Beginners Greek by James Collins

Boy, Peter, meets girl, Holly, on an airplane flight from New York to Los Angeles. She is reading a book that was one of his favorites so during the long flight they talk, laugh and fall in love. She give him her number and they part ways. Meanwhile he discovers that he has lost her number so is the story over? Nope, it's just the first chapter. Flash forward to 3 years later, Peter is about to get married to someone else. His best friend is married to Holly, don't worry the story will be told later on. This story is full of flashbacks and numberous storylines. While the story has an interesting premise, the storylines feel a bit contrived to make the story flow and have a happy ending. Honestly I didn't really feel that interested in the characters.

From other reviews this is supposed to be chiclit for men. Personally I was bogged down by all the storylines.

Love Walked In by Maria de los Santos

Cornelia is a single thirty something who lives her life like a series of movie moments. She's a manager of a cafe because she hasn't figured out anything better to do. Her ideal man is Cary Grant. And just when she thinks he'll never show up, he does, in the form of Martin Grace. What she doesn't know is that Martin, with his cool charm and debonair demeanor, has a daughter, Clare. And she never would have known that except that Martin, in a state of panic, shows up with the girl at the cafe after her mother had a breakdown and left Clare to fend for herself. Estranged from his daughter for years, Martin doesn't know what to do with her. Both women's stories are told in alternating chapters, Cornelia's in first person, Clare's in third.

Claire & Cornelia are similar characters with age-appropriate crises. Cornelia is looking for a handsome Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. She sees herself as a romantic heroine straight out of the movies from the 30s and 40s, which she just can't seem to watch enough and recommends to everyone she knows. She's looking for her own Cary Grant and believes she's found him in Martin. Claire sees herself and identifies with the orphans of classic novels, such as Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden and Heidi, and finds herself in similar predicaments. Both characters fantasize and dream of finding their "Happily Ever After" just like their favorite heroines of the films and books they both cherish so much, but they never loose their grip on reality and always seem to find themselves with their feet firmly planted on the ground.

I listened to the story on CD and really enjoyed that they used two different voices for the alternating chapters. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book once I realized that this wasn't a typical love story but rather a story about a woman who falls in love with a child and has to deal with the problems and consequences of someone else's actions. But I really did enjoy the story and seeing the various characters evolve into people you could see wanting as friends.

Thieves' Dozen by Donald E. Westlake

11 wonderful short stories featuring my favorite crook, Dortmunder.
This was a delightful set of stories and I enjoyed reading Westlake's introduction.

My favorite was "Too Many Crooks" in which Dortmunder and Kelps break into a bank vault from the building next door to discover that some other bank robbers have already robbed the bank and locked everyone inside the vault. When the bank robbers open up the vault, Dortmunder and Kelp for once think fast on their feet and blend in with the other hostages. They decide to use Dortmunder as the negotiator and we know what happens then. Hysterical.

I also enjoyed the final story "Fugue for Felons" about a totally differently named crew who have alot of similar characteristics of our favorite robbers.

Westlake has this knack of making you like his characters and I laugh out loud as I read. Great collection.

Fault Tree by Louise Ure

Arizona auto mechanic Cadence Moran is no stranger to darkness. She was blinded in a horrific car accident eight years ago that also took the life of her three-year old niece. She knows she was only partially to blame, but that doesn't make the loss any easier to bear. She's learned to get by, but there are still painful memories. When she is almost run down by a speeding car on the way home from work, Cadence at first thinks that she is the victim of road rage or a bad driver. But that's not the case. In fact, she is the only witness to the murder of her elderly neighbor, and now the killer believes that she's seen the getaway car.

This was a very intense mystery in which we see the story from Cadence's as well as the murder's point of view. The chapters were short and intense and made me want to keep turning the page to see how the plot developes. Cadence is dealing with a lot of personal guilt - what she calls her Fault Tree. It was fascinating to see how she dealt with the car-accident that took her sight as well as killed her young niece.

State of the Onion
White House Chef Mystery series by Julie Hyzy

Set in a fictionalized White House, Assistant Chef Olivia Paras (aka Ollie) faces challenges aplenty: a heated competition for the soon-to-be-vacant top chef's job, the sneering antagonism of the president's newly appointed sensitivity director and, of course, the mysterious intruder she unwittingly stops on the White House lawn with a couple of swift blows from a frying pan—an unarmed man with news of a threat to the president. Though the Secret Service disapproves of her interference, Ollie soon takes on the mantel of amateur sleuth, which could endanger not only her life but her cozy relationship with handsome Secret Service Agent Thomas MacKenzie. The tension mounts as the president negotiates a major peace plan for the Middle East, Ollie stumbles on the path of a nearly invisible enemy known as the Chameleon, and obnoxious TV celebrity chef Laurel Anne Braun shows up to threaten Ollie's career.

I am not a big fan of those cutsie mysteries in which there are a lot of puns and "oh no it's a dead body in the freezer" books. So I was pleasantly surprised that while there is a lot of food action no murder is involved with the kitchen. It will be interesting to see where this series goes from here.

Test of Wills by Charles Todd

I saw a book review for a more recent book in this series but since I like to start at the beginning here it is. Set in 1919, Inspector Ian Rutledge, a British veteran of the Great War secretly still suffering from shell-shock, returns to his Scotland Yard job in hopes of exorcizing his private demons. However, a devious higher-up has learned of his Achilles heel and gets Ian assigned to a potentially explosive and career-damaging case--a murder involving a decorated war hero, a beautiful ward, and a shell-shocked witness. Rutledge is a sympathic character but is suffering from a split personality whom he calls Hamish. We find out midway through the book that he believes Hamish is a ghost that haunts him from the war.

There are many red herrings as up until the end I did not know who the murderer was. But the loose ends are tied neatly except for knowing how Rutledge will handle his own mental issues. Plus Rutledge finds himself wondering if Hamish is a ghost from his past or is he suffering from a split personality. While this was not the most uplifting read I did find myself intrigued by the main characters past and how he is adapting back in his English life. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.