Rose Pressey

This book was unfortunately very nearly a 'never-finished' for me.

There were a number of issues I came across (including multiple instances of contradictory thoughts on major issues such as werewolves being 'discovered' by humans) that made me wince. In places this felt like reading a first draft that could have been tightened up and polished through edits and been a good, solid werewolf romance story.

Characterisation was another spot that kept tripping me up - Rylie's 'best friend' Jennifer, for example, seemed like several different people at different times, or perhaps just really prone to mood swings and even near-total shifts of personality.

Rylie herself had some similar major changes at times, though I was willing to buy that the stress of everything going on in her life was throwing her far from her normal patterns. It would for anyone, surely!

There's another spot that bothered me - surely even for a werewolf, at some point, the number of issues and out-of-the-ordinary things, threats, and people and/or werewolves she noticed around her, and was even terrified of, in places, would drive her to call the police?

Granted, calling the police would seem an understandably worrying thing to do for a possibly supernatural threat. What about the 'pack police' that were mentioned so often?

The wrap-up at the end, including several sub-plots that felt rather squashed into the novel, honestly, felt rushed to me, and the actual end of the book abrupt.

I really wanted to like this book - it sounded like a great, fun, probably funny read, and I like the kind of story generally - and part of the reason I kept reading, rather than letting this be a never-finished, was that I was waiting for it to become that good solid read that I thought it could be.… (mer)

FROM AMAZON: Halloween LaVeau is descended from a long line of witches. Yes, her name is Halloween. The cosmic universe is definitely playing some kind of sick joke on her. She’s the ultimate witch cliché, complete with a black cat and spooky house. Thank heavens she’s missing the warts and flying broom. The first book in an all new series! When Halloween inherits her great-aunt’s manor, she decides to put the house to good use as a bed-and-breakfast. Her first guest is the sinfully good-looking Nicolas Marcos, but he’s not here for the continental breakfast. Halloween discovers a ratty old book in the attic. It’s written in an unfamiliar language. Halloween soon learns this is not an ordinary spell book. The tome brings her a new talent, but her new skills come with a catch. When a rival witch comes after the book, Halloween doesn’t know who to trust–the sexy vampire who says he wants to save the day, or the warlock who says he can destroy the book once and for all.… (mer)

Macarons Can Be Murder by Rose Betancourt is the debut of A Paris Kentucky Bakery Mysteries. The story is told from Marci Beaucoup’s point-of-view. We are privy to her every thought and feeling (lucky us). Marci, of course, loves everything French. Marci opens La Belle Patisserie in her southern hometown of Paris, Kentucky. I was not a fan of Marci. She quickly got on my nerves. It is hard to believe that someone her age could be that naïve, especially in this day and age. Marci does not make the best choices (the words too stupid to live come to mind). Marci’s Aunt Barb has an overbearing personality. She is a human steam roller, and it is best to get out of her way. The mystery was straightforward. There is a limited number of suspects. There is an attempt at misdirection. The killer can be identified early in the story. Marci works to solve the crime so the building that houses her patisserie does not get sold to a developer and bulldozed. It would have helped if Marci had a cohort in crime so to speak. We would have had to endure less of her thoughts (and the endless repetition). Marci jumps to rash conclusions often (talk about annoying). Marci also believes she is smarter than the local police. Marci was very focused on Antoine not being the killer. The mystery needed work. There are French words scattered throughout the story (alas, I do not speak French). Macarons Can Be Murder has the beginning of one of my biggest pet peeves: a love triangle. I do not feel that romance was needed (let us get to know the main character before you get her involved with someone). There are a number of inconsistencies in the story and some details that seemed not to be researched. The pastry descriptions had me craving a flaky croissant (I love it when they are still warm). Macarons Can Be Murder was more fluff than substance. There is an overload of dialogue, the secondary characters lacked development (they were flatter than crepes), the storyline lacked development as well, lack of suspense, the mystery needed more thought (it was not thought out), and lack of chemistry between Marci and her two love interests. As you can tell, Macarons Can Be Murder did not suit me.… (mer)