Release Week Blitz: Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel with Giveaway
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Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel
presented by Entangled Teen!
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Congratulations Meg!
A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.
Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.
What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.
Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | iBooks | Kobo
His soft voice clashes with the intensity of his gaze. “You’re adorable when you’re trying to be mad at me. You needn’t work so hard at it, though. We aren’t meant to be adversaries.”
“I, um…” My thoughts disband, leaving nothing for communication purposes. I’m adorable? Adorable has many definitions. I think my dog is adorable, for example. “That…wasn’t what I was going to ask you.”
He inclines his head. “Okay, then. Ask.”
But that “adorable” echoes through me, clinking around like a penny down a well. “What are we meant to be, then?”
His lips curls up at the corners. “That wasn’t your question, either.”
Meg Kassel is an author of paranormal and speculative books for young adults. A New Jersey native, Meg graduated from Parson’s School of Design and worked as a graphic designer before becoming a writer. She now lives in Maine with her husband and daughter and is busy at work on her next novel. She is the 2016 RWA Golden Heart© winner in YA.
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Top 10 Books I Struggled With & Ultimately DNF’ed
Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I’ve Most Recently Put Down (the theme is…books you had a hard time with…tweak it how ever you need)
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DNFing books has always been hard for me. Even if I’m not enjoying a book, there’s this little nagging voice in my head that says ‘Give it a chance. It has to get better or else it never would have been published.’ Thankfully that little voice has gotten much quieter since I started blogging and quite frankly don’t have the time to waste on bad books. If I’m just not into it, I’m getting much better about just cutting my losses and moving on to the next book. Below are some books that even when that nagging voice to keep reading was at its loudest, I still was not able to get through and ended up DNFing.
Top 10 Books I Struggled With & Ultimately DNF’ed
1. AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman
I’ve always been hit or miss when it comes to Neil Gaiman. I absolutely loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Stardust, but American Gods, even though it seems to be one of his most popular books, just wasn’t a good fit for me. I struggled with it for weeks and finally had to DNF it. (Find out what it’s about…)
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2. THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks
Those who have followed my blog for a while are probably chuckling at this one and wondering why I even tried to read it, based on my aversion to most things romantic. Honestly, I don’t know why I tried to read it either. I guess because so many other people I know were raving about it. I thought surely it would melt my romance-averse heart. Nope! (Find out what it’s about…)
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3. THE ONE MEMORY OF FLORA BANKS by Emily Barr
This is one I just recently DNF’ed and was really bummed that I didn’t enjoy it since so many of my fellow bloggers loved it so much. The issue for me was that while I had complete sympathy for Flora and her situation, the constant repetition just got to be too much for me and I found myself skimming and skipping, looking for anything that wasn’t just a rehash of the basic memories she has of her life. It just got to be tedious. (Find out what it’s about…)
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4. GIRLS ON FIRE by Robin Wasserman
What I learned from trying to read this book is that I’m not a big fan of books that feature toxic friendships. This also probably wasn’t a book I would have normally picked out but it was on so many anticipated reading lists that I got caught up in the hype. This is also one of those books that made me start questioning who puts those buzz lists together anyway. For the past couple of years, nearly every disappointing book I’ve read has appeared on one or more of those lists. (Find out what it’s about…)
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5. RICH AND PRETTY by Rumaan Alam
Another hyped book that just wasn’t a good fit for me. I picked this one up not just because of the buzz, but also because it’s a book about female friendships and because it’s set in New York City, which is one of my favorite cities and book settings. Those two things just ended up not being enough this time. It didn’t feel like there was much of a plot at all and I didn’t connect with the characters so I gave up on it. (Find out what it’s about…)
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6. THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain
I usually love historical fiction and books that are set in Paris, but I just found this to be a very dry read. I guess maybe I’m just not as big of a Hemingway fan as I thought I was. (Find out what it’s about…)
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7. THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold
This is another one of those books that pretty much everyone I know seems to love, but I found it dull and boring. I don’t even remember how far I got into it, but I disliked it enough that I gave it 1 star and I don’t do that often. (Find out what it’s about…)
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8. GIRL IN SNOW by Danya Kukafka
I thought the premise of this book sounded so good, but when I actually sat down and started reading, I didn’t like the writing style at all. I felt like it was just dancing all around the subject at hand without really advancing the plot so I gave up about a third of the way through. All I can even remember about the story is that a girl was found dead and one of the main characters whose point of view we’re given is a boy who used to stare at the girl through her bedroom window. (Find out what it’s about…)
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9. CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS by Sally Rooney
The blurb for this book had kind of a Friends vibe for me, which was why I decided to pick it up. It sounded like a fun contemporary read about a group of friends post-college. Unfortunately I just found it dull and didn’t really connect with any of the characters. Others have rated it highly so maybe I gave up on it too soon, but it just didn’t seem like it was going to work for me. (Find out what it’s about…)
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10. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
I hate DNFing classics because in my mind, there’s a reason they’re considered classics. But at 1,168 pages filled with tiny print (at least the edition I was trying to read), it was just too much book. This is one I could see myself trying again maybe in an e-format so that the print is larger and the book itself isn’t so cumbersome, but for now, DNF. (Find out what it’s about…)
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Question: What are some books you tried to struggle through but ultimately ended up DNFing?
