RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

4* Good for Emily, but ugh, I really hoped Antonio would redeem himself.  This book starts 6 months down the line from where book 2 left off. I was surprised to see that Antonio was still in Emily's life, but loved that she'd held firm and was running the show. And bless, Dolores was still there for her, allowing her to work and not let anyone know what was up in her personal life. I did think that towards the end of the book they might have, with much grovelling on Antonio's part, gotten past his infidelity, but nah. Big whammy, not entirely unexpected and entirely deserved, and absolutely the end of them.  The Ryan thing, I didn't see coming. But, I was OK with it. Will it go anywhere? Not sure, but I'm pretty sure that Antonio won't be in book 4 in the same way.  Back to the storyline. A good one. Plausibly done, but with Emily making her lies bigger, more serious and her job at the FBI untenable if anyone opens their mouth. But, who's going to out her? A...

4* Ugh, a captivating read, but I couldn't engage with any character or feel for them. Well, maybe Grace.  This isn't my usual read, but I was strangely drawn into it. Probably because it's British, set in suburbia not a million miles away from me in N London, with people that for the most felt real. Not nasty-nasty, but occasionally busybodies, occasionally half-decent neighbours, and sadly, sociopaths amongst us. I wasn't sure I bought the immediate gelling between Kitty and the villainess of the tale. And I hated how she treated Grace, her last-ditch friend. Tbh, that was actually quite a sad bit of the tale when I think about how kind Grace was, and that she let herself be used by Kitty so much. Kitty was definitely a user, and a selfish cow. The guy she had a fling with had to be in desperate need of a visit to Specsavers to end up with her.  Parts of the tale felt a bit incestuous, tbh, and it almost felt like Specsavers-guy was getting his own back on his wife, b...

3.5* Interesting premise; interesting female lead; but a boring male lead, and a toxic female who hates other females, and gives women a bad name. Could she really exist in 2025 UK without someone whistle-blowing? Hmm.  This is very readable because of Cora's gift. The way she comes across the body with Boring Minshull is believable. I liked how she didn't feel the need to flex and show her girl bollocks, as her skills had enough others standing up for her. Minshull, in contrast, was slow to act, both professionally and personally, and tbh, I didn't see, read or believe any hint of a romance between them. I felt that had he had an open mind, and not been prejudiced against a certain side character who'd brought their concerns to him - that turned out to be accurate - some of the murders might not have happened. How that didn't come out in the wssh is beyond me, losing the tale 1*. The arc with the missing family member who had issues of his own making due to his iss...

3.5* I didn't feel I was missing out by not having read previous tales in this series. Mason Sharpe is a Reacher-type character in some ways, with the same rescuer, former military and honourable-guy vibe. Being late to the series, I didn't feel that I was lost or missing anything hugely cohesive or important, as there's enough info to give an idea of his life. There's nothing unique about the premise of the character, but he's a little less gung-ho than Reacher.  He rescues a female in distress, but she's no damsel who needs her fights to be fought for her. The opening scene makes him seem a little lacking in  believability, as no one, military experience or not, can dive 50 metres into a river and not bear some physical impact and lasting evidence. He's not a man in his 20s or 30s, and tough or not, that had to have hurt and left some discomfort as a minimum. Still, I could suspend disbelief and move on with the main storyline of the tale, as the kickarse ...

4* This author can't write a bad book, so despite the not-very-exciting Olivia as lead, it's a decent tale. This is a PI tale with an author with writer's block, and her kickarse niece who's a whizz with all things online and social media. It's a solid read, with a misper who's got every reason to go on the run, and the sleuthing and reveals are believable and organic. And very modern. Oh the joys of technology when it works well!  I didn't feel that I got to know anything more about Olivia from previous tales she's featured in. Her romance with Lance's (hubby of Morgan Dane) boss  - I forget his name - won't set anything on fire, and tbh, the two women on their mission did very well on their own, so he didn't feel needed or organically there in the tale. Still, he drove a SUV across a flooded bridge, which didn't go so well, although all lived to tell the tale. I think for me, this could've been a book solely featuring Olivia and her...

5* A feel-good tale that's believable despite the subject matter. This book is and isn't your 'normal' Xmas tale. I mean, it is if you believe that there are more things out there than we know/see, but it's not if you're after the usual sugary-sweet stuff full of kisses and romps under the mistletoe. Come to think of it, I don't think mistletoe makes an appearance in it. How to review this without Spoilers? Hmm. Well, try to have an open mind and believe in the spirit of Xmas, and that an inexperienced young man with a sad past, who's still somehow capable of dreaming, can take on an older guy and help him escape his self-imposed emotional prison. And believe in the magic of Solas Suas...which might just be  ARC courtesy of the author for my reading pleasure.

3* I had to force myself to read this, not liking Dandelion, nor cheater Poppy, nor cheater Jake, and then right at the very end, getting moved to near tears when BFF Jetta explained Dandelion's twisted M.O. that seemed to come from a place of love for Poppy.  This is quite a twisted tale from the three characters. All come across as selfish, self-serving and though Dandelion wasn't much in the tale, her presence was everywhere in Poppy. She was described as a sociopath at one point by Jetta, but in a very matter-of-fact way, with no one disagreeing. But, she still had people who loved her like mad and who saw only the good parts, it seemed.  As mentioned, both leads are cheaters. For me, that doesn't a romance make. Jake's dad muddying the sexual waters with Jake's ONS just felt a tad unnecessary. His sexual awakening at 70ish felt not very believable, on top of keeping the ONS satisfied, something that Jake hadn't managed to. I didn't like the leads, the p...

