Audiobook Review: The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz

 

The Last Orphan (Orphan X #8) by Gregg Hurwitz

Publication Date: February 14th 2023 by Macmillan Audio

Pages: 352

Audio Book Length: 11hrs 46min

Narrators: Scott Brick

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

In The Last Orphan Evan’s pardon has come into question, because as we know, he hasn’t exactly lived up to his end of the bargain he made with the President. If someone calls and asks for help, he’s not the type just to ignore it. Things get dicey for Evan, and I was on the edge of my seat!

I’m always amazed by Evan’s abilities and his talent to prevail even when it looks like he’s up against a no-win situation! Love it when this line comes out: “Look at me closely. And ask yourself: Do I look scared?” I know some much deserved smackdown is about to be served and it puts a smile on my face every time!

I think one of the reasons I love this series so much because justice usually wins out in some form eventually. The baddies get their comeuppance, something I long to see in real life, but don’t always get.

In the past Evan has been mostly on his own, but gradually he’s collected a sort of family, people he cares about and who he can count on. Joey, Tommy, Mia and even (gasp!) Candy! Going from a mostly lonely existence to inadvertently and reluctantly adding these people to his life has been heartwarming!

As usual this “case” wraps up, but I wonder over a new character and how they might play into future stories.

The Last Orphan was full of danger and action, but also laughs and emotional moments! Orphan X has quickly become a favorite series and I eagerly await the next installment!

I listened to the audio version of The Last Orphan, which I highly recommend! Scott Brick’s voice is Evan Smoak to me. His performance of Evan is perfection! I enjoy his other characters voices, as well, and his comedic timing is spot on. I listened at my usual 1.5x-1.75x normal speed.

5 Stars

Book Description:

Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the latest New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller--when everything changes and everything is at risk.

As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out.

When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government's radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers.

Until he makes one little mistake...

Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal - eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she'll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what's more important - his principles or his life.

Sunday Post #195

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week.

This week was filled with doctor visits. Finally got into a primary care physician up here and then he wrote up referrals so I can get several routine things taken care of. I also had preventative laser eye surgery in my right eye (I have narrow angle glaucoma) and will have the left eye done at the end of the month *sigh*. I hate going to the doctor, but it's a necessary evil. 

We've had some nice, sunny days even though it's still cold with highs in the upper 40s low 50s. My cat has been enjoying the nicer weather by going in and out of the house every 5 seconds. He cries to go out, so I let him out for like ten minutes and then wants to come back in again. In and out, in and out.  Bad kitty. Good thing I love him! We'll put in a cat door, like we had down south, eventually. Still, he'll need to be monitored when he goes outside because there's a lot of wildlife out here. Door will be closed off at night. He's very cautious, I think a characteristic of his breed (Manx), more than other cats I've had, but still.  

Here he is, tired from all his excursions:

Read:

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

Still House was a novella length horror story from the Audible Plus catalog. Listened to the whole thing this afternoon. A little unsettling. Last Orphan was amazing! It was full length but I also listened to it in one day because I couldn't stop listening! So good! Someone Else's Shoe's was a bit of a disappointment for me. Kind of a downer for much of the book. Enjoyed Barbarian's Prize and The Earl of Christmas Past. 

Received/Purchased/Library Lend:

I was excited to get approval for the audio copy of Murder at Haven's Rock! Still House was in the Audible Plus catalog and How to Sell a Haunted House is a library lend. Hope it doesn't scare me too much since I know it features dolls, my worst of scary, scary things for me! 

How was your week?

Mini-Review: The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges

 

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges

Publication Date: January 24th 2023 by Berkley

Pages: 352

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I was eager to the bottom of why Myra wouldn’t leave her house and I also wondered how the two mansions, one doll-sized and the other Alex’s home were connected. Myra and Alex fall for each other gradually as they get to know each other through their emails and phone conversations. Willa and Ford’s romance in the past was sad but was necessary to for everything to come together.

This enjoyable story was magical and refreshingly different!

4 Stars

Book Description:

A woman learns to expand the boundaries of her small world and let love inside it in this sparkling and unforgettable novel by Audrey Burges.

