Shelf Loving

30 Days (30 Days, #1) - K. Larsen

Amazon Top 100 Free book, 1 star.

Didn’t like this book. It had promise and potential. Maybe a more established author with a stronger voice could take this book to a better level. A woman is verbally and mentally abused by her husband and stays in her marriage until it drives her to a suicide attempt. That just lost me as being interested right there… She discovers in recovery that being away from her husband is in fact what she needs to be happy about life. Woohoo… Now though, she is “missing” since she ran away from the psych ward that her husband wouldn’t release her from because he was enjoying the access to her money and a life without her. Yeah…

3:AM Kisses (3:AM Kisses, #1) - Addison Moore

Amazon Top 100 Free book, 1 star.

This was just bad… I hate not finishing books I start but this one just was not doing it for me. To get through chunks of it I would read just the first sentence of the paragraphs and even that felt like a waste of time for most the book. I hate giving bad reviews but really, I would not recommend this to anyone. It had one interesting point, the murder of one girl and the attempt on the main girl’s character. If the book was more about that plot line I think it would have been much better and worth the read.

The Intern - Dale Wiley

Amazon Top 100 Free book, 2 stars.

I unfortunately did not really care for character development around the main character so it was hard to get through most of this book. The kid is an intern in DC and fumbles his way into a conspiracy that leads to the murder of one of the DC representatives. The murder of course is pinned on him and he stays on the run in order to clear his name and not be murdered as well.

3 a.m. (Henry Bins #1) - Nick Pirog

Amazon Top 100 Free book, 3 Stars.

This book has a really interesting premise. A guy can only stay awake for an hour each day. During this one hour he witnesses bizarre things that lead him to believe a murder took place across the street that The President is involved in. He has to use his one hour every day to solve the crime. I gave the story a three just because it was so unique but overall… really…an hour each day to solve a crime and he is dead to the world otherwise. It is a little too unbelievable.

Never Always Sometimes - Adi Alsaid

GoodReads First Read winner and a 5 star rating! Ah this book makes you relive your own high school moments and forays into the world. I was a late bloomer and never had a super close friend in school, I was that shy wallflower. I yearned for a friendship like the one is this story. Coed friendships are hard to make and even harder to maintain. Especially through the tender high school/college years. As we get older hormones get in the way along with other relationships.

This story revolves around the girl vying for her mother’s approval which leads to a list of clichés that that the friends never want to commit. Upon finding the list late into senior year they decide that they want the typically high school experiences after all and make a point to cross off every item. Catch is, one of rules is already almost broken as the high school year is coming to a rapid close, #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. Breaking these rules leads to adventures together and apart and makes the dynamic duo realize that “never” means missing out on things and how to be more open to life experiences.

Unallocated Space (Sam Flatt, #1) - Jerry Hatchett

Amazon Top 100 Free book, 4 stars.

Really liked the level of detail in this story. The protagonist is well developed and you learn a lot of his past but not enough at the same time so he remains an enigma that you cannot wait to follow through the plotline. This story dives into the darkness that makes up some of the worst of humanity, sex trade and wealth/power dominating in the cruelest ways. While you learn to love the protagonist you hate his initial enemy in the FBI. Whenever an author can invoke such a strong reaction, positively or negatively, I automatically love the book. What is even better is the way the FBI agent’s development through the story that makes you forgive her and like her character, again a trait I love in authors.

Dialogues of a Crime - John K. Manos

Top 100 Amazon Free book, 3 stars.

This book was interesting and kept me hooked. Two young boys become friends and one of these boys happens to be the son of a Chicago mob boss. The boss takes the boy under his wing and treats him like a son/nephew his entire life. When the young kid is arrested in college for a drug related crime (showing an undercover cop where he could buy drugs) he is led to plead guilty by his lawyer and ends up in prison with hardened criminals. While in prison he is brutally attacked and molested before the mob boss is able to buy protection for the kid. Just before his release the boy makes a promise to the ones that hurt him on how they were going to die. He tells the mob boss this promise and 20 years later the cold cases surface. This book brings into question who is innocent and who is guilty. Does one crime leading to another make the follow up a crime? Is putting a man’s life in danger with the mob worth hunting down a killer from 20 years ago for men that committed multiple crimes and brutalities against innocent people? This book has the essence of “playing God” and the cold thrill of a mob mentality of loyalty and the hunt for power. Only three stars because some of the story line is too farfetched which makes it hard to totally fall into and believe the events but overall a great quick read!