The Ex

Title: The Ex

Author: Alafair Burke

Narrator: Xe Sands

Publisher: Harper Collins and Blackstone Audio, 2016

Format: 7 hours and 44 minutes, audio book download

Genre: psychological thriller / mystery

Obtained: library




Summary: Olivia Randall, a criminal defense attorney, is called when her ex-fiance becomes a suspect in a triple murder.  She knows Jack could not have done this.  Can she prove it?   

Thoughts: This was another good psychological thriller / mystery.  I didn't particularly find Olivia, the main character, likeable, but she was certainly developed and interesting, and I felt like she was a real person.  All of the characters were believable and had distinct personalities.  The story itself was less believable, but very entertaining and kept me engaged- wanting to know what would happen next.  This book was a nice combination of legal, mystery, and psychological thriller.  It did not get bogged down with alot of time in court. The question that the book focuses on is How well do we really know someone?. I liked the author's writing style.  It was organized and I particularly liked the way she used dialogue to tell the story, along with the personal thoughts of the main character.  Figuring out who committed the murders came early to me, but I wasn't positive, and needed it verified at the end.

The narrator did a fantastic job, especially the way she portrayed the main character.  She told the story at a good pace and her voice inflections and the emotions and energy she put into telling the story really kept my attention.

There was some bad language in the book, but it went along with the personalities of the characters, so it wasn't distracting to me.  I could see this bothering some people.  If you like a book with twists and turns and some suspense, and realistic characters are important to you, this is one to try.





                                                                  

Company: Plum Deluxe

Tea: Slowly Unwind Herbal Tea

Obtained: free sample with tea of the month club




I got a sample of Slowly Unwind Herbal Tea with my monthly tea subscription from Plum Deluxe.  The ingredients of this caffeine free herbal tea were honeybush tea, linden flower, elderflower, elderberries, apple pieces, strawberries, blueberries, raspberry leaves, rose petals, and strawberry / blueberry essence.  The leaves were a potpourri of berries, apple pieces, and leaves of all colors, shapes, and sizes.  The scent of the leaves was sweet berries.  I put two teaspoons of leaves into my teapot and poured sixteen ounces of boiling water over the leaves.  I let this steep for five minutes.  The liquid was a light orange brown with a delicate scent of sweet berries.  The taste was a blend of berries and florals.  This was a delicious, sweet herbal tea.  I just loved it.  Instead of "slowly unwind", I would call it "immediately unwind".  It definitely put me in a calm, relaxed state very quickly.

Darling Girls

Title: Darling Girls (The Vampires of Candle Bay and Crimson Cove: Book #1)

Author: Tamara Thorne & Alistair Cross

Publisher: Glass Apple Press, 2018

Pages: 365

Genre: fantasy, horror

Obtained: from publisher in exchange for an honest review




Summary: Amanda, a powerful and evil vampire, wants to be queen.  Will she succeed, or will the more civilized vampires stop her?

Thoughts: This book was kind of hard for me to get through.  It wasn't the type of book I usually choose to read, and it was very long.  It wasn't scary or creepy, just gross- lots of violence and flagrant sex.  There was humor, but it was not the type of humor that is funny to me. 

The characters in the book were developed and interesting.  The book was organized, easy to follow, and easy to understand.  The plot was one that has been done over and over, but the characters did add to it, making the story more interesting.

If you like stories about vampires that are a bit humorous and don't mind disgusting scenes, try this book.  The two authors have separate vampire series and this book combines the two.  For a book that combines two series, the authors did a fabulous job bringing two worlds together.  If .you are like me and like more creepy vampire stories, this is not for you.



                                                               

Company: Davids Tea

Tea: Organic The Skinny

Obtained: purchased







Today I tried Organic The Skinny from Davids Tea.  The ingredients were oolong tea, pu'erh tea, ginger, orange peel, eleuthero root, and natural flavoring.  There was a medium caffeine content.  The leaves were thin browns and blacks of all lengths with off white chunks mixed in.  The tea leaves had a wonderful orange and ginger scent.  I poured about eight ounces of boiled water over about 1.5 teaspoons of leaves and let this steep for four minutes.  The liquid was a dark orange brown with an earthy scent in the forefront and orange in the background.  The taste was full bodied, yet refreshing- a blend of earthy tasting tea, orange and ginger.  The Davids Tea website states this tea is good for digestion and increases metabolism.  I really enjoyed this blend from Davids Tea.  This along with Organic Mother's Little Helper have been my favorites from this company so far.

The Other Widow

Title: The Other Widow

Author: Susan Crawford

Narrator: Madeleine Maby

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, 2016

Format: 9 hours and 40 minutes, audio book download

Genre: psychological thriller, mystery

Obtained: library




Summary: Dorrie is in a car accident. She gets out and walks away.  Why?  The man she was having an affair with was driving and is dead, and Dorrie will not risk losing her family and job.  But then the accident begins to look like it may have not been an "accident" at all.  Is Dorrie safe?  What is going on?

Thoughts:  I needed a book to listen to while cooking, so I listened to the first psychological thriller, audio download from my library that was available.  I lucked out.  I wasn't sure if I would like this book, but after the first chapter I was hooked.  After the first day of listening, this was one of those books that I'd want to do a boring chore around the house so I could listen to more of the story.  There were interesting characters, mystery, and suspense.  The writing style was organized and detailed.  I could picture the setting, story and characters in my head.  The author gave details, but never let the story drag.  It was a great pace and had lots of twists and turns.  The resolution was a bit weak- everything was tied up, but the ending could have been built up to give more suspense before the reveal.  Since there was not much build-up to the climax, the ending seemed rushed after a drawn out beginning and middle.  This did not spoil the story, though.  The narrator was excellent.  She read at a good pace and spoke clearly.  I liked her portrayal of the characters.  It was very clear she has an acting background.  I will definitely read more from this author and am hoping she has the same narrator.




                                                                   

Company: Plum Deluxe

Tea: Citrus Mint Green Tea

Obtained: free sample with tea of the month club subscription







This Citrus Mint Green tea came as a sample with my tea of the month subscription.  This is a caffeinated tea which consists of Chinese green tea, lemongrass, spearmint, orange peel, and lemon essence.  The leaves were a mix of long green and off white leaves and short pieces of small green and brown leaves.  The scent of the leaves was a very faint lemon mint.  I put one teaspoon of leaves in my teapot and poured eight ounces of water that had been boiled and then slightly cooled over the leaves.  I let this steep for three minutes.  The pale yellow liquid had the scent of citrus and mint.  The taste was a wonderful citrus mint blend.  This was a light tea that gave me that feeling of being calm, yet alert, not sleepy.