#DeborahCoonts – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – February Recap – Starting in March, Longer Days, Irish Tales

Around here, March can’t decide whether lion or lamb, so one day will be sunny, warm and 62 degrees and the next cloudy, cold, windy and a high of 31 degrees Fahrenheit. The first week of March is forecasted for just that—snow by Monday, t-shirts by Friday. Nice we can enjoy so many activities indoors now with our participation in the YMCA. They’ve got an amazing facility as long as the weather allows us to get there. Pickleball? No…we used to play racquetball. (I loved racquetball but it got a bit rough.)

The Y started a six-week course in food preparation for seniors who face health issues and I started that, thinking I could always learn something new, especially in regard to the CEs cardiac issues. About the same time, the CE started working with our son again this year for the AARP tax program normally held on Saturdays at the library during tax season. This year on taxes on Friday has forced us to change our exercise schedule.

You might remember that in the January Recap, I mentioned the quest to find and understand the welcome uptick in visits and views. I spent quite a bit of time working on SEO, creating the SiteMap for the website, and following all the Google guides and site verification services I could find or implement. Apparently, there had been a problem in there that when finally cleaned up and properly executed resulted in an amazing, albeit temporary surge in traffic.

My freebie doesn’t allow for Google Analytics or the SEO tools granted an upgrade or Business Plan. Still, March bears a best yet stat of 39K for the month, one day with over 11K, and an average now of 1.4K views per day. I’m pretty happy with that and working hard to keep or even improve on that, just sorry it took so many years to finally get it. Us older folks have to learn everything the hard way!

I have no idea how those figures compare with your own blogs and I am hoping it might constitute an average. Please let me know, or perhaps there is still something I should be doing?

Rosepoint Recap

The CE and I read or listened to a total of twelve books in February. As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks as well as ebooks). We also find books in NetGalley and enjoy author and publisher requests. The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Reviews - February Recap

June Baby by Shannon Garvey
Want to Know a Secret? By Freida McFadden (audiobook)
The Mediator by Robert Bailey (CE review)
Wanna Get Lucky? By Deborah Coonts
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (audiobook)
Hard Time by Logan Ryles (CE review)
Reverse by Steven F Havill (CE review)
Flight Path by Suzanne C Carver
Nightshade by Michael Connelly (audiobook)
Three Audiobooks Mini-Reviews:
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
The Wife and the Widow by Christian White
If You Ask Me by Betty White

Favorite Book of the Month

Another book I’d have never chosen but was the Y Book Club of the Month, The Boys in the Boat. Yes, I enjoyed Nightshade but for sheer heart-stopping tension, I have to give it to The Boys.

Favorite for February – The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

My Reading Challenges page…I’m still having problems with the Goodreads Challenge tally, one total noted on my Goodreads landing page and another in the widget. Therefore, it’s either 25 completed so far in a challenge of 175 or 19 according to the widget. Getting it fixed obviously won’t happen. Challenge page is all caught up.

What's Next?

Last month I was looking for romantic book suggestions and this month it’s St. Patty’s Day suggestions. In March, I’m reading Irish — moody atmospheric landscapes, wit and wisdom delivered with a dark sense of humor, layered families, and stories that resonate. I’ll be scouring 746 Books for ideas but will gladly entertain your selections as well. Would love to see your recommendations—drop me a quick comment, please!

To all my dear readers and fellow bloggers, my blogging buddies, I do so appreciate your visits and comments and appreciate each and every one of you.

March is #ReadingIrelandMonth

Wanna Get Lucky? by Deborah Coonts #BookReview #GeneralHumorousFiction #TuesdayBookBlog

The Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventure Series

Book Blurb:

Everyone Has a Hidden Talent

For Lucky O’Toole it’s murder…solving it.

Surviving in Sin City takes cunning, a pair of five-inch heels, and a wiseass attitude. Lucky has mastered them all and has a pair of legs she uses to kick butt and turn heads.

As the Chief Problem Solver for the Babylon, Las Vegas’s most over-the-top destination, mischief is in her job description.

She’s good at her job.

She’s less good at life. But who has time for a life when there’s a killer on the loose?

WANNA GET LUCKY?

A woman falls from a tour helicopter to the horror of the 8:30 Pirate show crowd.

Was it suicide? An accident? Could she have been pushed?

Lucky’s day began with the invasion of the Adult Video Awards and Trade show convention.

It got more hectic when the spouse-swapping annual event checked in.

