Gold Medal Murder (Nancy Drew GD and The Hardy Boys UB Super Mystery #4) by Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon

Title: Gold Medal Murder

Series: Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers Super Mystery

Author: Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon

Release Date: July 6, 2010

Publisher: Aladdin

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★★★☆☆

Synopsis:

When a world-famous Olympic swimmer is sabotaged during the Summer Games, Nancy Drew, her friends, and the Hardy brothers have their work cut out for them after they decide to investigate the scandal. Can they find out who wants the swimming superstar to sink, or are they in water over their heads?

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My Review:

Good ole Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers and Nancy Drew: Girl Detective.

It's been a while since I've last picked up a Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Super Mystery. I've always enjoyed reading about them together. I've read most of the super mysteries in that series, with #5 Bonfire Masquerade being the first one.

Based on the reviews I read for this one, I can't believe I thought of skipping it! It was actually not bad. From what I remember, one reviewer on Amazon mentioned that the old Nancy Drew would be gasping in shock at herself in this book, which prevented me from picking it up in the first place. They made it sound like she was really bad or something. Well, I didn't see anything wrong with Nancy in that one. Other than that one part when she thought about that one woman who was rude to her, I hope she slipped in her own puddles! The Nancy I know is kind whether someone is nice to her or not. But, as I understand that Nancy is human, it did not bother me.

Also, there wasn't much swearing. Joe only used the D word, like, a few times.

Note to the cover art people: Beautiful cover, but Nancy is reddish-blonde.

The Hardys and Nancy solve a mystery in LA in Gold Medal Murder.

While Nancy goes to LA to support her friend Lexi in the Olympics, the Hardys get an assignment from ATAC to protect the champion swimmer, Scott Trevor, who's been receiving threats. Lexi happens to be Scott's girlfriend, and she's also been recieving death threats. While Joe is Scott's assistant, Frank is posing undercover as a fan. The Hardys and Nancy team up to solve the mystery.

I enjoyed the description of LA; it sounded like a beautiful city, and it made me want to go there one day.

I really liked Vijay, the ATAC agent. I think I recall having seen him in previous Undercover Brothers, but rarely. Glad got to see more of him in this book. He was really cool.

As someone who kind of ships Joe and Bess, I enjoyed their minor interaction in this book. I think they would make a cute couple.

"You guys did this?" said Joe. "I love a girl who knows her way around an engine!" He wiggled his eyebrows at Bess, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

While I enjoyed Gold Medal Murder, to be honest, I wouldn't say it was the best. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I felt like not much happened. Near the ending was suspenseful, but the ending was rushed. Also, it was not clear who bombed Nancy's car and why. It was not relevant to the story.

Overall, it was good, and I'm glad I picked it up and gave it a chance.

The Disappearance (Hardy Boys Adventures #18) by Franklin W. Dixon

Title: The Disappearance

Series: Hardy Boys Adventures

Author: Franklin W. Dixon (pen name)

Release Date: February 19, 2019

Publisher: Aladdin

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★★★☆☆

Synopsis:

It’s a case of hidden identities for brother detectives Frank and Joe in the in the eighteenth book in the thrilling Hardy Boys Adventures series.

The Hardy brothers and Frank’s new girlfriend, Jones, are attending a local comic book convention on the shore. They meet up with Jones’s friend Harper, a fellow comics super fan, on the boardwalk outside the convention. The four of them spend hours running from booth to booth and end the perfect day with pizza at Harper’s short-term rental apartment.

Things don’t stay so perfect, though. On the way home, Jones realizes she switched phones with Harper by accident and she is getting some really scary texts. When they show up at the apartment the next day, they find it totally destroyed and Harper is missing.

Frank and Joe start digging into their new friend’s life, hoping to find out where she might have gone, but the more they find out about her, the more mysterious she becomes. Can Frank and Joe find this secretive character? Or has she disappeared forever?

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My Review:

It's been a while since I've last picked up a Hardy Boys Adventures.

