randelina's Reviews (571)

The second part of this tale is just as wonderful as the beginning. I enjoy Fin more and more. I adore the family he has made for himself. Again I laughed out loud and smiled often. The cozy warmth that was created in the first book continued in this one. I am excited to read the conclusion of the trilogy.

Another cozy, warm hearted, low stakes fantasy! I adored the way this story combined the idea of the baking shows I love to watch on TV with the fantasy characters and world that are such fun to read. It was magical how well the two were incorporated. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the tension and the ending. I particularly liked that the book did not end with the conclusion of the contest. I look forward to the next book and reading more about this made family.

Kind of relatable.

I found this short/essay to be cute. Kaling is amusing in print. The smart ass comments landed as I read. I found the topic to be quite interesting. While it sounds like what she went through with her daughter was on the edge of traumatic it also sounds like it was deeply healing. I have not thought about religion in the way that Kaling presented it in the last handful of pages. I am glad to have a new perspective to pounder now.

Rainbow flutters.

Great lesbian short! Izzie and Anna were so sweet. I enjoyed being able to read their beginning after reading about them in the story "In Daddy's Care." Their story was fast, intense and sexy. Both women are strong yet soft. Very happy with this snippet.

Little adorable.

A sweet story filled with kindness. Soren is wonderful, so compassionate and protective. Shane struggles with his life but finds his way in the end. The chosen/built family within this series is what we should all strive for. I enjoyed this lighter DD/lb story.

I love everything about this story! Fin is fantastically difficult, stubborn, and kind hearted. The secondary characters are simply wonderful. I look forward to seeing more of all of them in the next book. The whole of the book made me smile and often laugh out loud. I was utterly enveloped in warmth throughout.

I found this collection of stories fascinating. They appeared to be extremely well researched. Each was written well, captured the lives and tales of the women, all with an appropriate gravity. I was amazed at the breadth of time that was covered along with the numerous locations and different types of murder. The intro and conclusion add to the stories as they gave insight to Ms. Telfer's mind, choices, and reasons for writing as she did. A very interesting read that I recommend to anyone that enjoys deep diving into the human psyche. 

For thoughts as I read see the following: 

May 1, 2025 – Started Reading

May 1, 2025 – page 1 0.3% "Good intro that has me enthralled. As each Lady Killer is discussed in about 20 pgs. I am looking forward to reading this in individual bites with notes to follow each section."

May 1, 2025 – page 19 5.65% "Erzsébet Báthory: it appears that she was beyond violent, intent on torturing and slaughtering her young servants simply because she could. The fact that she surrounded herself with like-minded women that would be just as or possibly more violent and that they all got away with it for as long as they did, is insane."

May 1, 2025 – page 39 11.61% "Nannie Doss: it seems wanted what she wanted and that was that. If she wanted to be married, well hang on to your hats because, she was going to convince the man into marrying her. When she decided she was done with him, she quick and easy got rid of him and moved on. Then to learn that sure probably killed many family members, her own children included was just odd. Particularly with her staunch denial of those."

May 3, 2025 – page 61 18.15% "Lizzie Halliday: supposed nut case with a shrewd and malicious intellect. Weird story all the way around."

May 4, 2025 – page 77 22.92% "Elizabeth Ridgeway: a sullen, moody, bored woman, prone to fits of near suicide. These fits led to great annoyance with anyone who disagreed with her or told her what to do. Ultimately, the fits resulted in the murder of others rather than herself. Centuries prior to Nannie Doss yet the similarities (poison, get rid of people that annoy or are problems) are undeniable."

May 5, 2025 – page 97 28.87% "Raya and Sakina: appeared to do the best they could with the lives they were given. In the process they hustled to earn money or food by any means necessary. When they felt cheated, whether there was proof or not, they got even. Why these sisters take all the blame when there were four men involved in all of the murders committed I just do not understand."

May 8, 2025 – page 115 34.23% "Mary Ann Cotton: wife, mother, widow. Wash, rinse, repeat. She married men only to poison them later. She got pregnant seemingly to trap men in the marriage only to poison the children. Everyone directly involved in her life was expendable. All were gotten rid of at some point or other. Yet Jack the Ripper is supposedly England's first serial killer... He did his crimes 15 years after Mary Cotton hanged for hers."

May 13, 2025 – page 133 39.58% "Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova: a Russian aristocrat who learned from the church, from God, that she was better than others. Therefore, why should she not beat the serfs that belonged to her, were hers to sell like cattle, were hers to order about, to use and abuse as she saw fit. Over 100 murders before the serfs reporting her were taken seriously, before an investigation was done, before any justice occurred."

