The Land Of Maybe by Sandra Field

The Land Of Maybe by Sandra Field
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After being dumped by Tony Marya doesn't trust rich men, so when her sister falls for a rich man she heads home to put an end to the romance, but on the ferry she meets Craig Huntingdon a rich man determined to prevent his brother from marrying a gold digger. Too bad he falls for Marya on the ferry over.



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New Spring (Wheel of Time, #0) by Robert Jordan

New Spring by Robert Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wish I had read this before I read The Eye of the World Moiraine Damodred of the Royal House of Cairhien and Siuan are young Accepted at the White Tower when the book begins and "pillow friends". They happened to be with the Amyrlin Seat (Tamra) when Gitara (the Keeper) foresees the birth of the Dragon Reborn before she dies. The Amyrlin Seat swears them to secrecy and begins a search for the baby, by offering women who gave birth recently money to celebrate the victory against the Aiel. A list is compiled of these women and their children by the Accepted and Moiraine and Siuan manipulate things so they have access to all the list. Shortly after that they are raised to Aes Sedai and choose the Blue Ajah. The death of Moiraine's Uncle has the Tower plotting to put Moiraine on the throne. Then Tamra dies and Sierin becomes Amyrlin Seat. Moiraine flees the White Tower in an effort to prevent the Aes Sedai putting her on the Cairhien throne and decides to find the Dragon Reborn leaving Siuan behind at the White Tower, working with the eyes and ears (spy network) of the Blue Ajah.

Lan the uncrowned King of Malkier and his protector Bukama (Bukama is the only survivor out of the 5 men who carried Lan as a baby from Malkier) have finished fighting the Aiel and are headed to Chachin along the way they are joined by a man they think is a friend Ryne.

Moiraine is searching out the women on the list to determine whose child is the Dragon Reborn when she is discovered by a group of Aes Sedai, she also find Siuan there. Siuan and Moiraine plan to meet in Chachin and as Moiraine leaves town early the nest morning to escape the Aes Sedai she follows behind Lan's party and plans to ask them for help. After Lan throws Moiraine in a pond when she attempts to sneak up on him, the three men agree to escort her to Chachin but Moiraine pulls several pranks on Lan along the way to get even with him for throwing her in the pond. They are attacked by a man who was sent to kill Moiraine, and Lan is wounded. Moiraine heals Lan after the assassin is dies from his wounds. When they arrive in Chachin Lan is eager to leave Moiraine and the 3 men leave her at the gate. Moiraine heads to the disreputable part of town to find Siuan and Lan and his entourage head to the Palace.

When Moiraine learns the woman she is seeking is at the Palace she stops pretending to by Alys and heads to the palace as Lady Moiraine Damodred of the Royal House of Cairhien and Siuan pretends to be her Lady's Maid. Moiraine is unpleasantly surprised to find Lan there and to learn he is the "King" of Malkier. But when Merean (Aes Sedai) arrives at the palace Moiraine is forced to ask Lan for help. He then demands to know why the White Tower did not answer Malkier's cry for help, against the rules Moiraine reveals the truth they did and failed but the Aes Sedai keep their failure a secret for fear of losing power. Believing her response he agrees to have Bukama follow Merean.

Bukama is killed with a knife in his heart and someone tries to kill Lan inside the palace. Suspecting Moiraine he goes to accuse her and reveals that Merean was with Iselle and then later he saw Iselle hurrying somewhere with Brys (The Queen's Consort) and their son Diryk. Moiraine realizes Merean is indeed a Black Ajah and that she is planning to kill Brys and Diryk (actually only Diryk was the target as he is "Lucky" but Iselle brought them both against Merean's orders). Lan and Moiraine rush to save them but Moiraine isn't strong enough to defeat Merean with the power and Lan is busy fighting Ryne (Darkfriend) who is revealed to be the person who killed Bukama. Lan defeats Ryne and Moiraine kills Merean by stabbing her with a knife she carries. Moiraine burns Merean and Ryne's bodies to cover up what happened.

Siuan finds out that the woman they came to find did not give birth to The Dragon Reborn. Moiraine convinces her to go back to the White Tower while she continues the search for The Dragon Reborn. She then finds Lan and makes him her Warder after revealing everything she and Siuan know and what she plans to do to save the world.




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Highfire by Eoin Colfer

Highfire by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am a huge fan of Artemis Fowl Collection so was really pleased to see he had another book out. Unfortunately this to me wasn't as good.

The opening was promising and I was really enjoying it until he killed Waxman off. Waxman was one of my favorite characters, after his rather sad (he didn't even put up much of a fight) ending, which in my POV served no purpose other than to show Hooke was a no good scoundrel which we already knew and had he lived I think he could have contributed a lot to the banter as well as the plot.

Pretty much a standard boiler plate plot crooked Constable has it in for the poor Cajun boy and has the hots for his Mom. Waxman and Vern were where it deviated from the standard they aren't human and Waxman and his bag were intriguing. Vern could be played by "Rambo" a sort of out of shape Rambo who is way to fond of cable TV, but that's pretty much what he brings to the table when the Cajun boy "Squib" gets kidnapped by the crooked Constable Hooke.

