I love cemeteries. They are wonderful destinations of introspection and peace. I, like the author, enjoy rambling clusters of monument and headstones. Flat, manicured graves don't have the same character and as such, hold no appeal.
In the same way, I enjoy reading books that allow the reader to transport themselves into whatever destination is being recounted. The author gives such descriptions in "Wish You Were Here" that the reader has no trouble visualizing each place traveled. Each location has a different feel and the author conveys that perfectly. Not only do you get a full rendition of landscape, you also get a peek into the history of each venue.
Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel is just that; An invitation to walk the same paths with the author as your guide and lose yourself in some very memorable essays on the places where the living and the dead converse, and no one gets out alive.

One True Love is a star crossed lovers kind of book. You know, the kind where everyone ends up dead. But fear not, intrepid reader! Unlike Romeo and Juliet, the author still pulls off a happy ever after. You'll have to read the book yourself to see exactly how she pulls that bit off.

What I liked about this book: The main characters are surprisingly easy to like. They still have their moments where you roll your eyes; It IS a romance, for goodness sakes. For the most part though, they are characters of lawful good. They both grow in personally and humanity as any good character should.

What I loathed about this book: The language. We are talking castles and moats and swords and kings. Why, oh why, are the characters using modern day speech and slang? I get that this a fantasy as well with magical tattoos, etc. But, castles, y'all! It was distracting and annoying. So much, in fact, it was almost a dnf for me. I toughed it out, but I did a lot of mental wincing in order to finish.

Also, the "villain" reveal. No super shocker on who. I mean, c'mon, who didn't see that coming? Phhht. Seriously? I could forgive that but then we had to be subjected to a monologue. A villain monologue. Ugh. No, just no.

3.5 stars. Four stars for the story and characters with a half deducted for the incongruous language. In the end, it's a story everyone wants to believe in: One True Love.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

Frightening? Not really. Strange? ...possibly.

I think the blurb is horribly misleading. I wish that the forward would have been the blurb for Fingerprints and Phantoms instead of what the publisher put on the back. I think it does a better job of summarizing and expressing the feel of the book.

The forward from the editor reads: “The author’s light hearted insights into and experience in the world of crime scene investigation make this read doubly fascinating. He is a sort of James Herriot for the CSI world.” It also states that the reports “make few claims” and “sometimes they poke fun at themselves.”

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It's rare that a book is so captivating that I finish it in one day, but that's exactly what I did with The Goblin's Daughter. I finished the last page and immediately wanted to go back in time so that I could read it anew again.

The story begins with Nolin's mother, Melissa. Even with Nolin as an infant, Melissa is obviously not well suited to motherhood. Melissa doesn't feel connected to her colicky child. She's exhausted and overwhelmed, with a husband who she is also disconnected from. Then something happens and she finds the nursery window open, with a contented happy child lying in the crib, covered in dirt and missing a shoe.

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"I'd seen a lot of crazy shit in my day, but this one took the cake, the plate, and the fork right out from under me."

Exterminators Chris and soon-to-be ex-wife, Benny (short for Benita), handle pest management, saving New York one rodent at a time. Even though they mid-divorce, they are still in the business together. When a new rodenticide is developed to sterilize the urban ratties, the lucky pair start doling it out to the not-so-lucky city rats. Except as they quickly discover, it's not doing what it's marketed to do. The rats are becoming something else...

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Lisa Morris, age 8, is Patient Zero in this novella's unflinching look into a new pandemic of a mutated strain of measles, afterward known as Morris's disease. She feels unwell but doesn't want to miss a day at the amusement park by telling her parents she feels ill. After her day at the park, she travels back from Florida with her parents, spreading infection like wildfire. Shortly after arriving home, Lisa dies. The virus, however, doesn't die with Lisa.

Sometimes the scariest fiction is the one that isn't so far off the truth.

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This is the second book in the Metamorphosis series. I would highly recommend reading the first, Butterfly Bones, before reading Butterfly Blood. You get the gist of what occurred in the first book, but I think it's really necessary to read it in order to fully comprehend the timeline of the Butterfly Bones.

Our MC, Bethany was born with osteogenesis imperfecta. In layman terms, she was born with a genetic condition that causes bones to be very brittle and break easily. Her scientist father apparently experimented on her. In doing so, he imbued her with butterfly DNA. Completely cured of her disease, she is now on her way to Florida to stay with an aunt that she has never met. Why? Because her father died in a house fire. One that she started.

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I just recently read Rattus New Yorkus (review here) so this is my second Hunter Shea review on Cats Luv Coffee. However, the two books couldn't be more different.

Rattus New Yorkus is an over the top creature feature. It's the type of book that would have made a great B movie in the 80's. Horror and dark humor combined, RNY is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously. Creature then is its older, worldly big brother. If Rattus New Yorkus is campy horror movies like Food of the Gods and Lake Placid, then Creature is The Exorcist and The Shining.

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