Friday Fives - Five Books I've DNF'd Recently

I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual Friday Linkups to try something a little different.  I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much.   Today I'm talking about 5 books I DNF'd recently.  I'm not much of a DNFer but it's a habit I'm trying to get better as since it does me no good to unhappily trudge through a book.

1.  Happy Place by Emily Henry - This was my first book by Emily Henry and I really wanted to love this one.  I didn't hate it but I just never got into it.  I was never interested in any of the characters and I didn't care where they ended up and who they ended up with.  I've heard some mixed reviews on this one so this probably isn't the last Emily Henry I will read but this one just never clicked with me.  DNF'd 56%

2.  House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick - This was my TBR Tarot Card choice book for February and while the cards have given me some of my favorite books sometimes they don't quite come through.  This was one of those times.  There were three timelines though I never saw much of the 2nd one.  I was interested in the plot of the first one more as there's a missing person and an old journal discovered (I'm guessing that's where the 2nd time line shows up) but I couldn't stand the main character  and was quite sure her dog deserved better.  I liked the characters a little better in the first timeline which involves the Winter Queen and takes place during the mid-1660s but found it a bit overwrought. While I liked the idea of this book the execution didn't work for me and this will probably be my only try with this author.  I don't think her style works for me.  On the plus side, it's one book off my physical shelves.  DNF'd Page 160

3.  How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - I've seen some good reviews for this one and I did like the premise but in excecution it just didn't quite work for me.  I disliked all the characters including the deceased parents and after a few hours decided I didn't care if the whole lot of them got stuck in a haunted house surrounded by possesed puppets and dolls.   DNF'd 21%

4.  Murder at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day - I was super excited about this one as it is a historical mystery set at Agatha Christie's home during World War II.  While the writing style did work for me I hated all the characters including both Bridgets.  Other than a prolouge I never actually made it to Greenway but after the first 5 chapters I just couldn't bring myself to pick it back up and wouldn't have minded if the characters (other than the nameless faceless children) had all perished on the train journey.  DNF'd Page 54

5.  When The Marquess Met His Match by Laura Lee Guhrke - I've been reading this author for years and usually enjoy her books.  1 is on my Reread Shelf and the rest I've enjoyed to varying degrees.  I went into this one with highish expectations and was disappointed.  The hero, Nicholas, is fine.  He's got the tarnished background but there are some reasons that keep him from being a total villian and while his motivations are connected to money he's upfront about it.  I was really not a fan of Belinda, the heroine.  She's judgemental and a bit vindictive and not willing to listen.  She also has her reasons for her thoughts but since those thoughts turned into actions without any real reason I wasn't quite as forgiving.  The main issue was I just bored.  I didn't really care to spend anymore time with Belinda and no one else involved was interesting enough to make me overlook her.   I'll read more from this author but this one just wasn't a winner for me.   DNF'd Page 67