Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Amy Goodnight's family is far from normal. She comes from a line of witches, but tries her best to stay far outside the family business. Her summer gig? Ranch-sitting for her aunt with her wacky but beautiful sister. Only the Goodnight Ranch is even less normal than it normally is. Bodies are being discovered, a ghost is on the prowl, and everywhere she turns, the hot neighbor cowboy is in her face.

Thoughts...

I had a constant thought while reading this book....this sort of, kind of reminds me of Scooby Doo and the Monster in Mexico. lol  That might sound mean, but I say it in the best way.  In Texas Gothic, we are presented with an ecclectic group of people that band to group together to solve the mystery (the teacher even refers to them as the gang at one point, I mean come on!).  Only in Texas Gothic, you get the actual bad guy dressed up in the mask making people think he is a ghost AND you get several actual ghosts.  Overall, this was a good story. I like the characters well enough.  I really liked Amy and her sister Phin.  They come from a STRANGE family, the Goodnights, but turned out well enough.  I did want the relationship with Amy and Ben to develop faster than it did. The physical attraction and sexual tension was dripping off the pages and it didn't seem to get us anywhere for quite a while. Rosemary Clement-Moore wrote a unique Texan mystery novel that will keep you guessing. This is worth a read. 

I would rate this at about 3 1/2 stars probably higher if the story line would have moved just a bit faster...

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Good Reads Description:

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

Thoughts...

Wow, I am not sure what to say about this book. The cover and description don't accurately portray what you are getting yourself into.  This book was fantastic!  I spend the first three hours straight smiling like a fool.  Seriously, my cheeks hurt! And when I literally was laughing out loud, I thought my husband was going to think I was a loon.

There are very few times that I can recall that I liked all of the main characters in a story. I really liked Abby's personality. She doesn't put up with anyone's crap.  She is smart, beautiful, and fiesty.  For some reason, lately a lot of books I have read have horrible best friends.  Finally, here is a book with a great supportive true best friend.  America truly has Abby's back at every turn.  Everyone would wish for a friend like America.  Now, Travis, Travis, Travis.  I like the bad boy image. (Hell, I think I even married the bad boy IMAGE.) Please note that Image is the whole point. Travis puts up a front and I guess he is a bad boy in a lot of ways, but not when it comes to "Pidgeon". (The nickname grew on me - but it still is an odd choice.) He might be agressive and wild, but when it comes to Abby, she is his world. They are perfect for each other even if at times, they are indeed a beautiful disaster.

I was surprised by the depth that each character brought to the story, I was expecting a light read with a little bit of drama, but this was so much more. It still was an easy read and I blew through this book in a matter of hours, but it wasn't just a frivalous teen novel.  I want to include that the characters are in college so the book does include sex, vulgar language, and violence. All great to me, but it might not be appropriate for some younger readers.  I came extremely close to rating this with 5 stars, but alas I am giving it 4.5 stars. My only one draw back is that once the "real drama" started to unfod, I felt like it might have lasted a bit too long.  I was ready for Abby and Travis to get there shit together and live happily ever after. I feel bad even for saying that the drama was drawn out too long because even then the book was interesting. I kept waiting to find out what Travis was going to pull next. :)  It is a long book at 454 pages, but I breezed through it wishing for more.

I absolutely adored this book. It was just what I needed to read this weekend. I finished the book 30 minutes ago and I am already nostalgic for the beginning of Abby and Travis' relationship. This really was a great book. I feel like I can never say enough good things about books I love. If I had to compare this book to any others, the first that comes to mind is Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.  I might say I even enjoyed this one even more! I am torn, but I just might.  Go out and pick this book up now!

Later-