From her attic in the Arizona mountains, thirty-four-year-old Myra Malone blogs about a dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide. Myra’s stories have created legions of fans who breathlessly await every blog post, trade photographs of Mansion-modeled rooms, and swap theories about the enigmatic and reclusive author. Myra herself is tethered to the Mansion by mysteries she can’t understand—rooms that appear and disappear overnight, music that plays in its corridors.

Across the country, Alex Rakes, the scion of a custom furniture business, encounters two Mansion fans trying to recreate a room. The pair show him the Minuscule Mansion, and Alex is shocked to recognize a reflection of his own life mirrored back to him in minute scale. The room is his own bedroom, and the Mansion is his family’s home, handed down from the grandmother who disappeared mysteriously when Alex was a child. Searching for answers, Alex begins corresponding with Myra. Together, the two unwind the lonely paths of their twin worlds—big and small—and trace the stories that entwine them, setting the stage for a meeting rooted in loss, but defined by love.

My Favorite Non-Review Books: January 2023

 As a blogger sometimes writing reviews can feel like a chore so it seems I rarely write reviews for non-review books anymore. I feel bad about that, because it's not that I didn't enjoy them less than the books I review here, just that I don't have the time or energy to write a review for each and every book I read. I thought it would be nice to list my favorite non-review books each month to bring more attention to them.

I didn't read a lot of non-review books in January so I only have two to feature. One audio and one read traditionally.

Here are my favorite non-review books for January 2023:

I forget how much I love Kate and Curran and was reminded with Magic Tides! Loved getting to know Conlan a little more since Blood Heir.  Ilona Andrews is in the process of picking an audio narrator for this and I know I'll be listening to it (with the hubby) as a re-read once it comes out. I've just heard there's another book coming and I'm thrilled!

A great twisty mystery with the hint of a romance. A twenty-year old cold case is brought back into focus by an investigative journalist looking into the case to feature on her new podcast. We have her POV as well as Olivia's, one of the four in a car crash where three disappeared never to be seen or heard from again. The audio was fantastic!   I enjoyed The Couple at No. 9 as well, so I think it's time to check out Douglas' backlist.

Review: The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis

 

The Backup Plan (Sunrise Cove #3) by Jill Shalvis

Publication Date: January 17th 2023 by Avon Books

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher & Purchased Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads | Audible

My Thoughts:

Inheriting an old inn forces three childhood friends to return to their hometown and mend fences.  I liked each of the three: Alice, a sassy, independent woman who’s been on the go, never in one place for long since her brother's death. Lauren, Alice’s ex-best friend, who stayed in Sunrise Cove, pitied as the sort of “widow” of Alice’s brother after he died. And then there’s Knox, Alice’s teenage crush, who left and went on to start a successful construction business. He loved the inn and Sunrise Cove, but has his own painful memories drudged up by coming home. 

The Backup Plan was a low-angst story with two romances, and a second-chance-at-bes-friends with Lauren and Alice. They let time and distance get between them but the forced proximity had them remembering how close they were, how much the friendship meant. Knox and Alice tip toe around mutual attraction while working on the inn, and Lauren finds love at the hardware store. Both romances made me smile.

I enjoyed the lessons they learned from Eleanor’s emails.  Some of the revelations they had from them were painful to hear but helped the three face things they wouldn’t have normally.

The story is book three of the series, but it’s not necessary to read the previous books to enjoy it.

The Backup Plan was a feel-good story with friendship, love, and the comfort of finding home again.

4 Stars

Book Description:

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a heartwarming tale of three people who are bought together when they're bequeathed an old Wild West inn that has the potential to pull their lives apart, but instead turns into the gift of a lifetime.


When Alice receives a call about an unexpected windfall, she's stunned to learn the gift is a falling-apart-at-the-seams old Wild West B&B she once considered home--and she's inherited it along with two strangers. Except they weren't always strangers. Once upon a time, they were friends. One is her ex-BFF Lauren. The other is Knox, the only guy to ever break her heart, all while never even knowing she existed.

