February Mini Musings

The Tenant:  I thought this was a fairly solid mystery.  There were a few twists that made it more interesting. The pacing was a bit slow. I also didn't love the detectives.  I'm not a fan of the "poor soul tortured" detective.  It was very much a cliché and didn't add much to the character.   Not sure if I'll read the next one.

Hidden:  While I did enjoy this one, it was still a pretty typical romantic suspense.  The characters weren't exactly memorable. The mystery was fairly solid.  I don't have a ton to say about it.  I'll probably read the second one.

Every Waking Hour:  I'll be honest, This one was not my favorite of the series.  I felt like the pacing was kind of slow.  I also wasn't a fan of the continued angst between Ellery and Reed.  I mean I bought into them getting together in the last book. So, now I have to read more angst?  Don't get me started on how awful Reed's ex-wife was. The ending did end on a cliffhanger.  I'm just hoping in the next book Ellery finds some peace and happiness. 

State Secrets: This one is one of this author's early works.  I listened to the "updated" version of the book.  I don't think it needed to be updated.  Throwing in recent pop culture references did little to update it.  The story still read like an early 80's romance.  It was cheesy and a bit over the top.  I still enjoyed it.

Hard Crush: I thought this was a cute second chance romance.  I loved Hank  and all of the things he did to win Abby back.  This was a nice slow burn and I was rooting for them. Abby did get a bit frustrating at times though. I definitely want to read the next 2 books in the series. 

The Patient:  This as a quick horror novella. I didn't think it was a scary as I had heard it was.  But it was definitely creepy.  The ending makes you wonder and leaves you with an eerily feeling.  I do recommend giving it a try.

Night of the Mannequins:  This is short story that I didn't really enjoy.  The reveal of what was going on was given away too early.  We stay in the narrators head the entire time and I just didn't work for me.  There is a little twist in the end that came out of nowhere and isn't fully explored.  I didn't recommend this one.