I am assuming this is going to be a series if so I hope he finds a way to bring Waxman back, although the way he was killed makes it highly unlikely.

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The Museum of Desire (Alex Delaware #35)

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Usually I can figure out who the killer is but this time was clueless to the end. When 4 people are found dead inside a stretch limousine and left in bizarre poses Milo knows this is one for Alex Delaware. The best Alex can come up with is that it looks staged and Milo offers his own spin with performance art and zeroes in on a painter and his sister. But when the sister disappears Milo quickly realizes the painter wasn't her accomplice and starts looking around for other suspects. A late night drive by Alex has the duo going in a completely different direction all together. But this time the suspects escape with little explanation for why they felt compelled to copy "The Museum of Desire".

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Goodreads Author)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How Kya after being abandoned by her family as a child with only one day of formal schooling survives in the Marsh with the help of Tate (who teaches her to read) and Jumpin' (who buys the mussels she digs) and his wife Mabel (who provides her with clothing and feminine hygiene supplies). Only to be abandoned again when Tate goes away to college.

Out of loneliness she seeks out kids her own age but shyness has her hiding in the shadows until Chase spots her and woos her with false promises of marriage. She learns of his engagement to another woman from the newspaper.

But then her brother Jodie comes back and so does Tate. Tate encourages her to publish her artwork and nature studies on shells and she is able to support herself through writing but she still isn't ready to open her heart to Tate.

"Good-bye Tate, she watched until he disappeared in the thicket and then said, I could have at least invited him in for tea. That wouldn't hurt anything. I could be his friend. Then with rare pride she thought of her book. I could be his colleague."

But as Kya and Tate slowly draw closer a shadow falls on Kya's life and when Chase winds up dead Kya finds herself on trial for murder. But through all her adversity Kya finds Tate and Jodie by her side and slowly she rebuilds her life with their love.




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Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton (Goodreads Author)

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marisol goes to Cuba to scatter her Grandmother Elisa's ashes and discovers love and a Grandfather she never knew.

The story goes back and forth between Elisa's life in Cuba before the Revolution, her secret love affair with a young rebel and the days right after Fidel Castro takes power before her family flees to America. And Marisol's trip where she discovers her Grandfather and falls in love with Luis (a dissident) and with her Grandfather's help smuggles Luis out of the country.

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Awful Book -Crooked River (Pendergast, #19)

Crooked River by Douglas Preston
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I had been looking forward to reading Crooked River, I will not finish this book I HATE IT!!! and will never read another Preston & Child book again. COPS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO MURDER OUR PETS for playing with evidence. A LIVING BEING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HUMAN REMAINS and I don't care that the dog killer was the dog's owner that makes it worse. SLIGO SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN MURDERED FOR PLAYING. It wasn't his fault his stupid owner took him to a crime scene off leash. COPS SHOULD NOT BE KILLING OUR PETS.

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Moral Compass by Danielle Steel

Moral Compass by Danielle Steel
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

One boy commits a horrible crime and begs his five friends not to tell. In a alcoholic stupor they walk away, and only thanks to the phone call of one of the boys is Vivienne saved from alcohol poisoning. Now with no help from the victim the six boys will be hunted down by the police and punished for one night of foolishness. Some of the parents will step up to the plate and urge their children to do the right thing, others will disown their child and one Father will try to paint the victim as a slut

I agree the rapist should have got jail time but I disagree with the sentence the other 5 boys received for not coming forward.

Vivienne was drinking (but she didn't get expelled) Vivienne didn't identify her rapist and lied about what happened just like the 5 boys did but she didn't get jail time. Yes, I know she was raped and paid a terrible price for drinking with a group of boys she was friendly with. But it seems there was one set of rules for Vivienne and another set of rules for the 5 boys.

Vivienne got to graduate from High School, Vivienne got to go to the college of her choice even though she did the same thing as the 5 boys got drunk and then lied about what happened, until the police collected the evidence against the 6 boys and confronted her with it. She started out saying she was drinking with a group of girls.

In contrast the 5 boys (2 of whom were fighting and didn't see the rape, 2 of whom was trying to break them up, and the remaining boy was being sick in the bushes) received 90 days in jail, were expelled from school for drinking and not allowed to graduate and with a criminal record can't get into the colleges they had been accepted to before the rape. Which doesn't seem at all fair. Vivienne gets to go back to the life she had before the rape, the 5 boys will NEVER have the lives they should have had. I am sorry Vivienne was raped but she was drinking too and should have been expelled the same as the 5 boys. And none of them should have got jail time except for the rapist.

I really wonder what message this book sends young women who may read it. That if you get caught breaking the rules cry rape and all will be forgiven. Because honestly at first the 5 boys were too drunk to make decent choices they did at least call for help, then they were told by their lawyers and parents to keep quiet. But while Vivienne's drinking and obstruction of justice is overlooked the boys are made to pay.

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