Top Fourteen Books I Read in 2019

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read in 2019.

1. Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend - The only book I rated 5 Stars in 2019.
2. Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
3. Maybe Now (Maybe, # 2) by Colleen Hoover
4. Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, # 3) by Jenny Han
5. With This Pledge (Carnton, # 1) by Tamera Alexander
6. Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson, # 2) by Darynda Jones
7. Sixth Grave on the Edge (Charley Davidson, # 6) by Darynda Jones
8. Seventh Grave and No Body (Charley Davidson, # 7) by Darynda Jones
9. Well Met by Jen DeLuca
10. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (review coming soon)
11. The Curse on Tenth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 10) by Darynda Jones
12. The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 12) by Darynda Jones
13. Promised by Leah Garriot (review coming soon)
14. The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews (review coming soon)

Which books were your favorites of 2019? Let me know!

2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge - Goals

This challenge is for all of you series readers who are scared to death of that last book in the series. You anxiously await it. You stalk it. You get your hands on it as soon as possible. But then…you put off reading it for fear that it might not be everything you thought it would be. Or, maybe you just have a backlog of series started and you need to finish that last book.

Join us in knocking out those pesky last books in a series. This is your chance. Here’s your motivation. Better than that, we have prizes!

Levels: (how many series enders you are planning to read)

Level 1: 1 – 5
Level 2: 5 – 10
Level 3: 10 – 15
Level 4: 15+

Check out the the sign up post to join!

This challenge is hosted by Somewhere Only We Know and Words Fueled by Love.

<a href="https://sandyfarmer.blogspot.com/2019/12/2020-series-enders-reading-challenge.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHeHJpW834BSoeV0XtitARMNwMSRKh0Ug2HbJQQ0I5qNxckuWzQ5yJ1sF1_yzD81SOiZE7zG6eEFQRguQioOidWLtO5QKkvx6AkN01dsiXB3_ZgB-Gj7G-F4VZ-Y0F-0yZDXP_P5CVUG9/s320/2020SeriesEnders.jpg" height="225" width="225" /></a>

My Goals:

1. Finale (Hush, Hush, # 4) by Becca Fitzpatrick
2. Unforgiven (Fallen, # 4) by Lauren Kate
3. Ruin & Rising (The Grisha, # 3) by Leigh Bardugo
4. Brave (Contours of the Heart, # 4) by Tammara Webber
5. End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days, # 3) by Susan Ee
6. Inspiring You (Unraveling You, # 4) by Jessica Sorensen
7. Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy, # 3) by Kerstin Gier
8. Sempre: Redemption (Sempre, # 2) by JM Darhower
9. Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, # 7) by Sarah J Maas
10. The Winter Companion (Parish Orphans of Devon, #4) by Mimi Matthews
11. Hidden Knights (Knights of the Realm #3) by Jennifer Anne Davis
12. Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #2) by Robin LaFevers
13. The Map from Here to There (The Start of Me and You, # 2) by Emery Lord
14. Selah (The Sugar Baron's Daughter, # 3) by Lisa T Bergren
15. Vow of Thieves (Dance of Thieves, # 2) by Mary E Pearson
16. Midnight Sun (Twilight, # 5) by Stephenie Meyers
17. Shadow Heir (Dark Swan, # 4) by Richelle Mead
18. Namesake (Fable, # 2) by Adrienne Young
19. Faith's Mountain Home (Hearts of Montana, # 3) by Misty M Beller

Of course, I likely won't get to some of these (a few of them have been on my goals list for the last six years), or I'll come across a new/new-to-me series that I read the entire series during 2020. My real goal is level 2. These are just the enders on my radar right now.

