Erin Ruddy

Annette Marie has been on my TBR list for well over a year. I was so thankful to finally get my hands on one of her books after being taunted by rave reviews all of the place. The hype isn't wrong, Taming Demons for Beginners was everything I'd hoped for and more.

I love the flow of the book, Robins anxiety & frustrations are easy to relate to. It was so easy to be engulfed into her story while we follower journey in navigating a world she never thought she'd be apart of. I love her weak, show more unknowing start. There is no instant badass in this story, thank goodness. I look forward to watching her character arc grow over the coming books. The relationship between her and the demon is quirky yet terrifying.

This is a typical urban fantasy, where there are some aspects of the story that are kind of hand waved or set so the plot can move forward to keep things simple. I.E. Easy, fun read.

Two things that bothered me but I'm thinking probably shouldn't have were 1. how did her parents die. She is only 20, and her commentary made it feel like it was normal car accident death but the lack of reason makes me wonder if there was foul play, especially if her uncle knew they had what he wanted. I went back thinking I missed it, but idk, if someone knows this help me out ha. 2. Why was her uncle the executor over the will? I realize this is a must for the whole story to happen, but her parents knew what they had, and it is noted they are smart people, so wouldn't they have put fail safes for something like this? Maybe this will be answered in future books, but I kept circling back to why they weren't answered while I read. show less

⭐⭐⭐ + I'm not a fan of dark books and this one was so many shades of dark gray. But the plot was crazy, as was the MC villain, and I admit that I raced through to the end, while chewing my nails to the bit. This is another of those books that I read months ago, but am only able to review now. I will be brief ….

Husband and Wife buy a place out in the middle of nowhere and try to rekindle their relationship while the kids are shipped off to camp. But, as it turns out, Wife is being show more stalked and she is soon kidnapped to a neighbor's house. Never met neighbors and never will because Nefarious Stalker (NS) has done them in.

NS is a person of no interest from woman's past - she hasn't a clue who he is or his name. This infuriates NS and in a perverted guessing game, he whacks off pieces of Hubby for each wrong name she guesses (she guesses wrong a few times and the jury is still out as to whether it was intentional or not). Next thing you know NS has kidnapped classy Wife and has taken her to his really creepy disgusting homestead (if you like creepy and disgusting this is for you). He makes her dye her hair and change into some not so classy clothes he has prepared for her. Turns out this NS has a real Oedipus complex. Okay, okay - let's not be nitpickers! If he had known his father he would have hated and resented him, but instead he fixed his hatred on a another of his mother's paramours.

What happens to Hubby? I hate it when a cuckolded wife takes back her weasel of a husband...(I'm not saying Wife did, mind you, but then I'm not saying she didn't).

This is not an easy book to like, but clearly I did because the pages flipped by themselves so I guess I enjoyed.

Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press…sorry it took so long to review show less

LTS

A while back I saw a post on another site from a book buddy. They were explaining their rating system & how they’d finally reached a place where they didn’t feel guilty about not finishing a book. But instead of using DNF, they elected to go with LTS….Life’s Too Short. So I’m going to shamelessly steal their idea & apply here.

When I decide to put a book down, it’s rarely due to poor writing skills. Instead, It’s like walking past a shop window & seeing a sweater that catches show more my eye. Everything about it screams “Pick Me!” so I dash inside & try it on. Then I look more closely. Hmmm….something’s not quite right. Maybe it’s the material, maybe it’s me. But clearly we’re not meant for each other.

That sums up my experience with this book. I had problems connecting with any of the characters & that hindered my ability to suspend my disbelief far enough to accept some of their actions & truly be gripped by the story. When I got to the 60% mark, I found my mind wandering to all the books waiting for me in my massive TBR pile & decided my buddy had it right. Life’s too short to not be fully engaged by what I’m reading.

So it all comes down to a simple mismatch between reader & book. But just like with the sweater in the window, I know there are others out there that will find it a perfect fit. show less

Tell Me My Name by Erin Ruddy is a first novel for this author. However, Ruddy has nailed the thriller genre and I was hooked from the first sentence. Ellie and Neil Patterson have been married for ten years and have taken some together time at their new cottage. Before long both have been kidnapped by someone who claims to be from Ellie’s past and he threatens to torture Neil if she does not remember his name. She nervously goes back into her past to identify this stranger and save her show more husband. What ensues is a desperate search for Ellie who is taken away by the kidnapper after leaving her husband for dead. There is so much tension throughout, leading to an ending that most will not come close to guessing. This is a mesmerizing thriller that hits the ground running and does not relent. It is hoped that Erin Ruddy will be writing more thrillers in the future. Highly recommended. Thank you to Dundurn Press, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. show less