It's Monday, What are you Reading?

The husband started a new job this week, so I have many more reading hours to fill!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Exploring the White House by Kate Andersen Brower

The Multi-Hyphen Life by Emma Gannon

The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux by Samantha Verant

These Vengeful Harts by Katherine Laurin

The Librarian of Boone's Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Remember Me by Mario Escobar

Currently Reading:

Containment by Nick Thacker

Next on the TBR pile:

Before the Crown by Flora Harding

Review: The Royal Governess by Wendy Holden

The Royal Governess

by Wendy Holden 

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In 1933, twenty-two-year-old Marion Crawford accepts the role of a lifetime, tutoring their Royal Highnesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Her one stipulation to their parents the Duke and Duchess of York is that she bring some doses of normalcy into the sheltered and privileged lives of the two young princesses.

At Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Balmoral, Marion defies oppressive court protocol to take the girls on tube trains, swimming at public baths, and on joyful Christmas shopping trips at Woolworth’s. From her ringside seat at the heart of the British monarchy she witnesses the upheaval of the Abdication and the glamour and drama of the 1937 Coronation.

During the war, as Hitler’s Heinkels fly over Windsor, she shelters her charges in the castle dungeons (not far from where the Crown Jewels are hidden in a biscuit tin). Afterwards, she is there when Elizabeth first sets eyes on Philip. But being beloved governess and confidante to the Windsor family has come at a cost. She puts her private life on hold until released from royal service following Princess Elizabeth’s marriage in 1947.

Kritters Thoughts:  Did you ever wonder about the childhood of Queen Elizabeth II?  What kind of schooling did she go through to prepare her for the life ahead of her?  How much did her uncle's actions affect her?

To be fair before I continue, I will admit I am a huge fan of all things royal.  All generations and all things royal.  I love historical fiction and combine that with my love of royal things then you have entered my wheelhouse!  Through the eyes of a governess who always strived to educate those who education could elevate themselves out of their circumstances, ends up devoting her life to trying to educate the future monarch.  And she forsook her own life and at a certain point due to a decision she made she was ostracized and this is her story before she was "kicked" out of the firm.  

I loved getting the insider look of all the royal homes and the day to day royal life through a character that got a close view of the workings of the royal family.  Marion Crawford tried to give the royal children real world experiences in the hope that when they became "rulers" they would have a realistic world view of their subjects and the people that lived in the country in order to make good decisions for the greater good.  I loved how she tried to give Elizabeth and Margaret well rounded educations, I believe that she probably contributed to Elizabeth's likability across the world.  

Although fiction, I appreciated that this book was rooted in truth and my hope is that there is a lot of truth to back up this story.  After reading this book, I am intrigued to read the book that Marion authored herself and the one that changed her life and standing with the royal family.  

If you have read The Gown by Jennifer Robson, you would love this book, if you loved this book you should go read The Gown!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 82 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Summer at Hope Haven by Kristin Harper

Summer at Hope Haven

by Kristin Harper 

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 276

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Making her way up the cedar-lined driveway, tears fill her eyes at the sight of the cottage’s faded trim and peeling turquoise shutters. Taking a deep breath, she grasps the heart-shaped iron door handle and steps inside the once-happy childhood home she’s been avoiding. It is time to face up to the past…

When Emily’s fiancé walks out on her while she’s still grieving the loss of her family in a terrible accident, she escapes back to Hope Haven on the remote Dune Island, where her family vacationed every summer. Emily hopes that fixing up the house will also mend her broken heart, but the cottage holds more than just bittersweet childhood memories. Emptying her father’s antique writing desk, Emily finds a letter that reveals a devastating secret about her parents.

With a head full of questions that can never be answered, it seems like returning to the island was the worst decision Emily ever made… until she meets Lucas Socorro, saltwater dripping from his dark curls after a surf session. As they take long walks on the soft sand, and talk late into the firefly-lit night, Emily wonders if Dr Luke—as the kids in the hospital call him—could be the one to help her heal. With Luke holding her hand, delving into her family’s painful past is a little easier.

