McKettrick Series

I stumbled into this series by getting an ARC of one of Linda Lael Miller's other books in the series from NetGalley and have been completely sucked into the world of the Triple M Ranch and the McKettrick men. I devoured High Country Bride and the second book Shotgun Bride and am taking a break to write this review, then I'm picking up my Nook and jumping into Secondhand Bride. I hope you give this series a chance and pick up the first book.

Here's my review of

High Country Bride

High Country Bride (McKettrick Cowboys, #1) by Linda Lael Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I LOVED this book and have fallen in love with this series! I was lucky enough to get and ARC of one of her other books in this series (review coming closer to release date) but after reading and enjoying it, had to start at the beginning. I'm happy to say, I wasn't disappointed!


High Country Bride is about the McKettrick men Rafe, Kade, and Jeb who live with their father on the Triple M ranch in Indian Rock which is in the middle of the Arizona territory in 1884. Their father, Angus McKettrick is tired of their wild ways and wants them to settle down. He tells his sons that whichever of them gets married and gives him a grandchild first will get the controlling interest in the ranch. His sons, not wanting to answer to one another, grudgingly scramble to find themselves a wife first.

In Kansas City, Emmaline Harding lives with her Aunt Becky in a brothel. Her aunt has sent her to the finest finishing schools and protects her from 'the business.' One night, Emmaline, feeling not herself dresses up as one of the working girls and goes downstairs to have some fun. She meets a Texan who she flirts with and drinks a little too0 much whiskey with. She kisses him in the hallway and stumbles into a room with him. The next morning she wakes up, in a bed wearing her underclothes, with a pile of coins on the night stand. She has no recollection of what happened but when her aunt finds her stripped and sees the money she screams at Emmaline and throws her out. Hurt and shamed, Emmaline signs up to be a mail order bride and is sent to Indian Rock as Mrs. Rafe McKettrick.

Rafe and Emmaline have many struggles in this entertaining western historical romance but eventually find love only to have that one indiscretion from Kansas City follow Emmaline to Indian Rock complicating and threatening to ruin everything she has built between herself and Rafe.

Linda Lael Miller creates an entertaining family in the McKettricks with a wonderful supporting cast of characters in town that add color and humor to the story.

What I liked: The McKettrick men- all gruff and stubborn with no idea how to handle women. And the housekeeper, Conception, doesn't shy away from putting them in their place when they get out of line. Emmaline is a great character with brass and balls.

What I didn't like: I figured out the big secret right away, so there was no aha moment for me when the truth came out, but watching it all play out was very entertaining.

I highly recommend this series if you enjoy western historical romances. I've read the second books and am getting read to crack into the third book and they keep getting better. I've laughed, I've cried and I've thoroughly enjoyed High Country Bride by Linda Lael Miller. I hope you do too.

Thanks for Reading my Mind.

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You Don't Want to Know

Even the title sounds creepy....

I was lucky enough to get this book as an ARC from NetGalley and when I saw a Lisa Jackson book, I jumped at the chance to read it. She comes up with the greatest ideas wrapped in the most interesting cast of characters. In this book, Ava is a woman going through a terrible time. Her son is missing and she has lost almost two years of her life grieving, searching and mourning. Anti-depression drugs, hospitals and misery are all she knows. She can't remember the events of yesterday let alone things that happened months, or weeks ago. All she can think about in her haze is finding Noah.

Here is my review of

You Don't Want to Know

You Don't Want To Know by Lisa Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley

You Don’t Want to Know is a suspenseful novel filled with an intriguing cast of characters who will keep you guessing until the bitter end. Just when you think you have it figured out, Lisa Jackson throws another twist into the mix that turns everything you thought you knew upside down.
Ava Garrison is a woman tormented by the disappearance of her son, Noah two years ago. She’s been in and out of mental hospitals as she tries to deal with her loss, heavily medicated and for the most part has lost contact with reality. She can’t remember things happen in her daily life, she loses time and has little connection with people anymore. Sequestered in the family/s home on Church Island, Ava is constantly plague by visions of her missing son and questions about what could have happened to him.

Church Island has also had its share of tragedy and infamy. There was a mental hospital for violent criminals which was housed on the island. Lester Reece was a serial killer with money and an excellent attorney who got him placed as a patient at Sea Cliff. He escaped and was never found. His escape ruined Ava’s uncle, who ran the facility and he had to retire in shame. Locals for years have reported sightings of the serial killer, but he has never been caught. When the sightings start again, everyone is on edge.

On the island Ava is surrounded by people, all with an opinion on what is best for her. Her husband Wyatt, her cousin, the doll-carrying Elvis loving Jewel-Anne who is confined to a wheelchair because of a boating accident but never misses an opportunity to make a dig at Ava and her lose grasp on reality. Add to the mix a bitter friend, a sketchy psychiatrist Ava is convinced is having an affair with her husband, servants, therapists and various relatives and spouses and you have all the makings of a nervous breakdown for an already fragile woman.
Convinced she’s again seen her son standing on the edge of the dock, Ava races out into the night and throws herself into the sea, only to be rescued by a mysterious man her husband recently hired by the name of Dern. Ava’s family is convinced she’s again on a downward spiral but Ava fights through the fog of her drugs and makes the decision to find out what happened to Noah. She secretly stops taking her medication and her head begins to clear. She is still missing large block of her time and events from her past but slowly, she beings to put the pieces together and finds out the people closest to her aren’t as trustworthy as she thought.

