The Year of the Series - The Pearl Sister + Late Checkout

After the calamity that was 2020 I didn't want to give myself serious reading goals but I did want to do something to help my book stacks get a little more under control.  I've tried getting rid of the ones I want to read but unfortunately I want to read all the books I own.  So I decided to focus on series.  There are so many I have that I abandoned halfway through or came in halfway and never read the first few.  I made a list of ten series and the next book I had to read in them and will be rolling in new books and series as I go along and catch up.  Here are two reviews from that list that I've read recently.

The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley - After the death of their adopted father, six sisters receive the clues they need to discover the story of their past and one by one they each go on a journey.  This book centers around the 4th sister, CeCe and her story takes her not only deep into the history of her past and an unfamiliar country but also starts her on a journey to figure out just who she really is.  

My hopes were not high going into this book.  I've really enjoyed the previous books but CeCe had gotten on my last nerve since book 1 and I didn't see how I could possibly make it through an entire book with her as the main character.  But honestly, this one may just be my favorite so far.  CeCe will probably always be a challenging person but by being able to see inside her head I felt like I understood her so much better and ended up deeply sympathizing with her and even liking her.  My knowledge of Australian history is just above nonexistent so I found this book about the pearl industry and the Aboriginal people absolutely fascinating.  The women in this book are strong characters and life very rarely comes easy to them but I couldn't help but admire them and respect them.  I absolutely loved CeCe's story and hope there are some tidbits about her in the next books so I can check in with her.  My Rating: Loved It!

Late Checkout by Carol J. Perry - It is Halloween again in Salem, MA and in the 9th outing of The Witch City Mysteries, Lee Barrett is trying to keep busy despite her field reporter hours at news channel WICH-TV being cut in half.  She's busy planning the station's anniversary show and volunteering at the library when she discovers a dead body in the stacks.  

This was a fun cozy with lots of research into the past as Lee tries to find out what happened to the old stars of the station and just who the dead body in the stacks was.  I really enjoyed all the research and Lee's extra time around the station with Rhonda and the rest as well as seeing Aunt Ibby in her home turf of the library.  Despite all of that this was probably my least favorite entry in the series and most of that was due to the ending.  While I did think the reasons and the murderer made sense but the way the reveal was done felt a little like a cop out and was kind of odd.  That said, my least favorite book in this series is still a solid read and I can't wait to read more from Lee, Pete, Aunt Ibby, and especially O'Ryan! My Rating: Liked It!