kerrilee

New words this week : 6,479 words which is pretty much back to my average. Had hoped for a bit more, but all things considered I'm happy with it.

WIPs worked on this week : 2, with no new WIPs (yay!)

Things here have continued to be bananas. Zero free time, started off this week with an emergency dental appointment, persistent headache, ugh. I can't remember the last time I had a full night sleep and it's starting to really take its toll.

The Old Guard

☆ food truck au : 6,084 words which brings the total to 112,812 words and I'm hung up on Chapter 11. I've been adding words to later parts so progress is still being made, but I'm struggling a little, and I think it's something I need to just let simmer in the back of my brain for a while. I'm disappointed that I didn't make my goal of starting to post this thing by the end of March, but it is what it is. I have no earthly idea how long it's going to be, judging by how many chapters I have left and how long recent chapters have been running... I still have something like 50k to go?? And I'm looking at that number like, this can't possibly be right. I really hope that's not right. There is no reason this fic should be this long what am I even doing anymore.

☆ early days pwp : 395 words which brings the total to 2,052 words and shifting gears a little bit because it's been like 6 months since I've posted anything so this is one that I KNOW will not run long, because my pwps always stay under 10k. This one in particular should only be around 5-6k, and I just really want to have something finished and posted.

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chez_jae

Purrfect Kill (The Mysteries of Max #17)

Purrfect Kill by Nic Saint

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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I finished reading Purrfect Kill by Nic Saint last night. It’s the 17th “Mysteries of Max” book, featuring fat orange cat Max and Odelia, his human.

There’s been another murder in Hampton Cove. This time pop star Chickie Hay has been found dead in her mansion. Odelia joins Chase and her Uncle Alec as they go to investigate, and Odelia brings her four cats along to see if they can glean some clues. The investigation unearths lax security, a crazed fan, a best frenemy, and a former manager who had a beef with Chickie. Clues and witness statements don’t seem to add up, but Max, Odelia, and the others are determined to crack the case.

If the author would stick to the main plot, these books would be much more enjoyable. Instead, we have Vesta (Gran) acting like a tween twat again, as well as a subplot of the same inept burglars from a previous book putting in a return appearance. Even Harriet the cat was acting like a moron. The main plot was good, but the subplots dragged it all down.

Favorite lines:
♦ “She collected grudges and feuds like other people collected shoes or stamps.”
♦ Abe Cornwall is the county coroner and looks as if at some point he swallowed another county coroner. The man is large.
♦ It’s a pity our paws are outfitted with soft pink pads. It hampers our ability to applaud.
♦ “Dooley caught a killer? How did that happen?” // “I found an inseminating piece of evidence,” said Dooley happily. // “Not inseminating, incriminating,” Harriet corrected him.

Can’t score this any higher than a three.

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No Charm Intended (Cora Crafts Mystery #2)

No Charm Intended by Mollie Cox Bryan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Late last night I finished reading my “spare” book: No Charm Intended by Mollie Cox Bryan. It’s the second book in the “Cora Crafts” series of cozy mysteries. The main character is Cora Chevalier, although a decent portion of the book was in the pov of her friend/business partner, Jane.

Cora is settling into life in Indigo Gap, and she and Jane are hosting their second craft retreat out of Kildare House. Before the retreat officially begins, Jane is thrown into a panic when her daughter’s babysitter disappears. Gracie is a levelheaded law student, which makes it unlikely she just up and pulled a runner. In the meantime, Cora has received an odd text, saying only “I kidnapped her.” Soon Gracie’s boyfriend, Paul, and his friend, Henry, come to Kildare House to see if Cora or Jane has heard from Gracie or knows anything. The police are looking into the missing person angle, but when a body is found in the area, the situation grows more urgent...and sinister. Cora and Jane are desperate for news of Gracie, but they have two dozen crafters on site, and the show must go on.

I didn’t read the first book in the series, but I didn’t feel as though I was missing out. Cora left her job of assisting victims of domestic violence for the calmer world of crafting, while Jane has left an alcoholic ex-husband behind. Characters were portrayed well, and I hope to see some of them in future books. I’d like to say the plot made sense, but some things were confusing and never adequately explained. For instance, why was Cora one of about a dozen people to get that menacing text? Aside from that, the ending of the book was not cozy-mystery-friendly; it was more appropriate for a thriller mystery, and I was left disgruntled by it. One final gripe: The author (and her editor) need to learn the difference between “sat” and “set”. I cringed each time someone “sat” something down. Ugh.

Favorite lines:
♦ “To the record and memory keepers!”
♦ Soon the two of them were lost in the world of Harry Potter.

I enjoyed this story. It was interesting and kept my attention. I was prepared to give it four stars, but the ending has me taking one star off: three stars.

( Trope Test )

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chez_jae

Forever Rose by Janet Wellington

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Today, I finished my ‘at work book’ while at work! Ta-da! The book was Forever Rose, a time-travel romance by Janet Wellington. The main character is Taylor Rose Martin.

While taking a train home to San Diego, Taylor falls asleep, and when she awakens in time to disembark, she finds herself in the right place but the wrong time. Taylor has somehow traveled back in time to San Diego in the 1880’s. Since she’s dressed in trousers, a vest, and wearing a hat, people mistake her for a boy. The first person to see through her disguise is Ida, the madame of Sherman House. She offers Taylor room and board in exchange for acting as her gardener. When Taylor inadvertently learns that the handsome bartender she met is secretly plotting to kill Wyatt Earp, she realizes this is what she’s been sent back in time to prevent. Now she must convince Jackson Hoyt not to throw his life away to avenge a father he never met, even as she’s falling in love with Jackson.