As she becomes more of her old self, she discovers someone is trying to drive her crazy. She begins hearing Noah crying and a calling for her in the middle of the night, but no one else admitted to hearing it. While outside she saw movement at the window in what had been Noah’s room. As she raced inside she found a soaking wet pair of Noah’s shoes on the floor. As she tries to put the pieces of the puddle together, she hits wall after wall. On the mainland her friend Tanya helps her get some recording equipment so she can find out who is messing with her head and why.

Dern continues to watch over Ava, popping up whenever she’s in trouble. Her marriage to Wyatt is in name only with them bickering more than getting along so she begins to develop feelings for Dern and his protective nature, but Dern has secrets of his own that will rock Ava when exposed.
You Don’t Want to Know is an action packed novel. Lisa Jackson created an intriguing cast in this book, many of whom you will love to hate. Ava doesn’t know who to trust or where to turn and you can feel that as you read. Everyone is suspect, everyone is less than kind to Ava in one way or another, but the real question is who hates her enough to torture her with her loss. And what actually happened to Noah? Will she ever have closure on that horrible day two years ago?

I highly recommend You Don’t Want to Know, especially if you’re looking for some heart pounding action that will have you cautiously looking around dark corners for days.

Thanks for Reading My Mind

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Within Reach

Within Reach by Sarah Mayberry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley


Within Reach by Sarah Mayberry

Within Reach is a beautifully written book by Sarah Mayberry that looks at people finding love after a tragedy. Angela and Billie are best friends and have been since their days in boarding school. Angela designs jewelry, travels and lives the single life while Billie is a woman who has it all: a wonderful husband, two wonderful kids and a life full of fun. On her thirty-second birthday, Billie suffers a heart attack and dies. Her husband Michael and her two children Eva and Charlie are left to pick up the pieces and find a way to carry on.

Angela spends as much time as possible with Michael and the children, providing support and heling them get through the days immediately after Billie’s death. Ten months later, Angela shows up at Michael’s house and finds him and the children living what she calls a ‘half-live.’ She goes out on a limb and tells him as much and encourages him to go back to work and start living again, that Billie wouldn’t want him to be miserable.

Eva and Charlie are Billie and Michael’s amazing children and both Angela and Michael do everything they can to support the children and get them through their loss. Eva is a whirlwind, much like her mother, and often sees more than the adults do within the story. Angela loves spending time with the children and Michael, it helps her feel like she is doing something to help them all move forward.
What began as a tentative friendship between Angela and Michael grows into something much more. Both are shocked and scared of the feelings that develop between them as time goes on, but in the end they find it’s far more painful to be apart than to wade through their murky feelings and see what they really mean. In the end, they find a love that is real and based on the future, without forgetting Billie and how important she was in both of their lives.

Within Reach had me laughing and crying through and through. The way Angela interacts with Billie and Michael’s children and deals with the harsh realities of their loss is amazing and very human. She isn’t perfect, she makes mistakes as does Michael as they try and understand the new feelings they have for one another. What Sarah Mayberry wrote is a beautiful story of overcoming loss to find what is waiting in the future. I highly recommend it, just make sure you have some tissues nearby…

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Cinder

I've had this book for some time now and I've been hesitant to pick it up. I admit the cover art drew me to it, and the title leaves little to the imagination about the story line, but still I had it, looking at me on my shelf and I finally decided on a rainy day to take a chance and gave it a read.

And I was glad I did.

I think Marissa Meyer wove an interesting tale using elements from Cinderella in a very blatant way but in a new setting and with so much more to it than a girl who is mistreated by her family and lands a Prince in the end. There is no fairy-godmother for Cinder who makes her dreams come true. The closest she comes is a doctor who ends up providing her with information she needs to stay alive.

Here is my review of

Cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm giving this one 3.5 stars...
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I have to admit, when I decided to read this one I was a bit leery of the whole "Cinderella" premise and how it would work in this story. I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised how Marissa Meyer used it in a unique way to enhance her story.


All the girl wants is a foot that fits.

A plague is killing countless people. Once someone shows signs of the plague, black spots on their skin, medics are called and the infected are taken away. To be quarantined. To die. In the midst of this plague, Cinder is a cyborg who works as a mechanic in New Beijing. Her reputation and skill leads to a very special request from Prince Kaito who happens upon her booth and asks her to see if she can fix a robot of his. He hints it might have important information on it, then reveals it's a robot he's had for many years and it has sentimental value. A flustered Cinder agrees to look at it and get back with him. And so begins Cinder.