December 2019 EOM Wrap Up

I have read 7 books (not including children's books). *These qualify for the 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge.
Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry
Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum, # 24) by Janet Evanovich
Promised by Leah Garriott
The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews
The Number of Love (Codebreakers, # 1) by Roseanna M White
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
Shadow Knights (Knights of the Realm, # 2) by Jennifer Anne Davis

I have reviewed 10 books. *These qualify for the 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge.
The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson
Realm of Knights (Knights of the Realm, # 1) by Jennifer Anne Davis
Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
*Maybe Now (Maybe, # 2) by Colleen Hoover
Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
Losing the Field (The Field Party, # 4) by Abbi Glines
The Curse of Tenth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 10) by Darynda Jones
Eleventh Grave in Moonlight (Charley Davidson, # 11) by Darynda Jones
The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 12) by Darynda Jones
*Summoned to Thirteenth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 13) by Darynda Jones

Other Posts:
Sunday Post - 12/08/19
Sunday Post & Stacking the Shelves - 12/22/19
Sunday Post & Stacking the Shelves - 12/29/19
Ten Books I Still Need to Read By Favorite Authors
Top Ten Winter 2019 TBR List
Seven Books I Hope Santa Brings Me
Top Fourteen Books I Read in 2019
Can't Wait for Rage and Ruin (The Harbinger, # 2) by Jennifer L Armentrout
Can't Wait for Vying for the Viscount (Hearts on the Heath, # 1) by Kristi Ann Hunter
Can't Wait for You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge - December Wrap Up
2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge - Sign Up

Goals:
I completed my Bible-in-a-year plan ahead of schedule.
I've read 128 out of 52 books (including children's books).
I've read 6 out of 5-10 series enders.

Summoned to Thirteenth Grave - Review

Summoned to Thirteenth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 13)

By: Darynda Jones

Publication: January 15th 2019 by St. Martin's Press

304 pages

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the final installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series!

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper extraordinaire, is pissed. She’s been kicked off the earthly plain for eternity – which is the appropriate amount of time to make a person starkraving mad. But someone’s looking out for her, and she’s allowed to return after a mere hundred years in exile. Is it too much to hope for that not much has changed? Apparently it is. Bummer.

She’s missed Reyes and her daughter, Beep, but now that she’s back on earth, it’s time to put to rest burning questions that need answers. What happened to her mother? How did she really die? Who killed her? And are cupcakes or coffee the best medicine? It all comes to a head in an epic showdown between good and evil in this final smart and hilarious novel.

So The Trouble with Twelfth Grave ended with Charley being banished from this dimension for breaking the one rule Jehovahn gave her--not to heal anyone once their soul has left their body. I was expecting to spend at least some time within Summoned to Thirteenth Grave where Charley is in that dimension and trying to get back home. And I have to say that I wasn't looking forward to that. Thankfully, Darynda Jones decided to start this book with Charley being released back to this dimension and immediately reunited with Reyes.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much I can say about this book due to spoilers. This is the finale in a very long series that I have really enjoyed. And as you would expect, there are some twists that I didn't see coming that I obviously can't discuss here.

I wasn't sure how Charley's mom's death could fit into anything, but it did. I also expected for Charley, Reyes, and crew to have had to face Lucifer because that conflict was set up much earlier in the series. Yet that is really Beep's conflict and it makes sense to save that for another series, but I just wasn't sure if there would be any jumps in time to cover this or not. I think deciding not to was probably the best choice, but I guess it was a little unsatisfying at the same time.

Uncle Bob's revelation was the biggest that I can think of right now, but I can't say more because of spoilers. I will just say that I want to do a re-read of the series to see if there were any hints early on that I missed.

I also can't say much about Osh, but that very very ending has had me dying to know when the inevitable spinoff is going to come.

Darynda Jones has handled the different planes of existence perhaps the best I've read before, but I have to say that I'm not 100% sure how I feel about Charley and Reyes's final decision, but I didn't hate it.

The finale of the Charley Davidson series was different than I expected, but that certainly wasn't a bad thing. Summoned to Thirteenth Grave had some twists and it wasn't completely perfect for me, but I did think it was a decent series ender. I'm dying to get a spinoff series about Beep. I mean that has to happen, right? Summoned to Thirteenth Grave gets 4 Stars. Have you read Summoned to Thirteenth Grave? What did you think? Let me know!

