Bathtime Books

  ★★★★ ☆ This was a thought-provoking and very interesting novel. The story follows the trials of a woman whose ex-husband has illegally and without her knowledge created a clone of her.  While the story is set in a science-fiction parallel world, I found that most aspects of the novel don't deal with the science-fiction. Instead, it is a story of betrayal, heartbreak, growth, and the human spirit. Despite not liking the protagonist, I still ripped through this novel. It was an interesting introspection on the relationships that create us, and the many facets through which we build our visions of ourselves.  The author subtly weaves a narrative that allows the reader to consider how our upbringings shape us and whether we are defined by our natures or nurture. The end of the novel left me filled with foreboding as I felt the main character began to display traits that she had previously despised in her father. I found myself returning to the storyline and the characters m...

★☆ ☆ ☆ ☆  - Don't waste your time 😕 I read this book hoping for some clear pointers on how to improve my leadership skills for my currently middle-management position. I walked away from this book with one page of pretty weak suggestions and the feeling that I wasted a good amount of time. The book which touts how to inspire deep trust and commitment spends about 3/5 of its time failing to give an adequate description of the biological underpinning to what creates great leaders. About 1/5 of the book deals with leading millennials which is probably an unfair amount of time. There were two chapters that held advice that could be followed. The rest of the book was reiterating on four points that I believe are a shallow misunderstanding of the biology behind how we form attachments. If you are looking for clear advice on what you might do to up your team leadership, how you can be a positive leader, how you can manage up, anything concrete  skip this book. It is a total waste of...

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆    I received this book as an advanced reader's copy.  This novel is the twelfth in the Dark Protectors series by Rebecca Zanetti. If you haven't read the prequels, you can still read this novel and mostly understand what is happening. Of course, if you do, you will miss out on much of the character and plot establishment that occurred in previous novels as Zanetti interweaves previous main characters throughout this novel. I have read one or two related novels previously but I'm not following the series. The novel follows the romance of Grace, an enhanced human female, and Adare a vampire/demon. As with most of her previous novels, the chemistry between the two feels a little bit forced but the romantic scenes are spicy. I didn't really like either character much. They were a little flat in my opinion. The plot also left something to be desired. If the main heroine is smart and caring, then why would she not explain her motivations for striking out solo and r...