Category: Contemporary

Moonstone Shadows by Patricia Rice

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Moonstone Shadows (Crystal Magic Book 7)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Crystal Magic #7
Publication Date: 7/9/19
Number of Pages: 335

Hillvale is a magical place – literally. The mountain on which the town is located has seen so much evil throughout history that it has seeped into the ground and the eccentric residents have taken strange methods to counteract the evil. We’ve already read the stories of several of those residents as they solved a mystery and found their HEA. This story features Aaron, an antique dealer, and Hannah, the librarian for the Malcolm journals. If you have read the Magic, Unexpected Magic, etc. series, then you’ll recognize the Malcolm and Ives names in Hillvale. Aaron has had minor roles in the previous books and he was always intriguing. I was really happy to get to know and like him in this book.

Aaron is a guardian and psychometrist who has spent the last several years of his life trying to protect Hillvale from evil, but the evil seems to be getting stronger. None of the methods the residents have been using seem to be strong enough to combat it. Aaron has had a sad life and has closed himself off from all human emotional interaction. Yes, he talks with people and has contact with them, but he never allows himself to become emotionally involved in any way – because that leads to incredible pain.

Hannah, a Malcolm descendent, is the librarian for the Malcolms, but she has no other gifts that she knows of. She has come to Hillvale in search of the Healing Stone because she has been diagnosed with a knot in her brain which will eventually take her life.

What happens on her first day in town – a murder. Nobody mourned the victim – the whole town was happy to see her gone, but still, it was murder. Hannah and Aaron are thrown together and Hannah discovers that she does, indeed, have a gift. Her gift enhances Aaron’s psychometric gift – makes it much stronger.

When a second murder occurs, they have to work together – even unwillingly – to capture the murderer and also to reduce the evil that is growing stronger. Can Aaron overcome his aversion to being close to anyone? Will they find the Healing Stone to cure Hannah? Can they drain the evil from the mountain? Will they find their HEA?

I hope you’ll read this book – and this series – and enjoy it as much as I do.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Big Kahuna by Janet Evanovich

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, MysteryLeave a comment

The Big Kahuna (Fox and O'Hare #6)Barbara’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Fox and O’Hare #6
Publication Date: 3/26/19
Number of Pages: 320

Wow! I’m not sure where to go with this review and this rating. I enjoyed the story, the humor was good and the plot was interesting, I even enjoyed the addition of Cosmo, who gave a good bit of comic relief to the story. What has me confused is the changes in the overall series. Up until this book, Nick and Kate were a ‘couple’ and I loved the two of them together. In this book, the relationship has regressed back to about the point it was in the first book of the series. Another thing is that kick-ass Kate isn’t so kick-ass anymore. Yes, she was tough, but Nick seemed to be the one with all of the physical skills. I’m sure a lot of it is because of the new co-author, but Janet Evanovich was still there and should certainly have seen to the continuity of the series. Kate and Nick’s relationship is what made the series work and I hope that their lack of a relationship in this book doesn’t sound the death-knell for the series.

Kate and Nick are handed an assignment to find a missing Silicon Valley billionaire. Since neither Kate nor Nick are good at doing the required paperwork, another member, Cosmo, is added to their team. Most reviewers didn’t seem to appreciate Cosmo, but I did. I thought he added a good bit of comic relief – he made me think of a Tim Conway type of character.

The missing man, an excellent pilot, took off in his plane and just disappeared. His wife and business associates want him declared dead, but Nick and Kate won’t declare that until they have proof of his demise. The only clue to his location is his game-playing, weed-smoking son who lives on a farm in Hawaii. When Nick and Kate arrive at the farm, it is to find several heavily armed mercenaries approaching the farmhouse. They manage to get rid of the mercenaries and then plan to follow the son to wherever his father might be hiding.

The story is action-packed and interesting. We travel from Hawaii to New Zealand to the Czech Republic and along the way we sink boats, blow up mountains, and set fire to vineyards. We have lots of page time with Kate’s father and I liked that part, but none of Nick’s entourage appeared at all and I missed them.

So, I’m rating this a three-star because it is such a departure from the previous books in the series. Had this been the first book, perhaps I wouldn’t have been disappointed, but as it was the sixth book, it should have added to the series rather than regressing it – no matter how good the story was or wasn’t.