
The few scenes we got of the work-a-day business of being a firefighter and life at the station were a tease, imo. I would have loved more of those. In fact I would have traded the more prolonged descriptions of what going out on more calls felt like with what we actually got which was the psycho-killer plot.
I have to say the villain in the book was he biggest disappointment of the story. I hate a poorly conceived or cartoony villain. And this guy was that in spades. I didn't buy his motivation because it was just a big heapin' helpin' of WTF'ery.
The villain along with the (non) mystery regarding the truth of Howard's past (I guessed the whole back-story waaay before the end of the book) rendered the suspense element of this book ineffective. And it weakened the book as a whole.
But the romance, the interaction between the characters, especially the close-knit family of firefighters and the exploration of those different characters balance out the disappointing suspense elements.
So while I didn't think this was a super read, it was absorbing enough to keep me hooked on a quiet Saturday and makes me want to hang out with the rest of the Fire station Five characters in their own books....more
I find that I really, really enjoy Susan Mallery's women's fiction work much better than I do her romance novels. There is something about how untidy I find that I really, really enjoy Susan Mallery's women's fiction work much better than I do her romance novels. There is something about how untidy she lets things get in these books that really appeal to me. And they aren't sweet. I am not a fan of sweet.
This was a great story. Jenna is a newly divorced, highly demoralized chef who has returned to her place where she grew up near Dallas to lick her wounds. Her husband was a loser who constantly belittled her cooking, while simultaneously stealing her ideas, and cheated on her.
But now she is home and has impulsively opened a cooking supplies store. With no business plan, and no real idea of what she wants to accomplish the store kinda fizzles at first. But her new hire, Violet, a funky chick with a mysterious past and grand ideas, helps Jenna remake the store into a great success.
However more changes have come Jenna's way. She was adopted as a baby and has a great, loving relationship with her adoptive parents. So when her biological parents show up out the blue, Jenna is not sure she can cope with all the changes, and that includes the new man in her life. Meanwhile, Violet, a self described loser magnet has just met a guy whom she feels just might be a keeper.
This book was compulsively readable. It has all the great hallmarks of a well done prime-time soap without any unnecessary melodrama. There were multiple storylines but nothing felt rushed or over-done. There were so many places where the story could have veered into been-there/done-that territory, Mallery didn't allow it to happen. I loved how even keeled and practical Jenna's adoptive mother Beth was. And while her natural parents, Serenity and Tom sometime got perilously close to a vegan-earth-parent-crunchiness cliche, they never went over the line. There was always a depth to the characters that made them feel 3-dimensional. And there were so many fun and memorable characters who made their place in the story the book at times had the feel of a sprawling yet cohesive tale.
I enjoyed the b-plot with Violet a lot. Jenna's story was light, a bit humorous and deftly told. Violet's story went a bit darker and counter-balanced Jenna's plot-line well. The two women were opposite in so many ways and yet complemented each other.
I think romance purists would not be 100% sold on the story as romance is not the focus of the narrative. This is straight out women's fiction with a strong romantic element. Both Jenna and Violet have a romance arc that ends, if not with an explicit HEA, with at least a strong certainty that both women will go off into the sunset with her guy....more
Very Short! (novella @ 23,000 words) but cute book that reads almost like a Hallmark movie (minus the raunchy sex scenes of course).
Azure and Connor mVery Short! (novella @ 23,000 words) but cute book that reads almost like a Hallmark movie (minus the raunchy sex scenes of course).
Azure and Connor meet cute when he knocks on her door. Connor has promised his best-friend to keep and eye on his younger sister who happens to be Azure's next-door neighbor. But the sister isn't there and Connor desperately needs to use the bathroom. He hands Azure his wallet, assuring her that he isn't an ax-murderer. They banter wittily. He uses the facilities. They banter more and she kicks him out.
Later he finds out where she works and shows up with a gift to commemorate their first meeting. Azure is charmed (that is a pun on the gift) and the two strike up an intense relationship.
