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‘Twas the Night Before Mischief Review

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Image from Goodreads

Image from Goodreads

Title:  ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief

Author:  Nina Rowan

Published:  December 2013 by Forever Yours

Genre:  Novella, Historical Romance, Holiday

Click here to purchase ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief (A Daring Hearts Novella) from Amazon

 

I’m not usually into novellas unless it’s part of a series I follow.  But I picked up ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief after reading Reading With Analysis’s thoughts on it.  (Awesome site, check it out!)  Plus I hadn’t already read a Christmas book this year and I was feeling like I wanted to.

Penelope Darlington falls for the wrong guy, a rake with a bad reputation.  She runs off with him, only to be abandoned when his mother won’t let him marry her.  Staying at an inn with hardly any money left, Penelope isn’t sure what is going to happen next.  In walks Darius Hall, the earl’s son and also her childhood family friend.  Darius is to bring Penelope back home, per her father, but love will be found between the two along the way.

Darius was a bit too serious for me.  He was incredibly smart and a bit odd in his way of thinking.  He was awkward and couldn’t always project his thoughts the right way, causing friction between himself and Penelope.

Penelope was decent, nothing about her bothered me.  But then again, nothing about her really stood out to me either.

I did enjoy the story, but it just didn’t stick with me.  So if you’re looking for a quick read, it is a good book, just not great.

 

 

 

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.*****   

Close to You Review

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Image from Goodreads

Image from Goodreads

Title:  Close to You

Author:  Stacia Kane

Published:  October 2013 by St. Martin’s Press

Genre:  Novella, Urban Fantasy

Click here to buy Close to You from Amazon

 

 

I’m not usually a fan of novellas, or short stories, unless they are part of a series that I follow.  This one is.  It’s actually part 5.5 of Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series.  So I really don’t think that this one is a stand-alone book.  I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was because I already knew the characters well before going into it.

So Chess and Terrible are at a junkyard trying to get some free car parts when they are approached by a creepy old woman who wants money for the parts.  Although she was never there before, they assume she’s a new inhabitant and decide to follow her to pay for the parts.  Big mistake.  It was a ploy and the woman wants to use them to resurrect her dead husband.

Stacia Kane cracks me up.  I love her style of writing, and her characters personalities.  Chess is a drug addict, but I’m always routing for her and like her none-the-less.  Here’s a little excerpt that I enjoyed.

Just as Chess figured, Vincent’s body – well, it wasn’t much of a body at that point, just a skeleton covered in scraps of fabric and scraps of things Chess didn’t want to think about – lay at Mrs. Hudson’s feet.  A pillow supported its skull.  Around it several items were arranged like afterlife tokens at a Viking funeral:  a wallet, a pair of worn tennis shoes, what looked like baseball cards, a pair of socks and some underwear.  Very personal, so very powerful.  One of the items was a hammer, which was awesome because what they really needed was for Vincent’s ghost to have a deadly bludgeoning tool within easy reach. (Location 395 of 555 on Kindle)

Awesome right?  So if you’re already a Stacia Kane fan, definitely pick it up.  And if you haven’t read anything by her yet, try the first book in the series, Unholy Ghosts.

 

My Rating:  4 ½ out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.*****