City of Bones by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch #8. I love this series. You never know what's going to happen, and not everyone lives to see another day if you are connected to Harry in any way! Harry also has an interesting taste in women. He never takes on a simple, comfortable relationship. Trauma meets trauma - always. Maybe he would simply be too bored with an uncomplicated relationship. 

A dog on a walk brings back a bone to his owner. The bone is human. Harry is called in to investigate. They figure out soon enough that the bone belongs to a child, who was buried in a shallow grave 20-25 years earlier. The burial site is treacherous to get to, so a lot of "manpower" is used to dig up as many bones as possible to see if it's a burial site for one child, or several people. It ends up being one 12-year old boy. This boy, based on studying his bones, had suffered 44 different fractures in his body during his short life. This knowledge impacts Harry (who grew up as an orphan) and Edgar (who has a teenage son around the same age). They both want to find out who murdered this poor kid.

Kiz was transferred to RHD (Robbery-Homicide Division), so it's back to just Harry & Edgar as a team of two. Harry meets a rookie cop, Julia Brasher, who he is attracted to. She is an older rookie (mid-30s), so late to the game in police terms. Harry continues to ruffle feathers at all levels, of course. It seems like he manages to tick off most everyone, including Edgar.

Harry & Co have a couple of false starts trying to determine who killed this boy. I trust Harry's instincts usually, whether other people do or not, but this time I thought he was overlooking the murderer. Ha! I kept waiting for him to figure it out. Come to find out that I was wrong. Go figure. :) I guess that's why Harry is a detective and I am not!

The ending surprised me. Not sure what to make of it. I guess I will find out in book #9.

Wendy's Rating: ****

To Catch a Storm by Mindy Mejia

Wow did I like this book! It was fast-paced with twists and turns and it was intelligent. When you put together a physicist who studies the weather, a private investigator who is a psychic, a police officer who used to be best friends with the psychic until he got shot when helping him, which resulted in a 6-week leave from the police department and an angry wife, and add a father-in-law who lives with his son and daughter-in-law since his stroke, then you have an entertaining story.

Eve (physicist) and Matthew (college professor) are married. Matthew's mother died and his father, Earl, had a stroke. Earl lives with Eve & Matthew so they can help take care of him. They are well-off financially. Eve's weather plane alone cost around $3 million. Recently Matthew was relieved of his job due to his alleged inappropriate conduct with a student. One day Matthew's Tesla was found burned to ashes and there is no sign of Matthew himself.

Meanwhile, the police officer Max has just returned to the job. His gun shot wound is still causing him pain, but he feels like he needs to prove to everyone that he can do the job. He is told to stay away from the psychic (Jonah), by his superiors at the police department and his wife. Of course Jonah shows up at the station on Max's first day back. Jonah is in rough shape, still trying to find Celina, who has been missing for four months and the reason that Max got shot.

Jonah has special psychic powers that causes him great emotional and psychological pain. He sees visions of missing people. Some of the people he finds are living, but some he doesn't find in time and they are dead. He feels the emotions of the people around him. His only friend in life is Max, and Max has told him to go away.

Jonah believes that Matthew's disappearance is connected to Celina's disappearance. He has visions of Matthew being in the same barn as Celina was, bleeding, injured and scared. Jonah tries to approach Eve and Earl at their home to tell them what he believes about Matthew, but Eve, being a scientist, doesn't believe in psychics and also sends him away.

Another key element in this story is the weather. The story is set in Iowa. After a nice heavy rain, the temperature drops significantly and everything is coated in ice. Everything. So when things start happening (ie Eve & Jonah & Earl start working together), it happens on ice. This adds to the excitement, trust me.

I could have easily read this in one sitting if I had the time! All I can say is, there had better be a second book. This story is not done. I normally don't rate any mystery/thriller 5 stars because I save my 5 star reads for the historical fiction & literature that I love, but this one comes close.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

This is a story of a Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia who are migrant workers. There are five children (Ben, Mae, Charlie, Joe & Ruthie), and their parents are attentive and loving. One day, when the family is berry picking in Maine, Joe (6) and Ruthie (4) are eating their lunch on their own (too young to pick berries with the rest of their family). Joe wanders away from Ruthie briefly to feed his sandwich bread to the birds. When he walks back to where Ruthie was sitting, she is gone. This is the turning point in all of their lives. The deep loss, the feelings of guilt, the endless searching for Ruthie year after year. When I was more than halfway through, I put the book down for a week. Joe is the narrator for the family, so we learn first hand about all the horrible, destructive choices he makes. It's just one awful thing after another. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I'm not a big fan of these type books. It's difficult to read about someone self-destructing.

