Books I've Read - June, July, August 2015 (part 2)

Here comes part 2!

To Have and To Kill - Mary Jane Clark

This is the first installment in Wedding Cake Mystery, so we get the introduction for Piper Donovan, a struggling actress forced to move back with her parents after a broken engagement. She then starts helping out at her mother bakery, creating wonderfully described cakes (that makes me crave for it!), getting in touch with her long hidden talents in cake making and cake decorating.
As life goes by, along came a murder that got Piper involved.

I consider this a light suspense novel. It's cozy, enjoyable, nothing that put you at the edge of your seat but engaging enough to get you to keep turning the page.

The Look of Love - Mary Jane Clark

The second installment of Wedding Cake Mystery. Piper is hired to make a wedding cake for the director of a luxurious spa, where it seems there are many things happening to prevent her going down the aisle. Piper is again in the midst of murder scenes.
Piper is no investigator, so don't expect a thorough investigation described here.
I come to think that we (readers) are placed as Piper in this book, we are in the murder scenes, watching people around it, gossiping or sharing stories from other patrons of the spa.

And how I wish we also have a hunk FBI agent that always worries about us too!

To Have and To Hold - Jane Green

A classic chicklit from Jane Green!
Alice, a plain Jane, married her teenage crush, a dashing, handsome, man-of-every-girl Joe Chambers. From the outside, it looks perfect and enviable to every girls, but in the inside, it's miserable.
Alice loved the idea of marrying her teenage crush, and she did. What she didn't know that the marriage stripped her off her true identity, a country lover girl who loves gardening and cooking in-spite of the facade she always shows, a chic and trendy city girl.
In other hand, Joe is nothing but a cheating bastard.

It's a nice story of how a girl finding her true identity.

NYPD Red 2 - James Patterson & Marshall Karp

*it's the cover of NYPD Red first novel on the right :D

Zach Jordan and his partner, Kylie MacDonald are again faced with a high profile murder believed done by Hazmat Killer - catchy, huh?
It's the usual investigation novel that moves fast and keeps readers engaged, with of course a little romance on the side.
I safe to say that Zach and Kylie are on my list of favorite James Patterson characters, together with Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club (I don't really like Michael Bennett...).

Invisible - James Patterson & David Ellis

I gotta say I like the combination of James Patterson and David Ellis.
I've read the two previous books - Mistress and Guilty Wives, and I liked them a lot. I gladly say that I liked this book too.
Although it started slow, it became more engaging as pages turned.
Emmy's sister died in a fire 8 months ago which Emmy believed was an arson. The problem was nobody believed that. As an FBI analyst, she managed to connect her sister murder to other fire happened for the past years.
With her very small team, she must done her best to catch the arsonist before he killed another.

The fast pace, clues gathered one by one, relate-able characters, it has the formula of a good murder mystery book!

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

I find that all Gillian Flynn novels are dark. And Dark Places lives up to its name.
It sometimes amazes me how Gillian Flynn is able to describe and understand such dark characters in her novels. They are damaged, flawed, pitiable, and totally not the kind of people you want to be in your circle of friends. Which then why I find them so fascinating.
Libby Day is no different. She is the lone survivor of the murders known as The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas. And 25 years later, she still has not recovered from it. Her life is as messed up as it can be. No friend, no love, no money. She tried to milk her sad story once again, and unknowingly, she was drawn to the killers and put herself in danger.

Book I've Read - June, July, August 2015 (part 1)

So okay... I've been terribly late in updating my book list.

I could have said I was busy, but I just can't lie to myself... The thing is there were quite things happening that required my attention and focus on.

Oh well, that's life, isn't it?

Anyway so let's get right to the book list - June, July and Aug edition (not in chronological order):

---- it may contain spoilers!!! ----

I'll Be Seeing You - Mary Higgins Clark

The story starts when a reporter, Meghan Collins sees a body in New York City hospital and she literally feels like looking at a mirror. The dead girl looks exactly like her. It doesn't help that she is already in a wringer with the suspicious death of her father. She's then set to find out who the girl is and at the same time solve the puzzles around her father death.
This book is kind of an all around. There's mystery, suspicious death, a body of a 'twin' sister, corporate conspiracy (though minimum), and last but not least, a mistress!
Whew, this is definitely not my favorite Mary Higgins Clark book since it somehow reminded me of a telenovela or korean makjang dramas.

Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark

Broadway star, Natalie Raines found murdered in her house. A career criminal confessed that he was hired to do that and an 'attractive' prosecutor, Emily Wallace is assigned to this case.
Please note that Emily was described as 'attractive' in the synopsis, which I did not really appreciate.
Aside from the main story, there's also a side story of a creepy neighbor of Emily, Emily's heart transplant (guess whose heart it belonged to??).
The whole story in itself is engaging and one of the Mary Higgins Clark usual golden writing, however somehow I was not able to connect with the main characters emotionally the way I usually do with the novels I loved. But all in all, it's a good suspense novel with a rather unexpected twists.

The Lost Years - Mary Higgins Clark

Reading this book reminded me of a little bit of Da Vinci Code with the discovery of parchment believed to be a letter from Jesus to Joseph Arimathea which actually the reason why I borrowed this book in the first place.
I always love investigative novels related to history.
It is a "who-stole/took-what" kind of story with a murder twist. Mariah, the estranged daughter, is back to living with her mother who suffers from Alzheimer after the death of his father, a historian, who was believed to have the earlier mentioned letter.
And as usual with other Mary Higgins Clark novels, I enjoyed reading this book although, I wish that there would be more character development in this book, since it feels like the perspectives change from chapter to chapter.

Hmm, I just realized that reading Mary Higgins Clark novels, I didn't care much about the main characters. The only one that I think I have come to care, is Menley Nichols in Remember Me.

Can You Keep a Secret? - Sophie Kinsella

I always have a soft spot for Sophie Kinsella since I fell in love with Confession of a Shopaholic (Although the last few books of the series were somewhat disappointing). But I know that as long as she writes, I will always read her books.
This is the 2nd time I read Can You Keep a Secret. I was in need of light novels, and I stumbled upon this book in library.
Everybody has secrets, and Emma managed to tell all her secrets to her seatmate during a shaky flight. She thought that she would be safe since she won't be seeing the stranger anymore. But life throws a surprise twist when the stranger turns out to be the founder of the company she works for. Uh-oh!

As is other Kinsella's book, it's light, funny, endearing with expected endings. Perfect for a lazy weekend!

The Associate - John Grisham

My colleague had been recommending John Grisham novels ever since she knew I loved courtroom dramas and so I picked up my first John Grisham novel and it was such a dissappointment!
It's about Kyle McAvoy, a graduate of Yale Law School, who thought he had all the freedom to achieve the path he had been planning, until 2 FBI agents approached him and proposed a dangerous scheme that required him to sacrifice his total freedom in choosing his career path in exchange of protecting him and his friends out of jail.
Always under surveillance, Kyle has no life working in one of the most important law firm, but it doesn't stop him to still find his way out of it.
I was totally engaged and couldn't wait to read the last chapter of this book, but lo and behold, the ending was a total disappointment that I really couldn't see myself borrowing another John Grisham book. Sigh....

The Bosch Deception - Alex Connor

I have to be honest, I was attracted to the title when I saw this book in the library. I always find Bosch's paintings fascinating and the thought that someone wrote about him really excited me.
This book put a twist of Bosch history (or at least tried to) which got me thinking that this author was pulling a Da Vinci Code for Bosch and failed in doing so.
The plot is terribly boring and I couldn't even finish half the book. All I can remember is that someone always tries to threaten someone, then some fail, some get killed.

Someday, Someday, Maybe - Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham was and always is Lorelai Gilmore. A flawed mother and daughter of Gilmore Girls.
I love/hate Gilmore Girls and I got myself intrigued after finding out Lauren Graham's venture as a writer.
This book tells a story of a struggling actress in her late 20s. Her life is full with waitress-ing job, acting classes, with a little of love life on the side - I kinda think that this book is a semi-autobiography of Lauren Graham.
The main character, Franny, is endearing. A small town girl living in big city with her big dream. I couldn't help but wishing good things happening to her, although it doesn't always do.

Well, I closed this book with a smile on my face, I suppose that tells you how I feel about the book!