Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

Junior Fantasy. Ophelia is a young girl who has just lost her mother and has a father who is coping with the loss of his wife by focusing on his job as an expert on ancient swords. They travel to a museum for the winter so the father can work on an exhibit of rare swords. With this background Ophelia learns of a magical boy who is trapped and only she holds the key to his release and the safety of the world.

This is a loose adaptation of the fairy tale, The Snow Queen. It moved quickly and pulled me into Ophelia's world and her tendency to disbelieve the magic she saw around her. She discovers she is braver than she thought and some things just need to be believed to be seen. The story felt at times like dreams I've had that suddenly have strange creatures and unexplained plot twists and then ends too suddenly and leaves me feeling like I need to go back to sleep for five more minutes to finish the story, but not in an unpleasant frustrating way.

Recommend: Yes.

Daisies and Devotion by Josi S. Kilpack

Regency Romance. Another one by Josi Kilpack. This is in a series called Mayfield Family Series. I listened to the audio version and enjoyed the characters and the descriptions. Typical regency romance novel, but not any less enjoyable because of the predictability. Marianne has a fortune, but no marriage prospects that she desires. She wants a man that wants her for who she is, not just the money that comes with her.

Recommend? Yes

Medium by C.J. Archer

Teen Fantasy. This is the first book in the Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy. I started listening to the audio book in the car with my daughter as we were on the way to Cody. It held our interest pretty well and we were enjoying the plot. Emily can speak to and see spirits of those who have died. Her sister inadvertently releases a demon and Emily is sent a spirit who can help her banish the demon before it does any damage. The spirit who is sent to help her is of a young man, Jacob, who can't remember how he died or where his body is. Of course they fall in love and Emily wants to try and help him find his body and who killed him.

My daughter wasn't too interested in listening more when we arrived home, so I finished the book alone. At the end of the first book the reader still does not know who killed Jacob and so I downloaded the second book, Possession, just to find out who did the deed. After listening to about half I got impatient and downloaded the last book, Evermore, and listened to the last few chapters to find out what happened. It is all wrapped up in the last two chapters which satisfied my curiosity.

This is one of those trilogies that could have been one stand along novel. I didn't miss reading/listening to the entire trilogy although the plot was good, it was just stretched a bit to thin to cover three books.

Recommend: Maybe not

The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews

Regency Romance. I admit I have a weakness for these types of romance books. They seem to be a comfort type food for me because I can read them in an evening and be amused by everyone's antics. This is a case of a man marrying a woman to free her from the grasp of a cruel man. Of course the marriage ends up being a match made in heaven!

Recommend: Yes, if you have a free evening.

A Lady's Favor by Josi S. Kilpack, Proper Romance Series, book 2.5

Regency romance. This short novella was a quick light read and just what I needed the other day. It has all the typical ingredients of a regency romance with a spitfire leading lady and a dashing young man with a controlling mother thrown in for good measure. Great book to sit by the fire and read in an evening.

Recommend: Yes.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Young adult mystery. I enjoy mysteries, especially if the writer keeps me guessing until the end. The main character, Pip, is a gutsy girl who as her senior project decides to solve a five year old mystery of the disappearance of a teen girl and the apparent suicide of her boyfriend.

I listened to the audio version of this book which made it a bit difficult to keep all the character names in my mind. When I read a mystery book it's helpful to look back in previously read pages to remind myself who all the characters are. That being said, I really enjoyed listening to the narrators. It does have a bit of crass language throughout.

Recommend? Yes.

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance, book one of Candle Man, by Glenn Dakin

Junior Fantasy. I read this book a number of years ago and decided to read it aloud to my kids (one of my favorite pastimes is reading books with my kids). This fantasy book has all the ingredients of fantasy lovers: bad guys, creepy monster-like creatures, talking garghouls, super power infested young person, and characters who you thought were bad surprising you in the end. This is the first in a series and I haven't read the next book yet, but I plan on ordering it from Amazon soon.

Recommend: Yes.