Don't Travel in a Blizzard - Snowball Review

TITLE: Snowball
AUTHOR: Gregory Bastianelli
PUBLISHER: Flame Tree Press
PUBLISHING DATE: January 16, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: A group of motorists become stranded on a lonely stretch of highway during a Christmas Eve blizzard and fight for survival against an unnatural force in the storm. The gathered survivors realize a tenuous connection among them means it may not be a coincidence that they all ended up on this highway. An attempt to seek help leads a few of the travelers to a house in the woods where a twisted toymaker with a mystical snow globe is hell bent on playing deadly games with a group of people just trying to get home for the holidays. 

MY THOUGHTS:  I honestly am batting 1000 with some of my holiday reads this December and I must say Snowball knocked it out of the park!  The book opens with a snowplow driver on a desolate highway on Christmas Eve in the middle of a blizzard lamenting the fact that he should have retired BEFORE the holidays.  Suddenly he is stuck in the middle of storm and his accident leads others to pile up behind him. The only problem is no one can find the driver, only his snowplow and a seat covered with blood.

Over the next few chapters, Bastianelli introduces the reader to other other people crazy enough to be traveling in the middle of a blizzard on Christmas Eve and their reasoning for making such a questionable decision.  You have a young couple in love, an elderly couple in an RV whom I never trusted for a minute because I've read Doctor Sleep, a single business man, a husband and wife duo, a trucker, a mother and her two young children and college friends.  One by one they each encounter their own perils as they try to determine what is going on and find their way home.  Without giving away anything more, I'll just add that if you love horror, snowy settings, and action then immediately add this book to your TBR.

While I didn't love all of the characters in Bastianelli's novel, I was interested in all of them which is rare when I don't feel a connection.  I was seriously curious about what was going on and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next.  Also I won't lie - from the beginning I wanted some of these people to die.  And not only do we have the blizzard itself, the individuals also have to deal with snowmen with teeth, scary Christmas legends, a man with a ice hooks and a few other surprises.  As Snowball plays out, the reader starts making sense of what is happening and it's one twisted ride!

This is a perfect read for someone want to jazz up their winter months with blood, horror and an action-packed thrill ride.  I really have no complaints about the book whatsoever except for the stupid lovebirds which are so in love it is clouding their common sense.  There is no insta-love and the romance is extremely minimal so if those things bug you, pick up this book anyway because they won't are barely present.  I loved Snowball and Bastianelli is an author to watch!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 5 PAWS

Can't Wait Wednesday (240)

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

So the public has spoken - Cass is now a full-time contributor to Can't Wait Wednesday.  That means each week you'll see two books here. Of course Cass is already lobbying for an increase in salary (at least he works for treats - and bandanas).

FROM GOODREADS: Modern witchcraft blends with ancient Celtic mythology in an epic clash of witches and gods, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic trilogy and A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.

Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally, finally becoming a full witch-plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader.

And then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester-an infamous serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. The killer's motives are enmeshed in a complex web of witches and gods, and Dayna and Meiner soon find themselves at the center of it all. If they don't stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.

With razor-sharp prose and achingly real characters, E. Latimer crafts a sweeping, mesmerizing story of dark magic and brutal mythology set against a backdrop of contemporary Ireland that's impossible to put down. 

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  Although the mention of The Discovery of Witches makes me nervous, it also makes me intrigued.  Plus the cover has one of my favorite color combinations.  

CASSIUS'S PICK: 

FROM GOODREADS:  Wedding Crashers and a dead pastor? It’s another Metamora disaster.

June wedding bells are ringing! Cameron Cripps Hayman is the matron of honor and her five furry good boys are all ushers, so what could go wrong?

Five days out from the big day the new pastor is found hanging from the choir loft. It’s ruled a suicide by the police, but Cam and her Action Agency suspect foul play. Cam’s police officer husband warns her to not stir up trouble where none exists, but when the pastor’s home is ransacked, it’s clear to Cam that she was murdered.

With the whole town geared up for the big day, Cam and her team set out to tie up the case before the honeymoon is canceled. But the killer hasn’t found what he’s searching for and isn’t about to let a group of amateur sleuths scare him off—he’ll try to scare them off first.

WHY CASS CAN'T WAIT:  Mom read the first three books in this series a while back and then they stopped being released.  She mentioned something about the imprint not being around anymore - Midnight Ink I think.  Well, the author finally released a new one earlier this month and now there's been a 5th announced for January.  Mom will be thrilled, even if I personally think her reading time is about to be cut down.

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK?

TTT - Ten of My Favorite Authors

The top 10 weekly meme used to be hosted by The Broke and the Bookish they  handed over the reins to ThatArtsyReaderGirl who can be found HERE.  Each week she will focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading.

This week's choice is a freebie and to be honest, I found myself struggling.  So I'm going to share some of my favorite authors - basically individuals who I will always give their new books a solid chance.

