First I have to add, what a beautiful cover this is. Normally we never “judge a book by it's’ cover” but this one is so eye catching and lovely so, yes, I am guilty of this. Just for this one.

 

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a book that made me laugh as much as this one! Amy is such a likable character, one that you can relate to and instantly befriend if she were in your class/neighborhood/work place. It makes the story enjoyable to read, and adds more personality to the book. Supporting cast around Amy also do a great job and are fun to read as well. Her sister Phin is such a great laugh and fun to read. Amy has a pretty kooky family to begin with which adds more to her imperfections and makes her all the more likable.

 

The romance aspect was cute and fun to read. To be expected as the main central theme is seen with a comedic light. Loved Amy and Ben hating each other first and then it grows to love. Yes it sounds pretty cliche and very Harlequin Romance. It’s over done isn’t it? I’ll accept it for this time. If it’s done with likable characters, then it makes the romance bearable.

 

Onto the plot itself. It was well done. A mystery with supernatural elements to it. It’s a well rounded book with plenty of other elements drawn in without making the plot confusing or all over the place. It’s well written, and enjoyable. I couldn’t really compare this with anything else that I have read in the past although Nancy Drew with supernatural powers comes pretty close. Although the plot was great and everything in it was a joy to read, 400 and more pages is just a little too much. Maybe there was just too many ‘fillers’ in the book added to make it this long. It’s not necessary. Short books are okay too, we have a huge pile to go through as readers. :)

Overall worth a read. Love it for the comedy factor and a well written murder mystery with paranormal elements. Also love it for the well written characters featured.

Not as interesting as it sounded and it peters out after a while.

Amy just wants to the normal, ordinary one in her family that practices magic. It is not as interesting as it sounds. It is far more caught up in the romance than the magic or even the main mystery. (And the romance is nothing worth reading.)

Alas, because I liked the premise of the Goodnight family and the abilities. Unfortunately, the book never achieves anything special with it.

 

2 stars

I was pretty disappointed in Spirit and Dust. It was nothing like Texas Gothic. All of the things that made me adore Texas Gothic were missing in this book. This book lacked the charm that was present in that one. There were no quirky, eccentric characters, unless you count Daisy herself and the rest of the Goodnight family was absent for the most part. Where Texas Gothic was light-hearted and funny, Spirit and Dust was more tense and serious.

Honestly though, this wasn't a bad book. It was a pretty good mystery that contained a few good twists and had it been a separate novel with nothing to do with Texas Gothic I probably would have liked it better.

One thing worth mentioning is a certain scene in a museum in Chicago that contains a dinosaur named Sue. Anyone that has read The Dresden Files will feel a certain deja vu.

When I read the opening line of this book "The goat was in the tree again" I knew this one was going to be fun. I just loved Texas Gothic. It wasn't anything spectacular, it wasn't super creepy like I thought it would be, and it wasn't anything new, but I enjoyed the characters, the mystery, and the setting. Plus it was just so darn funny at times. Mostly I think I loved that this book paid tribute to Nancy Drew and a little bit to Scooby-doo as well, two favorites from my childhood.

I had previously read Rosemary Clement-Moore's The Splendor Falls and really liked it. It was what led me to add this book to my to-read list. At this point I'm a huge fan of hers. I really enjoy her writing style and the fact that she writes teens and Young adults as self-aware and not just immature. The kooky Goodnight family was just plain fun to read about. I enjoyed the relationship Amy and Phin had as sisters. The romance was light and didn't take over the book, and I really liked Ben a lot. This could be a stand-alone read, but it does have a companion book that centers on Amy's cousin Daisy, which I will definitely read.

3.5 stars I like the cover of this book and even though I'm not exactly sure why it's called The Splendor Falls, I like the title too. Both the title and the cover just sort of beckoned me to read it, promising a lot of good gothic mystery.

The book is about Silvie, who is recuperating from a tragic and freak accident which has left her unable to continue with her ballet career, a career that meant everything to her. I must say that I had a hard time keeping my head in this book for about the first 100 pages. In my opinion it took way too long to get to the meat of the story. Well I think the book is just too long in general. I really didn't think it needed to be over 500 pages long.

When we finally get to the old southern mansion where the story takes place, instead of pulling us into the mansion and its surroundings and enthralling us with it, the author makes the mistake of focusing in too much on Silvie's pet dog Gigi for a good portion of the book. I felt like this distracted from the mystery and the feel of the surroundings.

I can't really say at what point I became engrossed in the story, it was well into the book, but there was a point where Gigi seemed to fade into the background and the story finally took off. The atmosphere of the book changed and suddenly I couldn't put it down. From that point on the book deserves 4 stars. I would say it probably deserved 2 stars before that.

There were two guys in this book that Silvie meets and finds attractive for different reasons. Rhys and Shawn. I liked that even though she was interested in them and they in her it didn't take over the story. The romance was very light and Silvie wasn't all consumed by thoughts of the two guys, so it didn't feel like I was reading a love triangle or anything.

I thought Silvie and of course Gigi, were both very well drawn characters. Its just a shame that the rest of the supporting characters couldn't have been more fleshed out. More attention to Rhys and less to Gigi would have improved the book. I liked Rhys and I just wanted more of him.

Overall I ended up liking this book quite a bit. I thought it ended well although there was one thing I thought might be revealed that ended up not being the case I thought maybe Shawn and the circle had caused her injury, but I wasn't really sure how they could have with her so far away. It just seemed so weird of a thing to have happened. But I guess not, it really was just a freak accident .