Book Review: You and Me and Why We Are In Love

Author: Aurelia Alais
Title: You and Me and Why We Are In Love
Publisher: Penguin
Publish Date: January 2, 2018
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: A quirky collection of illustrated vignettes about love in its many forms

Like all great ideals, Love—the kind written with a capital letter—often seems elusive. So then maybe it's better, as Aurelia Alcaïs does, to talk about the kind written in lower case, the more intimate kind of love, the kind that intertwines with our lives and creeps into the cracks of the everyday.

With simple and elegant illustrations, You & Me & Why We Are in Love tells us about love in all its forms, not concerning itself with who or what you love, but above all, how you love. There's the requited love that Daisy has for nature, and then there's David who buys flowers for his wife of twenty years, not to mention Jean, the punk rocker who is secretly looking for a girl who is just like his grandmother.

Oddly charming and surprisingly sweet, You & Me & Why We Are in Love is the perfect impulse purchase for anyone engaged in matters of the heart.

Review: This is a cute little coffee table book of vignettes about love with some really quirky drawings.

The book is only 90 pages long.

The vignettes are really funny. The drawings are bizarre. Its the kind of book that you leaf through from time to time. It isn't necessary to read it all at once, though if you do, it won't take you very long.

I loved some of Aurelia's takes on different kinds of love were really funny, while some of them were definitely out there.

This is definitely a book to pass around when you have company, so you can share in its silliness.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Woman In The Window

About The Woman in the Window

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (January 2, 2018)

“Astounding. Thrilling. Amazing.” —Gillian Flynn

“Unputdownable.” —Stephen King

“A dark, twisty confection.” —Ruth Ware

“Absolutely gripping.” —Louise Penny

For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French comes one of the decade’s most anticipated debuts, to be published in thirty-six languages around the world and already in development as a major film from Fox: a twisty, powerful Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house.

It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review: I'm not usually one that jumps on the bandwagon for the latest greatest books, but this one absolutely doesn't disappoint.  I have been hearing so much about this since the beginning of the year.

I've usually been left disappointed by thrillers that get a lot of hype. Gone Girl's ending made me scream.

When I started The Woman In The Window, I wasn't sure what I was getting into. It doesn't really read like your average thriller, at least not right away, but when the story takes off, it really does.

I don't have words for how good this book was. Grab a bottle of wine..and start this book, and you won't put it down until its finished because Anna's story is that fabulous, especially if you want to be on the edge of you seat!

This is really Anna's story and though the interaction with the neighbors plays a huge part in this story, its Anna and her Agoraphobia that propel the story along. It takes quite a while for the reader to learn all of Anna's story which leaves you with a lot of pity and sadness for this character.

I loved the twists and turns that keep the reader from knowing what is really going on with Anna and her neighbors and even more so with the situation with her husband and daughter.

My heart broke for Anna and her frustrations. I wanted to help her and get her back into the world. In fact, more than the mystery, I wanted her healed.

This is one of those books that will stick with you throughout the year and will leave you breathless when the last page has turned.

Rating: 5 flowers

About A. J. Finn

A. J. Finn has written for numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Times Literary Supplement (UK). A native of New York, Finn lived in England for ten years before returning to New York City.

Follow Finn on Twitter and Facebook.

Book Review: The Proving

Author: Beverly Lewis
Title: The Proving
Publisher: Bethany House
Publish Date: Sept 5, 2017
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Amanda Dienner hasn't seen her Old Order family in five years when she receives word that her mother has passed away and left her Lancaster County's most popular Amish bed-and-breakfast. Now an Englisher, Mandy is shocked: Her twin sister should have been the obvious choice! What's more, the inheritance comes with a catch: The farmhouse inn will only truly be hers if she is able to successfully run it for twelve consecutive months.

