Crack CIA analyst Trista Gold is a whiz with the computer, but not so much with people. She hides behind her job, analyzing top-secret code and making recommendations on national security. She doesn’t need a man in her life. But she will, very soon….
CIA K-9 officer Sgt. Matt Connors suspects that beneath Trista’s uptight appearance, there’s a sexy woman itching to cut loose. But he doesn’t dare act on his attraction. He’s a loner and always will be. Keeping away from Trista is a must-do directive. Until he doesn’t have a choice….
During a routine assignment, Trista stumbles across a cryptic exchange. She doesn’t think much of it…until someone tries to murder her – twice. Both times, Matt had been there to save her. But now she has to hide. And her new bodyguard, Matt, and his K-9 are the only hope she has against the powerful forces that want her dead.
My Review:
Well, yucky! Eck. Obviously a sucker for a cover with a dog and the promise of a working K-9 in the story and I’m hooked again, despite the initial trepidation of the glossy guy with an obvious six-pack under that sweaty t-shirt. I knew better but signed up anyway. That’s on me.
Of course, the blurb sounded interesting as well. A CIA analyst, Trista Gold knows a computer inside and out. She can surf with the best, analyzing top-secret code, but apparently as brilliant as she is, didn’t understand her hacking was being hacked. Until that is, there are repeated attempts on her life. Oops.
Enter super sexy, way over-the-top CIA K-9 officer Sgt. Matt Connors in all his glorious 6’ and hyper-studly knighthood with the dog. He’s so HOT. Trista is panting. But tiny, mousey Trista knows he couldn’t possibly be interested in a mouse like herself, so she’ll pant in silence. Might be a good thing cause he has issues. BIG issues.
Oh, good grief. How did I get myself into this?
Let’s see: She’s terrified of dogs, but he has one. No prob. He’ll introduce the dog to her and she’ll come to love it. He has six buddies, all studly and super HOT, and ALL have dogs. No prob. She has come to love dogs.
The cop is breast obsessed (and she has a couple) which turns him into a HOT beast who has to fight himself to stay away from her. Not. The reader gets a graphic description of his bodily reaction to her. Gross. But he sees the inner beauty in her that he’ll bring out and she’ll become everyone’s tiny but blond curvy darling (no doubt unpinning her bun and removing her glasses).
Did they ever stick to business and figure out who is trying to kill her? Could it possibly have been in connection to her job? Nah. Gotta be something else, huh? Does the dog get to do his thing and rescue the damsel in distress? Oh yeah. And what of the other HOT guys—all 6’ and gorgeous examples of manhood. Will this thirty-something mouse lose her virginity and turn into an accomplished vixen between the sheets?
UGH. Who cares?
I received a copy of this book from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my own honest thoughts and opinions.
Rosepoint Rating: Two point Five Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Espionage Thrillers, Romantic Suspense Publisher: CreateSpace ASIN: B07CWRYKPV Print Length: 372 pages Publication Date: May 28, 2018 Source: Local library selection Title Link(s): Lock ‘N’ Load [Amazon]
The Author:Tee O’Fallon is the author of the Federal K-9, K-9 Special Ops, and the NYPD Blue & Gold Series. Tee served as a federal agent and police investigator for a 28-year law enforcement career, giving her hands-on experience that she combines with her love of romantic suspense and action-packed thrillers. When not writing, Tee enjoys cooking, gardening, chocolate, lychee martinis, and kicking back with her Belgian Sheepdogs, Loki and Kyrie. In the summer, Tee can be found anywhere there’s a boat and calm water. Tee loves hearing from readers and can be contacted via her website https://teeofallon.com where you can also sign up for Tee’s newsletters at https://teeofallon.com/subscribe/.
Lights, camera, action in bestselling author David Rosenfelt’s Flop Dead Gorgeous, as Andy Carpenter goes bicoastal to prove an old friend’s innocence.
Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter remembers every dog that’s come through the Tara Foundation’s doors, but the most well-known alum of the dog rescue organization that Andy founded in Paterson, New Jersey, may be Mamie. Adopted by famous actress Jenny Nichols—Andy’s high school girlfriend—the miniature French poodle is now practically a starlet in her own right.
