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Sarah's Inheritance by Katherine Kim

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I stayed up a bit late to finish reading Sarah's Inheritance by Katherine Kim last night. This is book one in the author's "Spirits of Los Gatos" series of urban fantasies. The main character is Sarah Richards.

Sarah is devastated to learn that her beloved grandmother, Rosemary, has passed away. She always meant to travel across the country to visit her, but Sarah was reluctant to face the wrath of her overbearing mother, who was determined to keep Sarah as far away from Rosemary as possible. However, when Sarah finds out she inherited her grandmother's house, she travels to California. There, she encounters some of Rosemary's friends and neighbors and also finds herself caught up in a battle between supernatural creatures and her grandmother's friends, who aren't fully human. Sarah also learns she's a witch, and she begins to read her gran's journals, hoping to learn more about her grandmother and her own abilities.

This was fast-paced and exciting. I liked seeing Sarah come out of her shell and make new friends on her own. I would have appreciated more world-building, but the reader gained information as Sarah did--in bits and pieces. Her mother was a loathsome human being. She didn't just deserve a bitch-slap. No, she deserved to be bitch-slapped to death. What a despicable piece of work. There were some formatting issues, most notably the fact that some words were split between one line and the next. That's fine. What isn't fine is when they were split in no sensible manner. Even worse, sometimes it was only one letter that carried over to the next line. I mean, if you have space to put the dash/hyphen, you have space for one more letter! Annoying. I also noted several editing issues. The worst was Sarah's name. Is she Sarah Elizabeth Richards, or Sarah Rose Richards?

Favorite line: So far it had been the most bizarre and exciting day she'd ever had, and it wasn't even noon yet.

Wishing I could give this 3.5 stars. It was enjoyable enough that I'll bump it up to four.

Yarn to Go by Betty Hechtman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was nearly done with my "spare" book, so I polished that one off today, too. It was Yarn to Go, which is the first book in the "Yarn Retreat" mystery series by Betty Hechtman. Narrative is in the first-person pov of main character Casey Feldstein.

Casey has bounced from one thing to another throughout her adult life, but she's currently working as a pastry chef on the Monterey Peninsula. When her beloved aunt Joan dies unexpectedly, it falls on Casey to host the final yarn retreat that Joan had planned. Casey knows nothing about knitting, but she steps up, determined to do her best. She ends up relying heavily on Kris, the woman who worked closely with Joan for the retreats. When one of their group ends up murdered in her hotel room, Casey draws on the limited skills she acquired working for a PI in one of her previous incarnations. Her efforts draw the ire of the police lieutenant in charge of the investigation and the manager of the hotel. The more Casey learns, however, the more she becomes convinced that Edie's death is connected to her aunt's. Now it's up to her to snag a killer and salvage her aunt's reputation.

The story was well-written; it simply wasn't my cup of tea. I'm not into fabric arts, but since Casey wasn't either, the reader got to learn along with her. To be honest, I grabbed the book because of the cat on the cover. He did play a role, albeit a very small one. I admired Casey's grit and tenacity, and it was lovely to see how everyone participating in the retreat bonded by the end of it. The worst part was when Casey's overbearing mother (and father) appeared on the scene, dragging her ex-boyfriend with, in an effort to get Casey to leave this retreat foolishness behind and do something mother-approved with her life. Is this a thing in real life? Do you or anyone you know have a mother who acts like this? I would hand my mother her head if she tried it. Just reading about it aggravates me.

Favorite line: Leave it to Edie; from beyond the grave she had managed to say the wrong thing.

The story was okay overall, but I'm not certain I'd read another in the series. Giving this one three stars.

( Trope Test )

On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Thursday night I completed the book On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle. It's the first in the "Coffeehouse" mystery series. The main character is Clare Cosi, manager of the Village Blend coffehouse in NY.

Clare is lured back to manage Village Blend when the owner (her former mother-in-law), begs for Clare's help and offers free living in the apartment above the coffeehouse, a stake in the ownership, and the promise that Clare will barely see her ex-husband, Matteo.

Not long after she agrees to the deal, Clare returns to the coffeehouse to find her assistant manager in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. The police can find no evidence of foul play and chalk it up to an unfortunate accident. Clare isn't buying it. Annabelle was a dancer, light and graceful on her feet, and Clare can't believe the young woman would have simply taken a misstep and fallen down the stairs. As if stressing over Annabelle's accident isn't enough, Clare now finds herself dealing with Matteo, who was promised the apartment over the coffeehouse by his mother. It seems someone is intent on getting the two of them back together. While Clare digs deeper into Annabelle's life to see who may have had cause to harm her, she must also keep the coffeehouse running smoothly, keep Matteo at arm's length, deal with her attraction to a handsome (married) detective, and play hostess when her daughter, Joy, brings a surprise guest to dinner.

I would have enjoyed this story more were it not for the underhanded scheming of Madame. And why the hell Clare continually referred to her (former) mother-in-law as "Madame" was weird. I did not find Matteo charming; I thought he was an arrogant, egotistical ass, and if Clare ends up getting back together with him later in the series, I will surely vomit. Not only is he a liar and a cheat, but he's also a former drug user. Oh, but he's still so haaaaandsome! Pardon me while I bitch-slap some sense into Clare. Afterward, I'm going to bitch-slap Madame for her meddling. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I'm stubborn, but if someone did me as dirty as Madame did Clare, I'd tell her to shove it and leave her and her precious coffeehouse high and dry. What gall!

Griping aside, the characters were portrayed well. Clare's tenacity in regards to investigating Annabelle's accident seemed a bit far-fetched. She'd only known the girl a month! The plot progressed at a steady pace, but I can't say as that it proceeded smoothly. It was almost more of a series of scenes. The author devoted too much of the narrative to describing how various coffees are made, in my opinion. Perhaps if I were a coffee aficionado I would have appreciated that more.

Favorite line: "We women all owe ourselves. And we forget to pay."

The book was well written, but I read for entertainment and this left me feeling far more annoyed than entertained. I have one more in the series, and if it doesn't improve I won't be reading any more. Three stars.