Mandy accepts the challenge even though it means returning to Gordonville and the painful memories she left behind at eighteen. Still, she's determined to prove she is more than capable of running the bed-and-breakfast, no matter that its loyal clientele are expecting an Amish hostess!

The inn isn't Mandy's sole test, however. Rubbing shoulders with her married twin sister reopens wounds that Mandy isn't ready to forgive. And an Englisher guest with a difficult past of her own just complicates matters.

Can Mandy fulfill the terms of her inheritance? Or will this year in Amish country prove a dreadful mistake?

Review: I've been a fan of Beverly Lewis for a long time, but more so now that she's started writing more stand alone novels. I wasn't a big fan of her cliffhangers when she wrote trilogies.

The Proving is really a lovely story of forgiveness and coming back home for Amanda Dienner. Its a story of starting over for the Englischer, Trina Sutton.

Both characters have their own problems. I found Trina to be hard to deal with with at times. She was a bit of a perfectionist which can be aggravating at times and when it comes to her patients she was very caring, maybe even too much so, if that's possible.

Then there's Mandy. I struggled with her too. I could understand her feeling of betrayal, but how things got to the point that they were was something I struggled with, especially to the point she took it too and then keeping all her feelings of hurt and anger inside. That's not to say that I couldn't understand why she was hurt, who wouldn't be? It is just the age of the characters that made it hard for me to understand their motives.

I think if we would have had more interaction with Mandy's twin, Arie, throughout the book, that her part of the story would have had more depth. Instead, their relationship, which we are assured was once very close, is shrouded in mystery.

Mandy struggles with the Inn that she's inherited from her mother, but when Trina enters the picture things start to change. Trina is gutsy and well, she opens her mouth and her words aren't always the kindest things, but somehow you know she means well.

I love the romance that blossoms with Trina and one of the other guests at the inn, Gavin. This relationship softens her and helps her heal from the death of her fiance.  It also helps her help Mandy find a way to move forward.

I like that Mandy finds someone in a roundabout way. Karl and his son Yonnie are wonderful.

I expected a little more drama with this book, because that's such a characteristic of a Beverly Lewis novel. This had a more cozy feel to it. The plot ambled along slowly and left me feeling as if there should have been a little something more, especially at the end. Yes, things were tied up and resolved but part of me felt like so much time was wasted over so little, for Mandy and Arie.

Rating: 3 flowers

Book Review: The Promise Between Us

About The Promise Between Us

• Paperback
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (January 16, 2018)

From the bestselling author of The Perfect Son comes a hopeful tale of redemption, renewal, and the promise of love.

Metal artist Katie Mack is living a lie. Nine years ago she ran away from her family in Raleigh, North Carolina, consumed by the irrational fear that she would harm Maisie, her newborn daughter. Over time she’s come to grips with the mental illness that nearly destroyed her, and now funnels her pain into her art. Despite longing for Maisie, Katie honors an agreement with the husband she left behind—to change her name and never return.

But when she and Maisie accidentally reunite, Katie can’t ignore the familiarity of her child’s compulsive behavior. Worse, Maisie worries obsessively about bad things happening to her pregnant stepmom. Katie has the power to help, but can she reconnect with the family she abandoned?

To protect Maisie, Katie must face the fears that drove her from home, accept the possibility of love, and risk exposing her heart-wrenching secret.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review: Have you ever read a book that made you uncomfortable? This is one of those books and I don't mean that in a bad way either.

If you don't know anything about OCD, and I admit that I don't, seeing the behavior Katie displays is unsettling. She has visions of harming her child. These visions get so bad she abandon's her family.

As the story plays out Katie reconnects with her former family and discovers her daughter has OCD as well. Maisie, who is called 'Mazing Maisey by her family, is a sweet girl, probably the most lovable child, I've read about in a book. You want everything to go right for her. You want to fix her.

I found I wanted to do the same for Katie as well. She really came across as broken and she needed some glue to put her pieces back together again. I loved how they worked together to overcome their illness. Katie proved herself to be a good mother, tackling her own demons to help her child.