And if adding a body to the mix wasn’t enough, Lucky’s got a new suitor. Her best friend, Teddie, a female impersonator who is pressing to take their relationship to the next level.

Can she really date a man who looks better in a dress?

What happened to the woman over the pirate show?

Will her sleuthing skills catch the killer and save her job?

A light, funny, romantic mystery providing a Vegas escape appropriate for anyone looking for a good laugh. Pick up a copy now and start your adventure.

My Review:

Oh good grief! In my bid to find a romance book that wasn’t too gooey, graphic, or musical level corny, I downloaded this one. Gees, can I pick’em or what?! No suggestions, on my own, so this is what happens.

You know that old saw about “what happens in Vegas…” In case you haven’t been, you might be aware that this is actually pretty close, especially if you still wear an apron while cooking (with nothing underneath the apron). Vegas is crazy and I’ll grant you, could spin a whole boatload of off-the-wall stories. This could be one of them.

So, yes, it might start off with an interesting hook and look for all the world like a standard crime thriller. But don’t be fooled.

Lucky is a unique MC. She is the head of customer relations at the Babylon megacasino. She’s young but street smart and can handle herself very well. Mentored under the tutelage of The Big Boss, she’s made a few mistakes, but knows everyone, who they are, what they do, and what is going on in the city.

“Vegas rule number one—you can’t make any money if you can’t keep it in the house.”

Busy dealing with the upcoming adult film industry’s annual awards, spouse-swapping convention, and ElectroniCon, she’s distracted by the death of a young woman who took a header into the Pirate Lagoon of Treasure Island. Circumstances link to the Babylon and maybe not a suicide—something she’ll look into.

So why would you like this one? Is it really a romance? Well, sorta. As the blurb says, she’s got feelings for the female impersonator that tends to short-circuit her brain and spark like a dying bulb. He is quite engaging as a support character.

The overall feel of the book is one of snarky attitude (think the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano). It’s rife with innuendo, this side of explicit, bordering on raunchy, particularly nearing the end of the narrative. I’m one who was surprised at the graphic nature of the last Robyn Carr novel I ventured into, so will say this one doesn’t get that visual. It’s chock full of familiar analogies though.

“She feasted on men like a lioness on baby gazelles—hungry, but indifferent.”

The descriptions of Las Vegas depict “the Strip” pretty well. It’s bright, flashy, loud 24 hours/day and easy to lose your shirt and the horse you rode in on pretty quick. Not my thing, but readers who enjoy non-stop action, mystery, and romance may very well find this a fun Valentine’s read.

This is Book 1 of what looks like an eleven-book series. I could see where it might be heading, as Lucky set herself up for a hit (no doubt) in Book 2.

Many thanks to my favorite library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: General Humorous Fiction, Mystery Romance, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Chestnut Street Press
Publication Date: June 14, 2015

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Deborah Coonts swears she was switched at birth. Coming from a family of homebodies, Deborah is the odd woman out, happiest with a passport, a high-limit credit card, her computer, and changing scenery outside her window. Goaded by an insatiable curiosity, she flies airplanes, rides motorcycles, travels the world, and pretends to be more of a badass than she probably is. Deborah is the author of the Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventure series, a romantic mystery romp through Sin City. Wanna Get Lucky?, the first in the series, was a New York Times Notable Crime Novel and a double RITA™ Award Finalist. She has also penned the Kate Sawyer Medical Thriller series, the Brinda Rose Humorous Mystery series, as well as a couple of standalones. Although often on an adventure, you can always track her down at www.deborahcoonts.com or https://www.goodreads.com/deborahcoonts

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEBORAH COONTS

Why did you decide to write humor?

I’m not sure I decided to add snark to the Lucky books, specifically to Lucky’s own voice, it just happened that way. When I was a kid, my mouth always got me into trouble. Finally, I’ve found a way to harness the sarcasm for the Forces of Good—or at least in a way not to anger my grandmother. And when Lucky started talking to me, she had a strong dose of sass in her.

The Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventure series is hard to categorize. Is that by design?

When I set out to write Wanna Get Lucky?, I knew I wanted to write a romp through Las Vegas. I had the characters and the setting but no real understanding of narrative drive. So, I threw a young woman out of a tour helicopter into the middle of the Pirate Show and let the story unfold. A bit of murder to keep the plot moving, some wisecracking and Vegas mischief to make you laugh, and some romance to keep it interesting. A bit of a mash up, but it works.