Starry Night. Finished 2-9-20, 4/5 stars, romance, 231 pages, pub. 2013

Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.

Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a megabestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives.

Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart.    from Goodreads

Sweet, implausible, and just what I needed.  This Christmas romance came at the perfect time, after a few heavy reads and winter firmly settling in.  Finn is a man’s man and Carrie a girly girl and when the two first met it was not love at first sight.  But somehow in the span of a few short days the recluse from Alaska and the reporter from Chicago fell madly in love.  The characters were good and the tension was perfect enough to carry the story and leave me in a happy place.

Happy Valentine’s Day 🙂

At Home With Madame Chic.  Finished 2-9-20, home/style, 4/5 stars. 281 pages, pub. 2014

At Home with Madame Chic reveals the secrets to having a happy, fulfilling, and passionate life at home. Jennifer explains the morning send-off need not be chaotic, it’s possible to look stylish with minimal time and effort, a little forethought makes it possible to serve a home-cooked dinner every night, and details like music and scented candles can set the tone for the whole family’s evening. Organized by the pleasures that can be found throughout the day, this charming, helpful book is full of ideas, playlists, recipes, beauty routines, and advice that can turn an irritating day into an enjoyable experience.   from Goodreads

This was a perfect timing kind of read for me.  This is not the type of book that I would normally pick up, but my 30 day challenge for next month involves my wardrobe and I was browsing the library shelves in that area I picked this up.  I’m so glad that I did.  Our home is still causing me quite a bit of stress and the emphasis on putting some love and attention into your daily life, your home included, helped me view the chaos around me with a little more clarity.

As a mom with two young children she spoke a language I understand about the importance of making a childhood for your kids that they will look back on and want to emulate.  The ‘chic’ you see in some woman starts from an inner peace, an air of mystery, and there are things we ‘un-chic’ gals can do to feel some of that ourselves.  At least that’s what she tells me 🙂  There’s a lot more in here about your daily life and ways to make special memories every day, including recipes, games, wardrobe lists, and playlists.

The author has written several Madame Chic books and I do plan on looking for the others.  The library book I checked out?  I returned it and bought my own copy.  It’s such a pretty little book and something that will remind me to slow down and put a little more love and intention in to my day.

Liars’ Legacy. Finished 1-31-20, 4/5, thriller, 339 pages, pub. 2019

Book 2 of the Jack and Jill series (1-Liars’ Paradox)

The assassin broker is dead. The power void has left the network he controlled without restraints, and the world’s deadliest killers free to pursue their own vendettas and political agendas. The United States government, unwilling to risk upheaval and global chaos, has mobilized killers of its own to preemptively hunt down and destroy each potential threat.

Among the most dangerous on that list are Jack and Jill.

Often estranged–always connected by a legacy they can’t escape–the siblings have eluded many who want them dead. As they board a flight to Berlin hoping to meet the father they’ve never known, they suspect a trap. What they can’t predict is how far a high-level Russian operation will go to secure their skills, or how hard the U.S. operatives sent to stop them will fight to assassinate them first.   from Goodreads

I really liked the first in this series of assassins.  The seemingly unhinged mother, mysterious father, the two twins who are rarely on the same page, but both deadly.  In that book the Broker who ran the web of assassins around  the world (easy to picture if you’ve seen the John Wick movies, but not nearly as civilized as all that) was murdered.  This second installment is what happens in the aftermath.

Jack and Jill are flying to Berlin to meet the father they’ve never known, but they know they are being watched, hunted even.  With a little help from fellow killer for hire Holden the three of them manage to stay one step ahead of the Russians and Americans who want them either locked up or dead.  It was a little confusing, I was always a move or two behind.  Once they returned to the United States things became clear, even though Jack’s plans are always too smart for me to even guess at before the action starts.

I liked this one, and not just because Jack ends up in Cleveland for a bit (hanging with our homeless no less!).  It was nonstop action for over half the book until it slowed down just enough to let you catch your breath and enjoy the finish.  I loved that Holden was back and appreciate the way he sees Jill and likes her, but is willing to walk away from the crazy.  I’m intrigued by Kara, who has a thing for Jack, but works for the government.  I’m interested to see where this thing with with their father takes them.  So many things I look forward to finding out in the next book.

If you like nonstop action in your thrillers this is the series for you!

Exit Strategy.  Finished 1-29-20, 4/5 stars, thriller, pub. 2017

Unabridged audio read by Ray Porter.  6 CDs.

Book 2 in the Nick Mason series (1-The Second Life of Nick Mason)

Nick Mason has been given a true mission impossible: Infiltrate WITSEC, the top-secret federal witness-protection program that has never been compromised, locate the three men who put his boss Darius Cole behind bars for life, and kill them.

But first he has to find them—they’re ghost prisoners locked down around the clock in classified “deep black” locations by an battalion of heavily armed U.S. marshals charged with protecting them—and the clock is ticking. Cole is appealing his conviction, and these witnesses are either his ticket to freedom or the final nail in his coffin.    As he risks everything to complete his mission, Mason finds himself being hunted by the very man he replaced, the ruthless assassin who once served, then betrayed, Darius Cole. 

In an action-packed journey that leads from a high-security military installation in the Appalachian Mountains to a secret underground bunker hidden far below the streets of New York City, Nick Mason will have to become, more than ever before, the lethal weapon that Darius Cole created.   fromGoodreads

I listened to the first Nick Mason book last month and liked the way Nick, a low level criminal turned killer, was portrayed as a man making bad decisions based on wanting to live another day.  I’m not sure sympathy is the best word, but definitely some feeling of understanding kept me listening.  In this second book with Nick, one that starts about a month later, the bigger picture becomes clearer and his luck with women goes from bad to worse to the worst.  I think at least one of those could have been left out.

Somehow, Nick has become this uber assassin and I was a little confused about how he obtained all of these skills in such a short amount of time, but once I just accepted it as fact the story became more fun.  Well, as fun as killers hunting killers and leaving lots of dead bodies in wake can be.  Again, once accepted the entertainment value goes way up.

I like Nick Mason and this series, improbable as it may be, and am looking forward to the next book.