Mysterious Saturday Review: Deeply Desperately

Lucy Valentine works in the family business of matchmaking. Although she doesn't have the family touch of reading auras. Instead she can find lost/missing people. At the moment, the police need her help with a case.

They're looking for a mother of two who has gone mysteriously missing. No body has surfaced. The police and public opinion believe her husband is the culprit. Lucy works to unravel the mystery through a bracelet.

In her matchmaking business, she's working in uncover a long lost love. A man's searching for a woman he met before deployment.

A reporter's shadowing Lucy through her transactions. While she's asking questions about the process of finding things, she's also asking some very personal questions. Lucy has a feeling she might be trying to uncover something about her family, but she's not sure what that might be.

With all her different cases, she still have time for her budding relationship with Sean. However, just as things start to heat up, something inevitably happens. Lucy blames this on the Valentine curse - where her family can never be happy in love. Neither of them want to give up, but when Sean's ex-girlfriend comes into the picture, trouble rears it's ugly head.

My Thoughts: I adore this new series. This is the 2nd book of Lucy Valentine and her adventures. I find her refreshing. She speaks the truth. She's loyal, hard-working, sassy, and fun. I loved her times with Preston. I'm eager for the next installment.

Cover Thoughts: It's cute but the story takes place right before the holidays and there's nothing to indicate this time of year. It looks more like a summer read than a winter cozy.

Source: ILL

Next Up: Coming in February

10 Things: Favorite Series Now Over

Last week, I mentioned my favorite series book still going. This week I'm chatting about those favorite series that have ended. Again in my mind, series books MUST be four books or more.

Harry Potter: One of the best series I've ever read.


Princess Diaries: The series that inspired me to become a YA librarian. Pure fun filled with personal drama, family drama, friendship drama, and romance. I love Mia and how she's thrust into a very different life with some family news.

Sweep: The best series of witches I've ever read filled with power, betrayal, friendship issues, drama, romance, and learning spells. New books coming out in bundles and cool new covers.


Summer Boys: Fun beach read series about a family who always vacations in Maine. Summer blossoms and dies, hearts are broken, and girls become the best of friends.


Enola Holmes: A fascinating read of women in England in the 19th century. Enola is the sister of the famed Sherlock Holmes. She lives in secret in London, donning disguises and communicating with her mother through codes and ciphers. She also spends her time solving missing person cases, often through clues her brother misses.


Georgia Nicholson*: I love Georgian and her quirky ways. I do have the last two books in the series to read. I always laugh out loud when reading these.

Song of the Lioness: I've heard just awesome buzz about Tamora Pierce. I started Alanna and became hooked. I tore through this series and need to start reading more of her work because she IS amazing.

Percy Jackson*: I have yet to finish this series because just as the 4th book was coming out, we started our book club with The Lightening Thief and I had it in my head that I would go back and reread the others before reading the 4th to remember the story. It never happened and I really need to go back and read books 4 and 5 because I LOVE this blend of mythology and modern day.

Mediator: I'm a HUGE Meg Cabot fan but I love the blend of ghosts, danger, and romance in this series. It's amazingly fun.


Pendragon*:(again I have to read the last two books) A unique series of a blend of science fiction and fantasy with danger, end of the world possibilities, and a little bit of romance.

* In doing this blog post, I'm noticing a pattern of not reading the last two books in the series. If the series is long, it's hard for me to remember what happened in the previous books. Also I hate letting go of a series, especially when I love them dearly.

Created: Sammy Keyes book trailer

Here's a new trailer made after attending a technology workshop. It's next month's book pick for our 4th and 5th grade book club.

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

Review: Daughters Break the Rules

After leaking a story damaging to her father and his business, Carina is in serious trouble. Not only is her father icing her out, but he's just cut her off. She no longer has unlimited credit cards.

Instead, she will receive an allowance of $20/week. Carina isn't sure she care survive, but she's determined to show her father she's not a spoiled brat.

Unfortunately, her crush asks her to go skiing over winter vacation in Switzerland. Carina jumps at the chance. Once she agrees, reality sets in when she realizes she'll need a way to pay for the trip.

She worms her way into planning a charity event on the expectation she draw big names. Carina meets with the people on Ava's list. However, once the vendors realize that it's a charity event and not for her father, they give her the cold shoulder. Carina's about to give up when she meets Alex.

He's a DJ who encourages her to look at the event in a whole new light. Soon, she's making huge changes to the event. Changes that won't cost her money. Best of all, she's spending more and more time with Alex. She finds herself confiding in him, everything except for the reasons she's really working for this event.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the trilogy of three daughters who formed a bond due to their uber famous parents. They deal with real issues regardless of their family wealth and privilege. They're learning how to break out of their shells and live by their own rules. I love the transformation of Carina.

Cover Thoughts: I really like the mix of black and white and the colors. I think it makes the girls pop.

Source: My library

Next up: The Daughters Take the Stage out in May

Review: Brave Escape of Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton lived a privileged life. She was born into the Jones family - a wealthy family who were prominent members of New York society. From an early age, her mother knew Edith was different.

Edith was shy, she admired the truth, she liked to make up stories, and she loved reading. She spent her formative years touring Europe, which left a deep impression.

Upon her return, she made her debut. In one summer she met two men. She developed a deep relationship with one, but he left at the end of the summer. The other man she befriended and then married. She fell out of favor with society, but that didn't stop her.

