"Until Friday Night" by Abbi Glines--Two Differing Views About This One

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines is told by West Ashby, a very popular guy and Maggie Carlton who has a lot going for her.  West is well-liked and a key player on the high school football team.  He is also hurting inside and is keeping it all bottled up.  Maggie is very pretty, smart and popular as well, but is traumatized by a family tragedy and refuses to talk to anybody.  She is also starting in a new school.

I enjoyed this book very much.  to me it went fast and I always looked forward to picking it up again.  West and Maggie were both great and I enjoyed the ending too!
(Gerard's review 7/24/16, 5++ stars)

Karen's review (2 stars) 8/2/16:
Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines is about two older teens who start out as friends because they understand each other’s pain caused by the death of a parent, but fall in love during the process of comforting each other. Maggie had a tragedy so awful that she refuses to talk until she sees West hurting and wants to help him. Maggie moves in with her aunt and uncle who have a son, Brady who attends her school and is on the football team with West.

This novel is about teen relationships, friendship, grief and high school drama. I was disappointed there wasn’t more about football based on the book cover. Furthermore, the swearing and premarital sex scenes in this book were big turn offs for me. I never really liked West much, and thought Maggie would have been better off keeping him as only a friend. The fact that Maggie let West kiss her the first time they met and that she let him stay overnight in her room did not make me think very highly of her either. I would have preferred her and Nash winding up together instead.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"When Friendship Followed Me Home" by Paul Griffin

When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin is about Ben Griffin who is not big on friendships.  Being a foster kid, he has had to experience a lot of pain in his young life by people leaving him.  However, that all change when he befriends a homeless dog who leads him to meeting a young girl!

I liked this book a lot.  The story moved along well and I thought all the characters were very believable.  I never really had it figured out, which is very good!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Trap" by Melanie Raabe

The Trap by Melanie Raabe is about how Linda Conrads, an author, seeks to bring her sister's killer to justice by getting him to confess.  The murder happened 12 years ago and went unsolved.  Linda is the only eyewitness who actually saw the murderer, at least she thinks she saw him.  When she sets a trap for him by writing a novel including the specific details of the murder, some doubts arise. 

This is a unique mystery and psychological thriller with a novel within a novel which gives background information to the reader.  There is very little action in this book but quite a bit of suspense.  The author kept my interest by keeping me guessing if Linda was crazy and if she would actually get the confession she wanted.  She was as much interested in why her sister was murdered and so wanted to have a little chat with the killer face to face which was the best part of the book.  I really liked that the killer had a little trap of his own but didn't care for the excerpts from the novel Linda wrote!  I found them distracting after a while.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesdays

Gerard's:
Off-script in a rare emotional moment, Jeremy suddenly said:  "I mean, if I ran out of money, I'd lose my house before I'd give up this dog.  I'd move into a cardboard box under a bridge before I'd give up this dog."

From page 50 of The Underdogs by Melissa Fay Greene. (non-fiction, wonderful book!)

If not for his sister, Frank would have signed the farm over to Emmet, wished him well, and left the day Pa was laid to rest.  If not for Annie. 

From page 20 of Messenger by Moonlight  by Stephanie Grace Whitson.

Karen's:

I looked across at our opponents and wondered who they were.  And I looked out at the crowd, and that's when I realized we were in the middle of Nationals, and I was supposed to be doing something.

From page 95 of The Memory Book  by Lara Avery.

I'll write a new book.  The events from back then in the form of a crime novel.  Bait for the murderer and therapy for me.

From page 20 of The Trap by Melanie Raabe.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just pick two sentences from the book you are reading. 
Happy Reading!

"Messenger by Moonlight" by Stephanie Grace Whitson is fiction about The Pony Express

Messenger by Moonlight by Stephanie Grace Whitson tells the story of a young girl named Annie and her two brothers, Frank and Emmett.  When their dad dies, they are left broke and lose the farm.  The brothers decide to join the Pony Express and Annie comes along and becomes a cook at one of the stations.

I liked Annie, the main character, but this book had little action and there was nothing that took me by surprise.  It's an okay read that I read only because Karen recommended it.
(Gerard's review 7/18/16, 3.5 stars) 

Karen's review 7/13/16, 4 stars:
Messenger by Moonlight by Stephanie Grace Whitson is a very enjoyable read about two brothers (Frank and Emmett) who join up as pony express riders and sign up their sister as a cook for Clearwater, one of the remote home stations in Nebraska territory without even asking first!  Annie is at first put out by that, but doesn't want to be alone so agrees to go with them on this new money-making adventure. Emmett trusts in the Lord for courage and guidance and encourages Annie to as well, like their ma but Frank doesn't want anything to do with God and just complains about his rotten luck.  Annie tries to stay positive and look for the good things.  Annie has a dream of having her own nice white house with flower boxes and blue trim one day and Frank aims to make sure that happens for her.  When they get to the Clearwater station and meet the owner, George Morgan, he is not what any of them expected.

I enjoyed this historical western romance very much and liked all the characters.  The story line moved along and gave insight in what the pony express riders faced and the part women played during this time.  I loved the ending and recommend this for anyone who likes novels about the west around the time of the Civil War.  It had some funny parts that I actually laughed out loud at!


I also liked Key on the Quilt by this author.

Joining in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop this week responding to the book review prompt.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!