At first glance, Callum seems like the best dad on the planet. I really started out liking him. By the end of the book I had run a gamut of emotions when it came to him. I think I tolerated him at the end, mostly because of his past.

Lilah is the character I wanted to like but I absolutely couldn't. She was a good woman and a good mother, even though the odds were stacked against her.

I loved how against all odds (cue the Phil Collins song) everyone came together for the best of Maisie and they became one strange family.

I also loved that Katie was able to find her own second chance with Ben.

Barbara's writing really resonates with the reader, and at times I feel like she's a friend, and because sometimes the things the characters said sounded an awful lot like me, especially when Lilah described herself as a Heffalump.  I also liked that Callum, was a Whovian and both he and Maisie were Trekkies. I love me some fictional geeks. 

This book is utterly phenomenal and one that will stick with you long after you've finished it. This book is a must read.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Barbara Claypole White

Bestselling author Barbara Claypole White creates hopeful family drama with a healthy dose of mental illness. Originally from England, she writes and gardens in the forests of North Carolina where she lives with her beloved OCD family. Her novels include The Unfinished Garden, The In-Between Hour, The Perfect Son, andEchoes of Family. The Promise Between Us, a story of redemption, sacrifice, and OCD, has a publication date of January 16^th, 2018. She is also an OCD Advocate for the A2A Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes advocacy over adversity. To connect with Barbara, please visit www.barbaraclaypolewhite.com, or follow her on Facebook. She’s always on Facebook.

Book Review: The Lost Quilter

Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Title: The Lost Quilter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publish Date: March  2009
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson treasures an antique quilt called by three names -- Birds in the Air, after its pattern; the Runaway Quilt, after the woman who sewed it; and the Elm Creek Quilt, after the place to which its maker longed to return. That quilter was Joanna, a fugitive slave who traveled by the Underground Railroad to reach safe haven in 1859 at Elm Creek Farm.

Though Joanna's freedom proved short-lived -- she was forcibly returned by slave catchers to Josiah Chester's plantation in Virginia -- she left the Bergstrom family a most precious gift, her son. Hans and Anneke Bergstrom, along with maiden aunt Gerda, raised the boy as their own, and the secret of his identity died with their generation. Now it falls to Sylvia -- drawing upon Gerda's diary and Joanna's quilt -- to connect Joanna's past to present-day Elm Creek Manor.

Just as Joanna could not have foreseen that, generations later, her quilt would become the subject of so much speculation and wonder, Sylvia and her friends never could have imagined the events Joanna witnessed in her lifetime. Punished for her escape by being sold off to her master's brother in Edisto Island, South Carolina, Joanna grieves over the loss of her son and resolves to run again, to reunite with him someday in the free North. Farther south than she has ever been, she nevertheless finds allies, friends, and even love in the slave quarter of Oak Grove, a cotton plantation where her skill with needle and thread soon becomes highly prized.

Through hardship and deprivation, Joanna dreams of freedom and returning to Elm Creek Farm. Determined to remember each landmark on the route north, Joanna pieces a quilt of scraps left over from the household sewing, concealing clues within the meticulous stitches. Later, in service as a seamstress to the new bride of a Confederate officer, Joanna moves on to Charleston, where secrets she keeps will affect the fate of a nation, and her abilities and courage enable her to aid the country and the people she loves most.

The knowledge that scraps can be pieced and sewn into simple lines -- beautiful both in and of themselves and also for what they represent and what they can accomplish -- carries Joanna through dark days. Sustaining herself and her family through ingenuity and art during the Civil War and into Reconstruction, Joanna leaves behind a remarkable artistic legacy that, at last, allows Sylvia to discover the fate of the long-lost quilter.