Andy doesn’t hold it against his friend. In fact, he and his wife, Laurie, have dinner with Jenny while she’s in town filming her next big hit. But after an eventful meal, there’s a plot twist the next morning that none of them see coming: Jenny’s costar is found dead, a knife in his back. It’s not long before Jenny is arrested for the murder and finds herself in need of Andy’s legal services.
While Mamie becomes reacquainted with Tara, Andy’s golden retriever, Andy digs into the lives of the rich and famous.
A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.
My Review:
Attorney Andy Carpenter is very wealthy and retired. Or at least he’s worked very hard at retiring, but it seems something always comes up that touches him personally and he has to, absolutely must, be involved in their defense.
This time, though, it really is personal, as the accused is an old high school flame, now a well-known movie star, Jenny Nichols. When back in Paterson, she adopted a mini-poodle from Andy’s Tara Foundation. So don’t you know he has an investment in seeing her found not guilty.
Andy has an amazing team, including his wife, an ex-cop and her K-Team which includes Corey and his retired police dog Simon Garfunkel. There are others, of course, including Marcus Clark, who is far more vocal this time than in previous installments. All work beautifully to round out an all-star cast of characters you come to know and love.
Now comes all the grunt work, meetings, assignments, and investigation. If Jenny didn’t do it, who did? Each well-developed character gets to shine, including the dogs—and we do love the dogs!
Andy is full of his snarky sense of humor as they weave through threads, twists, and misdirections.
These stories aren’t simple, they develop layers not always initially satisfied. I was surprised at the courtroom outcome this time. I don’t ever remember such a development before but remind you that these stories are all different. Author Rosenfelt always presents a new wrinkle.
Remarkable this is Book #27 and can still be fresh and unique. I’ve read or listened to most of this series and often fall back on an audiobook I might have missed, including my last Holy Chow. I love the banter, the investigation, and the courtroom footwork. This is one of my favorite series and I must assume yours as well. If not—check it out!
I received a complimentary review copy of this uncorrected digital galley from the publisher and NetGalley. Thank you, thank you! These are my honest thoughts and, as usual, looking for the next installment.
Book Details:
Genre: Animal Fiction, Traditional Detective Mysteries Publisher: Minotaur Books ASIN: B0B9KV1T2L Print Length: 272 pages Publication Date: July 4, 2023 Source: Publisher and NetGalley Title Link: Flop Dead Gorgeous [Amazon] Barnes & Noble Kobo
The Author:David Rosenfelt, a native of Paterson, New Jersey, is a graduate of NYU. He was the former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures before becoming a writer of novels and screenplays. “Open And Shut” was his first novel; “First Degree,” his second novel, was named a best book of 2003 by Publishers Weekly. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife and 35 dogs.
Mahmoud’s passion for his wife Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she’s ever known. But their happy, middle-class world—a life of education, work, and comfort—implodes when their country is engulfed in war, and the Taliban rises to power.
Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba has one hope to survive: she must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister’s family in England. With forged papers and help from kind strangers they meet along the way, Fereiba make a dangerous crossing into Iran under cover of darkness. Exhausted and brokenhearted but undefeated, Fereiba manages to smuggle them as far as Greece. But in a busy market square, their fate takes a frightening turn when her teenage son, Saleem, becomes separated from the rest of the family.
Faced with an impossible choice, Fereiba pushes on with her daughter and baby, while Saleem falls into the shadowy underground network of undocumented Afghans who haunt the streets of Europe’s capitals. Across the continent Fereiba and Saleem struggle to reunite, and ultimately find a place where they can begin to reconstruct their lives.
My Review:
I read this as it was chosen for the March-May read for my local library book club, As the Page Turns. With the exception of one book so far, it would not have been my choice. Sometimes that works well, introducing me to a new author that I’ll enjoy reading.
Fereiba must flee Afghanistan with her two children and a newborn after her husband, a civil engineer, is killed by the Taliban. Life has become untenable and she is hoping to seek asylum in England with a relative. There appears to be little relief or safety, however, on the journey fraught with peril through Turkey, Greece, and Italy.
Most of the storyline is told through the eyes of Fereiba, although towards the latter half of the novel, Saleem, her oldest child, becomes the POV. He is in his teens, but short of street experiences which he will be forced to confront the hard way.
It is a graphically realistic narrative, creating the fear, poverty, and hunger, they face on their journey. It’s dangerous and Fereiba is also faced with the failing health of her newborn son as well as the loss of much of the funds they’d allocated for the crossing.