2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge - Sign Up

The 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge is in the books, and Holly and I decided we're in this for yet another year. Welcome to our 7th Annual Series Enders Reading Challenge. The rules this year are essentially the same as last year, but please be sure to check them out for a refresher.

This challenge is for all of you series readers who are scared to death of that last book in the series. You anxiously await it. You stalk it. You get your hands on it as soon as possible. But then…you put off reading it for fear that it might not be everything you thought it would be. Or, maybe you just have a backlog of series started and you need to finish that last book.

Join us in knocking out those pesky last books in a series. This is your chance. Here’s your motivation. Better than that, we have prizes!

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from January 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020.
2. Anyone can enter. You don’t have to have a blog just as long as you review your books somewhere: on your blog if you have one, Amazon, Goodreads, etc.
3. Any genre, length, or format is acceptable as long as it is the last book in a series where all books in the series have been published and no more books are currently intended to be published in the series. If an author makes a decision somewhere during the year to add on to the series, we will count both the original last book in the series and the “new last” book in the series assuming the author isn’t going to write more than one additional book. Last book published in a series doesn’t count if more books are expected to be published.
4. You can list your series enders ahead of time, but this is not required. If you decide to list them up front, feel free to change them throughout the year as necessary.
5. When you sign up in the linky, please use the direct link to your post about joining the 2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge. If you don’t have a blog, please post about it on Facebook or Twitter and include that direct link as your sign up.
6. You can sign up until December 15, 2020. This allows you to join the challenge at any time during the year.
7. On the 25th of every month, we will post a wrap up on both Somewhere Only We Know and Words Fueled by Love with a linky for you to link up your reviews for the month. The monthly giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up (ex. From January 25th to February 25th). For each link to a review, you will get an (1) entry into a drawing for that giveaway. This will be open internationally. Please link each review separately as each link in the monthly wrap up linky acts as an entry in both the monthly giveaway and the grand prize giveaway at the end of the year.
8. Monthly giveaway prizes will be an e-gift card of your choice up to $5 (USD) from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. While the challenge and giveaways are open internationally, please make sure that you can receive e-gift cards via Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. We want to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to participate and to receive the prizes. Please remember that Holly and I are funding the giveaways out of our own pockets as something that we want to do, and we would like to continue to do so.
9. If you miss a wrap-up post and giveaway, you can link your review the next month. Please do not try to link to one review twice. We will be verifying these.
10. December will be the wrap up for the entire year. All reviews linked from January through December will be entered into a Grand Prize giveaway. Also due to Christmas, the December wrap up will post on December 23rd and will be open until January 23rd.
11. You don’t have to follow Somewhere Only We Know or Words Fueled by Love to participate in the challenge, but you do have to follow both of us in order to be entered in the giveaways.
12. Please make sure we have a valid email address or other means of contacting you if you choose to participate. Linking up to Goodreads is perfectly fine, but we have found that Goodreads is not a reliable source for contacting someone should you be selected as one of the monthly giveaway winners. This could be due to your Goodreads notification settings or Goodreads themselves could be at fault. We're not sure which. And since we want to make sure that everyone who is eligible for one of the giveaways will receive their prize should they win one month or the grand prize at the end of the year, it is up to you to ensure that we can contact you and that you respond within a reasonable amount of time (usually stated in the email notifying you of your winning).

Levels: (how many series enders you are planning to read)

Level 1: 1 – 5
Level 2: 5 – 10
Level 3: 10 – 15
Level 4: 15+

If you have any questions, please contact us at: Sandy's Email or Holly's Email or comment on one of the Series Enders blog posts on either or both of our websites.

To join the challenge:

1. Write a blog post about joining the 2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge on your blog. For those of you who would like to participate but don’t have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Twitter.
2. In your post, please include: the button, a link back to the sign up page, a link to both Somewhere Only We Know and Words Fueled by Love, the level you hope to achieve, and (optional) a list of the series you hope to complete.
3. Place the button for the challenge in your sidebar (use the “grab this code” at the bottom of the post here).
4. Link up in the linky using the direct link to your post/tweet/etc.

