Monthly Archives: November 2022

Nov28

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

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This was another book I read quickly like the last one I reviewed. The main character’s (Thea) life implodes when she loses her job in the same week she finds out her husband has been having an affair with one of her friends. As she’s in the process of moving out of the home she’s lived in with him for fifteen years, she receives a letter from a lawyer in Scotland informing her that she has inherited her great-uncle’s house and contents along with a sum of money.

Taking this chance to leave Sussex where the shattered pieces of her life are causing her to continue to grieve and work herself into a stupor of not moving from her bed, she and her best friend decide to head to Scotland for two weeks to check out the house she inherited.

They arrive and find the cottage to be charming and filled with antique books, many first editions. She thinks she should sell some of them.

Thea gets the name of the owner of the local antiquarian bookstore who is the brother of the local lord. The store owner is the elder of the two but relinquished the title. The brothers are sworn enemies.

As the book moves along, Thea finds that she likes both brothers as people. The bookstore owner is a bit of a curmudgeon, but she finds ways to make him laugh. The lord is unfailingly polite and, even though he’d like to buy the cottage from her, he’s cordial and even invites her to a party at his home.

When it’s time for her friend to return home, Thea decides to stay a bit longer and takes a job in the bookstore when the young man who works there leaves for university.

The story is excellent. It felt like I knew this woman and the brothers. They were so realistically drawn and fully fleshed out. They all seemed like someone I’d like to have a drink or meal with. Like they could be my friends.

The banter between Thea and the bookstore owner was fun. Both were witty and smart. Once in a while, some of their dialogue was a bit too much, but overall, I really liked their scenes. Thea was a clever lady, but sometimes she spoke in a stream of consciousness way that made me wonder about her. LOL

Thea learns and grows over the course of the book. She becomes stronger and has more insight into herself.

The bookstore owner brother has a journey of his own and Thea is the catalyst for that growth. Even the lord brother has a mini character arc which was nicely done.

I enjoyed this one. Another 5 stars from me.

Nov21

The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy- a Review

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I’ve been busy finishing one manuscript before National Novel Writing Month and then in the throes of NaNo- but since I reached the 50,000 word mark on Saturday, I decided to read for fun on Saturday. Here is the review of that book.

I received this book from Minotaur and NetGalley in exchange for a review.

It’s kind of funny that as I was reading this one, I was thinking I was gobbling it up. I didn’t even think about it being the week of Thanksgiving until I was writing this review. But I did gobble up this story. I read it in part of one day in two sittings. Probably would have read it in one sitting but I had to head to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner.

This is clearly the third or fourth book in a series.  I have not read any of the others, but that did not take away from my enjoyment at all. There’s enough back story woven in to make it so it’s not necessary to have read the others. I will go back now and catch myself up but not because I need to in order to follow this plot. Only because I did enjoy this one so much that I’d like to read the others.

The story here is very Hollywood heavy and having been to Los Angeles, I enjoyed the way the author made the city a big part of the story. Even including Pink’s hot dog joint on La Brea.

The characters are well written and fully fleshed out. No one seemed one dimensional at all and that takes real talent and care. Especially with the large cast of characters in this story. All of the characters had distinct personalities and quirks.

I did figure out the whodunnits pretty swiftly, but that didn’t take away from the fact that I was scrolling through the pages eating up the dialogue and action.

The pace was well done and the author’s use of language was smart and refreshing. So many times, crime stories are not done with sophisticated language and nuance. This was different and I quite enjoyed it.

The main protagonist is a female detective and she was likable and relatable. Her relationship with her partner was amusing and they worked well together. I was happy to see the author gave both of them insight and that she allowed them to solve the case together with each giving ideas and building off what the other thought. So many times in these stories, the lead character is always the smartest person in the room and never asks for help nor bounces ideas off others. The way these two were written seems much more realistic. I enjoyed the relationship between them.

I don’t often give five stars—four is pretty much as high as I go even when I enjoy a story, but since I got so wrapped up in this one, I’m giving it a five.