maegan mariee

You probably won't be surprised, but I love Matt Nathanson.

And so does my mom. So our thing is that we like to go and see him as often as possible. His own tour for his new album is probably going to start soon. Maybe November. However, he was opening for O.A.R. at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom last week and we obviously had to go. He only played 15 - 20 songs, but Matt is the kind of performer that always gives a good show and we were not disappointed.

For me, Matt is a connection that my mother and I have. We share a lot of things and talk all the time, but we both enjoy seeing Matt and I love that it's become a kind of tradition for us. We've only seen him live twice, together, (she saw him open for Sugarland a few years back), but you can bet your bottom dollar that we'll be seeing him again!

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Ah, a nice weekly summary to catch up and list out everything I've been up too. I feel like I've been posting a lot of the same things lately, and while it doesn't bother me, I hope you're not getting too bored! I thought a summary would be a quick break from the piles of book posts I've been doing!

• Those posts aren't done with though! I've been reading A LOT. I'm nine books ahead of my reading goal for the year and it's really all I've been doing lately. There are so many books I want to get through that I've just been pushing myself to get going on it. So far, so good!
• This past weekend, I sent it for my passport! My family and I are going to plan to head off to Aruba next year! My first international trip, hopefully, one of many!
• I'm going to be kick starting my fitness goals soon! I've signed up with a new gym that's opening in October. I'm thinking I might do some fitness posts to track my progress. 
• Matt Nathanson concert in just 2. DAYS. I'm so excited to see him live again!
• My savings progress has slowed a bit, as I've been pushing to get some other things done. But my student loans progress is right on schedule and should be completed by the end of the year!
• I recently went through a serious cleaning spree in my office, closet, and bedroom. I got rid of and donated a lot of stuff I haven't used in a long while. It felt like a weight was lifted when I looked around and didn't have all the clutter to worry about!
• My journaling is slow, but still going on. Maybe I'll do an update post?

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"Choices can have serious repercussions, but they have to be made, no matter if they set in motion a steamroller of consequences that will crush us into dust someday."

It's the late 1890's in Victorian London, and somehow the hangman has gotten himself hanged. And not just in a normal, dignified way. But who could have committed such a horrible crime? And what did this hangman know that cost him his life? Sarah Bain and her companions, Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O'Reilly are determined to find out, even though they're just at the crime scene to take photos.

The three of them work for The Daily World, a newspaper owned by a former bank mogul who's desperate to solve this crime, despite the fact that they have no business solving murders. That's never stopped them before however, as the three had 'solved' the Jack the Ripper crimes and even found out who kidnapped their boss's young son. Before the police could even get a whiff. Which makes for quite a few enemies.

There are quite a bit of characters in this book that are incredibly hostile to the trio, it actually made my head spin. Some of them had history with them, from the first two books in this series, and the others were just plain nasty. I suppose when you're trying to solve a murder, people are just like that when you try to ask them questions. I quite liked the mystery here, and it took a lot of twists and turns that were unexpected, especially when it came to Sarah, whose personally history is quite fascinating.

Going into this installment without reading the first two in the series, I found that I wasn't lost or confused at all. The author gave enough information to where I felt like I had just met the three for the first time over tea and had heard brief mentioning's of their adventures in the paper or something similar. This could easily be a standalone. The writing style was easy to follow and I liked that the mystery and story was a little fast paced. The author was descriptive without being overly so.

Some things that did bother me, though I believe it's a little historically accurate, was how people treated Sarah and Hugh. Sarah was sometimes looked down on because she was a woman in an unconventional field of work for the times. And Hugh, well he's been turned away from his family and most of the people he knew because he's gay. The vulgarity directed at the two during some conversations was hard to get through. But if you can handle that, then this is a great mystery for you to get into!

The Hangman's Secret comes out January 8, 2019!

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*Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of this novel!*