It turns out their lives are unknowingly entangled because they once separately helped the same woman without expecting anything in return. Years later, Alice, Lauren, and Knox are broken in their own way, with their own history--and secrets-- causing them to start out on the wrong foot with each other. But according to the will, they must renovate and be partners in the inn for one year or else lose their inheritance.

Stuck together, they make a list of rules to keep the peace--rules that end up doing the opposite, but by some miracle they find what they didn't even know they were looking for--acceptance, true friendship, and in a case (or two!), true love.

Sunday Post #194

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week.

We were supposed to go to Cannon Beach this week, but canceled our trip because of the bad weather there. Instead, I worked a couple of days and we went wine tasting on Wednesday in Lodi, California which is about an hour and a half from our house. There's a lot of really good wineries out there! We had lunch in downtown Lodi, which was a cute old-fashioned town. Some pictures of our day:

We had a few days of sunshine but it started raining again yesterday and is still raining now as I write this. Here's a look at the end of a beautiful sunny day, the sunsetting from behind is making the trees in the distance look yellow:

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

I enjoyed all three! 

Received/Purchased/Library Lend:

I've been enjoying Sarah Stewart Taylor's Maggie D'arcy series so I was thrilled to get approval on my request. Famous For a Living sounded fun. I love Laura Griffin's mystery/romantic suspense stories! I've been working my way through Simone St. James backlist so I downloaded an audio copy of Silence For the Dead from my library. 

Instagram:

Puzzling with my "helper". He loves to sit himself right in the middle while I'm working on them! He's bored kitty with all the rain right now, so I can't really blame him. 

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A post shared by Rachel (@wavesoffiction)

How was your week?

Audiobook Review: Exiles by Jane Harper

 

Exiles (Aaron Falk #3) by Jane Harper

Publication Date: January 31st 2023 by Macmillan Audio

Pages: 368

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 25min

Narrators: Stephen Shanahan

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Aaron Falk is on vacation in the Marralee Valley to attend the christening of his godson, which was supposed to happen a year earlier but was put off when Kim Gillespie, the ex-sister-in-law of Aaron’s friend, went missing from a local festival. She supposedly abandoned her newborn in a stroller at the festival and just walked off, never to be seen again. Her teenage daughter, Zara, doesn’t buy that and really the whole family agrees that Kim’s actions were out of character. A year later they’re making an appeal at the same festival for information.

 His friend Sergeant Raco asks Aaron to look over the evidence he’s been compiling, even though the story as it goes suggests Kim took her own life. There’s another unsolved case, a hit and run, from five years earlier that Aaron ends up looking into, as well. Being in Aaron’s mind, getting his thought processes, really highlighted how gifted he was in working out what actually happened.

Jane Harper’s beautiful writing brought these characters to life, Aaron, and the cast, so that I cared about each one of them. Her descriptions of the Australian landscape, weaved seamlessly throughout, made it easy to picture and feel a part of. The Marralee Valley sounds like a beautiful idyllic place to live with its rolling hills of vineyards.  

I was so happy with the personal progress Aaron made in this installment! He loves his job but seeing the love and closeness between family and friends has him questioning his career and place in life. There’s also blossoming romance which factors heavily into his decision. Sergeant Raco, his family, and friends were a tightknit group, their relationships spanning years, a group that has welcomed Aaron with open arms. As for the two mysteries, they left a lasting impression. I’m still thinking about them.

Exiles wraps up, and while it is book three of the series, it’s excellent on its own! I look forward to (hopefully!) more of Aaron Falk in the future!

I listened to the audiobook version of this story, as I did with the previous two, and I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Shanahan’s performance of all characters! His Australian accent is fantastic! Highly recommended! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed. 

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend's baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation.

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie's disappearance. One year ago, at a busy town festival on a warm spring night, Kim safely tucked her sleeping baby into her stroller, then vanished into the crowd. No one has seen her since. When Kim's older daughter makes a plea for anyone with information about her missing mom to come forward, Falk and his old buddy Raco can't leave the case alone.

As Falk soaks up life in the lush valley, he is welcomed into the tight-knit circle of Kim’s friends and loved ones. But the group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk’s closest friend, the missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge. What would make a mother abandon her child? What happened to Kim Gillespie?