The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for March, 2010

In Kate Brian’s Untouchable, it’s time for Thanksgiving break. Things are starting to look up for Reed. The girls have finally accepted her as one of their own, she is getting over Thomas, someone has been arrested in connection with his death, and she’s started to spend some time with a new boy. The new boy, however, is Thomas’ roommate, Josh.

And just as soon as everyone leaves for break, except Reed and Josh, everything starts to go downhill. The two are caught together and are banned from seeing each other the rest of the break. Josh is being questioned AGAIN about Thomas’ death and when the girls come back, they have some startling news. Josh came to Easton after being kicked out of his former school for a scandal. Now he may be involved in another one.

Good news? The real murderer of Thomas is arrested!

Kate Brian is still amazing me with her plots. This book, just like the rest kept me reading. She keeps putting in twists and turns that I would never have imagined. I’m starting to get used to her writing, so by the end of the book, I had a better of idea what to expect around the corner, but it was still a great addition to the series.

I give Untouchable 3 bookmarks. There really wasn’t anything wrong with it, it’s just been a couple of days since I finished it, and I don’t feel as passionate about it as I have the others after a couple of days after.

Private Series:
1. Private
2. Invitation Only

I’m starting to get addicted to taking pictures of the outdoors. Every time I see the sun, I want to chase it and take a picture. I took this over the weekend when we were grilling out with friends. I don’t know why I love trees, but they always yell at me and say, “Hey, take my picture.” And who is going to turn down a tree?

I took another one, it was a little darker than expected, but I’ll make it my next one because I know everyone is dying to see my awesome photography!

This book came special to me from blogging buddy Megan from WriteMeg!  We did a little swap with books. I sent her One Amazing Thing. And although I told her not to send me anything in return, she did and I have never been happier to receive a book in the mail. This was a very pleasant surprise and one I had near the very top of my To Be Read list.

Kat is 45-years-old, has a great job and a super hot 20 something boyfriend. That all changes in the first chapter. She uproots from her NYC home and goes back to St. Louis where she grew up. She catches up with her best friends from high school, Carla the news anchor and Elise the dermatologist.

All these women are realizing that at the age of 45, nothing is guaranteed. Jobs are on the line and marriages are on the line, but the good thing about 45? All the young guys love them a cougar. Now, this book isn’t about a bunch of women going around hooking up with younger men. Yes, it happens once or twice throughout the book, but it is more of a coming of age, finding yourself book.

Quickly, I fell in love with these women. Of course, I felt a connection with Carla because we’re in the same business and although I don’t anchor or report, job security in media is a scary thing.

These women are more my mom’s age than mine, but this book definitely hit home on the family level. I’ve been through a similar circumstance that one of these women went through with her family so I was able to feel this book.

I really liked how this book was written. It is definitely a 2010 book. Twitter and Crackberry are just a couple of terms that I remember from the book that kept me reading because I felt like I really lived in the same world they do.

As much as I love Chick Lit, I always feel paranoid when I read them. They normally give me hope that I know I can get through things, but they never really give me much hope for the future of my marriage. I kind of got away from these books right before the wedding because they paranoy me, along with Lifetime Movies, but I can’t stay away.

Another paranoia these books give me is that I need to make sure I keep working out now so I don’t regret not doing it later. At one point in this book, after almost 20 years of not working out, one of the ladies goes back to the gym then turns around and walks out. At that moment, I started dong squats while reading. I am such a dork I know!

I give The Cougar Club 4 bookmarks.

Reed’s life at Easton is bittersweet. She has just got a bed in the most prestigious girl house, Billings, but her boyfriend, Thomas, is missing. And things are just getting more dramatic. A new man, large and in charge Whit, is now part of Reed’s life and she has to decide if the potential to go to a very secretive party is worth going behind Thomas’ back. The aforementioned party? Only The Legacy. And it’s just as it sounds. Only legacies can get into the party, and only those who go back generations can get an invite. Reed soon decides, she has to get to that party. All of Thomas’ friends keep saying he is sure to be there.

But things aren’t peachy keen in the Billings House. Reed has to get up at the crack of dawn to make the beds of the other girls and clean their rooms. And don’t think cleaning windows is beyong her duties. Reed’s roommate is still devastated that her former roommate got booted and will stop at no lengths to make sure that Noelle and the popular girls go down for getting her kicked out. To make sure that happens, Reed gets blackmailed into spying on the girls. And she ends up finding A LOT more than she expected.

Sticking with the pace of the first book, Invitation Only  is full of drama. From sun up to sun down, the drama for Reed just continues to add up. This was a very quick read. All the drama kept me turning pages and wanting more. There was also a little mystery in this book, yearning to know where Thomas has disappeared to. And let me tell you, you will definitely be surprised when you find out where he is. I know I was shocked.

Kate Brian does a great job and diving back into the lives of teenage girls. She has the popular girls testing Reed to see if she’s worthy, she has them picking on her and the boy drama is always there. She does a great job of reminding us what we went through when we were this age, even if it wasn’t to this scale at a private, prestigious school.

I have this entire series on my shelf waiting for me to devour it and if it continues to please as the first two have, I will definitely be going back and reading in the future. I give Invitation Only 5 bookmarks. With and ending like this, you can’t help but love it and want more and more.

Private Series by Kate Brian
1. Private

Release: November 2009

On the rainy streets of Seattle, Nick Wilder is leaving a bar with his brother one moment, waking up and finding his brother dead the next. Nick is a photojournalist for a newspaper and with the snap of a finger, things start getting stranger and stranger for him. He starts blacking out and people start dying. Is he the one doing the killing? Why is he always around when the victims are found? And why are so many homeless men involved in murders?

Oh boy, was this book dramatic. I won this book on Goodreads.com. I signed up for it because a journalist was involved. I am a sucker for girly books and any that have a journalist as a character. How surprised was I when I got this in the mail:

This is one of those books that I can only read every now and then. The death and murder and drama, I can only handle them a little at a time. Otherwise, I’d be having nightmares like Nick. And I get really angry when I can’t figure out who the bad guy is. I thought I knew, then they’d die. I thought I’d figured it out again, then they’d die. It was very nerve racking, but I do appreciate a good story that I can’t figure out.

Although this was a little bloodier than I like, but my really only complaint I had for this book was the jumpy-ness. I read a couple other reviews on the book, some agreed, some didn’t think it was an issue. There were times when we’d be with Nick today, then the next page, we’d be back when he was 10.  There were times when we’d be with him after the death of his brother Sam, then we’d be during the middle of the murder. There were only a couple of times when I had to keep reading to figure out where we were. It wasn’t a major problem for me, but it did keep me thinking. 

This is the kind of book that keeps your turning pages and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s not one though, that I could read again soon.  With books like these, that once you know the killer, there’s no surprise, it’s hard for me to want to read them again. They never have the same intensity the second time around. For that reason, I can’t give this book 5 bookmarks. I only give 5 to those that I know I will pick back up. But, I will give this 4 because it kept me guessing and was written creatively to keep you thinking.