Painting the gloomy cottage walls the colour of seashells, and revamping her grandmother’s flea-market furniture, Emily starts to feel she might call Dune Island home for good—and that she could build that home right here with Luke. But when Emily’s family secret spreads through a network of local gossips, her fragile heart breaks all over again. Luke is the only one who could have started the rumours. Was she wrong to trust him so easily?

As the sun sets behind the dunes, Emily has a difficult decision to make. Does she pack her bags and leave the island for good? Or take a risk that Hope Haven has everything she’s been looking for?

Kritters Thoughts:  Emily is still reeling from a tragedy that changed her life forever, so she decides to spend a summer at a place that has always finds herself comfort - a cottage on the water.  With friends close and a small town hospital that is in need of art, Emily finds a place that will help her heal and maybe even confront a few things to help her move into the next phase of her life.  Oh and of course there is a romance wrapped into this book!

I loved this story.  It was the exact thing I needed to read when I did.  Yes, it was a romance book, but it had such great plot and was more than just the romance that was happening in the pages.  Emily's battle with grief and the stages that she was going through was enjoyable to read.  I liked that Luke the love interest was also more than just a love interest, he had his own things he was battling and it added such depth to the story.  

Romance is a genre that will always be a place to escape to when reading is hard and this one fit the bill.  I was excited and disappointed when I finished to find out this was a debut because there isn't a backlist for me to dive into, but there is hope for many more to come!

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 81 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen

The Dazzling Truth

by Helen Cullen 

Publisher: 384

Pages: Harlequin

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  One Irish family. Three decades. One dazzling story.

In the courtyards of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1978, aspiring actress Maeve meets pottery student Murtagh Moone. As their relationship progresses, marriage and motherhood come in quick succession, but for Maeve, with the joy of children also comes the struggle to hold on to the truest parts of herself.

Decades later, on a small Irish island, the Moone family are poised for celebration but instead are struck by tragedy. Each family member must find solace in their own separate way, until one dazzling truth brings them back together. But as the Moone family confront the past, they also journey toward a future that none of them could have predicted. Except perhaps Maeve herself.

Kritters Thoughts:  With a prologue where the reader finds out the matriarch has died, the story is set to begin and end tragically.  Murtagh and Maeve Moone meet and marry and soon enter parenthood.  With hints at postpartum depression, this book is subtle and sly, but if read closely and clearly it can make quite a punch.

After the prologue, the reader is taken back in time as this family is built and goes through moments as time as four children come along and the family deals with the ups and downs of life - maybe more downs for a few of them.  This book had plot, but was really all about the characters.  It took me a bit to get connected with the characters and really be invested in following their journeys.  I wanted to see where this family would end up and where the prologue would fit in the story - I was glad where it landed and that there was story to be had after the tragedy occurred.  

This story does take place in Ireland, but it could have taken place anywhere.  If the setting makes you hesitate, I would advise against it as this story is more about the family involved than the setting, it could have been any remote place you can think of.  

I enjoyed the book, but for me it took a lot of effort to get into and to keep reading, of course it could have been completely me and the moment that I read it.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 80 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Harlequin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

A great weekend spent by the pool and on the boat - lots of reading time!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Billions of Besties by Peggy Panosh

Never Say No by Elizabeth Neep

How to Make Hard Seltzer by Chris Colby

The Stepdaughter by Georgina Cross

One Step Behind by Lauren North

Currently Reading:

Exploring the White House by Kate Andersen Brower 

The Multi-Hyphen Life by Emma Gammon

Next on the TBR pile:

The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux by Samantha Verant

Review: The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Publisher: Park Row

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Margot Lee’s mother, Mina, isn’t returning her calls. It’s a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous invisible strings that held together her single mother’s life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother.

Interwoven with Margot’s present-day search is Mina’s story of her first year in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. While she’s barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a series of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

Kritters Thoughts:  Told through two perspectives at two different moments in time.  Margot Lee is a daughter and telling her story in 2014 when she finds her mother has passed away suddenly and suspiciously.  Mina is her mother and her story takes place in 1978 as she arrives in the US in Los Angeles after a tragedy hit her in Korea and she is hoping to start fresh and new and make a new life for herself.  