Azure is a wedding planner and a wedding dress she happens upon acts as the primary conflict in their so far nice relationship.
I loved the dialogue in this book. Azure and Connor were both clever and funny and the author did a fantastic job of making them both incredibly appealing. I also think the author did a great job with the argument they had over the dress. It was well handled, logical and felt very natural.
I really wish it were longer. I have come the conclusion that I am just not a novella person....more
I just love Sarah Mayberry's writing. I want to have it's babies!
Mel Porter and Flynn Randall were bare acquaintances while Mel was married to a membeI just love Sarah Mayberry's writing. I want to have it's babies!
Mel Porter and Flynn Randall were bare acquaintances while Mel was married to a member of Melbourne's upper crust society set. Flynn's family is one of the richest, cream of the crop families. But Mel herself had come from decidedly blue collar, yeoman stock and had never really fit in. Her husband had constantly pointed out her flaws and over time it had worn down Mel's confidence to nothing.
But the two meet up again after Mel's divorce where she retreated back to her hometown stomping grounds, becoming the proprietress of a small vacation resort. Flynn books one of her cottages in preparation for buying a spectacular nearby estate. She is decidedly nervous because he is from that ultra-wealthy closed insular world she was never comfortable in. But Flynn is a decent guy and living proof that money doesn't buy happiness. He is dealing with his own share of issues because his father, the once powerful CEO of their family business is battling early onset Alzheimer's.
The two slowly bond, become friends and fall in love.
It is very difficult to summarize a Mayberry book because she doesn't write plot heavy stories. Her stories are decidedly character driven. But that is what makes them so great, imo. I immediately sunk into this story of a woman who prior to marrying her so-called Prince, had loads of life and self confidence only to have it leached out by degrees. There is nothing worse for a person like that to feel they aren't good enough around a certain class of people.
I also immediately liked Flynn. The author created a decent, interesting hero that still managed to come off and powerful and sexy. The treatment of the Alzheimer's story is especially effective, imo. I was especially moved by one scene where Flynn, his father and mother sit down to map out a course of care while his father can still make the decisions on the nature of that care himself. It was bad enough he was going to suffer from the dementia and the loss of dignity, but at least he should have this opportunity to make decisions about himself. That was pretty powerful stuff and a heartbreaking scene when told from the perspective of a son with memories of a decisive, powerful father.
The writing is, in a word, intelligent. The story flows easily, both Mel and Flynn act like normal people would act. Everything they do and say seems authentic. I loved Mel's family and how natural they felt. Mel is aware of the irrationality of her insecurities and they don't float away. I also think it was a great narrative choice to highlight the fact that emotional abuse is just as devastating, maybe in some ways even more-so, than physical abuse.
I even loved the fact that Mel wasn't some little delicate thing. Various characters described her as statuesque, looking like a Xena Warrior Princess or Wonder woman. At one point Flynn, eyes popping out of his head, mouth watering, looks at her says 'I would not be surprised if you told me you had an invisible jet parked in the driveway.' So of course I kept picturing her as looking like Lynda Carter -- tall, great shoulders, nice rack, sexy hips, sparkling eyes.
Just a really, solid good book. The two characters had oodles of chemistry, the story immediately engaged,and the writing was top notch. I simply enjoyed this book....more
3.5 stars. I like this one a tick more than the first two in the series. In this one the Krewe are dispatched to NYC to help the police investigate a 3.5 stars. I like this one a tick more than the first two in the series. In this one the Krewe are dispatched to NYC to help the police investigate a series of murders that are an exact replication of the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. The lone eye-witness even describes the perp as a man in a cloak with a top hat and medical bag.
Like the other books, the modern day murder mystery also runs side-by-side with a long unsolved murder mystery that includes restless ghosts helping the intrepid crew out.
The romance in this one is between Whitney, the ghostly-apparitions-on-film expert/grand-daughter of a Voodoo priestess, and the lead NYC detective.