Review: I love the Elm Creek Quilters series. I've now read 6 of the 20 books in this series, and they are all top notch reads for me, The Lost Quilter was no different. An old desk with a locked draw uncovers old letters that detail a woman's search for a man. These letters unearth the story of Joanna North

This is the story of a runaway slave and her quest for freedom.

Joanna's story is heartbreaking and moving as we see her as she tries to escape to the north but ends up being caught and returned to her cruel owner.

Most of the Elm Creek novels that I've read are more lighthearted. This book is far from that, though it doesn't go as far as sugarcoating slavery. The reader will witness the cruelty of each of Joanna's masters, as they separate her from those she loves at every turn.

There was a point when Miss Evangaline and her husband are talking about Joanna's unwillingness to go to Charleston with them and her husband says "Negroes don't feel love or sadness the way we do. They may give the appearance of true feeling, but they understand these sensations only in a brute, rudimentary way, such as a dog or horse might." If that doesn't leave you feeling disturbed, then you you have no feeling.

Joanna faces so many hardships, but she manages to rise above it all. She's the strongest character I've read about in ages. She loses so much in her life, while doing so much. I wanted to hug her and take her and her family away.

I found tears in my eyes many times as the story progressed.

Ms. Chiaverini takes a subject that is uncomfortable to read about, and makes it palatable for the masses.

Rating: 5 flowers

Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Vangie Vale & The Strangled Strudel

Vangie Vale & the Strangled Strudel (The Matchbaker Mysteries) by R.L. Syme

Vangie Vale & the Strangled Strudel (The Matchbaker Mysteries) 

Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series 

Setting - Montana Hummingbird Books (January 4, 2018) Print Length: 330 pages 

E-Book ASIN: B077GK124B

You could call it the straw that broke the camel’s back but it was more like a Montana forest timber. Just when Vangie Vale’s life was getting back to normal after a murder that rocked her little Rocky Mountain tourist town, she found herself in the middle of another murder... as the chief suspect.

Vangie stood shocked on the side of the curb as the sheriff stretched yellow crime scene tape around the front of her new bakery. Wouldn’t this make a lovely headline in next week’s paper: Local Baker Kills Parishioner With Pudding. Vangie’s road back to good graces as a part-time pastor was bumpy enough already. This would be a roadblock. Can't have that.

Review: I discovered this series last year, when the first book came out. This is book three in the series and they really keep getting better.

I love the humor in the Vangie books. This time Vangie is prime suspect in another murder. This one happened at her bakery, which makes her staying on the good side of her church people kind of hard.  I have to say that her parish didn't really play a huge part in this story.

A client died after eating a pudding at her bakery. That's just the start of it, as all things point to someone tampering with the pudding that Vangie made.

R.L. Syme has crafted a mystery that will definitely keep you guessing. Karin Dekker isn't a woman that you'd think anyone would want dead, but it seems like members of her family have a lot of secrets. Just when you think that it might be one character, another clue points you in another direction.

All this is going on and Vangie is getting phone calls from people from her past, that she doesn't want to hear from.

I love how the relationships are developing in this story. Vangie is dating Derek now and things are going smoothly for the most part. I also like the fact that Vangie and Sheriff Malcolm have a comfortable friendship too.

This is one cozy that you won't be able to put down.  Heck the other two books were just as good, so go grab them as well, because this series just gets better and better.

Rating: 5 flowers

R.L. Syme is a USA Today best-selling author of cozy mystery and small tow=n romance. She writes cozy culinary mysteries as R.L. Syme and small-town romance as Becca Boyd and. She is a writer of amateur sleuths worth loving and villains worth hating. Lover of fancy cheese, binge-watching, strawberries, and hope. A foodie and a baker herself, Becca grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries passed on by her grandmother. A Tweeter and Pinner of things. She loves to connect with readers via social media.