5* Don't let the naff cover put you off one of the best, organic-feeling-and-reading hockey romances out there. Being a Brit, I don't get the American or Canadian love of hockey, nor know the rules of the sport, other than people get hurt, and slamming players around seems to be permitted. And that there are sin bins, like in rugby, but without the gentleman'ship. I didn't expect much from this book but there's not that much to read right now, so I took a chance on it. Thankfully it was what I'd call 'hockey lite' and story rich. I pretty much barely put it down once I'd started. W.O.W. What a great read. Organic feeling. Organic reading. With a 'baddie' lead and the great dad who raised him. With a sweet 'nice guy' lead, sadly with an arsehole of a 'father' who 'raise' him. For 'raised him', read shamed him. And bullied him. And blackmailed him. All the horrible stuff that he did had me wanting him to get his ...

 2* lacks feels, authenticity and emotions. Quite a trite, dated read, sadly.  I don't think I've ever read a Montlake book that's been less than a 3* read. I thought this would be chock full of emotions, but sadly, this fell way below the mark. Nova came across as having low self-esteem and confidence and desperately in need of therapy and being single for a while. And I didn't buy that she'd been in one abusive relationship, had gotten out of it, only to be stupid enough to get into another and stay in it. And all this, despite being solidly in love with Easton for 14 years, allegedly. Hmm.  10yo Lainie got over her mum's passing far too quickly and was back doing retail therapy after a short timeout. And 14 instances of "my sweet girl" got grating.  Easton? Ugh, not at all believable or lead material. He's meant to be a suave hotshot actor worth $700m but asks for no kissing scenes in a movie. And he'll never act in a romance. In 2025. He ma...

4* A little heavy on minutiae, but a solid police procedural, as expected from this author.  I've not read all the books in this series, so it was a surprise for me to see that the lead's long lost brother had not only been found but was pretty much reunited with his family. I don't think it'll be easy sailing given how conflicted he is, understandably so when his captors were decent to him, but it was a bit of brightness in a dark tale. A dark and believable tale, yes, but with victims who could possibly have not all died, it felt like. I couldn't quite understand how all gave in to the not-that-heavy threats, and how they thought money ill obtained could actually go to those they left behind.  The ending was a bit confusing where a thug being followed by police kind of saves the day. There's no explanation for his nocturnal adventure but he happens to be at the right place at the right time, using a weapon, but allowing a person to be saved and capturing the b...

 3* Requires a big suspension of disbelief but it's a readable tale once that happens. A dearth of reading material made me grab this book, which was entertaining enough. I liked the opening with the bozos and the tough girl who didn't really need Bob's help, but which set the setting for the tale. If you like Reacher type tales, this will fill a void, although there's far fewer big explosions and a physically smaller guy. I'm not sure how old Bob was meant to be, but for someone who's been out of the field, and not that young-young, he seemed kind of slightly not believable in terms of his physical stamina, especially when moving around so much. I'm not sure how he evaded cameras that are everywhere these days in built-up areas, but I had to go with the flow. The baddie I portrayed as later-in-life Mickey Rourke in my mind's eye, taking the mick, as we Brits say. Not quite a caricature, but a been-there, seen-that type.  A readable book but not one to r...

4* Wasn't prepared for that opener, but a good tale, especially as an intro to this author. The opener to this tale is brutal but leads to an ultimately happier event 11 years down the line. I wasn't expecting what I read, so it was a bit of a shocker, although it was great to see both Cami's mental strength and her physicality saving her. I think the author did well to skip the years in between, not dwelling on the pain, trauma and loss.  The tale does need a bit of a dose of suspension of disbelief that in only 2 days, Cami and Rex saved the day, but then again his past, expertise and contacts made things believable.  The ending is a big of a POW! The kind of thing that can only happen in America with their ridiculous gun laws. But, the victim deserved it. And, if only there were more hot mics IRL in 2025 USA, and if only people were prepared to find their big girl and big boy pants and speak up. Sorry, I digress, but there's just so much that's wrong with that co...

4* A little bit wooly and over-thought in parts, but worth persisting with. This is a book mid-series but it's all action and it wasn't hard getting into. Ex-commando investigates the 'suicide' of a colleague and friend, and finds a web of lies, obfuscation and betrayals. And the good old fractured NHS features quite a bit, in a tale that I could easily see happening, sadly, not dissimilar to the Mone case going through our courts right now.  To try and go into the tale would've give it away, but the Indian aspects - I'm Asian - is pretty accurate and believable given the ambitions of Indians in the UK, at least. One's kids can't really do what they please, love wgo they please, live the authentic lives they want to, because, ugh, honour, family reputation, tradition, keeping up with the Patels, etc. Most of which gets convincingly blown out of the water. It was in places overly busy, and a good editor could have weeded some stuff out, avoiding the bogge...