These two authors are a match made in… well, Heaven for me!

I’ve been a fan of Matt’s for a very long time. When I stumbled across Sam’s work not very long after, the two people who introduced me to Matt said I’d enjoy Sam’s writing as well – (thank you Suzanne and Cathy!) – and they were right.
IMO, Sam West’s stories have been getting increasingly better this year, and this collaboration came at the perfect time for both of them.

Two Minds is told through the viewpoint of the two characters living the story.

The Woman – convinced the man she is talking to is responsible for her sister’s disappearance – and The Man… Who is he? Did he have anything to do with the sudden disappearance of Samantha’s sister or is he nothing more than an innocent bystander?

Only one thing is for sure… After this night, neither of them will be the same again.

I wish the ending were a little… ‘beefier’ (for lack of a better term, or perfect tongue in cheek?).  I just felt like I needed a bit more there, but that’s only one readers opinion.  I love how it was written. It’s a great style, and I bet we’ll see more authors experimenting with it. This story, (plus the little preview I had), has got me even more excited for The Devil’s Guests!! Have you been looking for something a bit more twisted than usual? The Devil’s Guests is gonna do things to you that no book has done before – trust!

Peace, Love & Necrophilia ♥
 ~sg

I read a total of 11 books in December. 

I enjoyed reading the eight shown but there were three that were huge disappointments. 

Those were; 

1). The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

***A very anticipated read that just didn't work for me. I was lost and didn't get the point.

2). Lengendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene by Gerald H. Gaskin

***I was given a egalley of this book by the publisher. The pictures didn't show well and I wanted and was expecting more detail and inside look.

3). Devil in the Making by Victoria Vane

***I suppose the issues I had with this novella could stem from it being a prequel and for me it didn't have a wrap up or make much sense.

As this is not a full-length novel, I will only be writing a “mini” review, in which I will forego my usual “What I Liked/Didn’t Like” sections.

Meh. This novella kind of fell flat for me. I’m not a huge fan of the writing style, and I don’t like any of the characters. Della seemed rather cookie cutter and generic to me, while her cousin was also nothing special. I didn’t really understand why Della turned into a vampire—her cousin touched her blood or something?—but maybe that will be explained more in the next book. Reading this doesn’t make me want to read Born at Midnight at all—in fact, I think it might have turned me off of it a bit more. It wasn’t horrendous and it was at least polished, but just not really worth the time. 

(http://thaliasbooks.tumblr.com/post/71597771438/turned-at-dark-review)

I felt decidedly mixed about this one. This is the eleventh book in the Mary Russell series, which gives Sherlock Holmes a romantic and professional partner--and it works. Well, almost always. The series truly is a favorite of mine and usually hits the spot with its mix of Sherlock Holmes pastiche, mystery, and early 20th century historical fiction. I've grown to love Mary as a character in her own right. This one though, takes an entirely different tone than usual--in fact the first half plays as farce. It annoyed and bored me for a lot of that first half, and I considered abandoning it--at least until it regained the promise of it's subtitle: "A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Because for that first half there was no suspense and almost nothing of Sherlock Holmes.

It did redeem itself for me in the second half, but this certainly wouldn't be where I'd pick up the series, and if this is where you did, and you didn't care for it, I'd try again--the first in the series, <i>The Beekeeper's Apprentice</i> is one of the best--but so are several of the other books. I'm not the only one to be disappointed in <i>The Pirate King</i>--this has the lowest rating of any book in the series on Goodreads, averaging 3.34 stars while most installments are over four. I think what I find a weakness in the series comes ironically from a source of its strength. The books are varies in tone, theme, settings--even narrative devices. And as a friend pointed out, the light-hearted nature of the book does make a welcome change of pace after the grimness of the last two books. But even though humor is a welcome element in the books, the humor here was either too broad for my tastes, or just not something King's forte.

That said, I did give it three stars because ultimately I enjoyed it, and am glad I finished it. There's only one more book in the series now for me to read, and I'm going to feel a pang when I finish it and have to wait for King to publish the next one.