I loved having these two perspectives and these two characters tell their sides of the story of immigration and the impacts it has on a person and those around them.  Seeing the US through an immigrants eyes was so enlightening for me.  To see how much Mina tried to adapt, but the things she wanted to keep from her home country as she settled in.  Then to read about a daughter of an immigrant as she is born in the US and trying to integrate herself while also living with a first generation immigrant.  

I would recommend this book to all readers.  This is one of those great mother/daughter stories that feels familiar and out of the box all at the same time.  Even if these character's experiences are not close to your own, you can hopefully relate to the simple mother/daughter relationship and learn something about how life can be a lot of tough decisions for immigrants.  

What a fantastic debut!  I can't wait to see more from this author.

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 79 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Harlequin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Search Party by Simon Lelic

The Search Party

by Simon Lelic

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 352

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  The entire town thinks sixteen-year-old Sadie Saunders is dead. Missing now for a week, they say she was murdered. And they think they know who did it.

Sadie's five best friends aren't so sure, and they vow to find out the truth. So they pack their bags and head into the woods where Sadie was last seen.

But they're not just friends, they are suspects. And each of them has a secret.

As the landscape opens up, and the darkness closes in, the reality of their situation becomes clear...

This was never really a search party.

It's a witch hunt.

And not everyone will make it home alive.

Kritters Thoughts:  Told through many different perspectives as each of the young adults involved in the search party for a missing friend, tell their side of the story while being interviewed by the police.  The Search Party is a book that focuses on just a few days and a few friends who are bound and determined to find her and get to the bottom of her disappearance.

This book was ok, but not amazing.  At times it felt disjointed as the kids told their versions of the truth.  It was easy to forget who was talking and who's perspective we were reading from.  I think I would have limited the perspectives and maybe not used all the kids voices, but just a few.  

I did enjoy the twists and turns the book took.  I loved the outcome and the final culprit which is always a measure of how I rate a mystery thriller.  I believe the final culprit is a good indicator of the story and if I like how it comes to the conclusion then overall I can like the book.  I could enjoy how the characters came to the end and how it all came together.  

I would read another book by this author and hope that with different formatting and characters, I could get into and enjoy the story a little more.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 78 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood

The Engineer's Wife

by Tracey Enerson Wood

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Emily Warren Roebling refuses to live conventionally--she knows who she is and what she wants, and she's determined to make change. But then her husband Wash asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible.

Emily's fight for women's suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when Wash, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash's vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building--hers, or her husband's. As the monument rises, Emily's marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it?

Kritters Thoughts:  When you go back into history to read the stories they almost always focus on the men, so how refreshing to find a story where a woman can take center stage and who did and with her taking the lead something big happened - a bridge!  Did you ever wonder how the Brooklyn Bridge came to be?  Did you think that it was ahead of its time and an engineering feat of its time?!

I guess I had never really thought about bridges in general and never the hows behind the Brooklyn Bridge and how it came to be.  Emily Warren Roebling married and dropped everything to follow her husband as he pursued the family business and his dream - building bridges.  Watching her husband and her father-in-law, build a bridge or two, Emily learned a lot of things and when her husband needed her to take the lead she did and she not only innovated, but fought the authority along the way.

I love historical fiction.  This book is the perfect example.  I love a close look at something that you never questioned and with that close look you learn so much and you learn about the people who were there at a crucial time.  

After finishing reading the book and going to deep dive into the author, I was excited (and sad) to see that this was her fiction debut because she hit it out of the park, but there is no backlist to dive into!  I will not so patiently wait until her next book arrives!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 76 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Atomic Love by Jennie Fields

Atomic Love

by Jennie Fields

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Love. Desire. Betrayal. Her choice could save a nation.

Chicago, 1950. Rosalind Porter has always defied expectations--in her work as a physicist on the Manhattan Project and in her passionate love affair with colleague Thomas Weaver. Five years after the end of both, her guilt over the bomb and her heartbreak over Weaver are intertwined. She desperately misses her work in the lab, yet has almost resigned herself to a more conventional life.

