Friday Fives - Five Quick Reviews for Books I've Read Recently

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. This week I'm sharing 5 quick reviews for books I've read recently.

1.  A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong - This is the second book in the Rockton series and wow are things not going well.  While going after a man who has bolted into the woods Will and Casey find themselves stuck in a snowstorm and then rescuing a woman who had been given up for dead some time before. The mystery is a compelling multi-faceted one that really pulled me in.  I did guess some of what was happening before Casey but was completely hooked on figuring it out.  The mystery was resolved in a satisfactory manner and several issues came to light that I'm looking forward to seeing further explored.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

2.  The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters - This didn't quite have the Gothic-y goodness of Peters' books under the Barbara Michaels names but it was a fun dash through Copenhagen.  I liked Elizabeth and Christian together.  They have very different personalities and Christian comes off as pretty insufferable at the beginning but as the book goes on I could kind of understand his stiffness.  This is a fun read with some history and quite a bit of hijinks.  It's a light read when you're in the mood for something interesting but not high stress.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

3.  The Party Line by Carolyn Brown - This is the first book I've read by this author but I really enjoyed it.  Lila is a very likable main character.  She's compassionate and intelligent and just nice.  I really enjoyed her relationship with her mother and with Jasper.  I also really enjoyed seeing her come to terms with her relationship with her Aunt Gracie now that her aunt is gone as she tries to respect her aunt's privacy and learn more about her.  The secret is a bit anti-climatic and I would have loved for more exploring the house but I enjoyed the characters and their journey more than enough to make up for it.  My Rating; Really Liked It (4 Stars)

4.  The Comfort Food Diaries by Emily Nunn - This was my first slow read of the year and has been on my TBR since it came out.  Overall, I liked it.  Nunn's food writing and her ability to connect food to relationships is really wonderful.  Her figuring out how to grieve for her brother, deal with her family, and live her own life was a sometimes uneven but authentic feeling journey with lots of food.  Nunn's family is perhaps the most dysfunctional unlikable family I have ever read about and I could definitely understand why she is the way she is.  I don't think she's someone I'd want to be friends with her but I do wish her well.  This is also a book I'm very glad I read one chapter at a time as I think it worked better in small bites and would have been a bit grating or monotonous if I had read more at once.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

5.  Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleyaps - I am slowly rereading the Hathaway series and very much enjoying it.  This is the 2nd book featuring 2nd sister Win and Merripin - a Romany man who has lived with the family since he was a child.  Merripin has perhaps the worst childhood of any fictional character I've ever read about - not because he is Romany but because of who raised him.  I sympathized with him and liked Win quite a bit but what made me really enjoy this book is the side characters.  Win's brother, Leo is perhaps my favorite and made me laugh a number of times.  As well the rest of the Hathaway family is fun and unexpected but also intelligent and empathetic.  I also liked that more of Cam and Merripin's story is explored.  If you enjoy historical romance this is a good series and one I am looking forward to rereading as I remember very little of it from the first read.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)