HUNTER SHEA

I rarely have a poor experience with Shea's book (we'll just ignore Fury of the Orcas - which was still 3/5).  If he writes it, I will read it.

Seanan McGuire

I love everything this woman writes.  And since she writes under a pen name as well, there are still so many books out there I still need to get to.  I often joke if she wrote a telephone book (do they still make telephone books?) I'd read it.

Christina Henry

While not all of her novels have been hits for me, I'll still give any book she writes a try.

STEPHEN KING

Are words even needed?

JOE HILL

See Stephen King explanation 😆

CHARLAINE HARRIS

I think I enjoy her books the further along she writes.  Sookie was a blast and I think the Harper Connelly books didn't get enough credit.  Aurora Teagarden is a lot of fun and her Midnight Texas series was my fave until her Gunnie Rose series came along.  Give me more please!

ILONA ANDREWS

I can't get enough of this wife/husband writing duo.

KIRA JANE BUXTON

So she only has one novel so  far but it speaks volumes that she is already on this list!

JONATHAN JANZ

During this year, he quickly became a must-read author.

GRADY HENDRIX

As long as he doesn't kill anymore dogs - poor Max.

So there you have it.  There's so many year-end lists going around and others I plan to do so this was kind of a struggle.  Hope you enjoyed!  Any authors you would add???

And He Has a Name!

So here's the newest pup picture we were sent yesterday.  They reported that he is becoming more active and more playful by the day.  Cassius is busy prepping the house and scouring the net for puppy raising books (I assured him we have raised 5 already and that we got this taken care of).

And the dog stockings went up yesterday which made this one's look really out of place since it had no name.  So Mr. Barb has spoken..........

Introducing Apollo Cruz!

And the Cuteness Continues

TITLE: The Puppy Who Knew Too Much (Dog Club Mystery #2)
AUTHOR: V.M. Burns
PUBLISHER: Lyrical Underground
PUBLISHING DATE: February 12, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: Lilly Echosby and her toy poodle Aggie find a fresh start in Chattanooga, Tennessee, spoiled by the scent of murder... 

Having solved the shooting death of her cheating husband, Lilly's left behind the drama of Lighthouse Dunes, Indiana, to start over in the hometown of her best friend, Scarlett "Dixie" Jefferson. As she gets settled in her new rented house, Lilly gives Aggie, short for Agatha Christie, her own fresh start by enrolling her in the Eastern Tennessee Dog Club, where Dixie is a trainer. 

But drama seems to hound Lilly like a persistent stray. Her cranky new neighbor appears unfamiliar with Southern hospitality and complains that Aggie barks too much and digs up his prized tulips. But what the poodle actually unearths is the buried body of a mysterious man who claimed ownership of the lost golden retriever Lilly recently rescued. Now it's up to Lilly and Dixie to try to muzzle another murderer... 

MY THOUGHTS: First of all, look at those cute puppies on the cover!  Don't you just want to cuddle and play with them all?  Okay, enough puppy love, on to the book.  The Puppy Who Knew Too Much is the second installment in the Dog Club Mystery Series and this is playing out to become one of my favorite cozy series. 

Lilly has made her move to Tennessee having finally left the drama of Indiana behind.  She is working on a new start and is looking forward to building a new life with her pup Aggie, along with her friends and family.  Lilly is busy looking for a new job as well as a new place to live.  She is also attending  obedience training for Aggie conducted by her best friend Dixie.  A deal too good to be true falls in her lap and Lilly lands the ideal rental.  However, it's not long until a new death has been uncovered and once again Lilly is in the thick of things.

As I mentioned before, I think this series has some of the most interesting characters I've ran into in quite a while. I love that Lilly is building a new life for herself and Burns does a great job of having Lilly's adult children pop in from time to time to visit their mother.  This book also introduces a new canine friend in the form of a Golden Retriever who her daughter rescues.  Lilly and her friend Dixie, who is still larger than life and a blast to book, try to figure out what is going on in Lilly's new neighborhood and as one might expect, chaos follows.  We also get introduced to a possible new love interest for Lilly, Red.  Red seems like a good match but clearly neither want to rush into anything.  It also probably doesn't help that I imagine Red as Robert Taylor from Longmire.  I do miss my Longmire. 

So overall I love the way this series is pulling together and developing.  As you know, I've already read the third installment and hope to have my review up soon.  Lilly is a wonderful addition to some of my favorite characters and I'm sure she and Dixie will find some more trouble soon.

I also want to add that I was able to talk to Burns via Goodreads and am glad to know there are more installments already in the works.

I received this book from Lyrical Underground and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 4 PAWS

What's Happening (12-07-19)...

