Tag Archives: Mystery

Review: Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen
Young Adult Mystery/Thriller released by Viking Children’s Books on March 20, 2018

Orphan Monster Spy CoverHer name is Sarah. She’s blonde, blue-eyed, and Jewish in 1939 Germany. And her act of resistance is about to change the world.

After her mother is shot at a checkpoint, fifteen-year-old Sarah meets a mysterious man with an ambiguous accent, a suspiciously bare apartment, and a lockbox full of weapons. He’s part of the secret resistance against the Third Reich, and he needs Sarah to hide in plain sight at a school for the daughters of top Nazi brass, posing as one of them. If she can befriend the daughter of a key scientist and get invited to her house, she might be able to steal the blueprints to a bomb that could destroy the cities of Western Europe. Nothing could prepare Sarah for her cutthroat schoolmates, and soon she finds herself in a battle for survival unlike any she’d ever imagined. But anyone who underestimates this innocent-seeming girl does so at their peril. She may look sweet, but she’s the Nazis’ worst nightmare.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to read the blurb for Orphan Monster Spy. Everything about this appealed to me, and when Lime sent the ARC I was practically chasing my tail! From the start, the book was full on, straight into the story at full tilt, and pretty much this carried on for the entirety.   Continue reading

Review: About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis

About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis
Contemporary romance released by Avon on January 23, 2018

About That Kiss coverWhen love drives you crazy . . .
When sexy Joe Malone never calls after their explosive kiss, Kylie shoves him out of her mind. Until she needs a favor, and it’s a doozy. Something precious to her has been stolen and there’s only one person with unique finder-and-fixer skills that can help—Joe. It means swallowing her pride and somehow trying to avoid the temptation to throttle him—or seduce him.

the best thing to do . . .
No, Joe didn’t call after the kiss. He’s the fun time guy, not the forever guy. And Kylie, after all she’s been through, deserves a good man who will stay. But everything about Kylie makes it damned hard to focus, and though his brain knows what he has to do, his heart isn’t getting the memo.

… is enjoy the ride.
As Kylie and Joe go on the scavenger hunt of their lives, they discover surprising things about each other. Now, the best way for them to get over “that kiss” might just be to replace it with a hundred more.

So, I went into this blind – I’d heard of Jill Shalvis, but I’d never read any of her books before, and while overall it was a good read I was left rather wanting.

I was really pleased that Kylie worked with wood, and initially seemed to walk her own path. As the granddaughter of a master woodworker herself I liked that she carried on the family traditions, and had a cavalier attitude to her appearance . She’d been crushing on Gib for a long time, and he while they were friends and co -workers (actually he’s her boss) he didn’t appear to take an interest until she shared a kiss with Joe.  Kylie vacillated a bit, she had huge chemistry with Joe, but an emotional attachment to Gib, and Joe, while very attractive was quite clear that he wasn’t about a relationship.  I got a little frustrated with her at times, and I did want her to be more in charge at the beginning, but by the midpoint of the book I really liked Kylie. Continue reading