A Voracious Reader

It's S-L-O-W and nearly impossible to get anything done. I have 1650 followers the majority of which are spammers. The site is STILL not secure. So, I'm not coming back here anymore. The owners of this site obviously do not care about it so I don't know why I should bother hanging around. I'm bailing before it crashes completely.

I hope to see you on other social media platforms and maybe with some luck I'll create my own website for book lovers. One with a book database, blogs, and NO spammers allowed. We'll see what I can do there.

Take care and read on!

Carol

AKA A Voracious Reader

Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited

Medium Sam Firecloud can see ghosts and while they don’t actually talk to him he can get impressions from them. Enough for his wife, private investigator lacey Fitzpatrick, to research who they are and find how to help them on their way. In this story though, it’s Sam’s son Daniel who suddenly discovers his dad’s gift has passed to him when his best friend tries to communicate that he was murdered. Poor Daniel. He’s struggling with the loss of his best friend and now this? That’s a bit much for any teen, right?

Sam does the best he can to guide Daniel while still letting Daniel do things in his own way. Even if that means Daniel ignores his newfound gift. Lacey helps and they eventually find who murdered Jason. In addition, Daniel has a new girlfriend and he hopes she won’t think he’s a freak. But it’s all good. Kenzie is pretty cool and she likes his gift and his family. And on top of all this, Sam has quit his construction job and is starting his own pottery business. So he’s searching for a place and buying equipment and supplies. Whew! A lot going on in this one. All-in-all this is a great read.

4.5

Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited

When the owners of the Castle Fitzpatrick in Ireland call Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud to come investigate some ghosts in the castle, Sam and Lacey are surprised. They had no idea that anyone had heard of their paranormal investigation business outside the western US. Lacey is even more surprised by the castle name. Is this a connection to her own family tree? She’s about to find out because they accept the offer and away they go.

Nice! I like how this one weaves Lacey’s family history into it. I’ve seen Sam’s family on the reservation, so it’s only fair to get some info on Lacey. And it’s a doozy! The ghosts are heart breaking though. I like the side characters and hope to see them again in another book. All-in-all a fast intriguing read.

Book source ~ Kindle First

Jan is reuniting with her “vacation friends” she and her ex-boyfriend Marcus hooked up with five years ago. They are rich and travel in much more affluent circles than her and Marcus, but Jan wants to recapture the fun. Except, was it as fun as she remembers?

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Jan is unlikeable, but the other two couples are worse. Well, ok, one of them is okay. I don’t remember her name, but she is the actress. The rest are terrible. Marcus is a decent guy. Jan is pathetic, but at least she knows she is. She comes through in the end, but otherwise, gugh.

Now for the writing. No. It’s awful.

The plot. Could have been really something, but the characters and the writing drag it down into the Pit of Despair.

There are current scenes and flashback scenes until it’s all current events. If the writing was better this could have worked out, but as it is, it’s annoying.

And as a final word, good lord, can these characters drink or what? Why would anyone think it’s fun to do nothing but drink? Especially when you’re vacationing in such a gorgeous spot as Crete? No. Just, no.

All-in-all I do not recommend this book.

Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud are paranormal investigators. Well, sometimes. Lacey does work as a private investigator between the paranormal cases and Sam works in construction. As a medium, Sam has seen ghosts and gotten impressions from them since he was a kid. He tries to help them move on from the Earthly plane and his job is so much easier now that he has lacey to help him. Good thing, too. This case is one for the books. The LAPD hasn’t been able to catch a serial killer who has murdered 4 people in a month. When Sam and Lacey offer to help, Sam discovers he can not only get impressions from the ghosts, but he’s picking up on the serial killer, too. What?! Now it’s a race to find the killer before the killer finds them. This is an interesting twist to the stories that came before. Sam is freaking out that he’s picking up on a serial killer’s thoughts. As much as he hates it, he needs to keep the connection in order to find this guy. The writing is still simple and crisp and it’s a quick read, but I’m not as happy with this one as I’ve been with the previous stories. Maybe it was the serial killer angle, though that was actually kind of a nice twist. I can’t really put my finger on why this was less than the others. However, it’s still a great read and I’m looking forward to more Sam and Lacey stories.

Book source ~ Tour

Isabel Sanborn and Diego Nadales broke up over a decade ago, but neither has gotten over the other. A chance meeting in Denver right after Isabel signs her divorce papers puts them on a precarious path to love. And destruction. The only way to save the world is for Isabel to go back in time, but there’s no return ticket and no guarantee the plan will even work. Will she take that quantum leap?

