Book Review: Tasty Pickle by JJ Knight (Everything Tasty Book 2)

     Calypso is running from her family and their expectations. The best place to do that is in some Podunk town in a castle. Except no one told her that she would need to go hiking. In the woods. When she got separated from her group and decided to go pee the last thing she expected was to get stung by nettles. Or to have her humiliation witnessed by a naked, albeit sexy, hiker. Now Axel keeps showing up everywhere and it is extremely awkward and she has definitively sworn off men. And money. Hard no. 

    While this is book 2 in a series and you do get some minor spoilers from background characters I had not read book one in the series and didn't feel like I was missing integral plot points in order to enjoy this book. It seems that while Axel may have been in book 1 Calypso wasn't. 

    I absolutely love Calypso's name. Greek mythos and all that. Then there is who she is as a person. She is trying to figure that out for the most part. What she knows is she doesn't want to be some rich man's arm candy. In fact, she has sworn off anyone with excessive money, like her parents and ex boyfriend. Better to stay to herself. And maybe enjoy a naked hiker. 

    Axel is a reclusive billionaire after building an app and cashing in on it. It was a way to use his love of hiking and translate it into money, but that money changed those around him. He couldn't trust who his friends were, for the most part. But, when he meets an obviously lost girl walking on his property and pulling cactus thorns from her nether regions he is intrigued and intent on getting to know her more. 

    This book is adorable and so funny. Absolutely loved it and I do have more of the Everything Tasty series in my TBR. Great introduction to an obviously great author. 

    This book is available on Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon for $4.99 by clicking here. 

Book Review: 21 Dares by Stephen Barnard

     When a teacher retires due to the "bullying" of 4 teenage boys the punishment is for them to clean out his classroom hoarders closet. Inside they find a game of 21 dares stretching back into the towns dark history. If anyone completes the 21 dares they will bring back the loathsome serial killer, Black Jack McKenzie, and allow him to finish his spree. Can these 4 boys complete these increasingly disturbing and destructive pranks or will one be willing to throw in the towel?

    I got this book around Halloween last year and surprisingly enough read it shortly thereafter. A plausible horror novel that includes an autistic kid, a rich kid with serious psychotic tendencies, and two "bad boys". Each must put in something that they deeply care about and whoever completed the last task wins and keeps everything unless the dares are all completed.  

    I enjoyed how deep the speculation went as to the mystery behind the game as well as the progression of pranks. These are all things that could have been executed, although I don't suggest it. Then there was Black Jack which the power of suggestion. Love all of that. I will say that the book takes a minute to get into. It starts out with the dares pretty quickly, but it took me a while to actually get interested. 

    I liked the fact that all of the pranks had to be done at school during school hours, although the fact that the school didn't have cameras for most of the book seemed a bit of a stretch. That being said they couldn't have achieved most of this if they had. 

    This book is available on Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon for $3.79 by clicking here.