Sunday Synopsis

 

Out of the Ashes by Kara Thomas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would have liked to give this more than three stars because the premise is interesting, but it's really only a 3 star read at best. The main character, Samantha, is back in her hometown to help her uncle take his own life (she's a nurse; he has cancer). 20-something years ago, her parents and sister were killed and her home completely burned in a fire. She was only 13 at the time and ended up living with her aunt (Michelle, also know as Mitch which was confusing) and her cousin. There is no love lost between her and the aunt and cousin, but that is beside the point.

This is a story of lies, secrets, and betrayals, which sounds like a great story-line. However, the author went off on tangents with the numerous characters, many of whom added nothing to the plot. There is a big twist at the end, but an avid reader of thrillers can probably guess at some of the details. There really was not a satisfying ending, either. Big bomb drops, no follow-up.

Maybe the author is going to write a sequel. If she does, I hope it will have fewer characters, more character development, events directly related to the conflict rather than tangential events that change nothing, and a satisfying conclusion, all of which were missing from this book. Which makes me wonder why I gave it three stars. Hmmm.

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Happy Tuesday and Random Nonsense

 I imagine that most of you watched the super bowl like we did.  It was tense, to say the least!  What did you think of the half-time show?  It was pretty spectacular, but not my favorite.  I think Lady Gaga's and Katy Perry's are my favorites in recent memory.

What did you think of the commercials, because, let's face it, that's why many of us watch!  According to USA Today and the 160, 000 people that registered to vote for commercials, the best one was State Farm's "Like a Good Neighbaaa."

  That was pretty funny, but my favorite was the "Mayo"  commercial from Hellmann's, which only ranked 12. 

What can I say?  I'm a cat lover!  Here's a link in case you didn't see it. Mayo/Meow!

Some of the Superbowl memes are pretty funny...

This is my fave, and probably true!

Travis Kelce's mom!

Have a good week, and please visit my friends at Happy Tuesday and Random Tuesday Thoughts.

R.I.P. Toby

 Heartbreaking news.  His music reminds me of both good times and bad in my life, but it especially reminds me of  when my children were in elementary school.  Good times listening to Toby with them,

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Happy Random Tuesday- Getting Ready for the Big Game!

 Are you ready for some football?  I'm not a huge fan, but I'll be watching, of course.  Mainly for the entertainment and the commercials, though.  Which team will win?  I have no idea, and I have no dog in this fight, but I do know that it is the same matchup as 2020, and KC won that one.  I also know that however old I am, that's the same for the Superbowl.  The SB started the year I was born.  Now if I could just remember those darn Roman numerals!  😉

I hope the commercials are better than they have been the last few years. The halftime shows have been pretty good. The performer is usually someone I'm a little familiar with, but not someone I listen to frequently.  For example, I only know a handful of Lady Gaga songs, but she is amazingly talented, and her halftime show in 2017 was dazzling!  Anyway, I think Usher will be fun to watch.  

Moving on...

Have a great week and don't forget to visit Random Tuesday Thoughts and Happy Tuesday.

Sunday Synopsis

Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This has the typical Stephanie Plum plot sprinkled with humor. You basically know what you're going to get when you read a book in this series. And what you get it pretty fun.

First, I'll mention two things that annoy me. Obviously they don't annoy me a lot, or I wouldn't read them anymore, but... It annoys me how Morelli's character hasn't evolved much over the course of 23 books. Second, the overuse of the word, "Babe," coming out of Ranger's mouth is getting old. It was cute and a little funny at the beginning, but now, not so much.

In keeping with the rest of the series, Stephanie goes about her job as a "bounty hunter" looking for FTA's (failure to appear) for her cousin's bond company. She's assisted by Lulu, a plus-size former lady-of-the-night who tends to wear clothes that are several sizes too small and carries her gun in her purse like it's no big deal. Stephanie, on the other hand, keeps her gun in the cookie jar and doesn't even have bullets for it.

The main plot (there are always subplots with the various FTA's) revolves around an ice cream company owner whose employees end up dead or almost dead. One was coated in chocolate and nuts and left in the owner's office. Another died when he got locked in the deep freeze which is supposed to lock from inside. And there was a near miss for Stephanie and the ice cream truck driver.

Ranger has been hired to assist in security for the company, so he factors heavily in the plot of this book whereas Morelli is absent from a lot of this book. No Stephanie Plum novel would be complete without including Stephanie's grandma who lives with her old-fashioned parents.

Janet Evanovich never fails to come up with wacky, twisty plots, humor, and easy-to-read novels. This one, like the others, was a lot of fun.

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