Book Review: The Arnolfini Art Mysteries by Rich DiSilvio

  

 

The Arnolfini Art Mysteries by Rich DiSilvio

This book has so many entertaining stories.  There are 12 mysteries surrounding the art and something happens to each of them. They are discovered not to be the original although in some instances they are but hiding behind something else.  It's so fun ot learn the technical side as to how it is all discovered and what they can do about it. The painstaking task of striping off a layer of the  painting.

So fun to learn all this and find out why it was done to begin with.

Very detailed descriptions and I can never guess who did it.

Love how the author writes his own style with these mysteries. Can't wait to read more.

 

Feb 12 Their Patchwork Family Book 11 of With Love, From Kurrajong Crossing by Fiona Marsden

 

 

Their Patchwork Family Book 11 of With Love, From Kurrajong Crossing by Fiona Marsden

This story follows Leo as he arrives back in Australia with his daughter Queenie. It's actually his cousins girl, but he adopted her.   An aunt wants to get custody because she doesn't think a man can raise a girl going through teen years. That make Leo seak out Tamara and they form a bond again. She listens to his idea of getting married with her adopted son and making a family for all of them. She's avoided sex scenes because of her past but she's not told him yet.

You wonder how long this will last...Leo is in a band and they have toured around the world.

Received this review copy from Tule Publishing via BookSprout and this is my honest opinion.

Feb 12 Love and Let Fly Book 3 of Texas Hawthorne Legacy by Kelly Cain

  

 

Love and Let Fly Book 3 of Texas Hawthorne Legacy by Kelly Cain

Like this book because each chapter is from a different viewpoint of the characters in the story.

We get to hear Miranda's side and her job at the family flight arena. We get to hear from her brother Dominick and also her best friend Jared. He's got plans to head to NASA after he gets his credentials. Miranda is burnt out and wants to take up the offer on west coast, they are all in TX, for a job at the new startup. There is one issue with one that sits on the board of directors. Just when you think things are going great for them to start their own lives together Jared's mother has a long term diagnosis and he doesn't want to leave the area....

So many options, so many decisions...   Adult situations.

Received this review copy from Tule Publishing via BookSprout and this is my honest opinion.

 

Book Review: The Ghost of Seagull Cottage by Anne Alle

  

 

The Ghost of Seagull Cottage by Anne Alle

In this story Annabelle has just arrived on the island where she and her daughter will be living. She had grown tired of her place nearby her mother in law especially after her spouse had passed away. She loves the cottage near the sea and her daughter is excited about going to school soon. She meets the neighbors and they all pitch in to help her meet others and network. She is a painter and her works with her and is excited to show them about. Everyone loves them. She also on the first day meets the ghost that lives there. She sees him and she is not scared.  They are able to carry on conversations and he wants her to write his story of his live. She is also painting his portrait. Love this island and the networking goin on. Hate to see her taken advantage of with a man she had just had met that comes to visit.

This story could've gone so many different ways.

The owner of the cottage, Ghost Daniels's nephew wants to come visit and wants the cottage for himself.  There are so many options and I love how this one ends.

She is so accomplished and they all know what has to be done....

Received this review copy from the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

 

Book Review: The Polymorph by Max Nowaz

  

 

The Polymorph by Max Nowaz

Good book. High velocity sci fi with real stakes.

The core problem is simple. Jim Brown returns to Earth and learns the system is compromised. Aliens blend in. Earth deploys artificial humans and mandroids to boost population and armies. Jim becomes a target because he is part alien and hard to predict.

This works because incentives stay visible. The EPA assigns Marika to watch him. Leela ties him to the industrial machine building advanced androids off world. Former colonies in the Delta Quadrant resist re control. War with Levita starts to look inevitable unless someone breaks the loop.

The best part is momentum. The twists land and the tension stays high, even on a cruise ship. Jim keeps evolving instead of repeating the same arc.

What could be better is bandwidth. The cast is large and some sections move too fast. The book assumes you remember the first one. Reading The Arbitrator first helps.

Bottom line. Worth reading if you like space politics, conspiracies, and identity under pressure.  

 

Book Review:

  

 

The Full Circle for Mick by Michael Kramer 

This is a big, blunt, history-first novel with a personal thread that keeps it grounded.

The book opens its lens wide on the political chain of events that led to war in Indochina, then narrows into a generational story that stretches from a German engineer in 1904 China to an Australian infantryman in Vietnam. Mick’s connection to a Buddhist monk becomes the spine of the narrative, while the wider chapters tackle the conferences, alliances, and decisions that shaped the conflict.

What worked for me is the sheer ambition. Kramer doesn’t just summarize, he argues, and you can feel the author’s conviction on the page. The soldier’s-language voice gives the combat-era sections a rough immediacy, and the mix of personal experience with historical framing makes the stakes feel real.

What didn’t fully land is the density. Some stretches read more like a guided lecture than a novel, and the dialogue can be a little direct in how it explains motives. A tighter trim in the middle would improve the flow.

If you want sweeping war context with an unapologetic perspective and a lived-in edge, this is for you. If you’re looking for subtlety or a tight, character-driven plot, maybe not. I’d read Kramer again.

 

Feb 4 The Extraction Book 5 of The Infiltrix by kimberley troutte

  

 

The Extraction Book 5 of The Infiltrix by kimberley troutte

Before the team extract people they have other problems to deal with. Slade has to perform so the president's wife know she is sincere and honest....a good way to learn about the presidents movements and whereabouts.... A big explosion occurs and we find out the intricate details of Slade's brain functions. Like all the action and being able to keep up with the members of the team as I've read the other books in the series. It's not necessary as they do fill you in, just not all the past details. Fast paced, action, adventure and maneuvers and strategies and how they all work. 

Like hearing of the poisoning and how they figure out an antidote. 

Love how it all comes together for all the missions and where that leaves the team now.  Bit of upcoming story line can be learned from last chapter...

Received this review copy from Tule Publishing via BookSprout and this is my honest opinion.