And that’s it! Welcome to the 2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge. Good luck!

This reading challenge is hosted by Somewhere Only We Know & Words Fueled by Love.

<a href="https://sandyfarmer.blogspot.com/2019/12/2020-series-enders-reading-challenge.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHeHJpW834BSoeV0XtitARMNwMSRKh0Ug2HbJQQ0I5qNxckuWzQ5yJ1sF1_yzD81SOiZE7zG6eEFQRguQioOidWLtO5QKkvx6AkN01dsiXB3_ZgB-Gj7G-F4VZ-Y0F-0yZDXP_P5CVUG9/s320/2020SeriesEnders.jpg" height="225" width="225" /></a>

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sunday Post & Stacking the Shelves - 12/29/19

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Monday was as close to a normal day as we seem to have around this time of year. Tuesday, Husband was off work and we had a lazy day. The kids have been hyped up and it ended up being a tough parenting day. Christmas Day itself was wonderful but a whirlwind. The kids got up at normal time (7 am) and we let them open presents. They were both so chill about everything. Little Boy basically had to be forced to open his last three presents because he was so content to play with what he'd already opened. Grammy came by shortly after they finished presents to see what they got. Then Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Holly, Uncle Tim, Caleb, & Ashlyn came by for lunch and to spend some time together playing games and chatting. They all went home before nap time was over and as soon as nap was over we went to Grammy's for dinner and to see Aunt Tonya and Austin. Husband had to go back to work the day after Christmas, but I took the kids back to Grammy's for lunch to spend some more time with Aunt Tonya and Austin before they went back home. Friday was a mostly normal day except it was raining so we were stuck inside. And Saturday was kind of the same. It's been a great week. From here until Spring is my least favorite time of the year. I hate being stuck inside when it's cold and/or rainy, and there isn't much to look forward to in the way or holidays or big events. BUT we always do our best to make the most of each day. I can't believe 2020 will be here in just a few days.

THE PAST WEEK:

Monday: Review of The Curse of Tenth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 10) by Darynda Jones (4.5 Stars) & 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge - December Wrap Up
Tuesday: Ten Seven Books I Want from Santa
Wednesday: Merry Christmas! (no blog posts)
Thursday: Review of Eleventh Grave in Moonlight (Charley Davidson, # 11) by Darynda Jones (4 Stars)
Friday: Review of The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 12) by Darynda Jones (4.5 Stars)

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Review of Summoned to Thirteenth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 13) by Darynda Jones & 2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge - Sign Up
Tuesday: December EOM Wrap Up & Top Ten Tuesday?
Wednesday: Happy New Year! (no blog posts)
Thursday: 2019 EOY Wrap Up
Friday: 2020 Series Enders Reading Challenge - Goals

Don’t forget to link up for the 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge! You have until December 15th, 2019 to sing up. Each month there will be a giveaway for those participating with an end of the year giveaway too! Click on the picture below or the link above to find out more!

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Shadow Knights (Knights of the Realm, # 2)

By: Jennifer Anne Davis

Publication: December 10th 2019 by Reign Publishing

302 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy,

Source: Personal Kindle Library (Christmas gift)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--As a member of the Knights of the Realm, Reid swore an oath to protect her king only to discover he harbors a traitorous agenda.

Being a woman raised in a man’s world, Reid thought becoming a Knight would give her purpose and strength. So far, it has done nothing but give her trouble. The king ordered her to spy on the Axian royal family while she prepares for her marriage—a marriage neither she nor Price Dexter wants. Once in Axian, Reid realizes she’s being used as a pawn in a decades-old political match. With the king and Knights seemingly at odds, Reid’s allegiances are torn, especially when she finds friendship in the unlikeliest of places.

As the kingdom of Marsden teeters on the brink of civil war, Reid must decide whose side she’s on—even if that means betraying her king in order to save the kingdom.