I’ll admit to being a tad confused in the beginning, but things are soon sorted out. Then there’s a bombshell (almost literally) and then I’m back to being confused. But that’s probably just me. There’s a reason why I don’t read many time travel books anymore and it’s because I can’t figure them out. They make my head hurt. Lol However, there are things in this story that are never explained or fleshed out. Some are just dropped in like a bomb, others are mentioned and then never heard from again. Or maybe I missed them? Not sure. Anyway, it isn’t until about 20% that I really became invested in the story. After that it’s a race to the end, to see if our world is saved. Or not.

There are three POVs and the story switches between Isabel, Diego, and a physics professor named Matt Hudson. I’m not sure I totally understand what was going on in The Magic Kingdom (it’s a nickname for a place, not really Disney Land), but the sci-fi mumbo jumbo takes a back seat to the characters and the world they are living in. I couldn’t help but cheer them on because they really needed the cheering. What a mess. Yikes! Plus, I really wanted Isabel and Diego’s story to have a HEA because of everything they had been through.  Do they? You’ll have to read to find out how it all ends.

AVR Weekly News ~ 349th Edition

I can't believe it's been almost two years since I lost my dad. I miss him. I can wish my husband a Happy Father's Day though. Shit! I forgot to wrap his present. 

Book source ~ Purchased (also was a review request, but I forgot I had already pre-ordered it)

Nick Belanger has the hots for his next door neighbor, Kayla Dorman. He’d ask her out and hope she says yes, except he’s an Immortal Guardian and his life is all about killing vampires to protect the humans who are unaware of what goes bump in the night. Not only is he something she would find hard to believe, but she has a daughter he doesn’t want to put in danger. Well, he doesn’t want to put either one in danger, but now that the biggest threat in his world has been eliminated and her daughter is off to college, maybe he could tell her about his feelings. Maybe?

Kayla has always had the hots for Nick, but he’s a handsome single guy and she’s a single mom.  Plus, he’s never shown any interest in her so she accepts and enjoys his friendship over the years. Their relationship is suddenly redefined after a near tragedy and Kayla is thrown into his world. What was once hands off becomes all hands on deck as the two really get to know each other. But a new danger is lurking in their Texas city and Nick will need to call in the Immortal Guardians from North Carolina when the shit hits the fan.

Anyone who has been following me over the years knows how much I love the Immortal Guardians. I devour each book as soon as it comes out. And now there’s a spinoff series called the Aldebarian Alliance that is just as yummy to nom on. Broken Dawn does a good job of standing alone even though it is the 10^th book in the series. You can read it and not be lost if you haven’t read the books that came before. However, I don’t know why anyone would want to miss out on so many books with awesome characters, kickass action, snappy dialogue, humor, hot sexiness, and paranormal wonders. Why would you do that to yourself? No, I asked you a question. WHY?! Go sit in a corner and think about that.

Seriously, if you love your paranormal romance with lots of action, humor, multi-layered characters, and hot naked time set in a well-developed world then look no further.

The Write Reads Blog Tour~ Promises Forged

All the posts collected in one spot.

Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited

Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud make quite the team. She’s a private investigator and he’s a medium and they take cases where ghosts are stuck on the Earthly plane. Lacey does the research on the person and Sam tires to glean information from the departed. They need as much info as possible to help a soul move on. They’ve gotten pretty popular and now a tv show has come knocking. They could use the money and the advertising, but will the hassle really be worth the trouble? To top it all off, this case has multiple ghosts and one is very young. Sam is feeling this job more than any others so far. Will this case be their undoing?

When I saw this book was going to be about a supernatural ghost-chasing team tv show I immediately thought of Ghostfacers from Supernatural. LOL Luckily they are more professional and not as idiotic as Ghostfacers. Much as I love them, they are idiots. Anyway, there’s a lot going on with how to film a show like this and I have to say, it turned out exactly as I anticipated it would. In addition, the ghosts are interesting and heartbreaking. Sam and Lacey are tested in this one and I’m not disappointed.

Book source ~ Review copy. My review is voluntary and honest.