The other narrator is Norma, who lives with her mom and dad in Boston. It's a lonely life. Her mother is super overprotective and her dad is fairly distant. Norma doesn't have any friends because her mother never lets her out of her sight except for school. She finally is allowed to leave for a weekend camp, which is where she meets her first friend. The person Norma is actually closest to is her mother's sister, Aunt June. Fortunately Aunt June visits a lot, along with her "friend" (aka her secret significant other) Alice. Alice is a therapist, and Norma grows close to her not only because of Aunt June, but because she starts see "Alice the therapist" to deal with her constant dreams that are confusing and upsetting. Alice tells Norma to journal her dreams, which comes in handy decades later. When Norma reaches adulthood, she also makes some hurtful decisions which I had a difficult time stomaching. Both Joe and Norma were significantly emotionally damaged.

When I finally picked the book up again to finish it, I read the rest in one sitting. There were tears involved too. The ending was so emotional. I found myself really loving it. Although not everyone in the family survives to meet "Norma" aka Ruthie, and the reunion is LONG overdue, since Ruthie is in her 50s by this point, the ending involved forgiveness (of self and others), redemption, and the resilience of family love.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Choice by Nora Roberts

Book 3 in the Dragon Heart Legacy. I had mixed feelings while reading this last book of the trilogy. I actually chuckled out loud a few times, since there was more humor in this installment. The relationships are obviously more developed, and I think that made a difference. I was also more invested in those relationships, which is also good. What I didn't care for as much were the "goopy" moments, especially between Marco & Brian. I get that they are in love, but it was over-the-top for me. (I guess this is why I don't read very many books from the Romance genre!) There were other parts that were incredibly "mushy" as well. I'm all about positivity, but it was simply too much, in my opinion.

Another comment that I keep forgetting to make: I think it's odd that Eian's good friend, and member of his musical group, was also named Brian! That confused me in the first book. Also, it's odd that Breen and Brian both have the same last name (Kelly) and now there is a baby named Kelly! I know that Kelly is a common Irish name, but when you are writing a book with a ton of different characters, it would be nice to use different ones! (Except for the baby of course, because that was sweet.) I kept thinking there would be a link between them, but nope.

Another issue I had was the waiting. We know that Breen is going to fight the ultimate battle against Odran. We know it's a Good vs. Evil battle, and that Good (Breen) must win for the world to survive. It was a long time coming. I liked the battle plan. It was a huge undertaking, but it was a good plan. Breen & Marco got to visit Philadelphia and New York, which brought closure to those American relationships. This is a good example of true family not having to be blood related. Breen & Marco's mothers are certainly not worth the effort, which is sad. Fortunately, Sally & Derrick will continue to be an important part of Breen & Marco's lives. There is loss of life, which there always is in these types of stories. (And a couple of those losses are very sad.) But there is a lot of "filling" in-between important events. I like character and relationship development, but I don't need detail after detail of what it takes to set up a festival, for example.

I loved Breen's strength and the development of her skills. I also thought it was awesome that Keegan started pushing himself as well, because of Breen. I wasn't sure what would happen at the end, because Breen chose to give her life, if necessary, for the good of Talamh and it seemed like she had resigned herself to the outcome. A couple of things happened that I wasn't expecting, so that always makes things more interesting.

I enjoyed the series, despite the "extra filling". ;)

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Becoming by Nora Roberts

Book 2 of The Dragon Heart Legacy. I enjoy reading books that have tried & true relationships, despite any hardships they come across. Since the inhabitants of Talamh are loyal by nature, this book have a lot of those type relationships. The two relationships I love the most, however, are Breen & Marco and Breen & Keegan. Breen & Marco have known each other since early childhood and the support they provide for each other is remarkable. True loyalty. They are not impulsive or judgmental and they accept each other for who they are. What I like about Breen & Keegan's relationship is that they respect each other and they don't play games. (I hate when romantic partners in books play games with each other!) Breen & Keegan don't always agree, and Keegan can be really tough on Breen when she is training, but they are solid. They are both working toward the same goal: the death of Odran, which in turn saves Talamh and the rest of the world. They don't let their personal relationship interfere with the big picture. Yet, they have a personal relationship. I get tired of the "will they, will they not" type of scenario. (Side note: this is why my very favorite TV couple of all time is Scully & Mulder on the X-Files. We don't need to hear them say "I love you", or see them have passionate sex. The show was on for 11 seasons and we just know they love each other unconditionally.) Anyway, if there are going to be demons and an evil god and people whose sole purpose is to destroy, I want there to be soulmates in the story to counteract all of that! This story has all of it!

So, Keegan goes to Philadelphia to bring back Breen to Talamh. He doesn't really need to because she is absolutely going back. She could never leave the Talamh to fend for themselves, especially knowing she is the key to taking down Odran. This time Marco hitches a last second, and unexpected, ride with Breen & Keegan back to Talamh. This is a happy surprise because I really love Marco. So Marco settles in for the long haul with Breen at her cabin in Ireland. He also falls in love, which makes it even better. He deserves to be happy.