It’s a slow build-up, facing insurmountable odds and solving one problem, only to be faced with the next. Then, suddenly…
It ends.
I thought it was my cell phone Kindle app and looked forward for the conclusion. In looking for it, however, and reading other reviews we all apparently discovered the same. There is no resolution, no conclusion. The writing style is compelling, if somewhat deliberate and drawn out, but the ending left me high and dry. I assume that was intentional, leaving the reader to understand the struggle faced by refugees. And it’s true, we can’t see a happy ending there.
I received a copy of this book from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Three point Five Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Women’s Historical Fiction, Women’s Literary Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction Publisher: William Morrow (Reprint edition) ASIN: B00OY3STN4 Print Length: 389 pages Publication Date: July 21, 2015 Source: Local Library
The Author:Nadia Hashimi is a pediatrician turned novelist who draws on her Afghan culture to craft internationally bestselling books for adults as well as young readers. Her novels span generations and continents, taking on themes like forced migration, conflict, poverty, misogyny, colonialism, and addiction. She enjoys conversations with readers of all ages in libraries, book festivals, classrooms, and living rooms. With translations in seventeen languages, she’s connected with readers around the world.
Nadia was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. Both her parents were born in Afghanistan and left in the early 1970s, before the Soviet invasion. Her mother, granddaughter of a notable Afghan poet, traveled to Europe to obtain a Master’s degree in civil engineering and her father came to the United States, where he worked hard to fulfill his American dream and build a new, brighter life for his immediate and extended family. Nadia was fortunate to be surrounded by a large family of aunts, uncles and cousins, keeping the Afghan culture an integral part of their daily lives.
Nadia graduated from Brandeis University with degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Biology. She studied medicine in Brooklyn, New York, and then completed her pediatric residency training at NYU and Bellevue hospitals before moving to Maryland with her husband. On days off from a busy emergency room and after years of avid reading, she began crafting stories that drew on her heritage and the complex experiences of Afghans.
In 2003, she made her first trip to Afghanistan with her parents who had not returned to their homeland since leaving in the 1970s. She continues to serve on boards of organizations committed to educating and nurturing Afghanistan’s most vulnerable children and empowering the female leaders of tomorrow. She is a member of the US-Afghan Women’s Council and an advisor to Kallion, an organization that seeks to elevate leadership through humanities. Locally, she serves as a Montgomery County health care commissioner and organizing committee member of the Gaithersburg Book Festival.
She and her husband are the beaming parents of four curious, rock star children, an African Grey parrot named Nickel who reminds the kids to brush their teeth, and Justice, the hungriest Rhodesian Ridgeback you’ve ever met.
Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter or via her website (www.nadiahashimi.com) to learn more or request a virtual book club visit. She’s quite social.
As a successful mystery author, Bailey Briggs writes about murder, but nothing prepares her for actually discovering the dead body of the founder of her hometown of Humble Hills, Colorado. Bailey grew up at Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch and was raised by her beekeeping grandmother, Blossom Briggs, aka Granny Bee, and her two eccentric sisters, Aster and Marigold—which is why she drops everything to come home and help Granny Bee after a bad fall.
A broken foot doesn’t stop her grandmother from ruling The Hive, her granny’s book club, or continuing to prepare and package her bee-inspired products. But when Bailey’s grandmother’s infamous “Honey I’m Home” hot spiced honey turns out to “bee” the murder weapon and her granny is now the prime suspect, Bailey has no choice but to use her fictional detective skills to help solve the murder and “smoke out” the real culprit.
With the help of Bailey’s witty bestie, a pair of meddling aunts, the feisty members of The Hive, and her computer-savvy daughter, this amateur sleuth is determined to solve the case. A malicious attack and an ominous threat reveal that someone wants Bailey to butt out of the investigation, but there’s no way she’s backing down. She must use her skills to uncover the truth and catch the clever culprit before her grandmother ends up bee-hind bars.
My Review:
A successful mystery writer returns home to Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch with her twelve-year-old daughter, Daisy, after she received word that her Granny Bee (Blossom Briggs) broke her foot. Granny Bee’s sisters, Aster and Marigold are there and part of “The Hive,” their active book club.
It doesn’t hurt that a teenage crush is back in town, now a local sheriff. An old BFF is around and between she and Evie manage to get into a lot of trouble as they go about trying to prove the death of the mayor by honey is not Granny Bee’s fault.
