The Magic Knot (The Magic Knot #1) by Helen Scott Taylor BOOK REVIEW

The Magic Knot by Helen Scott Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I grabbed this book through a swap on a whim, without really reading much about it except the Irish of it, so I wasn't sure what to expect, or if it would be good. I was pleasantly surprised.

The book is well written, and somewhat believable in the mixing of human life with folklore and legends in the tales of pixies and fairies, and even leprechauns in the book.  It makes for a good read, and for me it was a quick read, which is what I was looking for at the moment I sat down with this book.

We are introduced to Naill and his twin Michael O'Conner. Very Irish, very traditional and steeped in legend and lore. They are half fairy we learn later. They both talk with an Irish accent and speech pattern that feels right in this book. It's not too heavy and I don't think the characters would have been as believable without it. Well done on the author's parts because the accent and speech pattern can easily overwhelm a book.

The trouble comes in the form of Rose Tremain, who thinks she is a human woman about a normal job. All is not as it would seem.  Through out the book, we learn of the truth of Rose's mother, and the betrayal of her father and what he really is, and the truth as to what she is and what her birthright is.

It's a clever and fun story, and I enjoyed it.  It stands quite well on its own, and I feel complete having read it. Only just realized this is  a series and it continues. Not sure if I will search it out or not, but I have a number of books in my to-read pile right now, maybe later.



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Seeking Philbert Woodbead (Fairweather Sisters, #2) by Anya Wylde BOOK REVIEW

Seeking Philbert Woodbead by Anya Wylde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seeking Philbert Woodbead is the second in the Fairweather Sisters series by Anya Wylde. This book follows up a few months, give or take after the end of the first book, Penelope. Now, although this is a series, you could actually read this book without reading Penelope and still enjoy the book, but it is just more fun if you have read the first book before you start, but if you find yourself needing to start with this book, by all means do. It is a delight.

Celine Fairweather jumps at the chance to leave home and run to London to help her not that long ago married sister Penelope, who is now confined to her home, all because she had the misfortune of getting pregnant in a time when they had no idea what was going on! The book is hilarious. Celine is reading the "Proper English Ladies" book, and trying to be one, and Penelope could care less what society thinks, and the adventures and madcap fun just continues.

I loved the first book, which saw Penelope descend on London to try to find a husband. Now we see her sister descend on London, and although she tries to be more proper than Penelope did, she bungles it just as much if not more. It is zany and funny and every bit as much fun to read, in fact I sat down to read the book, and just had to finish the whole thing!

I love this author's style of writing. It is fun and light and just leaves you feeling happy, especially with everything going on in the world these days, it is so nice to escape into a light-hearted book and laugh and enjoy myself. It was such a good read.

As there are a number of Fairweather girls still at home, I hope this means that we can count on the author to bring us a number of more Fairweather sister books! I'm already looking for the next one!

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A Crafty Killing (A Victoria Square Mystery, #1) by Lorraine Bartlett

A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Crafty Killing is the first in the Victoria Square Mystery series, and if the first book is as good as the rest, this is going to be one wonderful series.

Katie Bonner is young, and had big dreams, dreams of a bed and breakfast for her and husband Chad, and he was on board, then he got into Artisan's Alley, which was an antique and craft market, although some vendors wanted no crafts and others did, it wasn't doing too well, but Chad saw visions for it. It created some in fighting between Chad and Katie, and just when it looked like she might be starting to listen to his thinking, he was killed in a car crash. Katie inherited Chad's part of Artisan's Alley and didn't really do anything with it, until the fateful day that Ezra, the owner of Artisans Alley was found dead, now Katie, still in shock and grief over losing Chad, is confronted with owning a whole building she resents, still feeling it caused Chad's death, and having to take over that building and make it work.

Along with trying to make the store profitable and a success, she has to mend some bridges with the community that Ezra burned, and she starts understanding Chad and his desire to get into this now, instead of waiting for the time when they could open a B&B, and trying to figure out what really happened to Ezra, only to find another dead body in the building. Now she really needs to know what is going on, and the one person that befriends her only turns out to be more and more involved in it all as she goes along. When will it end, will she ever figure it out, and will she quit resenting the building and let it become her dream?

