GHOST (John Spector #1) - Wayne Thomas Batson

This is the first in a series.  The second book, called Minister of Fire, is supposed to come out around October 2019 (according to the author's blog post dated December 18, 2018).  It's significant to note that this book is recommended 16+.

Ghost is the name of an uncommon man who avenges injustice.  He carries around a silver case full of supernatural goodies and wages war against the forces of evil.  He comes across a camera of disturbing pictures and knows what his next mission is: stop the Smiling Jack killer.

He doesn't just have to fight against our world but elements of the supernatural as well.  Leads are hard to come by and working with a member of the FBI could threaten his secret identity.

It isn't uncommon for this author to have elements of the supernatural in his books, and it doesn't bother me that it's there.  What bothered me was the "bash-you-over-the-head" preaching in it.  The main character is so fanatically pro-life, it made me uncomfortable.  I feel the same way when Christian books get a little too preachy.  It was just too much.

I've read some of this author's fantasy before and really enjoyed it.  I got about halfway through this one and realized that reading it was more of a chore than enjoyment, and I abandoned it.  This book just wasn't for me.

Living in a Marvel house

It looks like I haven't been reading much, but that's not completely true.  I have been writing a lot (I'm trying to get my rough draft done before summer break), but I've also been reading a comic or two.  It's not something I've done a lot of, but it's becoming more normal around here.

The Marvel universe has invaded our house.  It's been growing for a while, and since my kids love it so much, now I'm hooked.  And it's not just the movies.  My older daughter loves reading the comics, and she's read so many that when I asked her which one was her favorite, she listed off at least four or five different series.  Two of her favorites are the Avengers series and Captain Marvel (the female version).  She's seen some of the movies, and she's off to see Endgame this weekend with some friends.

My younger daughter is by far the largest fan.  She reads about the universe online, watches interviews, anticipates new movies for months, and has a Marvel shirt for every school day of the week (and would like more).  Her favorite character is Hawkeye, and she can't get enough of him.   She's partial to Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, but she's read some of the comics as well.

One of my younger daughter's favorites - with Hawkeye!

I never considered myself a "superhero" fan.  It took me a long time to get interested in this universe.  But with my kids loving it so much, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  I got on board around the time Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came out (I watched Iron Man a long time ago, but I don't count that) and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed them.  My favorite is Doctor Strange, but Benedict Cumberbatch is one of my favorites actors, so that may have influenced me (it did).  I've loved all the other ones so much that I can't really pick a favorite.  The only one I didn't like was Ant-Man.  Nothing to do with the story, I just DESPISE ants, so a lot of the movie creeped me out.

I did read a few of the comics, but I'm not as keen on them.  They're interesting, and I appreciate the art, I just didn't get into them.  But something I do enjoy is the soundtracks.  There's a few of them available on Amazon Prime, and I listen to them often.  They have a distinct sound to them with the exception of Black Panther.  That one stands out in a few ways, and it's probably my favorite.  Great movie by the way.

It's been fun getting into this universe.  I've gotten to go watch a movie (Captain Marvel - another great movie) with just my husband for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, and it was a blast!  It's also been common ground.  Having two teenagers, it's been harder to find that these days, but this has been something we can talk about without me sounding like an old codger.  And that's something I'm always excited about!  

Verity (The Sugar Baron's Daughters #2) - Lisa T. Bergren

This is the second book in this series about three sisters.  The first book was about Keturah, and the third will be about Selah.

In this book, we start out on with the plantation on the island of Nevis.  Verity has decided to leave the plantation and start up her own shop in town.  It's been a while since she's heard from her beau, Duncan, and she's wondering what happened to him.  When she discovers that he's dead, she's set on a path that brings her face to face with Ian, Duncan's brother.

Ian doesn't meet Verity in a very flattering way.  In jail for attacking English officers, Verity takes pity on him and gets him out of there for Duncan's sake.  Ian is also a captain, like his brother, and Verity asks him to transport the items she's taking back to Nevis for her shop.  They grow close, and fight against their feelings for a time out of respect for Duncan.

I really liked the first one, Keturah.  This one was a bit all over the place for me.  There was so much to remember.  With all that going on, there were still long descriptions of things I didn't care that much about (the scene where Verity is trying on hats and hairstyles). I also wasn't a big fan of the whole "switching to loving the brother" thing.  It happened a bit too quickly for me.

I had trouble getting into the story of this one.  I'd put it down, and I wasn't really looking forward to picking it back up.  There's also more than one cliffhanger at the end, and I'm not a big fan of that either.  The writing itself was good, but I liked the first one so much more.  At this point, I'm not sure I'll continue with the series.

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Artful Match (London Beginnings #3) - Jennifer Delamere

This is the third book in the series.  It tells the stories of three sisters, and this one tells Cara's story.  The first book, The Captain's Daughter, is about Rosalyn, and the second, The Heart's Appeal, is Julia's story.

