Don't Waste Your Time With This Spice

I struggled through Just Add Spice by Carol E. Wyer. And I only finished it because I had to review it. This book is disgusting! Who really reads this garbage? A woman, done wrong, gets revenge in a brutal and demeaning way – over and over again. Many men will pay for their sins because of this one person who wants to put them all in their place – and not in a ladylike manner, I might add. Don’t waste your time! I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my review. – again, the only reason I finished it.

Jemay's Latest Travel Mystery Needs an Editor

J.A. Jemay is back with a new Ainsley Walker Gemstone Travel Mystery, this time set in Portugal. The Portugal Sapphire sees Ainsley taking a job in Portugal to find a stolen azulejos with a sapphire imbedded in it. The search takes her all over Portugal with some death-defying adventures, a friendship with a criminal, and a little romance to boot! The history, culture and port wine lessons are wonderful, but the story itself is a bit farfetched. I think I felt the same way about the last book she wrote (The Puerto Rico Pearl). Although a bit unrealistic, the story still kept my interest. One thing that really upset me with this book is that there were many grammatical errors. I think Jemay has a good thing going here with her travel mysteries, but she definitely needs a good editor. If errors don’t bother you, you may love this book. But they drive me nuts!

The Burgess Boys is not Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout's The Burgess Boys is a novel centered around a dysfunctional family from Shirley Falls, Maine. The brothers have relocated to New York City while their sister remains in their old hometown. But each has its own issues and none of them get along so well. When their nephew gets in trouble for throwing a pig’s head into a mosque (yes, this is really in the story) for no apparent reason, the brothers are pulled back to town to help with legal issues. Slowly, their history from childhood is revealed and eventually we can understand why they are the people they have grown into. But, really, this story is not just about the boys. A great part of the story centers around the sister and her son and the wife and ex-wife of the brothers. It’s fragmented. A great deal of the book covers the immigrants that have taken up resident in Shirley Falls. I enjoyed learning about the Somalis, but I have to say the story seems to jump from one character to another. It is entertaining but it doesn’t come close to Strout’s previous book, Olive Kitteridge.