Well, good luck with that!
Werner was allergic to bees and it’s not like he was a beloved member of the community. I got the feeling that Sheriff Sawyer is new to office and terribly inexperienced. The Hive quickly organizes and begins the task of solving the murder.
(It’s nice that seniors are being included in novels now, but they seem to be evolving into a standard caricature.)
Of course, Bailey is warned more than once to leave the investigation to him, but appears he is always second and allowing a civilian where none would normally be allowed. There are clues and twists. The dialogue is kicky and generational, banter between the oldsters, and there is a doggy for fun.
I loved the cover with the dog, very atmospheric connotation and must admit I stayed in the dark as to whom it might have been, even as the victim was a detestable lout, disappointed in the reveal. Guess I also expected more details regarding the honey market and descriptive details regarding the quaint little Colorado town of Humble Hills.
A nice start to a new series but hope for more complete fleshing next installment.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Three point Five Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Cozy Culinary Mystery, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Cozy Culinary Mysteries Publisher: Crooked Lane Books ASIN: B0BJP8RN6Q Print Length: 336 pages Publication Date: July 18, 2023 Source: Publisher and NetGalley
The Author:Jennie Marts is the USA TODAY Best-selling author of award-winning books filled with love, laughter, and always a happily ever after. Readers call her books “laugh out loud” funny and the “perfect mix of romance, humor, and steam.” Fic Central claimed one of her books was “the most fun I’ve had reading in years.”
She is living her own happily ever after in the mountains of Colorado with her husband, two dogs, and a parakeet who loves to tweet to the oldies. She’s addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends.
Her books range from western romance to cozy mysteries but they all have the charm and appeal of quirky small town life. She loves genre-mashups like adding romance to her Page Turners cozy mysteries and creating the hockey-playing cowboys in the Cowboys of Creedence. The same small town community comes to life with more animal antics in her latest Creedence Horse Rescue series. And her sassy heroines and hunky heroes carry over in her heartwarming, feel good romances from Hallmark Publishing. Take the Honey and Run is her newest cozy mystery in the A Bee Keeping Mystery series.
Jennie loves to hear from readers. Follow her on Facebook at Jennie Marts Books, Twitter at @JennieMarts, and at jenniemartswriter on Instagram. Visit her at http://www.jenniemarts.com and sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the latest news and releases.
Rumors of War, Whispers of Witchcraft; A Spellbinding Historical Novel
Book Blurb:
Northern New England, summer, 1688.
Salem started here.
A suspicious death. A rumor of war. Whispers of witchcraft.
Perched on the brink of disaster, Resolve Hammond and her mother, Deliverance, struggle to survive in their isolated coastal village. They’re known as healers taught by the local tribes – and suspected of witchcraft by the local villagers.
Their precarious existence becomes even more chaotic when summoned to tend to a poisoned woman. As they uncover a web of dark secrets, rumors of war engulf the village, forcing the Hammonds to choose between loyalty to their native friends or the increasingly terrified settler community.
As Resolve is plagued by strange dreams, she questions everything she thought she knew – about her family, her closest friend, and even herself. If the truth comes to light, the repercussions will be felt far beyond the confines of this small settlement.
Based on meticulous research and inspired by the true story of the fear and suspicion that led to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, THE DEVIL’S GLOVE is a tale of betrayal, loyalty, and the power of secrets. Will Resolve be able to uncover the truth before the town tears itself apart, or will she become the next victim of the village’s dark and mysterious past?
My Review:
It takes a little while to get used to the writing style, emulating I imagine the speech patterns of the late seventeenth century. It’s stilted and somewhat hard to read, digest, interpret. Even so, the narrative is also heavy in prose resulting in quotables too numerous to list.
It’s the story of Resolve Hammond and her mother, Deliverance, who are trying to assimilate into the village of Falmouth. Deliverance, most especially, has become somewhat of a personality known for her cures and limited medical expertise, which has resulted in both a positive and negative in the villagers’ suspicion of her knowledge of poultices and potions. It is generally felt she gained much of her knowledge from the local natives who are viewed with fear.
When Resolve is not working with her mother, she is palling around with Judah White, with whom she has become close personal friends, foresworn blood sisters.
“…all that is beautiful is but a glove for the Devil’s hand.”
