From Goodreads: "Best friends Annie and Sarah need cash—fast. Sarah, a beautiful, successful lawyer, wants nothing more than to have a baby. But balancing IVF treatments with a grueling eighty-hour workweek is no walk in the park. Meanwhile, Annie, a Harvard-grad chemist recently transplanted to Southern California, is cutting coupons to afford her young autistic son’s expensive therapy. Desperate, the two friends come up with a brilliant plan: they’ll combine Sarah’s looks and Annie’s brains to sell a “luxury” antiaging face cream to the wealthy, fading beauties in Annie’s La Jolla book club. The scheme seems innocent enough, until Annie decides to add a special—and oh-so-illegal—ingredient that could bring their whole operation crashing to the ground."

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

So this one took me forever to get to due to personal life reasons but it was actually a pretty quick read! While there were certain aspects of this book that I did enjoy, the overall book didn't end up being something that I felt was for me, unfortunately. However, I can see where readers that enjoy chick-lit books would definitely enjoy this or someone looking for a quick beach read would absolutely devour this story!

Plot:

Best friends Annie and Sarah are both struggling for money. Annie, a Harvard-grad chemist and recent Southern California transplant, has a son named Oscar who has just been recently diagnosed as autistic and is in need of some extremely expensive therapies. Sarah, a beautiful and successful lawyer, wants nothing more than to have a baby. But trying to balance her intense IVF treatments with her insane eighty-hour work week isn't the easiest thing to accomplish. Desperate for money, the two friends have a bright idea to make a "luxury" anti-aging facial cream to sell to the rich ladies in Annie's La Jolla book club. It's innocent enough, and very profitable, until Annie decides to add an extra- and illegal- ingredient to the mix that could bring the entire operation to the ground.

Crimes Against a Book Club was definitely a funny, easy to read novel that I'm sure a lot of readers will enjoy. The book club aspect kind of fades off after the first chapter or two, so the title kind of threw me off and had my expectations for this way off, but again, still a funny story. I enjoyed reading Annie and Sarah's stories, but not so much the other characters that were also focused on throughout. The plot overall was again, easy to read, and I think readers that enjoy chick-lit books will really enjoy Crimes Against a Book Club. There were parts I liked more than others, mainly those involving Annie and Sarah because they were my favorite characters, but the book was a pretty fun read for me even though the genre wasn't exactly something I would normally reach for. But I really am appreciative of Lake Union for sending this my way because of the fact that I normally would not reach for a book like this, but I ended up picking it up and didn't have the absolute worst time reading it. It was unexpected, and while it wasn't my favorite book in the world, it was a pretty silly, fun, easy read that I really powered through.


Characters:
This book did have multiple characters and would change POV sometimes with every chapter and that's probably my biggest disappointment with Crimes Against a Book Club. I wasn't a really big fan of the other characters simply because they were boring to me. I didn't enjoy any of their personalities or the things they did in their chapters because they all came across as stuck up rich ladies and that just did not do it for me. There were some parts of the other characters perspectives that I did enjoy, parts that were kind of funny and had me laughing out loud, but for the most part they just weren't the type of characters that I like to read about. Maybe it's my age, but they really just felt like stuck up women who had nothing better to do but put on a fake face around the others but then talk poorly about them when one of them (or more) wasn't around. It just wasn't my taste, personally, but there may be people who enjoy those type of characters!

I did feel that Annie, Sarah, and Chloe were the best characters and they were so much fun to read about. The friendship between Annie and Sarah felt so authentic and I loved their interactions with each other so much. Also, despite Chloe's bad parenting, I really enjoyed her character. She was sassy and hilarious and just did what she wanted because that's what she wanted to do. The interactions between those three characters were the best towards the end of the book and I was just smiling and laughing while reading the last few chapters with them in it. I feel like if the book focused solely on those three, it would have been more of a win in my book because they were really what made the book for me, personally. I loved Annie's dedication to helping her son, and Sarah's determination towards having a baby, and how the two women were working so hard to both help their own lives/children, but also helping each other. It really showed some seriously realistic women friendship positivity and that was a really great aspect of this book!

Writing:
The writing was easy to sit down and fly through, so definitely no complaints there. When the POV started switching between characters that I wasn't really enjoying, the writing is something that kept me going. It was very easy to just open the book and fly through a huge chunk of it because Kathy Cooperman's writing was so enjoyable to read. She was able to give each character such a unique voice that while there were so many of them, it wasn't hard to distinguish which character was currently speaking, which I give such high praise to the author for. It's so easy to have your characters voices get lost among each other the more characters there are, but Kathy Cooperman did a great job at making each of her characters unique enough to stand out on their own with no confusion. While I may not have been the biggest fan of this book, the writing alone was enough to make me want to check out more books by this author.

