Final Appeal by LISA SCOTTOLINE

I was actually looking for a legal thriller written by a female  with a female lead. I was really happy when I laid my hands on this book. 

Final Appeal really had a wonderful beginning. You would get the fast pace the moment you began the story. The story started when Grace Rossie, a divorcee and a single mother who accepted a part-time job with a federal appeals court as an assistant to the hot Chief Judge, Armen Gregorian. The real twist came when Armen was found dead in his office.Everyone but Grace believed it was a suicide. 

She could not for she was with him a few hours before his death and was making love to him passionately. Her hunch got confirmed when she got a note that was written by him, professing his love.A man could commit suicide right after confessing his love to somebody. Grace started off to find the real assassin. This is a story which would give you a lot in the beginning but nothing in the end. 

No fear was lurking in the darkness.There were so many characters which would not fit in or were not given many clarifications on why they were introduced in the story. Sadly, I never got butterflies in my stomach. There was little fear for the safety of the heroine as she encountered mostly favourable situations for her sleuthing...

But I want to read more Lisa Scottoline as I came across many good reviews for her other books....

I am back again

I have read 13 books last month and was quite happy about it. I thought I could repeat the same in the new year too. But I was wrong. I laid my hands on many books but could not read even a paragraph. I was inflicted  with readers block. I used the word ' infliction' deliberately. Situation was worse. I didn't feel like concentrating on anything. I could not eat, sleep, watch movies...the list was endless. Long and short, I was not properly doing anything...Am I exaggerating? Heck/, no....I tried Master of the Game by Sydney Sheldon, Malgudy Days by R. K. Narayan, Five point someone by Chetan Bhagat which was a national best seller, Only love is real by Dr. Brian Weiss. But none of these books were of any help, though they were quite a good read.

I thought I was too over confident and was afraid that my lists with which I had decorated the fringes of my blog was going to remain without any entries. I was short of money to buy any new books, but I mustered my energy and went to my favourite place, the second hand book shop. I exchanged my old books with new ones along with a small amount which I could afford.

I began with "Final Appeal Lisa Scottoline and I am sooooooo happy that I am back in the game.

 

Contract Paternity (Delta Justice) by Jasmine Cresswell

I picked up this book from a second hand store without even realising that it was not a mystery but romance. Along with this book I have picked up three more which were an absolute mysteries and I have completed two of them in December. Hence, I could not come up with its reviews.

I might be a bit hasty with this book as I had selected 3 good mysteries.

' In the sultry Louisiana heat, a family dynasty of law and order is shattered by a mysterious crime of passion". This was the sentence that misled me.

I was too obsessed with the word ' mystery ' that I didn't take the other words for face value. While I was reading I was seriously looking for a chilling suspense but all my search was for naught. When I almost reached the middle of the story, I really felt as if I was reading a mills and boon. 

The setting was perfect for it. The woman and the man. Due to a torrential downpour she could not get to her  home and also could not find a motel to spend her night. Here comes our masculine hero with his helping hand. He offered her his bed in his apartment (in every sense). She was in a dilemma whether to accept it or not. Though she did not know what would happen we knew that she was going to accept it. 

In the apartment, everything  perfect, from upholstery to bed. Again the conflict, whether to make love or not (to be or not to be , sex(hysterical paralysis). They could not as somebody's intrusion ruined their privacy. Still I could not realize I was reading a romance. I understood only when I reached the last page.

But that should not keep me away from writing its summary.

Summary

Tony Delacroix was a famous jazz singer who also belonged to the famous Delacroix family. She was going to be thirty five and badly wanted to mother a baby and was in search  of a prospective father. Perfect timing...Brody Wagner, a successful lawyer bumped into her and he possessed everything what she was looking for in her baby's prospective father. But Brody wanted not only to be  a sperm donor but somebody more than that in Tony's life. But a mystery    ( was it a mystery?....I don't know) that was kept hidden in her family brought them too close. The mystery got solved with the help of  this dashing hunk Brody Wagner and they lived happily ever after....yea, yea they got married.

I would give 4/10 for this book.

Body Double TESS GERRISTEN

Summary

Dr. Maura Isles' world changed all of a sudden when she found out that the woman who was murdered right in front of her house resembled her in every possible ways. The mystery intensified when she learned that the deceased was none other than her twin sister.  The  cop Jane Rizzoli who was brave, determined and also pregnant was in charge of the investigation. As the story progressed, the duo they had to face a series of blood cuddling events. As deep as they dug, they encountered   not only Dr. Isles' mysterious past but also a her murky identity as a daughter. The suspense was  chilling and you could see it all through the story.

I was really getting butterflies in my stomach after reading it. Ms Gerristen was really vivid in her craft and her grip on each expression could give you a clear imagination which scared the life out of me. Definitely, it was a good read and fulfilled all my criteria in my 'Strong heroine Challenge, 2011' category.

Mingled Hearts VICKY LEWIS THOMPSON

Dr. Stephanie Collier was a young and enthusiastic psychologist who cherished her freedom the most. But all her assurances for herself came on a sudden halt,when a tawny eyed Dr. Lloyd Barclay entered her life. All her emotions which she had kept hidden exploded at the very sight of him. She could also read that he also felt the same.  But she valued her freedom and independence the most and she was not ready to bargain it for a man. But It was just the beginning.

Though I was not an avid reader of Mills and Boon, I've read some but this one completely lacked the passion and heat. Not a good pick to start with in 2011.

I love to read books. But for me it is not too easy to get all those new arrivals. I am a bibliophile who is not surrounded by bibliophiles. Hence, there is less chance of getting any books either as a gift or in exchange. The library nearby, is of little use for I've to wait for months to get a book I want. Because most of the best sellers are under reservation. But I have to read books. Hence I decided I would go to a second hand book nearby and get books . 

I like suspense, romance and fantasies. I'll write about the books I read and how I felt about it.

Regarding films, I've good access than books.

Though I love suspense. I'm starting with a romance " Mills and Boon". 

 "Mingled Hearts" by Vicki Lewis Thompson

I've just started reading it and will come up with a review very soon.

These are the 13 books I read in December, 2010.