There is a lot of mistrust about the local tribe with a recent history of conflict still strong in the minds of the villagers. The whispers regarding new unexplained happenings grow stronger with rumors handed from one to another until truth is no longer recognizable.
“I’d not care to try to outrace or hide from them amid waves any more than among trees. That’s when you understand whose land, and sea, this truly is.”
Events are beginning to push war to a reality when a peaceful solution has been orchestrated but mishandled badly by a member of the colony with ulterior motives. In the meantime, Resolve is betrayed by the one she thought could be trusted while the wild child among them, her junior and dangerous, is furthering her own agenda.
It’s not looking good for Resolve (nee Savannah) nor her mother and appears to be time to move on—they are thinking perhaps to Salem?
Heavy with description, exceptional details, and weighed down somewhat by unnecessary backstory, the main storyline tends to wallow at times. I always enjoy the descriptive utilization of plants and their properties, a visit to a native village, and the possible use of hallucinogenics that pushes the narrative to a mystical and ethereal atmosphere.
A historical fiction novel obviously the benefit of research but not quite the pace or plot expected. I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Women’s Historical Fiction, U S Historical Fiction, Historical Mysteries Publisher: Casa Croce Press ASIN: B0BWSD5SVL Print Length: 360 pages Publication Date: May 1, 2023 Source: Publisher and NetGalley Title Link: The Devil’s Glove [Amazon]
The Author:Lucretia was born in Massachusetts. Her family moved to the UK when she was six months old, and she has spent the rest of her life – to date – living ‘half in England, half in the US’. She went to school and University in both countries, and rode and produced competition horses professionally before quitting her day job to write full time. She has published six novels, two when she was very young, and four since she wasn’t so very young. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, and when she isn’t staring absently out of the window, spends her time cooking, gardening, sailing enthusiastically if not very well, and discussing deer and squirrels with the dog.
In the seaside town of Whitecliff, everyone looks out for each other. Everyone knows your name. And everyone knows your secrets…
Moonlight falls on the figure of the girl standing on the red-tiled roof. Her white dress and blonde hair flutter in the freezing night wind. And suddenly – she is gone.
Volunteering at the local nursing home is Millie Westlake’s one escape from the rumours that swirl around Whitecliff about her past. But speaking with elderly resident, Ingrid, as they play board games, Millie gets chills at her strange story about a young girl being pushed from a roof, somewhere across the valley…
Everybody thinks Ingrid is confused: but Millie knows how it feels to not be believed. Her parents died a year ago, and the residents of Whitecliff – such a quiet place, other than crashing waves and cawing seagulls – are convinced Millie killed them.
Desperately searching for evidence to find the girl Ingrid saw, a broken roof tile could prove Ingrid was telling the truth. But when strange footprints appear in Millie’s garden, she’s certain someone out there is watching.
Have Ingrid and Millie stumbled across something terribly dangerous? And with the town against her, will Millie have to face up to her own secrets to solve the mystery before it becomes deadly?
My Review:
I love it when I get to start a series with Book 1 as my norm seems to be to get in on Book 14 of one that is already successful (and fully developed). Sometimes that’s a great introduction to the series, other times it’s assumed the backstory has been rehashed and the MC so well developed the reader already knows every freckle or mole on his/her face.
Of course, that can work the other way as well. Starting a new series means getting the protagonist established, developed, the support characters introduced and the setting created in the mind of the reader. The process can be a slow one.
For me, it meant that this is one sluggish read. The main character Millie is hiding in plain sight, volunteering at the local nursing home where she can get lost with the old folks, providing a visit, a game, a story for those who get precious little one-on-one.
In the course of visiting with Ingrid, Ingrid relates witnessing from her upper story window a young girl being pushed from the roof a house or two away. Ingrid, of course, is known to get confused sometimes but Millie finds her story plausible and having somewhat of a gap in her own credibility, believes her. She is sympathetic to Ingrid and feels she must check into the story. But who does she trust?
It’s a small town with all the small town foibles, but a seaside village beautifully described. There is a support character who becomes somewhat a source of help while adding additional layers to the narrative and throwing off red herrings. A distraction.
Millie has an upward battle in finding an ear that will listen as her parents died suspiciously recently and she is suspected of providing their push into the hereafter. (Another small backstory I couldn’t quite buy or the reason people thought so.)