Then Weaver gets back in touch--and so does the FBI. Special Agent Charlie Szydlo wants Roz to spy on Weaver, whom the FBI suspects of passing nuclear secrets to Russia. Roz helped to develop these secrets and knows better than anyone the devastating power such knowledge holds. But can she spy on a man she still loves, despite her better instincts? At the same time, something about Charlie draws her in. He's a former prisoner of war haunted by his past, just as her past haunts her.

As Rosalind's feelings for each man deepen, so too does the danger she finds herself in. She will have to choose: the man who taught her how to love . . . or the man her love might save?

Kritters Thoughts:  Rosalind Porter is a physicist at a time where women are being pushed out of the workforce as men come home to reclaim their lives after war.  She is pushed out for many reasons and ends up working on a retail store, but once she is approached by an FBI agent, she is brought back into her past that she may not want to revisit.  She was a part of building the bombs that hit Japan that aided in ending the war and is still feeling the effects of watching something she created destroy so much.  

This book was an interesting love story with a weird love triangle.  Rosalind was a great character to follow through this story because she wasn't a woo is me heroine, instead she was a woman who had gone through some shit and was trying to pick herself back up, but ultimately will need to truly confront the past to move forward.  

My favorite part of the book was trying to figure out which character worked on what side of the law.  There was definitely some underhanded things happening and I loved questioning the truth of each character.  

I haven't read many books about the atomic bombs and even with that this felt so unique as it was the emotional aftermath of contributing to science that brings to a tragedy to a country.  

I liked this book and am now interested to look into her backlist and see where I should go next.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 77 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin Random House.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

This is two weeks worth of reading which is sad, but two busy weeks with my niece visiting and a heavy workload.

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Summer at Hope Haven by Kristen Harper

The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen

The Royal Governess by Wendy Holden

Currently Reading:

All We Buried by Elena Taylor

Next on the TBR pile:

One Step Behind by Lauren North

Review: The Perfect Hideaway by Alys Murray

The Perfect Hideaway

by Alys Murray

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 247

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Annie Martin is thrilled to have moved from the hectic buzz of L.A. to the small town of Hillsboro, Northern California, where the most happening bar only plays honky-tonk and nowhere does a good matcha latte. But the best thing about Hillsboro? The Anderson sisters. At their noisy family dinners, Annie can almost forget the mistakes she made back in the city, trying to fit in.

Annie has repaid the sisters’ friendship with some obvious-but-effective matchmaking and now there’s only one Anderson still looking for love. But Rose is surprisingly prickly about an enforced happy-ever-after, and when a meticulously planned meet-cute ends drenched in the town fountain, Annie realizes this project calls for someone with a deeper knowledge of the Hillsboro bachelors.

Local reporter and all-around grouch George Barnett has been a thorn in Annie’s side since she came to town. He knows all too well that everyone has secrets and he thinks the story of why social media darling Annie Martin swapped stilettos for sneakers might be the scoop that makes his career. Annie is sure her skeletons are under triple lock and key, so she offers him an exclusive, if he’ll help her find a match for Rose.

But the more George and Annie try to control the love lives around them, the less they’re able to sway their own hearts. As Annie’s infectious laugh begins to bring down George’s barrier of surliness, can he open his heart and let her in for real? And can Annie be brave enough to trust the man who could be her future, with the secrets of her past?

Kritters Thoughts:  The third in a romance series and as they do in the romance genre, each book has its own romance self contained in each book, but I suggest with this series you start with book one as the characters are very much intertwined in each story as they are from the same family.

I start with that explanation, but this book felt different from the first two as they focused on two of the three sisters in the family.  This third book felt as though it was an off shoot as it focused on a new sister-in-law to the family and went outside the nuclear family.  Annie moved to this small CA town with her older brother who has married one of the sisters, read a previous book for their love journey and there is a reporter that has been a pain and of course, sometimes we fall in love with those who irritate us the most!

