Review by ccantolina -- Studs, Tools and Fools
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ccantolina
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- Latest Review: "Studs, Tools and Fools" by Kathleen Hering
Review by ccantolina -- Studs, Tools and Fools
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Studs, Tools and Fools" by Kathleen Hering.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Studs, Tools and Fools by Kathleen Hering is a Mystery/Suspense Romance novel available on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited platform. The setting is based in the author's own home state of Oregon, and is more specifically set in Portland. It is the third and final installment in the Designer Mystery Series following the main character Laura Howard and her unintentional collisions with the Portland Police Bureau.
Studs, Tools, and Fools begins with Laura Howard, an interior decorator working at a construction company, running a simple errand to deposit a refund check at her local bank. In doing so, she becomes a witness to a bank robbery, and falls into assisting a fellow bank customer in taking down the robber. This causes her to once again become acquainted (or reacquainted) with Detectives from the Portland Police Bureau, as in the first two books she met and worked with Detective Chris Pfeifer due to her apparent good fortune in constantly being tangential to the occurrence of crimes. The plot follows Laura Howard, her sexy coworker Russell Graham, and his quirky aunt Esther Graham as they navigate their everyday lives while also working with the police as Laura continues to be a target of increasingly dangerous criminal activity that seems to hit closer and closer to home.
This book by Kathleen Hering was a very quick read. It was not entirely necessary to have read the preceding two books in the series to grasp what was going on, but it may have helped to develop a better connection with the characters of the story. The story itself was pure fluff: a nice read that did not make you think too deeply about what was happening. However, because of that, the writing was also fluff. I did not develop a connection with any of the characters because so much felt skimmed over. Relationships re-developing didn't make me happy, and even the announcement of a marriage (without mentioning whose) almost caused me to yawn. As mentioned before, it was quick and it was enjoyable. But the quickness of the read was mostly due to the author's writing feeling almost as though it was written by someone much younger and immature. There was no scope to the characters, no deep insight into their thoughts, and what was provided was the most basic, and frankly, unemotional dialogue that caused a disconnect between the actions in the plot and what was being said.
While the writing itself left something to be desired, the author did make a very good attempt at some very tongue-in-cheek humor. If better executed, I could see myself as having been rolling around on the floor laughing at some of the scenes. Laura Howard has a very thin filter when it comes to the things on her mind, and that generally contributes to a very entertaining character. Some of the situations she found herself in throughout the story bordered on ridiculous, leaving the reader smiling through situations that should have been tense. Even through the very end, during a situation which, in most romance novels, would have left me misty-eyed and wistful, the characters were cracking jokes and adding a lot of brevity to the situation.
The author is also in need of a good editor, as there were some very glaring grammatical errors that, while not ruining the reading experience completely, did sort of jar you out of the story. Errors such as using "she shuttered" instead of "she shuddered," or the complete lack of proper punctuation in some places, stood out fairly obviously if one just took the time to read the book. For that alone, this book was mildly annoying to read as someone who was just looking to escape with a nice, fluffy romance novel.
I would give this book a tentative 2 out of 4 stars. While it was a cute little story line, calling itself a romantic suspense was mildly stretching the truth. I received neither feelings of suspense nor romance throughout my reading of the entire thing. I felt as though someone was simply telling me a story about their day instead of trying to get me to genuinely connect with their story and care about their characters. It troubles me that I could not sink into the story and feel for the characters as they proceeded through the ups and downs of their plot. Events that should have had me smiling in happiness for them or feeling sad when they experienced grief instead had me mentally shrugging the events off and plodding on through the rest of the book. It certainly needs some work as far as character and plot development goes before I would consider it a recommendable book.
******
Studs, Tools and Fools
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
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Studs, Tools and Fools by Kathleen Hering is a Mystery/Suspense Romance novel available on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited platform. The setting is based in the author's own home state of Oregon, and is more specifically set in Portland. It is the third and final installment in the Designer Mystery Series following the main character Laura Howard and her unintentional collisions with the Portland Police Bureau.
Studs, Tools, and Fools begins with Laura Howard, an interior decorator working at a construction company, running a simple errand to deposit a refund check at her local bank. In doing so, she becomes a witness to a bank robbery, and falls into assisting a fellow bank customer in taking down the robber. This causes her to once again become acquainted (or reacquainted) with Detectives from the Portland Police Bureau, as in the first two books she met and worked with Detective Chris Pfeifer due to her apparent good fortune in constantly being tangential to the occurrence of crimes. The plot follows Laura Howard, her sexy coworker Russell Graham, and his quirky aunt Esther Graham as they navigate their everyday lives while also working with the police as Laura continues to be a target of increasingly dangerous criminal activity that seems to hit closer and closer to home.
This book by Kathleen Hering was a very quick read. It was not entirely necessary to have read the preceding two books in the series to grasp what was going on, but it may have helped to develop a better connection with the characters of the story. The story itself was pure fluff: a nice read that did not make you think too deeply about what was happening. However, because of that, the writing was also fluff. I did not develop a connection with any of the characters because so much felt skimmed over. Relationships re-developing didn't make me happy, and even the announcement of a marriage (without mentioning whose) almost caused me to yawn. As mentioned before, it was quick and it was enjoyable. But the quickness of the read was mostly due to the author's writing feeling almost as though it was written by someone much younger and immature. There was no scope to the characters, no deep insight into their thoughts, and what was provided was the most basic, and frankly, unemotional dialogue that caused a disconnect between the actions in the plot and what was being said.
While the writing itself left something to be desired, the author did make a very good attempt at some very tongue-in-cheek humor. If better executed, I could see myself as having been rolling around on the floor laughing at some of the scenes. Laura Howard has a very thin filter when it comes to the things on her mind, and that generally contributes to a very entertaining character. Some of the situations she found herself in throughout the story bordered on ridiculous, leaving the reader smiling through situations that should have been tense. Even through the very end, during a situation which, in most romance novels, would have left me misty-eyed and wistful, the characters were cracking jokes and adding a lot of brevity to the situation.
The author is also in need of a good editor, as there were some very glaring grammatical errors that, while not ruining the reading experience completely, did sort of jar you out of the story. Errors such as using "she shuttered" instead of "she shuddered," or the complete lack of proper punctuation in some places, stood out fairly obviously if one just took the time to read the book. For that alone, this book was mildly annoying to read as someone who was just looking to escape with a nice, fluffy romance novel.
I would give this book a tentative 2 out of 4 stars. While it was a cute little story line, calling itself a romantic suspense was mildly stretching the truth. I received neither feelings of suspense nor romance throughout my reading of the entire thing. I felt as though someone was simply telling me a story about their day instead of trying to get me to genuinely connect with their story and care about their characters. It troubles me that I could not sink into the story and feel for the characters as they proceeded through the ups and downs of their plot. Events that should have had me smiling in happiness for them or feeling sad when they experienced grief instead had me mentally shrugging the events off and plodding on through the rest of the book. It certainly needs some work as far as character and plot development goes before I would consider it a recommendable book.
******
Studs, Tools and Fools
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: "Studs, Tools and Fools" by Kathleen Hering
