Friday, April 3, 2015

A to Z April: C Reviews - Cheating at Solitaire by Ally Carter/Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith

So, this post didn't get done as far ahead of time as I'd hoped, and I'm thinking that in order to make sure I get everything done like I should for this challenge, I may end up with just posting the synopsis from Goodreads and then telling what I liked about it.  Today's choices are two really different types of books.  The first one goes along with the Chick Lit I've been sharing so far in this A to Z challenge.  The second book today is a kids book.

The first book is called Cheating at Solitaire.  Many of my followers may know the author more for her YA books, the Gallagher Girls  and Heist Society series.  I haven't read any of those, but loved this book.  In fact when I got to meet the author back in 2013 at the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City, she was shocked to see that was the book I had.  I loved the theme of how it was okay to be single, but then of course there was a fun fall into being in love with a cute guy.  Here's the blurb from Goodreads.com:
Self-help guru Julia James is so good at being single that she's become famous for it-advising women that they don't need a man to be happy. Then the unthinkable happens. Just when her newest book, 101 Ways to Cheat at Solitaire, is about to hit stores, a trumped-up piece of gossip linking her to a gorgeous actor hits the papers. Their pictures are splashed all over the tabloids, and now Julia's credibility is about to hit rock bottom. But she isn't going down without a fight. Unless, that is, the actor is going down with her.


The second book is called Cryptid Hunters and it is by Roland Smith.  I got to meet Roland Smith one of my first few years teaching, but it was before I'd discovered just how much I loved meeting authors, so no picture. :-(  I've always been a fan of strange creatures, like the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, and other similar things. Especially while the show The X-Files was on and I learned of even more, like the Chupacabra to name one.  So this book about two twins who get swept into the world of searching for these strange creatures was right up my alley.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads.com:
After their parents are lost in an accident, thirteen-year old twins Grace and Marty are whisked away to live with their Uncle Wolfe-an uncle that they didn't even know they had! The intimidating Uncle Wolfe is an anthropologist who has dedicated his life to finding cryptids, mysterious creatures believed to be long extinct.



Have you read either of these authors or any of their books?  Do you like cryptozoology, the study of these strange creatures?

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