Tag: louisiana

Book Review: Final Cut, by Olivia Worley      

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books.

Title: Final Cut 
Author: Olivia Worley         
Genre: YA    
Rating: 3 out of 5

When recent high school graduate Hazel Lejeune gets the lead role in a slasher film, it feels like a dream come true. This is her chance to break into the industry, build her reel, and prove to her mom that this “gap year” can turn into a career. So what if it’s set in the nothing town of Pine Springs, Louisiana–the same place her father, the Pine Springs Slasher, was convicted of a series of murders fifteen years ago?

But when Haze arrives on set, she gets much more than she bargained for. The shoot is plagued with suspicious “accidents.” Mentions of her dad dot the entire script. And then, a gruesome murder shocks everyone to the core. Now, it’s clear there’s a real killer on set—one who’s determined to finish the film at all costs. But is this merely a copycat, or is the wrong Slasher behind bars?

As the body count rises and reality blurs with fiction, Haze must unmask the killer before she becomes a real-life final girl…or before the killer flips the script and makes her the next victim.

I’m not into watching horror or slasher movies. At all. Ever. So, I’m not sure why I decided to read this. The premise was eye-catching enough to get my attention, I guess, and I’d read one of the author’s other books. Solid writing here, and I liked the characters—mostly. Living in a town this small is my own personal idea of terrible, and the author captured it well.

However, the why of everything the MC did completely escaped me. Going off alone after the first murder happened? Spending any time at all with people you barely know after the murders started? Going out into the woods/bayou/wilderness alone at night to the house of a creepy man? Come on. I need believable characters to have at least a little bit of common sense.

Olivia Worley is from New Orleans. Final Cut is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)

      

Book Review: Our Last Wild Days, by Anna Bailey

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title: Our Last Wild Days
Author: Anna Bailey
Genre: Mystery/thriller   
Rating: 4 out of 5

 The Labasques aren’t like other families.

Living in a shack out in the swamps, they made do by hunting down alligators and other animals. To the good people of Jacknife, Louisiana, they are troublemakers and outcasts, the kind of people you wouldn’t want in your community.

So, when Cutter Labasque is found face down in the muddy swamp, no one seems to care, not even her two brothers. The only person who questions the official verdict of suicide is Cutter’s childhood friend, Loyal May, who has just returned home to care for her mother. When she left town at eighteen years old, she betrayed Cutter. Now with a ragtag group from the local paper where she works, Loyal goes in search of answers, uncovering a web of deceit and corruption that implicates those in town. It may be too late to apologize to Cutter, but Loyal has restitution in mind.

I didn’t like any of these characters except maybe Sasha—and what was up with the staples in his hair? Excellent setting description and worldbuilding here…enough that the small town feel almost made me nauseous. Seriously. A place this tiny and run down is a no for me. I don’t really feel like there was any resolution with the whistling/masks in the woods or the dirty cops, so the ending felt a bit unresolved to me, and Loyal wasn’t likable enough for me to get truly invested in this story.

Anna Bailey is the author of Our Last Wild Days.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: How Lulu Lost Her Mind, by Lulu Gibson

 

how lulu lost her mind
Image belongs to Gallery Books.

Title:   How Lulu Lost Her Mind
Author:  Rachel Gibson
Genre:   Fiction
Rating:   4 out of 5

Lou Ann Hunter’s mother, Patricia, has always had a passionate nature, which explains why she’s been married and divorced five times and spooned enough male patients to be ousted from three elderly care facilities. She also has Alzheimer’s, which is why she wants to spend her remaining months or years surrounded by memories at her family’s decrepit old plantation in Louisiana with her only daughter.

Lou Ann, a.k.a. Lulu the Love Guru, has built an empire preaching sex, love, and relationship advice to the women of America—mostly by defying the example her mother has set for her. But with her mother suddenly in need of a fulltime caretaker, Lou Ann reluctantly agrees to step out of the spotlight and indulge her mother’s wishes, even if it means trading in her Louboutins and Chanel No. 5 for boots and mosquito repellant.

