― Kairos by Mary Calmes

In the world of Mary Calmes stories I sadly have to admit this one is not at the top of my list but in a effort to be fair when I saw that it was out in audio book format I was helpless to resist and needed to give it another try...now, on the down side the narrator was not one of the usual suspects...I've gotten use to my Mary Calmes books being narrated by Greg Tremblay, Tristan James or Sean Crisden...not that there haven't been other narrators...there have, it's just been a while. So I freely admit I did take a moment to pause when I saw that Michael Fell was the narrator, but I decided that since I've listened to other audio books narrated by him and had no complaints I needed to not be snobbish about this and give the man a chance so I did and given that my rating for this went from 3 stars to 3.5 stars, I'd say that Mr. Fell held his own on this one. 

However, overall my feelings about the story haven't changed so again I'm not into re-inventing the wheel so I'm going to steal from my original review as to what wasn't working for me...

it was ok but that connection that I usually feel and just the overall fun of reading a new Mary Calmes book wasn't there. Try as I might I never quite felt the connection between Kade and Joe and honestly neither of these men struck me as being overly dynamic or alpha...for me there just wasn't a Sam Kage or an Ian Doyle, no Trevan Bean, Ceaton Mercer or Darius Hawhtorne...dammit!!!! Where was my ober alpha male!!! Because I'm telling you neither Kade or Joe filled that role for me

...and...

Along with the lack of connection between the MCs that happened for me there were parts of the storyline that just weren't working for me. The biggest thing being Joe's reasons for leaving his family...it just wasn't convincing for me which created a bit of a domino effect in regard to why Joe and Kade were such good friends. Along with this was the fact that Kade knew that his so called friend and mentor Vaughn who was also a precinct captain did shady things and yet he idolized him anyway? Sorry, I don't get that much less that fact that he basically made a conscious decision to ignore this. Somehow no matter how hard I tried 2 + 2 was just not adding up to 4...maybe more like 3.5.

And while the things that didn't work for me the first time still weren't working now...the things that worked the first time, well they're working every bit as good now as they did then...things like...the fact that...

in true Mary Calmes fashion I could not totally resist her writing prowess because irregardless of how I felt about the overall story, she drew me in with her mom's...there was Joe's mom...I adored her...ok, I can totally relate to her. She had a very dry sense of humor and used it frequently to deal with situations...

 

"You could maybe tell other people what is going on in your head now and then."
"But I'm telling you now."
"But did you tell him?"
"Shouldn't he know after this many years?"
"Mom--"
"I can't be married to a stupid man, dear. What would people say?"
"You don't give a good god--"
"That was sarcasm, sweetheart. Do they not have that in Chicago?"

 

It's that mom instinct...you see someone who needs to be loved and sheltered from the world and it's just instinct to want to do what the world has failed to do for that person so far. This is one of my favorite things about Mary Calmes books not only are the characters bigger than life but there's often at least one or more character who brings things like 'mom love' to the story in such an overwhelmingly big way. Nothing gives me a warm fuzzy like that moment in a Mary Calmes book when a character...in this case Joe's mom sweeps in takes one look at another character...and in this case it was Kade and Declan and just instinctively knows that they need 'mom love' and in this book there was two of them there was Joe's mom and Donatella Gallo who was his family's housekeeper and cook.

So maybe not my favorite Mary Calmes story but still a pleasant enough read that I'm sure I'll be revisiting it at some point in the future and I'm also pretty sure that at some point I'll be reading a book and going...'Oh, I remember that. That happened or that person was from the book 'Kairos' because when it comes to Mary Calmes that seems to be just the way the world rolls.

*************************

An audio book of 'Kairos' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

at the very least it's tilted on it's axis by a few degrees...

I'd been happily waiting for this one...I mean seriously new Mary Calmes men to love...what's not to be happy about, right? 

Interestingly enough overall this one was standard Calmes fare and I should have loved it but truly I didn't...it was ok but that connection that I usually feel and just the overall fun of reading a new Mary Calmes book wasn't there. Try as I might I never quite felt the connection between Kade and Joe and honestly neither of these men struck me as being overly dynamic or alpha...for me there just wasn't a Sam Kage or an Ian Doyle, no Trevan Bean, Ceaton Mercer or Darius Hawhtorne...dammit!!!! Where was my ober alpha male!!! Because I'm telling you neither Kade or Joe filled that role for me. 