What I liked about it: I liked how Marissa Meyer didn't shy away from the references to Cinderella in her book, even going so far as to name her lead character after her. Many authors would have written a story line similar to this, but given the character a different name and played it off as it's own creation. I liked how she went back to small pieces of the story of Cinderella, but they were more accessory pieces to the main story line. I liked the relationship between Cinder and Kaito, it seemed very true to the situation they were both placed in.

What I didn't like: Many of the characters on the book are not what they seem. The first one, I bought, the second one, was a stretch, by the third one I was wondering how anyone with 'powers' could be so dense. I also am not a fan of the "big cliff-hanger ending" in a book. Especially because in this book, nothing is settled as it ends. Many things are set up, but nothing comes to conclusion. It ends with more questions raised than answered. I also figured out the big secret early in the story because it was a bit predictable, but it didn't matter it was interesting to see it all play out.

I think this one is definitely worth a read just to see how Marissa Meyer weaves elements of the classic Cinderella tale into a futuristic, cyborg setting that is far more like Star Wars than Disney World.

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Ghostwalkers Continued...

I love reading a good series by an author. Why? I like seeing the vision unfold, I like watching all the pieces and characters fall into place. I enjoy learning more and more about each of them as they grow and mature and evolve. I love trying to guess who the next book will be about or waiting and wondering when a certain character will fall in love and who it will be with. Will it be someone I already know? Or a new face that appears in a later book. All those things keep me reaching for the next book and when it's well done, it's a magic ride for a reader.

Not all series have that. Not all series can keep a smooth transition and introduce new characters in a way that the reader has time to develop feelings about them or they are thrown into the picture and you are flipping through earlier books wondering who this person is. When that happens, it feels disjointed and it takes time to fall back into step with the series.

In talking about series, the Ghostwalkers has a definite point where it breaks off from the smooth transitions from book to book. That point is the 8th book in the series - Street Game. In this book, we are abruptly introduced to a whole new set of characters and it is jarring. Don't get me wring, I still love the series and will continue to read it again and again because of the world Christine Feehan has created and I simply have to be there when Peter Whitney is found and finally gets what's coming to him!

 Here is my review of

 Street Game

Street Game by Christine Feehan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Street Game is the the 8th book in the Ghostwalkers series and the reason for the 3 stars instead of 4 like I gave the previous books is because the series takes a jump here and goes from the the characters in the first Ghostwalker Team to a new set of characters (Ghostwalker team 3) that haven't been in the series at all until now so it feels a bit disjointed from the rest and I had to become invested in them and their story much more than I had to in previous books. The plot is fine, but that blip in the arc of the series really throws me.

Mac and Jaimie are solid characters. I like that Jaimie is a different kind of Ghostwalker, not at all a warrior like many of the women at times seem to be. She is more wary of their powers and enhancements and chooses to fight not with weapons, but with her brain- and is just as capable.

I still enjoy the series, but I wish the transition into this new group of characters was handled smoother like when the Nortons came into the picture as part of the second Ghostwalkers team in earlier books.

A good book, worth the read for sure!

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Ghostwalkers

As I hide inside from the scorching heat that is burning up the area, I have my AC cranked and my book in had. I recently cracked open one of my favorite series for a re-read because I can't get enough of it. It's the Ghostwalker's series by Christine Feehan. Her elite group of military men and the stories she weaves for them are always a good read. Her latest book Samurai Game came out last week and I wanted to refresh my memory before digging into that one. So here is my review of  the first book in the Ghostwalker's Series:

Shadow Game

Shadow Game by Christine Feehan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Christine Feehan is one of my favorite authors. I have read all of her books, and the Ghostwalkers is one series I return to time and time again.

Shadow Game centers around a woman, Lily Whitney, who is brought onto a project by her father as a consultant. The day she is introduced to the Ghostwalkers, an elite military group who signed up for Dr. Whitney's psychic enhancement experiments, her father is brutally killed. Before he dies, he issues a plea and apology to her, asking her to help the Ghostwalkers, who are all being held more or less as prisoners at the lab with horrible side effects from the enhancements and to forgive him for what he has done. As Lily forms an immediate connection with the leader of the group, Ryland Miller, she finds out they are all in grave danger and need answers. Her life is torn open when she learns the truth of her childhood and how far her father's experiments have gone. Lily also struggles with her powerful feelings for Ryland, wondering if they are real or more of her fathers scientific manipulations.


What I liked about it: The premise behind it is great. Enhancing psychic powers to make an elite military unit. Lily Whitney and her warped childhood and the lengths she goes in this book and future ones in the series to right her father's wrongs. Ryland and his men pull you in with their personalities and make you want to see who the next book is about.

What I didn't like: Because the characters often use their senses, there are times where everything is described to the last detail. Again, that is in part a function of the story line, but it had me skimming back to character interactions. Description lovers will enjoy it, but for me it at times was a bit much.


This series has action, it has emotion, it has heat and it has laughs. Christine Feehan has a great style to her writing that draws you in and makes you fall headlong into her series. As an opening book, this is a strong one that I know readers will definitely want more of.

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