Overall, Crimes Against a Book Club was a good book. While it isn't a genre I would reach for, it was still an enjoyable read. I can see how others may enjoy this more than I did, like I said above, especially if you're a fan of chick-lit. It would definitely be something I would recommend to anyone looking for a quick beach read or something to pick up on a rainy day to lighten up the mood. I think this could even be a great read for a book club!

But from her first fog-filled moments on the manor’s grounds, Eleanor is seized by a sense of impending doom and realizes there’s more to the institution than its reputation of being a haven for creativity. After the arrival of the new fellows—including the intriguing, handsome photographer Richard Banks—she begins to suspect that her predecessor chose the group with a dangerous purpose in mind. As the chilling mysteries of Cliffside Manor unravel and the eerie sins of the past are exposed, Eleanor must fight to save the fellows—and herself—from sinister forces."

Thank you to Ashley Vanicek and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

The End of Temperance Dare opened strong, leaving a creepy and uneasy feeling with the reader, progressed at a mild pace with a few scares here and there, and ends on an alright note. This was definitely a book that gave me the creeps at a few points and I really enjoyed the writing style that the author presented. All in all, this was a successful read that has piqued my interest in more of Wendy Webb's writing!

Plot:
Eleanor Harper has always been drawn to Cliffside Manor though she was never sure why. After years of being a crime reporter, Eleanor suddenly has the opportunity to become to director of an artists' retreat that is held at Cliffside and hopes that it will be a peaceful change from her previous job. But from the very first time she steps foot on the grounds, she feels an impending sense of dread and realizes that there is more to the manor than meets the eye. As the fellows begin to arrive, Eleanor realizes that her predecessor may have chosen the new group with a dangerous purpose in mind. As the mysteries of the manor begin to unravel, Eleanor must fight to save not only the fellows but herself as well from more than just things that go bump in the night.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere that this book had! It left me feeling uneasy and constantly looking over my shoulder and that was a feeling I actually enjoyed. While I do feel that the middle portion of the book unfolded somewhat slowly, I think that it worked for the direction that the story went. The ending wasn't something I was expecting, and it felt like it all happened really fast, but overall I did enjoy this book more than I thought I was going to. It starts off with a creepy opening that really sets the tone for the entire book and it only goes up from there. I enjoyed following Eleanor as she tries to solve the mystery of the group of fellows and why they're all there as well as uncovering the secrets that Cliffside Manor holds. There were so many moments in this book that got me spooked and I just think that the author did a fantastic job setting up the creepy things that happened throughout the story. The End of Temperance Dare flows really well, despite my feeling that the middle slowed down a bit, and gives you a very well rounded story. There were several twists that I honestly did not see coming and I loved finding out everything at the same pace that Eleanor did. I did have a few reservations about some things that were addressed in the story, one being the literal instant attraction she has to one of the fellows and another involving how things were explained towards the end, but I did enjoy the story overall.

Characters:
There was certainly a large cast of characters in this book, but each character felt very unique and well written. I liked Eleanor and how her previous job as a crime reporter aided her in her new job at Cliffside, allowing her to use her investigative skills to help her solve the mystery behind what was happening at the manor. What I liked most about her was her unnatural connection to the manor and I was almost as eager as she was to find out why she felt so connected to this place. I also really enjoyed the manor as a character. It seems odd to say that a building was a character, but I personally felt that it had so much history that it was able to stand on its own as a character. As for the fellows and other manor residents, they were all written very well and stood out amongst each other quite easily, but I wasn't as crazy about them as I was about Eleanor and the manor. Again, each of the characters was enjoyable to read about and I liked them all well enough, but Eleanor really stood out to me the most (I mean, she is the main character) and then the manor just had this thing about it that I was really drawn to.

Writing:
I know I've mentioned it before, but this book had such a creepy feeling all throughout. This was my first experience with Wendy Webb and I was really satisfied with her writing. It draws you in slowly but keeps you hooked with the way she's able to create a feeling of dread and unease that makes you wonder why you're feeling that way. I won't say I was scared, but rather had a constant "someone is standing over your shoulder watching you" feeling as I read. It kept me going, kept me wondering about all of the things that were happening at the manor and to Eleanor. This was a book that I hadn't intended to finish so quickly, but found myself unable to put it down once it was in my hands. If you're looking for a story to send chills slowly up your spine, pick up a Wendy Webb book.

All in all, this was just the book I needed when I didn't know I needed it. It was creepy and held my interest until I was completely finished with the story. The End of Temperance Dare has grabbed me and pulled me into the writing of Wendy Webb and I can't wait to see what other creepy tales she has to tell. Thank you again to Lake Union Publishing for sending me a copy of this book and be sure to pick it up when it releases on 06 June 2017!

About The Halo Effect:

A Conversation with Anne D. LeClaire