I couldn’t warm up to Millie and the story wove in and out of my interest. Too many questions not resolved in Book 1 because it is so obviously intended to lead into Book 2. My problem is lack of incentive.
I’ve read Kerry Wilkinson before, the most recent being The Blame, and can usually become engaged or entertained if not hanging on the edge of my seat to see where it’s going. No doubt there are Wilkinson fans who’ll enjoy picking through the breadcrumbs, but for me, this is a one off.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
The Author:Kerry Wilkinson has sold two million books – and had No.1 crime bestsellers in the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Singapore. He has also written two top-20 thrillers in the United States. His book, Ten Birthdays, won the RNA award for Young Adult Novel of the Year in 2018 and Close To You won the International Thriller Award for best ebook in 2020.
As well as his Jessica Daniel series, Kerry has written the Silver Blackthorn trilogy – a fantasy-adventure serial for young adults – a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter, plus numerous standalone novels. He has been published around the world in more than a dozen languages.
Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry spent way too long living in the north of England, picking up words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’.
When he’s short of ideas, he rides his bike, hikes up something, or bakes cakes. When he’s not, he writes it all down.
It’s not difficult to see the hand of Reese Witherspoon in this Netflix series. It’s a historical, somewhat nostalgic look at the age of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll well past its infancy, as well as a spyglass full of the 70s LA rock music scene. An almost faithful reproduction of the book.
Netflix TV Series
After listening to the audiobook and reading Reese’s bubbling promo of her series baby, I couldn’t help but tune in as soon as it was released. Admittedly, it began almost as sluggishly as the book and the CE ignored it—found something else to do. I think it was somewhere around the third episode he began to find interest.
With this type of unusual format, it takes a minute or two to get used to the interview technique that the book and the series employs to introduce each of the characters. It didn’t take as long for the general viewer to get hooked, however, exhibiting an impressive increase in demand on the most streamed TV series across US platforms. Even Rotten Tomatoes “reported a 70% approval rating with an average of 6.7/10*.”
The series is written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber alongside Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter. The author Taylor Jenkins Reid also produces the ten-episode series that examines the reason for the dissolution of the fictional band twenty years after their final emotionally charged concert.
Riley Keough as Daisy
There is a full-length album, Aurora, that was released by Atlantic Records in March. The lead vocals are performed by Riley Keough (Elvis’ granddaughter) and
Sam Claflin as Billy
Sam Claflin as in the series.
(The pricy album is available on vinyl on Amazon. I love the album cover!)
Daisy is played as a rich but neglected daughter, while Billy played the older brother (Dunne brothers) and band leader-vocalist in his garage-originated boy band. I couldn’t help but think of Janis Joplin—that same carefree boozy attitude (although I still prefer Janis). I didn’t care for either Daisy or Billy and knew the hate-to-love trope was working its magic and indeed, sparks begin to fly.
Watching the two steal glances at each other, you had to wonder how much is real and what is an act. The chemistry is amazing. Neither did I care much for other members of the band although I liked Teddy Price, the producer.
Early in the series, I thought I recognized passages directly from the audiobook, familiar phrasing they used and I particularly enjoyed these quotables:
Buddhists say, “Pain is inevitable—suffering is optional.”
“I think it’s easy to confuse a soul-mate with a mirror.”
My Thoughts
#2 this week
As most know, Daisy Jones & The Six was Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club of the month in March of this year, but the book was published back in March of 2019.
It reads like the story of a band on a rocket to the top of the rock band list in the middle and late 70s. It sells the idea through the interviews of each of the band members, examining their origins and their rise through the LA music scene twenty years after the abrupt split of the band following their concert in Chicago.
There is a decided division where the series and the book splits somewhat with what happens to the support characters. I love the outdoor scenes of the photo shoots and concerts. Watching the interviews with the characters makes it easier to remember who is speaking than does the audiobook, where I sometimes lost track.
The clothes, styles, hair was so perfect; absolutely puts you back in the decade along with the music. As the episodes progress, there is greater inclusion of the music, snippets of the concerts, and I hoped for more. 4.5 stars
Audiobook (Blurb)
Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Historical Fiction (2019)
A Reese’s Book Club + Hello Sunshine on Audible Pick
A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in LA in the late ’60s, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s 20, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the ’70s. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
My Thoughts
The unusual writing style threw me at first when I started this audiobook. There are interviews that started introducing the characters of the band and I finally caught on to the unique style of getting to know the individuals, their role in the storyline, and the inkling of who they are, how they got here.