Book Review: A Perfect Obsession
A Perfect Obsession by Heather Graham 
Series: New York Confidential #2
Published by Mira Books on March 28th 2017
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 333
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
Heather Graham’s A Perfect Obsession is the second book in her New York Confidential series. In this book, FBI special agent Craig Frasier is investigating a case that appears to involve a serial killer. Someone is murdering beautiful young women and leaving them carefully staged and displayed in mausoleums and underground tombs around New York City. Craig’s girlfriend, Kieran Finnegan, a forensic psychologist and also part owner of her family’s pub, is also consulting on the case to try to help them get inside the mind of the killer in hopes of narrowing their field of suspects. Although Craig and Kieran have worked together before, this time Craig is somewhat uncomfortable having Kieran on the case.
Because the killer is targeting beautiful women, Craig fears for Kieran’s safety, especially if she puts herself out there actively trying to help find the killer. Craig’s nerves with respect to Kieran are especially on edge because the first body that was discovered was found in a catacomb under a two-hundred-year-old church, which has been deconsecrated and renovated into a nightclub. The former church/nightclub is located directly behind Finnegan’s Pub in lower Manhattan, thus right at Kieran’s back door.
As more bodies are found, all staged in similar ways, it becomes clear that they are, in fact, dealing with a serial killer and that they are in a race against time to stop him or her before more beautiful women are killed.
LIKES
The Mystery and Suspense. The case itself was my favorite part of A Perfect Obsession. The killings themselves and the way the bodies were so carefully and artfully staged in the graveyards and mausoleums was just so darn creepy! It literally made my skin crawl every time they discovered a new body. In addition to the awesome creepy factor, it’s also just a great mystery story filled with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing about the killer’s identity and motivations until the very end. I thought I had it all figured out a few times along the way but got thrown a curve ball each time that sent me looking in another direction, so I enjoyed that it wasn’t at all predictable.
The FBI Investigation. The story had a very CSI/Criminal Minds feel to it since there was so much emphasis on forensics and the crime scenes and also because they were clearly dealing with a twisted individual. I’m a big crime show junkie so this aspect of the story worked very well for me. I loved following the actual FBI investigation as they discussed suspects and possible theories, as they followed leads, and as they traveled to interview law enforcement and witnesses in other locales as more and more bodies were found. I thought the author did a fantastic job showing every angle of the investigation as it unfolded.
The New York City Setting. Another highlight of the book for me was the historical/archaeological aspect. New York City has always been one of my favorite cities. I love its rich history and I especially love those old churches in Lower Manhattan, especially Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel. I found it thrilling to be immersed in so much of New York’s history while following the FBI investigation as they search, not only for the killer’s lair, but also for potential crime scenes that could fit the killer’s apparent criteria. It was clear the author had done her homework when it came to researching the history, especially when it came to what might be buried beneath the city.
DISLIKES/ISSUES
My biggest issue with A Perfect Obsession was that even though the story itself was entertaining, the characters themselves were not well-developed and so I had a hard time connecting with any of them. For that reason, the story definitely reminded me of a procedural crime drama. I don’t know if it’s a case where these characters are more fleshed out in the first book of the series, which I haven’t read, but in the second book, what I found was a riveting criminal case but unfortunately forgettable characters. (That said, even though this is the second book in a series, overall it still works well as a standalone.)
Kieran and Craig, as the main characters, stood out from the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, the main reason they stood out for me was because I often found them annoying. I appreciated Craig’s concern for Kieran’s safety, but after a while, his whole “Oh no, my girlfriend’s so pretty, she might become a victim of the serial killer. I must constantly tell her not go to anywhere alone” routine just got old. And as if he wasn’t irritating enough, Kieran was so stubborn about going out alone and going to places she has no business going, that it almost seemed like she was deliberately trying to put herself out there as a possible target. By about the halfway point of the book, I just wanted to knock both of their heads together.
Another issue I had was that there were just too many times where Kieran and her family members conveniently came across things that could help the FBI investigation. New York is a huge city filled with millions of people. What are the odds that it would always be Kieran or one of her brothers who would come across valuable clues?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even with the issues I had with it, I still thought A Perfect Obsession was a solid read. If you’re looking for memorable characters that you can connect with, this may not be your book, but if you love a good mystery and want to immerse yourself in some New York history, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book.
RATING: 3 STARS
Thanks so much to Netgalley, Heather Graham, and Mira Books for allowing me to preview a copy of this book. This in no way impacts my review.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
Someone is murdering beautiful young women in the New York area and displaying them in mausoleums and underground tombs. The FBI is handling the case, with Special Agent Craig Frasier as lead.
Kieran Finnegan, forensic psychologist and part owner of Finnegan’s, her family’s pub, is consulting on the case. Craig and Kieran are a couple who’ve worked together on more than one occasion. On this occasion, though, Craig fears for the safety of the woman he loves. Because the killer is too close. The body of a young model is found in a catacomb under a two-hundred-year-old church, now deconsecrated and turned into a nightclub. A church directly behind Finnegan’s in lower Manhattan.
As more women are murdered, their bodies discovered in underground locations in New York, it’s clear that the police and the FBI are dealing with a serial killer. Craig and Kieran are desperate to track down the murderer, a man obsessed with female perfection. Obsessed enough to want to “preserve” that beauty by destroying the women who embody it”
About Heather Graham
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell’s Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette’s Shadows, and for Harlequin’s mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children’s charity. She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards from Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.