Aubrey Harrison is a student at Texas A&M. The night of Chilifest she leaves the party to head home and swerves to avoid hitting a deer. Ok, side note here from Auntie Carol: never swerve to avoid hitting an animal unless you have plenty of clear space to do so AND you are not traveling at a high rate of speed. Because of this very reason - she runs off the road and flips her truck, ending up in the hospital and in a coma. Seriously. Hit the deer instead. You’re less likely to be hurt. Ok, back to the review.

Aubrey wakes up in San Antonio in 1836. Yep. 1836. She is still Aubrey Harrison, but not the Aubrey these people know. I have no idea what happened to the 1836 Aubrey. Maybe they really are one and the same? Time travel is so confusing. So, now 2018 Aubrey is in 1836 and that would be bad enough, but she finds out that the Battle of the Alamo is only a few weeks away. And we all know what happened then. Should Aubrey try to change the future? Can she even do that? She could probably change a small detail here and there, but a battle so monumental? Dilemma!

This is a fascinating concept, but I found a good portion of the beginning to be too slow for my tastes. It takes a while to build up speed, but when it does it was well worth the wait. Aubrey does a good job of straddling two time periods and not going bonkers. Then there’s Tapley, who looks so much like Lee, a classmate back in 2018. I’m not going to give away anything about this story because you’ll want to discover it for yourself. If you like time travel love stories then this is one you won’t want to miss.

AVR Weekly News ~ 348th Edition

Book source ~ Kindle Unlimited

The Director of Mission San Juan Capistrano has a serious problem, one he hopes medium Sam Firecloud and his partner, private investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick can solve. There’s an evil presence at the mission and it’s growing worse. Sam confirms it’s a Big Bad and he and Lacey set about finding a way to get rid of it. But this is no simple ghost, stuck on the Earthly plane. This is something else. And Sam and Lacey are going to need help unsticking this one.

I enjoy these stories so much. Sam and Lacey are great characters and their process is wonderful to watch. The read is quick and yet the story doesn’t lack because of the brevity. Crisp writing lays it all out and the evil in this one is…ugh! Not just a ghost this time around. This is something that has the ability to reach out and kill. Holy shit! I like how the story unfolded and how it was resolved. I look forward to the next Sam and Lacey case.

Book source ~ Kindle First

Clarke Sinclair is a Special Agent with the FBI and she and her partner Sam have been tracking a serial killer named Simon Cross for years. Every time they think they can save the girl and catch him they arrive too late. But this time a woman he’s kidnapped doesn’t fit his profile and he’s taken her before he’s finished with the one he already has. He’s changed his MO and Clarke doesn’t know why. All she does know is Cross is doing all of this because of her and she feels he’s building to a grand finale. Will they finally catch him before he kills again or will they themselves be his next victims?

This book is awful and I’m not entirely sure why I kept reading it. Maybe because the chapters not involving Clarke are actually pretty good. Every chapter from Clarke’s POV is shit. Seriously. How clichéd can a character be? And omg, the self-flagellating that makes zero difference is unbelievably tedious to slog through. Also, I’ve read about “rogue” FBI/police characters that actually do a whole lot better of straddling the line than her. No superior officer would EVER let her get away with the shit she’s been getting away with. Nope. Can’t suspend my disbelief THAT much. I actually started skimming much of her chapters to get back to Bess and Adelaide. Clarke is completely and totally unlikeable. And then the grand finale? WTF. Am I really supposed to buy that horseshit? I. Can’t. Even. How fucking stupid was that? I do NOT recommend this story. Ever.

Book source ~ Review copy. My review is voluntary and honest.

Geoff Todd is retired. Ok, so he was a soul collector. It’s still a job, right? And he retired though he still has one foot still in the magical world, so to speak. He had no idea when he picked a community to retire to that it would be thick with magical people. He’s mostly mortal, but he retains a little bit of magic. He also shares his home with an unusual cat. Clarence is a huge pain in his ass, but he’s been asked to keep an eye on him and they are slowly coming to terms with their co-habitation. Then there’s Sylive. Ah, Sylvie. Geoff really likes her, but he’s from the 1940s and is clueless about nearly all things modern. Including dating. That leaves Clarence to give him dating advice. What could go wrong? Scratch that.

This is a great quick read with lots of paranormal goodness, a talking smartass cat, other magical people and creatures, and a budding romance. Oh, and ghosts. Geoff and Sylvie’s first date does not go as he planned. Not in any way. But what did he expect when he’s surrounded by magic and sometimes mayhem? It’s been a couple of years since this story so I’m not sure if this series is going to continue, but I hope it does. I’m looking forward to more.