Author Links: Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bighopesbigheroes/ Facebook Fan Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BeccaNation/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rlsyme/
Twitter: @beck_a_tron
 Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2xux8Ii Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878258.R_L_Syme Purchase Link Amazon a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Past Perfect

Author: Danielle Steel
Title: Past Perfect
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publish Date: Nov 28, 2017
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Sybil and Blake Gregory are the quintessential 21st century power couple: she a cutting-edge interior designer; he a forward-thinking top business analyst. They revel in the privileged, ordered life they lead in Manhattan with their children, teenagers Andrew and Caroline and 6-year-old Charlie. But when Blake accepts a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the CEO of a visionary social media start-up in San Francisco—and then buys a magnificent turn-of-the-20th-century Pacific Heights mansion on impulse—all that will change. Built by the Butterfields, a prominent banking family, abandoned for decades, the grand house retains its exquisite furnishings and aura of long ago elegance. And that’s not all it retains. The modern Gregorys are about to meet their ghostly long ago counterparts….

Review: I never know what to expect when I pick up a book by Danielle Steel. This book sounded like it was going to be fabulous. I actually requested it from my library, I was that desperate to read it.

Then I got started, and I remembered why I don't often read Ms. Steel.

Her writing leaves a lot to be desired. Too much telling of the story and not enough showing, and writing that is on a grade school level.

However I really loved the interactions of the Gregory family and the Butterfields, but the way the "ghosts" were written perplexed me. They didn't know they were ghosts and to those that could see them, they didn't look like ghosts. They had dinner, played games etc just as they had when they were alive. It just didn't fit with my concept of what ghosts would be like. Plus they were reliving their lives from 1917 on. Life events happen as they did for the Butterfields, even though they are dead. (This is so confusing)

I should have expected this, since Ms Steel wrote a forward, that she didn't really care for timeslip, time travel, or ghost stories. (Yet one of her past novels was called "The Ghost". So I'm confused at her reasoning).

The ending is bittersweet and beautiful, giving the family a happily ever after in a strange kind of way.

The Butterfields were a fascinating family. I would have enjoyed a historical novel around their lives, though I think that might have touched a bit too close to Steel's Thurston House in setting.

The premise was so promising, I just wish it would have lived up to it.

Rating: 2 flowers

Book Review: Sugar Queen

Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Title: Sugar Queen
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: May 20, 2008
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: In this irresistible novel, Sarah Addison Allen, author of the New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.

Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.

Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.

Review:  I picked up The Sugar Queen because I loved the cover. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I totally understand all the love for Sarah Addison Allen. Her characters are a little freaky and flawed but you really come to love them. Well, except maybe Josey's mother, even when you find out her whole story, it is very hard to even feel a bit of pity. She's just a bitter woman.

Della is the woman in the closet who is way more than just that. I loved her. She was so deliciously messed up, but in a way that brings Josey out of her self imposed shell. Her suggestions bring a new friend into her life and even help her with her crush on the mailman. I also loved how she holed up in a closet and threatened to expose Josey's "sweet stash" if she kicked her out.

As Della instigates Josey, she becomes more independent and she starts to defy her mother. (Lord knows she deserves to)

Then there is Chloe. She was fabulous. I loved how books played a special part of her life. When Josey comes into her life she had just thrown her longtime boyfriend out after he had a fling. Her character really helps tie things together with Della and her ex-boyfriend, who Chloe becomes involved with on the rebound in hopes he'll tell her who Jake had a fling with.

I can't omit Adam and Jake, both men in the story are very lovable. Adam has his own secrets and Jake though he screwed up badly is a good man.

These character are people you want good things to happen to. I liked some of the similarities between Jake and Josey's families. It reminds us that even people we admire often have flaws and aren't quite what they seem.

This is a book full of twists and turns and of friendship and finding yourself. This is a book not to be missed

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: The Rose Girls

Author: Victoria Connelly
Title: The Rose Girls
Publisher: Lake Union
Publish Date: June 1, 2014
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Thirty-year-old Celeste Hamilton’s life is at a crossroads: she has just left a disastrous marriage, and her estranged mother has recently died, leaving the family’s rose business in jeopardy. Reluctantly, Celeste returns to the family home, a moated manor house in Suffolk, to help her two younger sisters sort out the estate and revive the business.