Loving by Leading: A Parent's Guide to Raising Healthy and Responsible Children

By: Den A. Trumbull

Publication: October 18th 2018 by Den A. Trumbull, MD

304 pages

Genre: Parenting, Self-Help

Source: Personal Kindle Library (Christmas gift)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Having trouble getting your baby to sleep at night? Frustrated with your toddler’s picky eating? Is your preschooler’s cranky behavior getting on your nerves? Is your school-age child getting lost in a world of tablet play and video-gaming? Are you feeling defeated?

There is an answer, and you can do it. You must LEAD your child!

Parents today are too often told to let their children develop on their own and all will go well; just keep them happy and they will thrive. Not so! Children desperately need parents to LEAD them to healthy habits and high character. In Loving by Leading, Dr. Trumbull combines thirty years of pediatric experience with decades of parenting research to give you fact-filled guidance in child rearing, such as: Investigating the most successful parenting style Understanding why your child acts the way she does Learning the true meaning of discipline and how it can help your child Training your baby to be a healthy, happy sleeper Bringing harmony to mealtime with your toddler Encouraging your child to have an active lifestyle Teaching your child the most valuable character quality for success in life: Self-control Building a rock-solid relationship with your child from birth to pre-puberty years Loving by Leading first describes WHY children need parents to lead, and then offers practical, boots-on-the-ground advice on HOW to lead your child.

That's it for my shelves and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you add to your shelves this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave - Review

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 12)

By: Darynda Jones

Expected Publication: October 31st 2017 by St. Martin's Press

289 pages

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series.

Ever since Reyes escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley accidently trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that’s not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings—some corporeal, some not so much—as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she’s not uncovering a murder. This time she’s covering one up.

Add to that her new occupation of keeping a startup PI venture—the indomitable mystery-solving team of Amber Kowalski and Quentin Rutherford—out of trouble and dealing with the Vatican’s inquiries into her beloved daughter, and Charley is on the brink of throwing in the towel and becoming a professional shopper. Or possibly a live mannequin. But when someone starts attacking humans who are sensitive to the supernatural world, Charley knows it’s time to let loose her razor sharp claws. Then again, her number one suspect is the dark entity she’s loved for centuries. So the question becomes, can she tame the unruly beast before it destroys everything she’s worked so hard to protect?

I just finished The Trouble with Twelfth Grave, and I am still reeling. Darynda Jones... you did good. You did good. One of my only issues with this entire series has been that I haven't been surprised by any of the twists. Well, that changed with this book.

I was torn over how to feel about Charley finally having to face off against an evil Reyes. The frequency of Reyes's potential evilness was so constantly brought up throughout the series that it would have felt like it was a waste of time to never have explored this. But it also felt so obvious that we would have to face this eventually so that when it came to be, it felt anticlimactic. Well Darynda Jones, I'm sorry I questioned you in this area. You wrote this and worked this part of the story in such a way that I feel in awe. I spent so much of the book thinking "is this it?" that when things finally picked up I truly was blown away with how much I enjoyed the process.

What Reyes was after that was a big mystery to Charley through the majority of the book felt painfully obvious to me. Especially given her skills as a private investigator. How everything worked out made me okay with this, but it was certainly something I felt some frustration over while reading.

Charley spent much more of the book focused on getting Reyes back from the evil god that has taken him over, but as per usual, Charley has several side mysteries going on. It always amazes me how Darynda Jones can slip so many side stories into each of these books. Some of them are short pieces yet they are always comprehensive.

The ultimate cliffhanger has me dying to get my hands on the next book. I've found that there are really two types of cliffhangers (maybe more, but for the purpose of this discussion I'll focus on two). One leaves the reader with hope and possibility. The other with dread and anxiety. This one was the later. I find that I easily get frustrated with this type of cliffhanger. While it can propel me forward in the story, oftentimes it has me dreading to read what comes next because of the trouble the characters will face.