Upon arrival at Sutton Hall, Lou Ann discovers that very little functions at it should, least of all her mother’s mind. She is haunted not only by creaky floorboards and things that go bump in the night, but also by the living ghost sleeping downstairs. Every good day Patricia and Lou Ann have treasure hunting in the attic seems to be followed by two days of meltdowns and cold shoulders. And as Lou Ann adjusts to this new and inevitably temporary dynamic, she is forced to confront the fact that her mother’s fate is completely out of her hands—and the end may be coming quicker than she even thought possible.

I have a family history of Alzheimer’s, with three straight generations of the women on my mother’s side of the family getting it. In that respect, this was a hard read—because I related to the idea so much. Lulu—Lou Ann—is a great, relatable character, but her mother is wonderful. Patricia made me laugh so many times in this novel! I haven’t worn lipstick in years, but I felt the urge to buy some after reading this.

I really enjoyed the journey in this book. It was great seeing how Lulu evolved, and I loved the Cajun flair of the novel!

Rachel Gibson is a bestselling author. How Lulu Lost Her Mind is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Highfire, by Eoin Colfer

highfire
Image belongs to HarperCollins.

Title:  Highfire
Author:  Eoin Colfer
Genre:  Fantasy
Rating:  4 out of 5

Vern was once Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie, but now he hides out in a fishing cabin in the Louisiana swamp, subsisting on vodka and entertaining himself by watching Flashdance and Netflix. He’s the last of his kind, and no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness of his life and the sadness of the end of his glory days. Until he meets Squib Moreau, a local swamp rat doing the best he can to make his momma proud, even if that means working for a smuggler and witnessing a murder.

Squib wants to stay out of trouble and make enough money to pay off the debts his momma’s ex left them with—and move the two of them far, far away from Regence Hook, a local constable with an eye for his momma. But Hooke isn’t just a dirty cop. He’s also eyeball-deep with the local crime syndicate—and determined to destroy the witness to his crime—even if he must take down everyone in his path. Even a dragon.

This is not your typical dragon-disguised-as-a-human story. For one, Vern isn’t disguised. And who would imagine a dragon who loves Flashdance? Vern’s tough exterior is a mask for centuries of loss and strife, so it’s easy to see just why he has trust issues. Squib loves his mom enough to do anything for her, even when he lands in trouble over his head. This was a fun adventure story with a unique premise and a voice that fits the Louisiana swamp it’s set in.

Eoin Colfer lives in Ireland. He’s the author of the Artemis Fowl series. Highfire is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Love in Catalina Cove, by Brenda Jackson

love in catalina cove
Image belongs to Harlequin.

Title:   Love in Catalina Cove
Author:   Brenda Jackson
Genre:   Romance, fiction
Rating:   4.5 out of 5

Vashti left Catalina Cove Louisiana over ten years ago after a teen pregnancy left her heartbroken and childless. She never had any desire to return. But with the death of her aunt and an inheritance of her beloved B & B, Vashti returns. And immediately gets a speeding ticket from Sheriff Sawyer Grisham.

Some things never change in Catalina Cove, but Vashti discovers that some things have changed. Despite that, she’s determined to leave the cove behind her for good. Until fate—and an unexpected benefactor—intervene, and she finds herself restoring the old B & B to its former glory, so she can run it.

When the biggest secret of her life comes to light, Vashi discovers that thing she thought to be true aren’t—and unimaginable change lies in their wake. And Sawyer and his daughter are right there beside her. Will she be able to face her new future, or will the past continue to haunt her?

I probably picked this up because it’s set near New Orleans, a city I love. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read any of Brenda Jackson’s books before, but I enjoyed this book a lot, and I’m interested to read the rest of the Catalina Cove series. Vashti was an interesting character, but I liked how honest she was with herself. I did see the “big” surprises coming, but they were handled very well, regardless, and I read this straight through in one sitting.

Brenda Jackson is a bestselling and award-winning author. Love in Catalina Cove is her newest novel, the first in the Catalina Cove series.

(Galley provided by Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.)