I enjoyed their love story, but wish book three had focused on the third sister first before the series took a turn to others in this town.  Annie and George orbited each other in creative ways throughout the book.  I loved the ups and downs that their love story took, it even made me laugh out loud.  

I hope that there will be a book four in the series and that we can get Rose's love story and learn more about this third sister in the family.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 74 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Happy Birthday to me!

source

It is my birthday!  It is an interesting one.  

Going to spend it reading, gardening and boating!

Review: The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

The Friendship List

by Susan Mallery

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  [ ] Dance till dawn

[ ] Go skydiving

[ ] Wear a bikini in public

[ ] Start living

Two best friends jump-start their lives in a summer that will change them forever…

Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content—until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to his dream college because she needs him too much. If she wants him to live his best life, she has to convince him she’s living hers.

So Unity Leandre, her best friend since forever, creates a list of challenges to push Ellen out of her comfort zone. Unity will complete the list, too, but not because she needs to change. What’s wrong with a thirtysomething widow still sleeping in her late husband’s childhood bed?

Kritters Thoughts:  Two women feel as though their lives may be stuck going in the same circle year to year, so they challenged each other to complete a list to possibly move their lives in a forward motion.  Ellen Fox has been a single mom since her teenage years and has slowly built a life that she is happy with, but it has always revolved around her life as a mom.  She missed those wild single years, so she may need to focus on how her life will look after her son goes to college.  Unity Leandre's husband died years ago and she still lives in his childhood home, with even the decor from those years.  She hasn't moved beyond what life should have looked like in the dreams she had with him.  

From a tattoo, to dates, to phone upgrades, these ladies challenged each other to do small and big things to move themselves forward and it was so fun to watch them complete the lists.  For me the sad thing was that they weren't completing the lists together as Ellen was on a road trip with her son visiting possible colleges.  This reminded me of my recent read by Abbi Waxman, but still felt different enough to enjoy both books.  

With a few sexy scenes, there was a definite need for romance for both of these women for two very different reasons and I enjoyed watching women of my age fumble through dating.  I loved how each woman challenged the other because they were both having the same issue but in a different context, it was fun to watch them help the other better than they helped themselves!

I typically enjoy Susan Mallery's stand alone books and I liked this one, but it wasn't my favorite.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 75 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Hidden Bones by Vivian Barz

Hidden Bones

by Vivian Barz 

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Pages: 240

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Two months have passed, and the horrors of Death Farm still torment police officer Susan Marlan and college professor Eric Evans. Susan struggles to regain her zeal for fighting crime, while Eric is slowly coming to terms with his newfound “gift” of seeing the dead.

Seeking much-needed rest, Susan and Eric follow their musician friend Jake and his band to Washington State. But once they reach the cheerless town of Clancy, Eric’s murderous visions start again. Something seems wrong about the town and its aloof citizens—and suspicions turn to dread when members of Jake’s band go missing.

Eric, Susan, and Jake search deep in the dark forest of the Olympic Peninsula, where many have disappeared. But the harder they search, the less cooperative the locals become. As the case begins looking more like a murder investigation, the trio must work together to locate the lost and uncover chilling town secrets buried in the darkest of places.

Kritters Thoughts:  The second in a series and as always in mystery series the case is solved within each book, but there is character development of the investigators and the characters that carry from book to book, so I suggest going back and starting with book one in this series before going ahead and reading this one.

Police officer Susan Marlan and professor Eric Evans return and in this book they are fully in a relationship and still trying to come down from the excitement that took place in book one.  They get invited on a road trip along with a band to help cart around equipment, but drama will begin after the first concert on this intended road trip.  Band members go missing, this small town gives off weird vibes and professor Eric Evans starts having the horrible visions that he had in book one.  

I am liking this series as it feels different from the many other mystery/thrillers that I read.  They can be a little gory with the professor's visions having dead people in it "talking" to him, but it is by no means the goriest thing I have read.  This one felt as though it came together a little too quickly in the last few pages, but I still liked it.

I will read the next one in the series when it arrives.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 73 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.