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave wrapped up so much better than I expected given where things started. Despite the weight on Charley's shoulders, she maintains her humor, sarcasm, and general irreverence. I can't say that I was 100% stoked about the cliffhanger, but it serves it's purpose because I'm dying to know what happens next. The Trouble with Twelfth Grave gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read The Trouble with Twelfth Grave? What did you think? Let me know!

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight - Review

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight (Charley Davidson, # 11)

By: Darynda Jones

Publication: January 24th 2017 by St. Martin's Press

310 pages

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--A typical day in the life of Charley Davidson involves cheating husbands, missing people, errant wives, philandering business owners, and oh yeah...demons, hell hounds, evil gods, and dead people. Lots and lots of dead people. As a part time Private Investigator and full-time Grim Reaper, Charley has to balance the good, the bad, the undead, and those who want her dead. In this eleventh installment, Charley is learning to make peace with the fact that she is a goddess with all kinds of power and that her own daughter has been born to save the world from total destruction. But the forces of hell are determined to see Charley banished forever to the darkest corners of another dimension. With the son of Satan himself as her husband and world-rocking lover, maybe Charley can find a way to have her happily ever after after all.

I feel like I'm running out of things to say about this series. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy this book, I just feel like I'm getting repetitive in my reviews.

Charley takes on a new client early on. The client happens to be a man who might have been abducted as a baby by the same people who abducted Reyes as a baby. Or he could be their biological son. Charley has wanted to investigate the Fosters for some time, but Reyes hasn't wanted her to. Having Shawn Foster as a client gives her the perfect excuse. I felt like Reyes's objection to Charley investigating them was thin. Sometimes I feel like Darynda Jones does a great job balancing all of the pieces of the puzzle, but this time the Foster investigation took a back seat to other events. This was done purposefully, but it was still something I noted.

Charley found out in the previous book that her beloved Uncle Bob murdered some gang members who were after Charley. So we had to deal with some of the consequences of that which include Charley learning more about herself and her powers as Grim Reaper and as a god.

In previous reviews I've stated that I appreciated Jehovah being included in this story as someone that Charley believes in and respects. Of course the more we have explored this area the more uneasy I've become. Sometimes the story feels sacrilegious, but I try not to read too much into this because it is a fictional story. I'll just reserve my full opinion on this for when I finish the series.

Darynda Jones has always written in departed characters or clients who seem to have experienced the worst of humanity. There are times when my stomach physically hurts reading about what they have experienced. That was certainly the case for the part of the story that involved Amber. Thankfully Charley does note that humanity is more good than evil even if the line is a little closer to the middle than she would hope.

And then there is the end. This was supposed to feel like a twist or a surprise. But really this has been built up for the entire series. To not have to confront this possibility head-on at some point would have wasted a lot of build-up, yet at the same time, everything with this felt predictable when it should have been a huge surprise. I can think of one twist that could have potentially been more surprising. But we'll see how this plays out.

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight was another enjoyable installment in the Charley Davidson series. There are only two books left and I feel like we still have quite a lot to explore. I also wonder about Darynda Jones having the entire series planned out from the beginning. Some pieces feel like afterthought considering where the series started...with the actual characters...who they are and what their abilities are more than anything else. Eleventh Grave in Moonlight gets 4 Stars. Have you read Eleventh Grave in Moonlight? What did you think? Let me know!

Top Seven Books I Want from Santa

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Want from Santa.

1. Maybe This Time by Kasie West
2. The Start of Me and You (The Start of Me and You, # 1) by Emery Lord
3. Shadow Knights (Knights of the Realm, # 2) by Jennifer Anne Davis
4. A Convenient Fiction (Parish Orphans of Devon, # 3) by Mimi Matthews
5. Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
6. Vow of Thieves (Dance of Thieves, # 2) by Mary E Pearson
7. Dark Age (Red Rising, # 5) by Pierce Brown

I'm cheating a little because three of these I already got for Christmas when we celebrated with my family on Saturday. But these are all of the ones I had on my list that I was hoping to get for Christmas. Which books are you hoping that Santa will bring you? Let me know!