Review: Volition - Lily Paradis - January 2015 After a string of books that didn’t quite capture my interest this morning, I found myself scrolling through my Kindle, searching for the next potential gem. That’s when the cover of Volition by Lily Paradis caught my eye, featuring the iconic Empire State Building. Something about it stood out, and without knowing anything about the book or the author, I decided to dive in blind. What followed was an emotional journey filled with heartbreak, unrequited love, and the difficult choices that life and fate sometimes demand. Volition tells the story of Tate McKenna and Jesse Elliott, two souls seemingly destined to be together but constantly kept apart by circumstances and timing. Their relationship begins in childhood, but tragedy strikes, and the two are separated. Years later, they reconnect as teenagers, but their timing is once again off—Tate is in a relationship with Casper, and Jesse begins dating Jasmine. Despite their feelings for...

Review: Holmes, Margaret and Poe - Book #1 - James Patterson and Brian Sitts - January 2024 I had been looking forward to this one, but a little nervous at the same time as I have found recently that the co-written books haven't been great and I couldn't get into them as I had most of the earlier titles and series. This one though was fabulous and amazing and I loved it all as every character even the side ones of Violet and Grey were likable and enjoyable. The book starts with three PIs Brendan Holmes, Auguste Poe, and Margaret Maple joining forces in New York as Private Investigators. The thing too is just like their namesakes, they are the best at what they do and despite getting into mischievous trouble, they always solve the crimes that they are hired for. Everything about this series was great from the flawed characters as each of our PIs has a vice, to the way they solved the crimes like a giant jigsaw puzzle, to the variety of crimes in this book from modern kidnappings...

A Plague of Mercies Adam Pelzman Publication date: June 7th 2023 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Poetry, Romance A lethal plague sweeps the globe. Millions have died. Survivors are confined to their homes. Gabriel passes his time in a small New York apartment on the city’s Upper West Side. During the plodding solitude of the lockdown, he observes several strangers in their nearby apartments. As he watches them struggle to survive a world at risk of extinction, he wonders about their lives—where they’re from, what they value, how they’re coping with a deadly contagion. All alone, he develops a vague yet important connection to these people, an affection for those who are struggling to survive isolation, fear and looming death. Told in powerful, spellbinding free verse, Gabriel’s observations grow deeper and more elaborate as the endless days pass. But when he and a woman from across the street begin to watch each other from afar, his imagination begins to collide with the bleak ...

Review: Conviction - Book #3 Rebekah Roberts - Julia Dahl - March 2017 I recently saw this book advertised on Social Media and it sounded interesting, so I hopped on the Libby app hoping as it was an older book, my library would have an e-copy and they did. One of the things I love reading about is books set within "the innocence project" as it speaks to me as someone who loves true crime, just how many innocent people are sentenced to prison and have to spend most of their lives there before anyone will even listen to them and then that's only if they are lucky that the right person will pick up their case or see their letter as the project receives thousands of letters a day and some of those people are guilty, but you get some that truly are innocent. In Conviction, we meet reporter Rebekah Roberts who has recently won a journalism fellowship and reported about a mass shooting at a Hasidic Jew temple for the American Voice. She is busy working freelance for the New Y...

The Billionaire’s Arrangement Amélie S. Duncan (The Kept Trilogy, #1) Publication date: December 11th 2022 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance Paul Crane is rich, brilliant, and powerful. And I belong to him, body and soul… I came to New York City to study design and build a life for myself. I was young, naive, and the last thing I was looking for was love. I needed money for my family and the medical bills that threatened us into poverty. I didn’t have time to worry about my loneliness, to fill that cold empty spot in my heart… At first, it seemed like Paul was the answer to all my problems. But after he rescued me from a desperate situation, I soon discovered Paul had demons of his own. Paul wasn’t looking for a lover… He wanted a companion, a kept woman. And I was captivated by his charm, lavish gifts, and trips to Paris. And his touch awakened my desires, passions I had never dreamed of. But the closer we get, the more I begin to wonder. What happens when our arra...

Review: Like a Sister - Kellye Garrett - March 2022 This one has been on my list to read for a while now as it sounded intriguing. The book starts with Lena Scott learning through the news online that her half-sister Desiree has been found dead of a supposed overdose. Lena races to the apartment, to verify and sees news crews and reporters, and police. How can this be, especially as her sister was found in the Bronx away from her home uptown? Lena and Desiree have been estranged for the past two years but now Lena feels guilt and wants to find out the truth about what happened to her sister. It was reported that Desiree was depressed and shot up Heroin. This doesn't line up with Lena as she knows her sister would never kill herself as she's too vain and she has a fear of needles which is why coke and pot are her vices. As the book goes along, we meet Lena and Desiree's dad and learn he is a famous music producer and how the families blend into each other. During the book...