Cornerstone

Josie Jameson #3

by Jennifer L. Hotes

“A dark, supernatural adventure with Josie Jameson at the epicenter as she discovers her gift is also her curse.”

At first glance, Josie Jameson seems like a typical Seattle teen. She attends a preppy high school, has a cute boyfriend, and in a few weeks she’ll learn how to drive a car. But she also hides a secret.

Josie has a stone embedded in her heart, well technically eleven stones. They connect her to witches that are scattered across the globe. The stones reek of evil. Corrupted by centuries of lies and deceits and misdeeds, Josie is tasked with cleansing the stones. But how?

As tempting as it is to hide her head in the sand, Josie has to face the facts. She doesn’t know how to use her magic. She hasn’t found a way to block the other witches. She can’t figure out how to erase the black marks that keep appearing across her skin. She is clueless.

If only her mother were still alive, then Josie would have answers. But Sarah Jameson died with her secrets stitched beneath her ribs. No, Josie is on her own. In fact, she’s never felt more alone in her life. Her powers have scared off her best friends, they’ve turned her into a pathological liar, and have made her reckless as she fights to get her life back.

Josie must find answers fast. The other witches are getting downright vicious. They are using the magic to scare, torture, and threaten her: proof that the stones are growing more evil by the day. Time is running short.

Set in rainy Seattle, the third installment of the Josie Jameson mystery series is a juicy conclusion. Readers will watch through their fingers as Josie struggles to find her way and hold their breath in hopes she will survive.

325 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2019

About the author

Raised across the river from a nuclear reactor, Jennifer thought two-headed animals at the county fair were normal until she moved to the big city. Jennifer has been looking at the world through a cracked kaleidoscope since she was born and has been writing since her parents pushed her crib against a blank wall.

She would give her last possession for a bowl of gumbo from Disneyland's New Orleans Square and tries to run five days a week.

Fortunate enough to marry her best friend, she and her husband reside in Seattle and the proud parents of two strong, fierce daughters.

Reviews

[Debbie Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as part of an ARC review. Josie has healed from her surgery but finds out that she has a huge task in front of her. Only Seth stays by her side at least figuratively when he has to go on a family vacation. The stone in her chest is the same one her mother had and was originally Agatha's. Josie's task is to cleanse the other eleven stones even though she is only fifteen. Unfortunately no one told her the other witches could attach her remotely or about the Brotherhood. It does let her know how to cleanse the stones once Josie masters her magic. There is a bit of confusion of who is evil in the case of Bain or Agatha. When Seth returns home he joins Josie as her protector. Josie and Seth and eventually a new friend Charlie who is a stone witch as well managed to cleanse the stones. Seth in his role as protector sent both of Bain's stones to Ireland to be buried with her. This stops Bain's attacks on Josie. This is a very good book and series and I would highly recommend them.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This final installment (or are more to come?) of the Josie Jameson series delves even deeper into the supernatural. Chosen (by whom or why we never know) to cleanse all the heart stones, Josie faces the worst evil and danger she has ever faced.

For me this book just got too strange. I don’t mind some supernatural and magic in stories, but this was just a little over the top. I enjoyed the story, and I liked the characters but there was too much that was unexplained and a little outrageous. I never understood why all these women got the heartstones to begin with. Why would anyone put a random rock in their chest? And there were never medical side effects? It’s just all too weird. The series started out well enough, but then went further and further into the unbelievable. I was left a little disappointed.

I received a free copy of this book from Hidden Gems and have voluntarily left this review.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Josie and her friends since the first edition of Four Rubbings, and this latest book did not disappoint. I found myself just enough spooked by the story to be fun and was happy to receive the book over a few days off so I could stay with the characters for a few days.

[coco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was… unsure going into this book. I had signed up for a review copy because it looked mildly interesting, I was out of books, and all my Edelweiss and Netgalley requests were pending. It looked decently entertaining, and it was advertised as a mystery, which immediately caught my eye.

Cornerstone is the third stand alone novel in a series. Now, as it’s advertised as “stand alone” I figured I’d be fine never having heard of, much less read, the first two books. I was wrong.

I don’t want to bash that part of the book too hard because had I read the previous books I likely would have been fine, but if the book is advertised as “stand alone” it should stand alone. It felt like there was a ton of events and just general information that was missing and was likely introduced in the other books. Josie kept alluding to things I had never heard of, and her tone suggested that I ought to have heard of them before. It’s supposedly a stand alone book, but it didn’t feel like it was.

Ok, next -> I. Can’t stand. The characters.

This is a HUGE problem, especially when you’re someone like me whose favorite part of a book is usually the characters. I love a good character arc. Most of the characters in this book were irritating or forgettable. Josie is forgettable. She honestly doesn’t have any defining characteristics that I can think of, aside from the stones. Her friends are all irritating. Seth feels needy and controlling and worst of all, condescending. Everything he says seems patronizing.

Charlie is the only one I find even a bit likable, and even then her story arc just seems… unrealistic. She returns to her parents after being away for what? Five years? And she fits right back in, no questions asked. Nuh uh. I don’t buy it.

Ok I’m done being irritated, and the plot was halfway decent, I suppose.

The thing about the plot was it was neither good nor bad. It felt kind of… flat. Nothing really happened and it was super linear. There are things that are introduced and then dropped, never to appear again, which I found very strange.

The ending was too perfect, and the mini cliffhanger at the end is not ominous enough for me to want more, but obvious enough to irritate me. I do like the general premise of the book. I think the whole stone witch thing is pretty cool, and it’s a world I think in a different context I might be more interested in. Despite tons of stuff happening in this book, it just wasn’t that interesting.

This book wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t good either. I think there are a lot of books like this out there. If you REALLY need something to read, this book would be an okay choice, but there are tons of more interesting books.

A huge thank you to Hidden Gems Books for providing this DRC in exchange for an honest review.