mrsalwaysreading's Reviews (624)

Credence 

By Penelope Douglas

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A friend offered to let me jump in her book club, but they were Galway’s done with this book. *cracks nuckles* game on. 

It wasn’t really hard to get into and fly through. I enjoy Penelope Douglas’ writing. 

The spice was good. The story was SO good. I loved the tension, the self-discovery, the heartache, and the HEA (kinda) at the end because it MADE this book. 

At first I was a little put-off by the characters, and their relationships. But as they developed I found myself rooting for each of them. 

Darkness Falls

By K.M. Baker

ARC read - thank you Kiley Baker

Available now

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok… whew. I started reading this book weeks ago and had to keep stopping. I eventually made ir all the way through. 

I skimmed book 1 in the duet so I knew that characters and what was happening. This book appeared to pick up right where the other left off. 

I couldn’t get into it because of the spice. It was whole chapters long and it interrupted the plot so much. I felt left wanting in regards to the storyline. 

Listen, I’m all about the spice. But the amount / duration in this book was just a miss for me. 

I appreciated the redemption for all the characters. 

How My Neighbor Stole Christmas

By Megan Quinn

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a great book-slump breaker. 

Childhood friends - to ‘enemies’ in a small town Christmas competition - to lovers with the happiest of happy endings. 

It was sweet and spicy. 

A 1-day read to get me back on track… the ARCs are piling up and the amount of things on my to-do list feels daunting. 

2024 book # 191

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

By Benjamin Stevenson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

These books are growing on me. 

When I read the first book, I was intrigued. 

In the second book, Earnie annoyed me so deeply. 

This holiday novella was slightly on the outlandish side of believable but it was entertaining. 

The Queens of Crime

by Marie Benedict

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you NetGalley. St. Martin’s Press, AND Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own. 

I was approved for the advanced reader copy as well as the advanced listener copy of this book. I chose to read it rather than listen. 

Another story featuring Agatha Christie, this time as a side character to her rival (though I don’t know how true that is) Dorothy Sayers. 

Dorothy’s formation of the Detection Club, and her championing of suffrage, in a way, leads to the surprise induction of 4 more (one being Agatha herself!) women mystery authors. Together with Sayers, they dub themselves the Queens of Crime. 

When they are overlooked by their male counterparts within the club, they set out on a whirlwind adventure to solve a real murder. 

This story is typical of Marie Benedict- intriguing, captivating and entertaining. 

I took off half of a star because there were some parts of Dorothy’s life that I either wanted more details on or wanted too many details edited out. 

Heat of the Everflame
by Penn Cole
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The third installment of Kindred’s Curse. 

I vacillated between giving it 3.5 and 4 stars. So… I rounded up. 

I really don’t like waiting a long time between books in series’ because I forget plots, characters and the nuances of the stories that I loved at the time. 

So, with too many ARCs on the list, I moved this one up to the front of the line. I’m glad I did - until I remembered that book 4, the conclusion, has no estimated date of publication. 

Honestly, this book got a lot of hate, but I enjoyed it. 

Did Diem get annoying? Yes. 
Did the story progress? Yes. 
Do I still hate her mother? Yes. 
Is Luther still 🤤? HELL YES. 

The world-building was good. The character development was good. The story line was predictable but good. 

As far as 3rd books go, this one was well done and I’m glad I read it. Even though it was 740284 pages long on the Kindle. 

The Business Trip 

By Jessie Garcia 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In her debut novel, Jessie Garcia weaves a story of desperation and opportunity into the fast-action pace of a thriller. 

The result is one of the best twists I have read this year! 

And the ending is fantastic. 

If I say much more I’ll spoil it for you. ADD THIS TO YOUR TBR. Release date is set for January 14, 2025! 

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own. 

The JFK Conspiracy

By Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy of this book. All opinions are my own. 

This is not my first look at JFK, nor my first Brad Meltzer book. 

I enjoy Brad’s writing and his commitment to research. I enjoyed learning about JFK through the lens of Jackie O and Clint Hill, in various previous reads. 

This was something altogether different but no less enjoyable. The book begins with Jack’s military service and a look at some lesser-known acts of heroism. I was instantly intrigued. 

Then, as the campaign for the Presidency heats up with religion and civil rights being at the forefront, I was struck with some similar parallels between this past November 2024, and late 1959-early 1960. What poignant timing.  

The second half of the book looks at the Kennedy ascension to the Presidency and a widely unknown foiled assassination attempt by ex-postal worker and anti-Catholic Pavlick. The storytelling through parallel timelines was really well done. 

Find Me

E. A. Wilde 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Sunny Babe PR for the copy. All opinions are my own. 

This book is on KU and also out in paperback. 

This book sounded good. A dark romance with one of my favorite themes… I just love a good he-falls-first, morally grey MC. 

The first half was very disjointed, and skipped around a lot. There were a couple fast- forward moments where the author skipped so much I got whiplash. 

The last 25% was good and the story felt cohesive. The ending was a cliffhanger. 

Overall, I just don’t enjoy insta-love. There wasn’t any real character development and this book was heavy on the trigger warnings. Almost like a watered down version of Haunting Adeline. 

Lead Us To Temptation

By Alana Powers

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 

This book was good. The premise and plot immediately made me want to dive in. 

I was a little disappointed in the sluggish start. It felt a little choppy and disjointed. 

The romance between Catalina and Lucifer wasn’t really spicy, and I expected it to be. 

The banter between Lucifer and Gabriel kept me going. I laughed out loud. 

The book was plot heavy and no real deep character development or world building. 

Overall, it was good. 

Thank you Alana Powers and Bookworm Books PR for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.