So I'm doing things a tad bit differently this year and will be combining all of my regular weekend posts.  This will enable me to add more content on Fridays and it is just starting to make more sense.  I'll still be linking up with Stacking the Shelves at Tynga's Reviews and Sunday Post at Caffeinated Reviewer.  Both blogs are awesome so make sure you check them out. 

I just knew with Thanksgiving coming so late that once it was out of the way Christmas would be coming fast and furious.  And man was I right!  Seems like time is FLYING! 

We both went back to work this week but an other stay-cation is just around the corner.  I also had a meeting out of town yesterday which meant a tad over 3 hours on the road which does tend to wear me out.  Or maybe it's my coworker who wears me out.  I actually threatened to put her in the truck once (you don't spray STRONG perfume heavily, or at all, when in the passenger seat) and I might have mentioned strangling her with seat belt.  It was all in fun (at least that's what I'm sticking to).

We didn't really want any movies this week and have been catching up on some series instead.  We also started watching V Wars on Netflix and although I'm we're two episodes in, so far we are liking it.  I do hope to get some reading done this weekend.  Here's what's up next on the stack.  I'm about 75% into Snowball and it's so much fun.  I'm also about 50 pages into A Wedding on Christmas Street.  

I also received some great review books.  I can't wait to give The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires a chance because you never know what Hendrix is going to do.  The Janes is a sequel to a series I read over a year ago and really enjoyed - and I totally blame Stormi for getting this one. And Dead to Her is another thriller I'm excited for from an author I've read in the past.  

And finally, in case you didn't see Monday's post, this happened.  Mr. Barb has narrowed it down to two names and he will arrive home December 23rd.  

'Tis The Season - White Elephant Review

TITLE: White Elephant
AUTHOR: Trish Harnetiaux
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster
PUBLISHING DATE: November 1, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: There are only a few rules in a White Elephant gift exchange: 1) Everyone brings a wrapped, unmarked gift. 2) Numbers are drawn to decide who picks first. 3) Gifts don’t need to be pricey—and often they’re downright tacky. 

But things are a little different in Aspen, Colorado, at the office holiday party for the real estate firm owned by Henry Calhoun and his wife Claudine. Each Christmas sparks a contest among the already competitive staff to see who can buy the most coveted gift: the one that will get stolen the most times, the one that will prove just how many more commissions they earned that year than their colleagues. Designer sunglasses, deluxe spa treatments, front row concert tickets—nothing is off the table. And the staff is even more competitive this year as Zara, the hottest young pop star out of Hollywood, is in town and Claudine is determined to sell her the getaway home of her dreams. 

Everyone is puzzled when a strange gift shows up in the mix: an antique cowboy statue. At least the sales agents are guessing it’s an antique—otherwise it’d be a terrible present. It’s certainly not very pretty or expensive-looking. In fact, the gift makes sense only to Henry and Claudine. The statue is the weapon Henry used to commit a murder years ago, a murder that helped start his company and a murder that Claudine helped cover up. She swore that no one would ever be able to find the statue or trace it to their crime. So which of their employees did? And why did they place it in the White Elephant? What could possibly be their endgame? 

Over the course of the evening, Henry and Claudine race to figure out who could have planted the weapon, and just what the night means for the secrets they’ve been harboring. Further adding to the drama is a snowstorm that closes nearby roads—preventing anyone from leaving, as well as keeping law enforcement from the scene. And by the end of this crazy night, the police will most definitely be required… 

MY THOUGHTS: First of all let me say this is an extremely short thriller at roughly 230 pages.  While sometimes I find shorter books lacking, that wasn't the case with White Elephant and the fact that I was able to sit down and read it in its entirety during one Saturday, only made me love it even more.

So pretty much the synopsis from Goodreads, shown above, pretty much tells you more than you need to know about the plot. It's a snowy holiday season in Aspen and Claudine's real estate business desperately need to see a mansion her husband built in order to make a comeback.  She's in luck because pop star Zara is very interested, so much so that she has been invited to the holiday party at the location. 

I loved so many things about the tale.  First of all, the setting is an isolated mansion during a blizzard.  Second of all, there are some really great characters, and some who you just love to hate. Claudine is not likable at all, which I found only increased my fondness for Henry.  I felt badly that he was married to such a self-centered woman and if you read this novel, I believe you might just feel the same.  And finally, I actually made it to the end of the book and didn't know the culprit.  It was clear someone was out to get Claudine and her husband, but there were several people to chose from.  I didn't see the twist at the end coming at all.

And I feel I must mention Zara.  She's a spoiled pop star who really isn't spoiled at all.  And she just so happens to be a true crime buff meaning she ended up in exactly the right place this holiday season.  I really connected with her and think she added a lot to the overall plot.  Plus she has a cute dog.

So if you love mysteries and thrillers, and just happen to be looking for a holiday read, you should consider picking up White Elephant.  It's definitely worth the time it takes to read and is a wonderful way to usher in the holiday reads.

RATING: 4 PAWS