May 14, 2025 – page 157 46.73% "Anna Marie Hahn: another woman that dispensed poison like candy. She chose victims that were old, alone, forgotten by the word and hustled money from them. When they wanted repaid she simply got rid of them. Easy as cooking up a meal. It seems that she always wanted more money yet I have to wonder if she just simply enjoyed what she was doing."

May 17, 2025 – page 175 52.08% "Oum-El-Hassen: only one confirmed victim murdered. Otherwise this woman's story is filled with supposition, guesswork, and a lack of detail. So many of these tales are odd. This one has me scratching my head most so far."

May 18, 2025 – page 191 56.85% "Tillie Klimek: a woman who lived in Chicago during a time when beautiful murderess' got away with their crimes. Unfortunately, she was not one of them. During her trial she was labeled as incompetent simply because she did not speak English well. However, she knew what she was doing, committing murder via poison anytime someone made her mad, frustrated, or annoyed. Even animals met their demise at her hand."

May 19, 2025 – page 209 62.2% "Alice Kyteler: her story is more myth than fact as there was never proof of any crime. c. 1300 a woman widowed several times over, gained in money and land from each husband's death, so of course she had to be a witch that murdered them. I find this tale to be an example of how women were controlled/kept down and were not allowed to think for themselves or be successful without being persecuted."

May 20, 2025 – page 229 68.15% "Kate Bender: a woman singled out and villainized above the group she killed with simply because she was the most "neighborly." It is simply ridiculous. She did not commit these crimes, run a killing farm, a murder inn, alone. Yet, she is the one that history remembers. Though perhaps she is remembered because she got away."

May 22, 2025 – page 247 73.51% "The Angel Makers of Nagyrév: a entire Hungarian town full of women that poisoned their husbands, in-laws, children. They were impoverished to the point that most children did not live to school age anyways so why allow them to suffer. They had husbands broken in body and mind from WWI so why let them suffer. Etc. etc. there were reasons for each of the murders that took place over a 20 year span. These poor women."

May 22, 2025 – page 268 79.76% "Marie-Madeline, the Marquise de Brinvilliers: French noble who said "one should never annoy anybody." She poisoned her father and brothers both for their money and because they had annoyed her. Several others died by her hand as she tested the poisons developed by her lover. In the end her lover died before anyone was aware of his part. She however was caught and, in the end, confessed to her crimes."

May 22, 2025 – page 273 81.25% "The conclusion wrapped the book up nicely. I appreciated Ms. Telfer's explanation of why each of the women observed were of the past. I also liked the gravity which she approached the Lady Killers."

May 22, 2025 – Finished Reading

All of them!

My 8 year old daughter says all the stars, it was cute, especially the pictures that look like the dragon wanted to eat the rainbow. She thought the story was really good and loved how the dragons scales shimmered. We got to the pond and went back to the other pictures, the pond was always there, she was happy to know that. She was confused by the black and gray swirl over the pond and wishes it had reflected rainbow colors. However, she says beyond that it was great and she loved it.

Sincerely one of the most adorable, kindness filled, warm and cozy books I have read this year.

The story was good, the cast of characters great, the dialogue highly amusing, overall I enjoyed every bit of this tale. I guessed at the twist in the plot and was half correct. I loved how varied the characters were and I found them all to be very believable. The children, especially, were great because they were written so well. I was reminded of my own 8 year old daughter often. I laughed out loud Manny times while reading the dialogue, it was so accurate to how people talk and engage with their loved ones, without including all the filler "likes" or "umms" that happen in real life the days.

The only negatives I have are that I did find a typo which was disappointing. I also noticed that many words were hyphenated at the end of lines. Enough that my eye snagged on it about halfway through the book. I wish the typeset could have been different to alleviate that, but I acknowledge that is a personal pet peeve.

I am sure that I will read this book again in the future. I hope Ms. Mandanna writes more about the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. I would be very happy to lean more about the other adult witches or see the girls grow up.

Dream Harbor part two was cute. Hazel was adorable and Noah was so smitten. I've never read a main character that is as concerned about enthusiastic vocal consent as Noah was. He always made sure that anything and everything they did was 100% ok with Hazel. It was sexy to read a man caring that much and being that considerate. Their slow friendship/relationship building was lovely. It was so organic and natural how they came to fall in love.

The secondary characters, Annie and Mac, were something else. At some point they will have a book and I can't wait to find it what the hell happened between the two that caused them to act as they do.

This story is more like reading a Hallmark movie than the first. That's not to say that there aren't hot scenes because there are but they could be removed and the story would be pure tv movie.