Along with the lack of connection between the MCs that happened for me there were parts of the storyline that just weren't working for me. The biggest thing being Joe's reasons for leaving his family...it just wasn't convincing for me which created a bit of a domino effect in regard to why Joe and Kade were such good friends. Along with this was the fact that Kade knew that his so called friend and mentor Vaughn who was also a precinct captain did shady things and yet he idolized him anyway? Sorry, I don't get that much less that fact that he basically made a conscious decision to ignore this. Somehow no matter how hard I tried 2 + 2 was just not adding up to 4...maybe more like 3.5. 

While Kade and Joe weren't a strong connection for me there were some characters that really appealed to me and quite frankly had me wanting more. First off there was Joe's younger brother Sayre and Declan, the  young man that Kade and Joe rescue back at the beginning of the book I was really intrigued by both of these men and if anyone could give them each or maybe both? a story worth reading it's Ms Calmes.

And in true Mary Calmes fashion I could not totally resist her writing prowess because irregardless of how I felt about the overall story, she drew me in with her mom's...there was Joe's mom...I adored her...ok, I can totally relate to her. She had a very dry sense of humor and used it frequently to deal with situations...

"You could maybe tell other people what is going on in your head now and then."

"But I'm telling you now."

"But did you tell him?"

"Shouldn't he know after this many years?"

"Mom--"

"I can't be married to a stupid man, dear. What would people say?"

"You don't give a good god--"

"That was sarcasm, sweetheart. Do they not have that in Chicago?" 

and then there was just the fact that Joe and his mom have had some conversations that were reminiscent of ones that my own son has had with me...

"Mom, you can't collect people. I've told you that."

"And why not? You obviously do."

It's that mom instinct...you see someone who needs to be loved and sheltered from the world and it's just instinct to want to do what the world has failed to do for that person so far. This is one of my favorite things about Mary Calmes books not only are the characters bigger than life but there's often at least one or more character who brings things like 'mom love' to the story in such an overwhelmingly big way. Nothing gives me a wary fuzzy like that moment in a Mary Calmes book when a character...in this case Joe's mom sweeps in takes one look at another character...and in this case it was Kade and Declan and just instinctively knows that they need 'mom love' and in this book there was two of them there was Joe's mom and Donatella Gallo who was his family's housekeeper and cook.

'Kairos' wasn't as much of a connect for me as some of Ms Calmes other standalone stories like 'Acrobat', 'Any Closer', 'What Can Be' or 'Where You Lead' but as a confirmed Mary Calmes addict I wouldn't have missed this one if for no other reason than 'awesome moms'.

*************************

A copy of 'Kairos' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Joe has left behind his family and their odd reaction to his life.  He now works with his new best friend, and roommate, who has also partnered with him in business.  Together Kade and Joe are private instigators in Chicago.

Kade has waited a long time to tell someone his feelings.  As he meets his partners family, he cannot help but pour out how he has felt.  With the cloud of danger around them - can they protect their charge and still find love?

This author is a must read.  So I did what I always do, and I clicked purchase.  Then I could not put the story down, did not want to make dinner, ring in the new year, nothing!  I just wanted to keep reading this amazing story that just sucked me in.  I turned every page eagerly and when it was over all I wanted was more.  So is there.... more?  In the mean time, I give this great book a 5/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L'Engle is the story of a young man named Adam Eddington who has landed a summer job abroad with a renowned marine biologist, Dr. Calvin O'Keefe. Due to unforeseen circumstances he winds up caught in the middle of an international conspiracy between Dr. O'Keefe and those that would steal his work. Adam must figure out who he can trust and decide whose side he wants to be on, but this decision is not as simple as he would like.

This book was an ok read. It was mostly a mystery thriller type novel with some light science fiction mixed in. The scientific concepts presented in the book were very interesting and there was a good bit of action as well. I'm not sure I entirely liked where the book ended though and felt it could have done with one more chapter to provide some additional closure, but I suppose the author wanted to leave that up to the reader's imagination. This book crosses over with L'Engle's Time Quintet series and features characters from that series, but all grown up with children of their own. This book takes place between books four and five of the Time Quintet and while it's not necessary to read the first four books before reading this book, I would recommend reading this book before reading the fifth book of the Time Quintet.