Mary R. Duban

Amateur Interractions

Revisado: 09-15-22

I love the cozy mystery genre as a whole, with all of my heart, and was very excited about the idea of a bookstore owner getting in on solving mysteries. But the characterizations are very immature. The lead has been in town for weeks and weeks getting her store ready, but doesn't know ANYONE, hasn't even met them, apparently. Not even her shop neighbors, But her first day open, she becomes instant best friend's with one neighbor and an instant enemy with the other. Sorry, relationships don't move that fast.

The interactions, conversations, and reactions of the characters is also very immature. They are always shouting in surprise, shouting this, shouting that - there are ways other than shouting to show someone is shocked, surprised, caught of guard, emotional, angry, etc. It was just all so over the top and dramatic - leaping to feet, slapping hands to the face, always bursting into tears, clasping hands together, sagging - like I said. Dramatic. The flirting felt like badly-written teenage flirting - cocking of hips, smirks, OBVIOUS flirts with bad timing.

It read/listened like a fanfiction story written by a teenager. (There is anything wrong with fanfiction (I write it myself) or teenage writing, but the first is RARELY of professional, printable quality, and the second is an amateur and also not *professional* quality.) Or perhaps an over-the-top theatrical performance MEANT to be over-the-top.

If you're just looking for a way to kill time, go for it. It's a neat mystery plot. If you're looking for something to sink your teeth into, look for something else.

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Fantastic Idea, Poor Lead

Revisado: 09-15-22

I was very intrigued by the summary of this book and enjoyed the main plot very much. A small town in Alaska? Cooking? Setting up a new home/starting a new life? Intrigue? Adventure? A scary moment or two? Is he/isn't he a werewolf - and are werewolves real? Toss in a little hurt-comfort and it's nice. And the narrator is becoming one of my favorite narrators. She has nice pacing and inflection, and makes the story a joy to listen to.

I have two issues, however. First is the main character - sad to say. While I love her bubbly personality and can-do attitude, and her willingness to work hard and believe the unbelievable, ALL she EVER THINKS ABOUT is sex. How long it's been since she's had it, how she needs more of it before the snow flies, and which man in town is a good candidate? She literally puts on a specific party dress, for a party, with the intent of bringing a guy home so that she can - I don't know, stock up on satisfaction so she can 'make it through the winter'. And then she jumps on a guy she doesn't even LIKE, who she has spent the whole book despising, because he's available and they have physical chemistry. She just smacks of a very selfish person with only one thing on her mind. Sex, to her, is all about what SHE wants. Even the night with the romantic lead was that way - what she wanted, what she got from it. I know a well-written character has flaws, but this level of selfish made me not like her by the half-way point.

The second issue is that the romantic interest, the werewolf, is the guy she has despised THE ENTIRE TIME. They spent the whole time of getting to know each other being rude and snarking and snarling at each other, avoiding each other, and hoping they don't run into each other. And yet they have 'chemistry'. And then suddenly the night of the party their chemistry/horniness obviously becomes too much, and they do it all night long, and the next day are making breakfast together and plans as if they were the greatest of friends and lovers.

That was when I stopped listening - I didn't even finish the book, because I found them and their 'relationship' far too unbelievable and implausible. One doesn't hate someone's guts, jump into bed, and do a turnaround.

I really love a lot of Maddie Day's books, so I was looking forward to this one. Disappointed. I returned it.

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Starts Slow But Turns Out Enjoyable

Revisado: 03-26-21

So, this story starts a little slow. It's not poorly written, just slow starting. But I love mysteries and I love food, so I kept listening, and I'm glad I did! The food described made my mouth water, and I came to really like the heroine. The plot was intriguing, and I learned some things too about the culture and background of Key West and its relations with Cuba.

Another plus for me was the inclusion of Hemingway and his house. I got to tour that house once on a vacation with my husband, many years ago. It was so much fun revisiting those memories as I listened to this story!

A last appreciation - and it may be a funny one - but I liked that her investigation was not cliche. She didn't think the police were incompetent or 'needed' her help, and when she found anything out she gave it to them. So many heroines in mystery novels are very - vigilante. Her involvement made perfect sense to me, and while she WAS the person who figured it out it felt very real to me how it happened.

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So. Much. Swearing.

Revisado: 09-01-20

I'm sorry, this may or may not be a great story with a great plot, but I couldn't even get through the first chapter to find out. The first five minutes was no plot, just a bunch of people sitting around waiting for their new DM to show up and talking. It wasn't even good dialogue that would hook a reader in and introduce the characters. It was just f*** this and f***, F*** F*** F*** (I'm not kidding. I should have counted how many there were.) That and jokes about vaginas and masturbation. That was IT. A good book should grab you right away, and this one made me uninstall it from my Audible app within five minutes. I am really sad. I was very excited to see a book based on RP. I play these games and love them, but these are not characters I could ever enjoy much less listen to for eight hours. So disappointed.

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