For the most part, this was a charming time-travel romance with a feisty, likable heroine. However…
SPOILERS!!!
- Taylor and Jackson fell in love after only a few, brief meetings. Yawn.
- Before going back in time, Taylor has a tarot reading that predicted her unanticipated journey. One thing the tarot reader mentioned was to beware of a false friend. I literally spent the entirety of the book keeping a sharp lookout for this dastardly character...but it never came to pass. I was and remain vexed.
- The ending of the book was a major disappointment. (SPOILER!) At the same time Jackson was dying in the past, Taylor was returning to the present, where she met a new incarnation of him. She recognized him, but I was thinking, wow, this is not the same man she met and fell in love with. I would have much preferred if Taylor had the choice to remain in the past, or if Jackson had come forward in time with her. Way to ruin a good story in the last two pages, Ms Wellington.

Favorite lines: Being judgmental was the greatest hindrance to happiness.

This was headed for a solid four rating, but the shoddy ending knocks it down to three.

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subject: celebrity rip

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Moon Child by J.R. Rain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Monday night I completed Moon Child, book 4 in JR Rain’s “Vampire for Hire” urban fantasy series. The main character is vampire PI Samantha “Sam” Moon.

Samantha’s son, Anthony, is dying. She knows she has the ability to save him, but at what cost? Faced with an impossible decision, Sam puts her faith in the strange medallion in her possession-- one that is rumored to reverse vampirism. However, someone, something else wants that same medallion and will stop at nothing to get it. Samantha has precious few options, and she’s running out of time.

This book focused more on Samantha’s dilemma in connection with Anthony, rather than on any case she was investigating. It also leaned heavily into her relationships—with her children, her ex-husband, werewolf Kingsley Fulcrum, vampire wannabe Fang, actual vampire Detective Hanner, and the mortal detective she’s befriended. Sam loses faith in some of them and puts her faith in others. It added depth to the story.

Two items did bother me:
( Spoilers )

Favorite lines:
♦ What would happen if I broke in? Would a wart appear on my nose? Would a she-devil manifest in a swirl of black smoke to drag me down to hell? Would Lady Gaga apparate and give me a make-over?
♦ The man looked like a gnome or something out of Xanth.

Eerie and engrossing, five stars.

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firethesound

New words this week : 6,705 words which is a little bit less, but pretty good considering this week has been bananas so far. Much less writing time + some of my writing time went to beta-reading a thing + some of my writing time went to editing/outlining.

WIPs worked on this week : 2, with no new WIPs (yay!)

Thank goodness we've all been healthy, could this horrible cold and flu season finally be coming to a close??

The Old Guard

☆ food truck au : 6,553 words which brings the total to 106,712 words and another chapter down! We have more Confessions of Feels, more kissing, and next chapter is finally (finally!!) the smut! So as I've been writing, I've been pulling out bits that don't quite fit in the chapter I'm writing and copy/pasting them into later chapters, figuring I'd sort it out later. Well, later has arrived and all my copy/pasted chickens have come home to roost. I've had to stop to throw together a rough outline, and I... am not sure that I can finish this in five chapters ugggghhhh I am going to be writing this fucking thing forever.

☆ werewolf au : 153 words which brings the total to 14,073 words and this was just jotting down a quick little snippet before I forgot it (and I'm glad that I did because I honestly can't remember what it was).

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The Five Strangers (Tropical Breeze Cozy Mystery Book 18)

The Five Strangers by Mary Bowers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Knocked back The Five Strangers by Mary Bowers over the course of 24 hours. It’s the 18th book in her “Tropical Breeze” series of paranormal cozies. The main character is Taylor Verone, who refuses to admit she may be psychic.

A sudden influx of strangers into the small community of Tropical Breeze stirs both curiosity and concern. There’s the harridan who opens an antique store just a couple doors from Taylor’s resale shop, a charismatic busker, a preppy CPA, and a possible vampire. Local handyman, Jasper, claims the woman who opened the antique store has placed a curse on him, and he retains the services of paranormal investigator Edson Darby-Deaver to get to the bottom of it. With Ed involved, Taylor gets dragged into the drama as well. She thinks that Sheila is a witch, but not a Witch. Before Taylor can convince Jasper he’s in no danger, someone is murdered and now the entire town is on edge.

This particular installment in the series had it all: mystery, humor, paranormal elements, and just enough creepiness to keep my attention. The only drawback, in my opinion, is that Ed wasn’t very Ed-like. Instead of being reserved and socially awkward, he seemed more feisty and in charge. Not necessarily a bad thing, but out of character for him. Other characters were portrayed well, from the regulars to the newcomers. The plot was fast-paced and held my attention.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Now tools don’t work and ladders are falling over and even turtles are coming to get me.”
♦ It would have been just like Ed to throw things off by suggesting that evil-wishers don’t use gopher tortoises because they’re too slow.
♦ “Have you been just hoping for a case of hag-riding one of these days so you could test out a theory?”
♦ When Abraham was a proto-kitten and lined up for a personality before being born, he must have gotten into the sloth line by mistake.
♦ “Wait, I’ll go with you. We can go on the warpath together.”
♦ “He thinks he’s got vampires now?” Jasper hadn’t mentioned that at the diner, and when you’re consulting a paranormal investigator, you’d think a thing like that would come up.
♦ “If you decide to just go over to his house and knock on the door, make sure you don’t go after dark. I hear vampires are trying to get into his house.”
♦ “I don’t think any of them have even seen her shop yet. It’s actually more horrible than she is.”
♦ “You will eat quiche off of antique china and like it.”
♦ “Even I had my doubts when I heard about the tortoise attack.”

Marvelous fun! Five stars

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