Again a nice solid entry in the series. My biggest minus is that the book focused a lot on Whitney in the beginning. She is the first of the crew to arrive in NYC and she quickly creates a rapport with Jude, the cop. I like the ensemble aspect of the series so I was kind of missing the rest of the group. But I really like the mystery aspect so it balanced out some of the (small)dissatisfaction I had with missing some of the group. I also wish we got to spend more time with Jenna and Will. So far those two are the least developed of the group but maybe they will feature more strongly in upcoming books.
The mystery was intriguing and I didn't guess the killer. Truthfully, though, it wasn't overtly clever or anything. There was no ah-ha! moment. In fact the way the story was crafted almost anyone could have been chosen as the killer.
Still, it was quick and fun and I am enjoying this series....more
Nice atmospheric follow-up to Phantom Evil. Still enjoying the dynamics of the central crew (or rather Krewe) and plan to read the next one.Nice atmospheric follow-up to Phantom Evil. Still enjoying the dynamics of the central crew (or rather Krewe) and plan to read the next one....more
Jackson Crow is recruited by a powerful Gov't agent to head up an elite FBI unit. Jackson and his team A spooky Ghostbusters meets FBI crime thriller.
Jackson Crow is recruited by a powerful Gov't agent to head up an elite FBI unit. Jackson and his team are hand selected because they all have a touch of extra-sensory perception of the ghostly sort.
We meet Jackson the leader who is a skeptic even while he's had his own ghostly encounters. There is also Angela, a cop and the lone survivor or a plane crash when she was a child. She actually is a ghost magnet and also acts as a conduit to release restless souls so they can cross over. Whitney is a visual medium expert whose genius with film can capture ghostly subjects. Will is an illusionist, Jenna is a nurse and Jake is computer hacker extraordinaire. All of them can sense presences.
The team's first case is to go to New Orleans to investigate the death of a Senator's wife. She lived in a house that was widely known to be haunted and the rumors are that she was terrified by a ghost and leapt to her death. Jackson is convinced that her death can be laid in purely human hands. But as they set up shop inside the house, Angela senses the restless ghosts who reside there.
The book is a nice little genre bender. I really enjoyed the different members of the team. Extra points given for the wide ranging diversity of the crew and the fact that they were not stupid. Nobody went anywhere alone (that was a Jackson rule), their electronics didn't fuzz out or stop working at critical moments. They discussed things through and allowed their deductions to follow logical progressions. They got along and worked well together, different members of the group interacted at different points so you got a sense of the team starting to gel. So basically, nothing eye-rolling happened.
There were two narratives that kinda-but-not-really dovetailed together. The ghost story and the evil history of the house and then the murder. The actual resolution of murder takes a star off the story because it was unnecessarily byzantine and there was a kitchen-sink feel to that part of the story (fundie Church cultists, Aryan nation racists, corrupt politicians...). But the ghost story was interesting and I found that part entertaining.
There is a romance that develops between Jackson and Angela. So romance readers also get a nice bonus as well.
Mainly I did not enjoy this one as much as I did the first one. It had a repetitive, almost tedious quality. This bookHmmm...what to say? What to say?
Mainly I did not enjoy this one as much as I did the first one. It had a repetitive, almost tedious quality. This book was told from Michale's first person POV, whereas the first book was told from Stefan's POV. Although I love Mischa, his introspective, almost navel-gazey musings somewhat de-railed the book. Stefan really is the heavy lifter of the series and I enjoyed his sharper take on events much that Micheal's more emo view.
I loved how unrelentingly evil little 10 year old Wendy was, tough. That was not a disappointment. She was nicely Machiavellian even though for much of the book her menace was mostly hinted at, held in reserve. When the confrontation finally came it was well done. Not too over the top and there were some nice surprises.
Up until the very end of the book, this was a low 4-star. It wasn't until the last sentence that the book lost me and soured me some on the story. I hate unnecessary cliff-hanger type endings and I hate energizer bunny characters. ...more
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