purplepenning's Reviews (1.72k)

How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling by Danny Caine

How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling

Danny Caine

4.25
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

Ally Carter

4.25
adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
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Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

Benjamin Stevenson

4.0
Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

Benjamin Stevenson

4.0
The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman

The Answer is No

Fredrik Backman

4.0
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon

The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science

Kate McKinnon

4.25
adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
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The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

The Mighty Red

Louise Erdrich

4.25
challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
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Death Comes to Marlow: A Novel by Robert Thorogood

Death Comes to Marlow: A Novel

Robert Thorogood

4.0
A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

A Jingle Bell Mingle

Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

I'm happy to pretend that the first book in the series was a standalone. 
A Kilt for Christmas by Tricia O'Malley

A Kilt for Christmas

Tricia O'Malley

lighthearted fast-paced
A light-hearted "magic is real" holiday rom-com set in Scotland. We have a grumpy, competitive pub quiz champ and aspiring writer (from a neighboring Scottish town) paired with a visiting professor of literature and folklore (from California). The kilt is of very little significance so I'm not sure why it made the title.

Actually, everything felt underdeveloped to me — about as fleshed out as the confusing (but admittedly delightful) Highland cow ghost that enjoys pulling pranks on people (shrug). I'm not sure if the rest of series is the same sort of thing — several tropes and stock characters marched out into a lightly developed storyline — or if it's just because this is a special Christmas story from the middle of the series. Either way, I don't think this works particularly well as a standalone. It needs another 100 pages of context and development (or 50 fewer pages and plot points to be a holiday novella).