Breen, and now Marco, train nearly every day, preparing for the ultimate fight against Odran. Breen continues to write her blog and her books in the cabin, and Marco manages her blog, social media accounts, emails, and publicity related to her writing each morning in Ireland. (It's nice that they both have paying jobs, instead of relying on Breen's millions that her father left her.) Then they both go over to Talamh to train with Keegan, Nan and other family members. Breen continues to have "dreams", many of them happening in real time, which helps them prepare for - or stop - what is happening. Breen's knowledge and self-awareness of who she really is and the powers within her continue to develop and evolve.

The true nature of some of the characters start to come out. People can only disguise evil-intent for so long after all. I am enjoying this journey with Breen, Marco, Bollocks, Keegan & family and I look forward to reading the third and final installment.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Awakening by Nora Roberts

Book 1 of The Dragon Heart Legacy. It's always difficult for me to start a new series, or in this case, trilogy. Book 1 has to introduce all the characters, set the scene, and finally get into the storyline. Then, once I'm in and invested, the pages fly by. That's what happened with this book. The main characters are Breen Kelly and her BFF, Marco Olsen, in the human world. Specifically, Philadelphia, PA. Breen is a school teacher, which she hates. Marco is a musician who works at a music store and a drag queen bar. Breen & Marco live together, but since Marco is gay, they are not a couple, just best friends. They grew up together from early childhood.

Breen has been undermined by her mother, Jennifer, since she was about 10 years old. That's when her father, Eian, left them and never returned. She's been made to think she is less than who she is. Breen puts a brown rinse on her red hair and dresses in baggy beige. She tries to blend into the background of her life. One day she discovers that her mother has been hiding something from her. Breen's dad has been sending her money since he left - and now that account is worth nearly $4 million. Breen has been living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay her bills for years and years. Needless to say, she gets very angry at her mother! This is her "life changing moment".

Breen decides to fly to Ireland to try to find her father, which is where he was from. She quits her job and finds a quaint cabin in the woods to stay in for three months. Marco decides to go with Breen for the first two weeks. Thanks to Marco, she "blossoms" into her natural appearance: beautiful red, curly hair. He also throws away her old wardrobe! Marco also encourages Breen to start writing. He sets up a blog for her, so she can blog her experiences in Ireland. This writing leads her to additional writing - meaning books. 

Once Marco returns to the US, things really start changing for Breen. Thanks to a stray puppy, she passes through the Welcoming Tree, which brings her into Talamh. Talamh is a world of the Fey, the Wise, faeries, trolls and gods. She meets her grandmother, Marg (Mairghread O'Ceallaigh); keeps the dog, Bollocks, which wasn't really a "stray"; finds out who her father really was (and unfortunately that he is long dead, which is why he never returned to Philadelphia); meets a wonderful family, including Keegan, the current taoiseach who took the sword from the Lake of Truth and accepts the Staff of Justice. He is the leader of the Talamh. Most importantly, Breen discovers who she really is - and why she was lead to Talamh.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Here to Stay by Sara Farizan

This book is considered teen fiction. The main character, Bijan Majidi, is in High School. He is a typical teen. He has a best friend, Sean; likes a girl, Elle, who he is afraid to talk to; is on the JV basketball team. One event changes his life drastically. During a Varsity basketball game, he is brought up from JV to play in the last minutes of the Varsity game. He makes the game-winning basket. Things snowball from there.

Some of the other "star" players are apparently threatened by Bijan because they start making his life difficult. Someone sends out an email of a picture of Bijan dressed as a terrorist because his heritage is Middle Eastern. At the same time, he joins the petition to change the school mascot, simply because Elle is involved in this community project. He figures it's a good way to get to know her. The school mascot is "Gunner", who is displayed with a rifle. This is a pretty violent representation for a mascot for any organization, much less a school. So Bijan is quickly associated with the "No Tradition of Violence" side of this issue. Many on the basketball team are opponents to this idea and wear shirts that say, "Here to Stay", not wanting to change "tradition" and the current mascot.

In addition to being cyber-bullied, Bijan is physically bullied as well, on and off the basketball court. His mother, who is a doctor, steps into the mix as well, trying to force the school principal to do something. (Bijan's dad died years previously.)

Bijan, his friends and teammates try to work through some pretty tough issues between the bullying, racism, socioeconomic differences between students, heartbreak, homosexuality, violence, drinking and other teenage feelings and experiences. Bijan learns to stand up to his bullies and even steps out of his comfort zone to publicly address how being called a terrorist, simply because of his heritage, made him feel.

Wendy's Rating: ****