Edith wrote in the mornings. In the beginning, she had three poems printed in respected publications. One of the publishers was interested in more of her writing. After her short story appeared, she began work on several others that would be published into one volume. However, the idea of her stories in print threw her into a panic, and she began to work on non-fiction projects.

She traveled throughout Europe and met many bachelors who would become her dearest friends. Several of these men were writers. She would share her ideas and her writings with them. After publishing her first novel, one of these men, Henry James, wrote with advice for her next book.

Edith took his advice to heart and wrote a serialized tale published in a magazine that would later become THE HOUSE OF MIRTH. Her success was huge. She kept writing, which paid for her house to be built, her trips to Europe, and her lifestyle. Until she died, Edith wrote and behaved in the fashion she desired.

My Thoughts: I read Edith Wharton in college and loved The House of Mirth. I devoured some of her other novels. I jumped at the chance to review this book as I wanted to know more about this author. Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge writes a fascinating and engaging non-fiction book describing an amazing woman who dared to step outside the bounds of society and live life on her own terms.

Cover: I like it - I love the detail of the stairs.

Source: reviewed for www.teensreadtoo.com where I gave it a
Fun Facts: A few years ago, I dragged my husband to visit The Mount (the house she built)

She also co-wrote a book The Decoration of Houses which she used the ideas in her own home. However, the Whartons sold the house and because of that, no one quite knows how the house might have looked inside apart of the ideas in this book.

One of her tricks was to place a mirror on the walls opposite the windows for two purposes. One, the light bounces off the mirror and creates more light in the room. Two, the mirror creates an effect of making the room larger than it appears.

These stairs, as other rooms in the house, were decorated by local interior designers of what might have been in the house.

Here's her library. She wrote mostly in bed, but maybe she did some writing at this desk. They did purchase most of the original books from her personal collection.
The outside grounds are also gorgeous

Review: Wildfire Run

Luke's dad is the President of the United States. They awake one morning at Camp David to an earthquake ripple. Immediately, the President heads to Washington to uncover more details about the destruction and to figure out how to best help the people. Luke remains at Camp David with his friend, Theodore. They plan to build a robot with the help of his dog. They're in the middle of working on the project when Luke's used-to-be friend, Callie, appears. She's carrying a kitten. When the canine frightens the feline, both animals take off into the woods. Luke and Callie run to catch them, but they're not allowed into the woods. Meanwhile, the Secret Service agents get word of a fast-moving forest fire. They must evacuate the camp immediately. They wait for a few minutes to see if Luke can call back his dog. When he doesn't appear, they jump into SUVs and head for the main gate. As they try to exit, catastrophe ensues. Following a car crash that leaves the extraction team separated and hurt, the three tweens need to figure out how to get away from Camp David. Unfortunately, the security measures used in keeping out terrorists are also keeping them from escaping.

My Thoughts: WILDFIRE RUN is a fast-paced read bursting with action and danger. Luke, Callie, and Theo must learn to put their differences aside and work together as a team. They come up with crazy ideas to outsmart the system, which creates a great novel for tweens and reluctant readers.

Cover: I really like it, but I find it misleading because there are three tweens in the story. However, it's eye-catching.

Source: My library, although I reviewed it for www.teensreadtoo.com

Reivew: Pies and Prejudice

The girls from the book club enter high school this year. Everything changes when Emma's family announces they're moving to England for the year. Using this news as a jumping-off point, the book club decides to read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and keep in touch with Emma and her mother via video chats.

Emma and her family switch houses with someone for the year. At first, she doesn't want to leave, but when she arrives in England, she learns to love it. However, she doesn't love the people. One boy follows her around all the time. He's a mini Mr. Collins and Emma can't stand him. She's also not fond of Annabelle, who makes her life miserable both in England and also back home. Unbeknownst to her, her friends start up a pie business to purchase a plane ticket so she can visit during school vacation.

Jess can't believe her best friend and her crush are both deserting her this year. She's adjusted to life at boarding school since last year. Now, everyone's figuring out their future career, but Jess can't narrow down a choice. Not knowing what she wants to do with her life deeply disturbs her.

Cassidy makes a girl's league hockey team, which means lots of practices and spending lots of time with her new stepfather. She also decides to create a hockey team for girls in the local area. Calling it Chicks with Sticks, her former teacher, Mrs. Bergson, helps her get the program started. But Mrs. Bergson calls in a favor of her own. Snooty Tristan, the boy living in Emma's house, is an ice dancer. He needs a training partner to continue his work towards an exclusive competition. Soon, Cassidy's trying out figure skating and doing her best to live up to his high expectations.

Meghan starts up a fashion blog - complete with fashion don'ts. She writes the snarky insults in a Jane Austen-type tone. At first, the blog remains anonymous, but after a queen bee spills the beans, everyone is up in arms, including friends, teachers, and parents.

My Thoughts: As the group reads PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and learns all about Jane Austen, changes start occurring as the girls form crushes, hopes, and dreams - all while dealing with drama and friendship dilemmas. I'm such a Jane Austen freak, that I was so excited the club read this book. I love this charming series and hope the book club continues throughout high school.

The Cover: I really like it - love how it connects to the other covers

Source: Reviewed for www.teensreadtoo.com where it won the