With its intriguing, catching cover, ever since its release, I've been wanting to pick up The Disappearance for a long time.

In this installment of the Hardy Boys Adventures series, the Hardys' friend, Harper, goes missing. The mystery was fishy. Before she disappeared, Harper was acting strange at the comic book convention. Looking around her like she was afraid of someone. We notice that about her right away as soon as we meet her. As someone who loves geeking out, I enjoyed the description of the comic book convention. Then the next day, when the Hardys returned to her apartment to return her phone, she was missing and her apartment was ransacked!

Harper was a mysterious character. After she disappeared, the Hardys find out fishy things about her. Who was she?

The Disappearance intrigued me until the end.

While I enjoyed The Disappearance, I've only got a few comments.

• Isn't Joe 17? Earlier in the book, it mentioned that he was around 16.

• Being into things like comics doesn't suit Frank. Isn't it more of a Joe thing? (I'm not sure if the author read the Hardy Boys before)

• I didn't like Jones, Frank's girlfriend. I felt like she was in the way of the Hardys, and I hated that there were a few times when Frank acted okay with the fact that she can be a replacement for Joe in the sleuthing. Frank annoyed me in that! That was not Frank!

• The cover didn't match the story. The cover may be intriguing and exciting, but it didn't happen in the story.

  
  

  Overall, while I enjoyed The Disappearance, it wasn't the best Hardy Boys I've ever read.

Rightfully Ours by Carolyn Astfalk

Title: Rightfully Ours

Author: Carolyn Astfalk

Release Date: April 26, 2017

Publisher: Full Quiver Publishing

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★★★★☆

Synopsis:

A coming-of-age story of first love, buried treasure, and discovering some things are worth the wait.

Sixteen-year-old Paul Porter’s relocation to Pennsylvania is a temporary move during his dad’s deployment. Or so he and his brother think, until devastating news lands on their doorstep.

Paul’s new home with the Muellers provides solace, especially in the form of Rachel, his friend and confidante. Their abiding friendship deepens as they work side by side to uncover what could be lost treasure.

Will they acquire the strength of character and virtue to take only what rightfully belongs to them or are they in way over their heads, with more than a few lost artifacts at stake?

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My Review:

My first book by this author.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a big romance reader, but I really liked this one. With a lot of the YA romances that are in the market these days, this is different. No words can describe how impressed I was by this book. A lot to say, I don't know how to start. I initially picked this book up for the fact that it has brothers, but because this is obviously a romance novel, the brothers wasn't the main focus. Despite that, I still enjoyed it, though. It was a sweet story.

Carolyn Astfalk's Rightfully Ours is a coming-of-age YA Christian romance that follows two teens, Paul and Rachel, who fall head over heels for each other and must be careful not to get ahead of themselves. Since it's a Christian romance, it was not only clean, but it acknowledges the fact that s*x is strictly reserved for married couples only. As a Muslim, I was IMPRESSED. It may be Christian, but it's almost similar to the values we have in Islam. It was not perfect since there were a lot of kisses here and there before marriage, but then, what do I expect? This is not a Muslim romance, but it's way better than the other romance books that are out there in the market these days.

The intense scene when Rachel got hurt while she and Paul were digging for treasure in their secret garden... This book shows us the meaning of true love.

Sean is a good brother; I loved how he advises Paul against s*x before marriage.

While I really enjoyed Rightfully Ours, there were only a few things that threw me off. The repetition; it was repeated many times how much Paul and Rachel loved each other and how they longed to be together and kissed each other every chance they got, we got it! Then there was this part when, after Rachel got better after the accident, Paul thanked God, but he also thanked his dead father. We should NEVER associate partners with God. That is considered shirk in our religion. Also, I was really hoping to see more interaction between Paul and Sean.

Overall, even though there was not much brother stuff, I really enjoyed it. Religious or not, I would recommend it to those who are in a relationship and to romance readers. Rightfully Ours is a good replacement for most of the romance books these days.