The Running Bibliophile

Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena introduces the reader to the ultra rich Merton family in an upscale neighborhood in Brecken Hill located in upstate New York. However, all the money in the world can't protect Fred and Sheila Merton from being murdered, and their three children are all a person of interest in their deaths. Whenever I learn that Shari Lapena publishes a new book, I know that that I'll read it without even knowing the synopsis, and it wasn't any different when I learned of her latest book Not A Happy Family . I jumped right into it and was pleasantly surprised with the storyline. Reminiscent of the movie Knives Out , I enjoyed all the suspense and trying to figure out who the murderer was in Not A Happy Family . However, there came a point that the story became a bit sluggish and drawn out. With that being said, it was still extremely intriguing, and I suspected everyone at one point. I narrowed it down between two different characters and wasn't sure w...

Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) by Leslie Meier opens with Lucy Stone temping at the local newspaper office when she hears that a bomb threat has been called into the elementary school. When a teacher realizes one of the students is unaccounted for, the vice principal rushes back into the school to save him. However, she's found murdered a few days later. Who would want her dead? What I loved about this particular edition in the Lucy Stone Mystery series is that there were a lot of red herrings. I felt sure that a specific character was the murdered for most of the story, but as Back to School Murder progressed, I changed my mind and ended up being completely wrong on everyone I suspected. Leslie Meier did a fabulous job with all the suspects and keeping me guessing. One of the situations I found believable was that Lucy was feeling unappreciated and unattractive, and when she received a bit of attention from another man, she feel for it and felt bad about it aft...

I received Pureology Professional Color Care Strength Cure Shampoo from Influenster.com and Pureology for free in exchange for my honest review. When I received the news that I was receiving this product, I was ecstatic because my hair was over processed and breaking off from having it colored incorrectly and then being corrected.  This Pureology Professional Color Care Strength Cure Shampoo has a light, clean scent. It's very gentle on my hair, and it made my hair feel thicker and stronger. Another plus is that as I washed my hair with it, my hair didn't get tangled. After using this product for a month and a half, my hair looks so much better, and it's nice that my hair actually feels like hair again instead of hay. This is something I would definitely buy if I have issues with my hair being over processed again, and I don't have any complaints. However, the one thing you should be aware of is that this product is a bit pricey, so I don't want you to have sticker ...

Trick or Treat Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #3) by Leslie Meier is set in Tinker's Cove, Maine, and the entire town is preparing a party in a dilapidated mansion to celebrate Halloween. However, everyone is on edge because there has been a rash of fires thought to be the work of an arsonist. The latest one killing a summer resident. Who will be the latest victim? Is anyone else a fan of Halloween like I am? This was the perfect book to put me in the mood for the holiday, and this is a must read if you do like Halloween. It brought back so many memories of my childhood of trick or treating and the Halloween parties that my parents and the rest of the parents in the neighborhood put on for us kids that were similar to the one in Trick or Treat Murder . Having an arsonist setting fires in the book only made it creepier, but not scary. There were quite a few red herrings in the book. With that being said, there were clues to who it really was, and I dismissed those clues much to my c...

In Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum, #23) by Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum's latest bail jumper, Larry Virgil, decides to commit a similar crime that he was already arrested for by hijacking an eighteen wheeler full of Bogart Ice Cream. When he flees from Stephanie and Lula, they decide to pursue him in the stolen truck, but then, a dead body covered in chocolate and nuts falls out of the trailer when they open it. Who killed this person and made him look like a Bogart Bar?  What can I say about about this installment of the Stephanie Plum book series? I absolutely enjoyed Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum, #23) . It did read slightly different than some of her other books in the series, but I found it to be extremely entertaining, and I had some laugh out loud moments.  However, there was one moment I didn't care for . . . Stephanie slept with Ranger even though she's engaged to be engaged with Joe Morelli. I am a bit tired of the "love triangle". Also, if...

You're invited to a murder . . . that is how the ad read, but in all actuality, it's an invitation to an unsupervised birthday party at the vacation home of Dusty Ellis. Meg Redding is the only one who knows the true motive behind Dusty holding the murder mystery party . . . to find out who murdered his twin sister and why. However, when one of the guests turns up dead, everyone is on edge and don't know who they can trust in The Murder Game by Janice Harrell. The Murder Game by Janice Harrell is a young adult novel that I read as a teen. I remember being completely on edge the entire book and was taken by surprise when the killer was revealed. When I decided to reread this book as an adult, I didn't remember much about it other than what I've already mentioned. What I enjoyed about reading it as an adult is that Janice Harrell did a nice job of laying out motive of several of the characters and giving clues as to who the killer was, and as an adult, I was able t...

While recently in my local Sally Beauty Supply store to buy something else, I decided to see if they still had a particular product in stock that I had noticed the last time I was there. I made my way over to the nail care aisle, and low and behold, the nail polish strips I loved were there. There were two different color selections of Dashing Diva Gloss Ultra Shine Gel Palette that I couldn't decide between, so I decided to buy both. The first color I decided to try out was the Palm Beach palette because I was absolutely in love with the colors. These color strips were relatively easy to put on but my biggest complaint is that they pinched together while smoothing them out on my nails leaving a bump. Following the directions to get the excess strip off, I was dismayed to see that it made the edges of my nail strip very rough. Using the file the way they recommended, I filed my nails into the shape I like. However, it left the nail strip a bit bubbly at the edges. Overall, I was v...