Having endured the fallout from her mother’s Narcissistic Personality Disorder when she was younger, Celeste is filled with self-doubt and crippling insecurities. But she must find the strength and courage to take charge and make some tough decisions to keep the old house from falling down around them.

The Rose Girls is an uplifting, tender and romantic story of courage, perseverance and the healing power of family.

Review: The Rose Girls is the story of three sisters who are trying to save the family rose business and the family home, which is crumbling around them.

Celeste, Gertie and Evie all have their secrets and all have been adversely affected by their mother's narcissistic personality disorder, but in different ways.

I enjoyed the story, especially as the sisters became closer to one another, but Gertie and Evie had such problems, that this book should have been longer to address how they came to be where they were at this point in their lives, and with Celeste, I would have liked to have known more about her failed marriage.

Where I liked all the sisters, I did find the story flat in that respect. Even when it came to displaying how their now deceased mother was really horrible, I would have liked more backstory when it came to the other sisters. She treated them all badly, but you really only see how bad through Celeste's memories.

Then there was Julian. He's the man in charge of selling the paintings. He had feelings for Celeste and his brother has the same issue has their mother. His feelings are so obvious, but Celeste keeps him at arms length and almost wrecks her chances with him.

I wanted more from these relationships, only Evie's wasn't disappointing, but at least two of the three sisters had a happily ever after.

The real star of the show is Esther, a tenant in the cottage at the manor, who they move into the main house. She's a lovable curmudgeon. I loved how she really brought the sisters together.

I was happy about the final outcome for the manor. I found myself wanting to shout suggestions to the sisters many times throughout the book.

This was a lovely read to pass the time. It was good, but not spectacular.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: Sisters Like Us

About Sisters Like Us

Paperback: 432 pages

Publisher: MIRA (January 23, 2018)

The grass is always greener on your sister’s side of the fence…

Divorce left Harper Szymanski with a name no one can spell, a house she can’t afford and a teenage daughter who’s pulling away. With her fledgling virtual-assistant business, she’s scrambling to maintain her overbearing mother’s ridiculous Susie Homemaker standards and still pay the bills, thanks to clients like Lucas, the annoying playboy cop who claims he hangs around for Harper’s fresh-baked cookies.

Spending half her life in school hasn’t prepared Dr. Stacey Bloom for her most daunting challenge—motherhood. She didn’t inherit the nurturing gene like Harper and is in deep denial that a baby is coming. Worse, her mother will be horrified to learn that Stacey’s husband plans to be a stay-at-home dad…assuming Stacey can first find the courage to tell Mom she’s already six months pregnant.

Separately they may be a mess, but together Harper and Stacey can survive anything—their indomitable mother, overwhelming maternity stores and ex’s weddings. Sisters Like Us is a delightful look at sisters, mothers and daughters in today’s fast-paced world, told with Susan Mallery’s trademark warmth and humor.

“Fresh and engaging… There’s a generational subtext that mirrors reality and the complexities of adult relationships…filled with promise of a new serial that’s worth following.” -Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Mallery enthralls [and] thoroughly involves readers in the lives of her characters as they face realistic, believable problems and search for their own happy endings.” -Publishers Weekly

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: I think I have a thing for dysfunctional family novels right now. Its hard to get more dysfunctional than the two sisters Harper and Stacey and Harper's daughter Becca. If you toss mom Bunny into the mix, you get one heck of a looney family.

Harper and Stacey are probably the most different sisters I've read about. Harper is maternal, people pleasing and a perfectionist and Stacey is...well, at times she seems like a female version of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory.