Plunged deeply into the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll era, Daisy quickly becomes iconic. She is the personification of a free love, braless society, with strong women finding their voice in more ways than ever before. Sometimes I envied their newly found freedom.
The ‘70s LA music scene is wild and as the characters took on more shape, more personality, it is obviously part of the whole societal revolt happening at the time.
Hubby and I missed much of the cultural revolution being outside of the country during his Naval service until 1970. It was shocking when we came home to see how our country changed during our absence. We were still the earlier generation’s sensibilities, married, working, paying taxes, and busy ignoring the craziness going on around us.
The bands—so many—and so many messages of resistance, peace, and love. This fiction saga is strongly rumored to follow somewhat loosely the story of Fleetwood Mac (and by extension, Stevie Nicks. We were not a fan).
Daisy is the product of a rich family, largely ignored or forgotten altogether, and drowned her stinging rejection with anything she could swallow. She manages, however, to become established locally on a low scale in the music scene and begins to write her own music. Equally largely unknown The Six (the Dunne brothers), evolving as the members aged, one going into the conflict only to die on ‘Nam soil. Billy, their leader is controlling, narcissistic.
The book explores several themes besides love, loss, and addiction and is an apparent hate-to-love trope soon after Daisy joins the band. Still, it can’t be denied that between them they manage to come up with some winning songs and begin to gain popularity, particularly after the band meets a producer/promoter.
Of course, it’s totally character-driven—certainly Daisy and Billy take center stage ramping up the tension between herself and Billy’s main lady (who births a daughter) and as each of the other characters are interviewed weigh in on how they impact the success of the band.
I did enjoy the little twist at the end, revealing the source of the interviews. 4 stars
The Author
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do, and Forever, Interrupted. Her newest novel, Malibu Rising, is out now. She lives in Los Angeles.
Hooked and crazy engaging, totally entertaining after a slow burn entry. Riley sells it as Daisy—she is Daisy—in her expressions, sober or not. The production sells the time, location, atmosphere. It is so compelling. My only quibble was the ending—not as the book would have it—but searching for that happy ever-after feeling and perhaps not so realistic as the authenticity it earlier gained.
The Audiobook
The book keeps a steady pace for the most part, although it is somewhat slow to gain interest at the beginning. The narrators do a great job with their parts and as the book moves toward conclusion, ramps up the tension. It is such a unique writing style, but it works. Engaging and entertaining, into that era, that pop culture, those post-conflict ballads. The interviews gain a deeper understanding of what leads to the breakdown and quietly concludes but the switch between interviews can be confounding.
Conclusion
Watching Riley as Daisy is compelling. She sells her part, spoiled entitled brat that she is. I even began to like Billy near the conclusion. But it’s a visual feast for the eyes as well as the ears and edges out the audiobook. Even if that isn’t your generation, you can watch and be mesmerized by the birth, growth, and frenetic rise that once again, begins to sour under the weight of stardom. The depth of emotion is beautiful.
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CIA K-9 officer Sgt. Matt Connors suspects that beneath Trista’s uptight appearance, there’s a sexy woman itching to cut loose. But he doesn’t dare act on his attraction. He’s a loner and always will be. Keeping away from Trista is a must-do directive. Until he doesn’t have a choice….
Of course, the blurb sounded interesting as well. A CIA analyst, Trista Gold knows a computer inside and out. She can surf with the best, analyzing top-secret code, but apparently as brilliant as she is, didn’t understand her hacking was being hacked. Until that is, there are repeated attempts on her life. Oops.
The Author: Tee O’Fallon is the author of the Federal K-9, K-9 Special Ops, and the NYPD Blue & Gold Series. Tee served as a federal agent and police investigator for a 28-year law enforcement career, giving her hands-on experience that she combines with her love of romantic suspense and action-packed thrillers. When not writing, Tee enjoys cooking, gardening, chocolate, lychee martinis, and kicking back with her Belgian Sheepdogs, Loki and Kyrie. In the summer, Tee can be found anywhere there’s a boat and calm water. Tee loves hearing from readers and can be contacted via her website https://teeofallon.com where you can also sign up for Tee’s newsletters at https://teeofallon.com/subscribe/.
– Nominee for Best Fiction (2015) 
Rosepoint Publishing 