Cara is considered to be the most emotional of the sisters.  Not only is she the baby of the family, her sisters don't think she can take care of herself.  Due to an unfortunate mistake, she loses her job as governess and is out on the streets.  She tries to go to Julia, but her sister is away from home.  Not only that, but Cara is shocked to discover that Julia has gotten married and went to South America!  Cara feels betrayed and angry, and after a discovery at a pawn shop, she doesn't want to reach out to her other sister, Rosalyn, either.  She meets Langham, an artist, and realizes she wants to be an artist as well.  Langham is a bit of a mess, but she's confident his heart is in the right place.

Henry already knows that his brother is a bit of a mess, and he's come to London to track him down.  When Henry finds his brother drunk at a pub, he also meets Cara.  She immediately catches his eye, and he's curious as to what she's doing with people like his brother.  Henry doesn't understand the art world, but he's going to get acquainted with it.  The more time he spends with Cara, the more he likes her.  And when he sees how well she deals with his young ward, he likes her even more.  They both have secrets they keep close, but only the full truth will allow them to be together.

I enjoyed this one.  I liked almost all the characters.  I won't list them here, but they were well-written and easy to care about.  You'd be okay reading these out of order, but if you like this kind of book, you'll get more out of them reading them in order.  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Heart's Appeal (London Beginnings #2) - Jennifer Delamere

The Heart's Appeal is the second book in this series about three sisters.  The first one, The Captain's Daughter, was about Rosalyn, and book 3, The Artful Match, is about Cara.

This book is about Julia, the sister who strives to become a doctor.  She's lost her benefactor, but she trusts God to provide for her.  An accident on the Underground brings her together with Michael.  He's a barrister, and he's working on a case that might affect Julia's future.  He's also letting his sister set him up with a woman who would give them a higher social standing.

After Julia saves Michael's life, she appeals to his sense of honor and asks him to tutor her in her hardest subject: Latin.  He agrees, and they start spending more time together.  No one seems to approve, especially Michael's sister (and I felt super bad for her downtrodden husband).  It's a matter of whether these two can adjust their dreams to be together.

I liked this book, even though Julia seemed a bit too preachy at times.  Both Rosalyn and Cara show up, but you just get a sense of how close the sisters are.  The elusive father is an overarching story, but it doesn't affect my opinion of being able to read these alone/out of order.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and look forward to reading about Cara.  Good Book!

A Desperate Hope (Empire State Novel #3) - Elizabeth Camden

This is the third book in the Empire State Novel series.  The first book is called A Dangerous Legacy, and the second is A Daring Venture.

Eloise is headed back to Duval Springs, where she spent much of her childood, but it's the last place she wants to go.  Twelve years ago, she left because of her relationship with Alex Duval, and she hasn't looked back since.  She's made herself into a rule-abiding CPA and enjoys her structured life.

Alex is a dreamer, but he's never forgotten the spunky redhead who stole his heart.  He's been committed to saving the town, but he's lost.  Now, the town's scheduled to be destroyed to make way for a reservoir.  When Eloise shows up to help buy off the town's residents, Alex doesn't recognize the icy person in front of him.

These two are complete opposites, but they still have a spark.  Unfortunately for Alex, Eloise has no intentions of staying with Alex.  When they come up with a plan for the removal of the town, Eloise donates her time to the dream, but she still plans on returning to her structured life.  Unless Alex can convince her to trust him and be a bit daring.  There's also a snitch in town feeding information to the town's most hated man, and sabotage threatens Alex's plans.

I liked this book, and I liked the characters.  I like the way Alex's impulsiveness balanced out Eloise's straight-laced nature and vice versa.  I also appreciated the research the author did, because it shows.  Nick and Rosalind show up, but you don't have to be familiar with A Daring Venture to keep up with what's going on.

I'm glad that I stuck with this series, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the first book.  This book was entertaining, and I enjoyed reading it.

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie

Originally published in 1922, The Secret Adversary is the first adventure for Tommy and Tuppence.  These characters show up in a total of 4 novels and a collection of short stories.  I've personally read a few of Christie's novels.  My favorite up to now is And Then There Were None.

Tommy and Tuppence have been friends since childhood.  They've met back up and form their own business called the Young Adventurers to try and earn some money.  They end up searching for a missing woman and a paper that could threaten the British government.

I liked this book a lot.  I loved the way the mystery was paced.  When Tommy's in danger, the reader knows he's in danger, but ends up reading about Tuppence.  The whole time, the reader worries about what's happened to Tommy. 

Many times, with a novel this old, it reads dated and a bit boring.  I was really impressed with this one.  Other than some phrasing that's definitely out of date, it was a real page-turner!  I loved the characters, and every time I thought I had the identity of Mr. Brown figured out, something would happen to make me doubt myself.  And that's the best kind of mystery novel.

This is listed as an Illustrated edition.  What this actually means is that there are pictures at the end, mostly revolving around Agatha Christie and her life.  I found them to be pretty interesting.  Definitely gets a Good Book! review.