I had a hard time figuring out how Stacey went 6 months without telling her mother that she was pregnant. Granted, Bunny is not the mother we'd all want. She's definitely not the most likable character, and lord knows I could understand not wanting to tell her, but dang..how can you hide something like that.

I loved how Stacey gained mothering skills while still remaining the same nerdy awkward woman. Her husband, Kit was fabulous, a real "Mr. Mom." Kit's nephew Ashton is a nice addition to the mix and his relationship with Becca helps the two young people grow. Ashton is definitely more mature, but as you learn his background, that makes a lot of sense. He also seems to help Stacey grow into her motherhood. You know she's not going to be a perfect mom, but Ashton brings out her nurturing side.

Becca is Harper's daughter and she's going through everything a teenage girl goes through. OK, maybe not when it comes to inheriting her aunts doberman's and her car. The dogs, are character's unto themselves. I loved them all!

I had the most issues with Harper. She just tried too hard to be perfect. It was hard to deal with her, even though she really did nothing wrong. Well, except be too nice, especially to Bunny who was a piece of work. I really think Bunny needs a book of her own so we can understand her craziness.

Then there's Lucas. I started out loving him, even though he has women issues, but he did two things that ticked me off and by the end of the book I was ready to shake Harper. I didn't care that this was a romance and she was the one that needed a happily ever after. What he did to get Harper and how he messed things up were deal breakers for me. I did like how easily Harper took him back

This is the fourth book in the Mischief Bay series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Harper and Stacey are quirky...ok, weird, but fun and lovable. I was quickly immersed in their lives and I didn't want to leave Mischief Bay

Rating: 4 flowers

Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Survival of the Fritters

Survival of the Fritters (A Deputy Donut Mystery) by Ginger Bolton

 

Survival of the Fritters (A Deputy Donut Mystery) 

Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Kensington 

(January 30, 2018) Paperback: 256 pages 

ISBN-13: 978-1496711878 

E-Book ASIN: B071HKMK38

Emily Westhill runs the best donut shop in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, alongside her retired police chief father-in-law and her tabby Deputy Donut. But after murder claims a favorite customer, Emily can’t rely on a sidekick to solve the crime—or stay alive.

If Emily has learned anything from her past as a 911 operator, it’s to stay calm during stressful situations. But that’s a tall order when one of her regulars, Georgia Treetor, goes missing. Georgia never skips morning cappuccinos with her knitting circle. Her pals fear the worst—especially Lois, a close friend who recently moved to town. As evening creeps in, Emily and the ladies search for Georgia at home. And they find her—murdered among a scattering of stale donuts . . .

Disturbingly, Georgia’s demise coincides with the five-year anniversary of her son’s murder, a case Emily’s late detective husband failed to solve before his own sudden death. With Lois hiding secrets and an innocent man’s life at stake, Emily’s forced to revisit painful memories on her quest for answers. Though someone’s alibi is full of holes, only a sprinkling of clues have been left behind. And if Emily can’t trace them back to a killer in time, her donut shop will end up permanently closed for business . . .

Review: I love discovering new cozy mystery series. Survival of the Fritters is the first book in the Deputy Donut series. Its one of the smarter cozy mysteries that I've read.

Emily owns and operates a donut shop with her father in law. Her husband was a police detective, killed in the line of duty.

When a regular goes missing Emily and her friends go searching for her only to find her murdered. She becomes friends with Lois, who was the bff of Georgia, the murder victim.

What made this book stand out for me was the characterization. Emily, Tom, Brent, Lois and even Dep the cat were really well rounded. If an animal is going to be an integral part in a book they should have a personality and they should be more than a prop to the story. Dep definitely had personality.

Lois is another stand out character. She was likable and yet hard to figure out, as a possible suspect or someone close to a suspect. She was a character that really inspired a lot of emotions in the reader. You hurt for her, because she lost her friend and she was trying to protect the nephew that she loved. You were a little wary of her too, because you weren't a hundred percent sure she was honest.