I just wanted to hop in the book and hug Katie at times and at other times wanted to slap the whining little girl. I felt she was so wrapped up in the dream of the B&B, that she couldn't or wouldn't listen to Chad about other options and things that might actually be more their style and to their advantages than a B&B. I loved the twists and turns in the plot and how it all turned round in the end, it was not who you ever expected in the beginning, and still to the end it was not who I expected.

It was well-written and I found myself feeling like I was there, rooting for this town and the creative area of town, and just really even dreaming myself of where it could go and what it could become. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, really wanting to see where it goes and how it changes.

I hope that I was able to share enough to get you interested in the book, but not too much as to spoil the story for you, but I do hope you will take a chance and read this one, you won't be disappointed. Thanks!

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Feint of Art (An Annie Kincaid Mystery) by Hailey Lind (Juliet Blackwell)

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Feint of Art by Juliet Blackwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feint of Art is the first book in the Annie Kincaid Mystery series which is written by Hailey Lind, which just happens to be a name created when Juliet Blackwell and her sister write together. Now, I happen to love Juliet's books, and I am not sure what name her sister writes under normally, or if she does, but I would be happy to say that she is just as good as her sister, if this book is any indication. I loved it!!

The story revolves around our main character, Annie Kincaid, she is the grand-daughter of a master art forger, spent time learning from him and passing some pretty good forgeries herself, but she went straight, now owning a studio that deals in faux finishes and murals and even some restoration of a old piece, which I am thinking who better to clean up and fix a master than a forger, really. She is scrapping by, but their are still people in the art world that want nothing to do with her, but more of them want her knowledge, because when it comes right down to it, when you spend a great deal of money on a painting that is suppose to be an old master you want it verified, and if I was verifying an old master, who better than a master forger to tell me if it is real, or one of their works. Of course, they all want it kept on the down-low that they are using her services and she is fine with that for now.

The story begins with Anne being called by an old flame to verify a new painting at the gallery he works for, only for Anne to have to tell him it is a fake. The old flame makes plans to met back up with her in a couple hours and she waits at the coffee shop only to be stood up, what else is new. So on her walk back to her truck, she sees police lights and finds out that the security guard that let her out just an hour ago is dead and there is no sign of her old flame anywhere. When she can't reach him still days later, she begins to look into what is going on out of concern for the guy, which leads her into a whole mess of things she never imagined!

This was just so well-written and so easy a story to follow, I just loved it and I look forward to more in this series, because I was blown away by all the art information that was tucked into the book, it never seemed like a "teaching moment" but more like real conversation and it was so neat and interesting. I really liked it and I hope you will take a chance on the book and give it a read!

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West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life by Jerry West

West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life by Jerry West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I received this book through the Goodreads First-Reads program. I like stories about real people, and I love hearing how they overcame things to become the people they are today.

This was a good book, but I am just not enough of a basketball fan to really understand and get into it all. I know, I live in Indiana, how can I not be a basketball fan, I don't know, trick of fate, but I have never really been all that into basketball, now football is another story altogether.

There were parts that were really good. The back history into his life, how he made friends and never seemed to notice the differences in skin color between people. I loved that, and I understood it and could grasp it. There were other parts, and to made it almost felt like a lot of name-dropping, when he would talk about another player, had how they did this or that, and tell their story and then wind it back to him. I just got lost in some of those and really had a hard time reading the whole book, as you can probably tell because of the amount of time that has passed since I got the book, until I finally started reading it until now! I mean, it really took me a long time to read this, because I had to keep putting it down and walking away from it for awhile before i could go back and read more.

Now, if you are a die-hard basketball fan, you will love this book. You might enjoy all the references to other players and times and accomplishments and the like. I still think the book was well-written and that it would appeal to men, but i just couldn't do it more than I did.

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