The pacing of the story was a little slow which is the only problem I had with this book, but that's common for first books in a series.

The ending was definitely not what I was expecting, which is a plus for me.  I love it when I can't figure out the killer.

This was a fabulous start to a new series.  There are just enough crazy character and a lot of twists and turn, so it kept everything interesting.

A great read.

Rating: 4 flowers

Ginger Bolton writes the Deputy Donut mystery series--cops, crime, coffee, donuts and one curious cat. When Ginger isn't writing or reading, she's crocheting, knitting, sewing, walking her two rescue dogs and generally causing trouble. She’s also fond of donuts, coffee, and cafes were folks gather to enjoy those tasty treats and one another’s company.

Author Links Webpage: http://gingerbolton.com/ Ginger has joined Killer Characters! http://www.killercharacters.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGingerBolton/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginger_bolton GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16834862.Ginger_Bolton

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Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Kappy King & the Puppy Kaper

Kappy King and the Puppy Kaper (An Amish Mystery) by Amy Lillard

Kappy King and the Puppy Kaper (An Amish Mystery) 

Cozy Mystery 1st in Series 

Setting - Pennsylvania 

Zebra (December 26, 2017) An Imprint of Kensington Books Paperback: 352 pages 

ISBN-13: 978-1420142976 

E-Book ASIN: B06XZQTCQH

Content to be unmarried and plain-spoken, Kathryn “Kappy” King is an odd-woman-out in the Amish community of Blue Sky, Pennsylvania. But she’s skilled at making the special kapps local women need to cover their hair. And she might be the only one who can unearth the danger hiding in this peaceful valley . . .

When Kappy's neighbor, Ruth Peachey, turns up dead in her yard, everyone in Blue Sky believes it’s a tragic accident. Until the Englisch police find the gentle dog breeder was deliberately struck down—and arrest her mentally-challenged son, Jimmy, for the crime . . .

Jimmy’s sister, Edie, returns to Blue Sky clear his name, yet no one will speak to a shunned former Amish woman, much less give her information. Determined to help, Kappy starts digging for the truth among her seemingly-innocent neighbors. But suddenly a series of suspicious “accidents” threatens Edie and the Peachey farm—property Edie is determined to protect for her brother’s future.

Now, as danger looms large in the small community, Kappy must bait a trap for a killer snapping hard at her heels. And Edie must decide whether to make a home once more in the town she thought she’d left behind . . .

Review: I'm a sucker for Amish books and an Amish cozy mystery is probably one of the best things for me.

This book brought me so much joy! It was truly fun and quite different. I've read Amish mysteries before, but never a cozy mystery.

Kappy is a spinster, who makes the "caps" that Amish ladies wear. She's a little bit odd, but she's very lovable

When her neighbor is found murdered and her handicapped son is arrested, Kappy steps in helping out Ruth's daughter Edie find the killer. Edie is under the Bann for leaving the Amish community after being baptized. I'm pretty sure this friendship goes against much of the Amish belief when it came to "shunning" but I loved Kappy and Edie because they were so different. Edie is a bit naive for a woman who has been living away from the Amish for 10 years.

This book was the perfect cozy, full of fun and funny characters that you will fall in love with. Its fast paced and well, once you start reading you won't want to put the book done. I know I didn't.

The way Edie and Kappy went about hunting Ruth's killer was a bit madcap, but it made things more fun.

There weren't many people with a reason to want someone like Ruth dead, so as they checked off suspects things got really interesting. I really wasn't expecting  the killer to be who it was.

I look forward to reading more books about Kappy and Edie, and I kind of hope Edie returns to the fold.

Rating: 5 flowers

Amy Lillard is the award-winning author of more than twenty novels, including the Wells Landing series, The Quilting Circle novels, the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries and the Kappy King Mysteries. Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives with her husband and son in Oklahoma. Please visit her online at www.AmyWritesRomance.com.

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