Savannah Perkins has always loved the animal shelter her father started in memory of her mother. It’s been her life’s work and a peaceful place for her to care for him.

But it’s a hard living, and volunteers have gotten hard to come by.

Until Luke.

No one was more surprised by Luke Southard’s arrival in Applebottom than his father. Mayor T-bone had no idea he had a son.

While Luke waits on the local veterinary school to accept his transfer, the town suggests he help out at the shelter.

But some of the local boys take issue with his closeness to Savannah, blaming him for vandalism around town. When the new vet school refuses him, Luke figures he’s overstayed his welcome.

It will take some quick thinking by the town to help Luke and Savannah realize that in each other, they’ve found their perfect shelter.

A Little Hotel in Cornwall

by Laura Briggs

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

And when I opened its cover and read the first page, I began a passionate love affair with its words. I fell into that story and didn’t come up for air. I drowned in its world for three whole days and came back to life after the last sentence, a little part of me wishing I was still there.

He pretended to flex his muscles beneath the sleeves of his jacket. “Please, I haven’t eaten lunch yet,” said the other one. “Your muscles will remind me of hard-boiled eggs.”

I was going to have to ring the antique bell on the desk, which I hated doing — there’s something so impatient about ringing service bells. That annoying little peal that has two tones — ‘come now’ and ‘still waiting.’

My Review:

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

French people spoke fast generally, but the added excitement of imparting misfortune that had occurred to someone else made them talk at breakneck speed.

‘Angxious’ messages, as Mark would have described them, being a mixture of concern-induced anger and anxiety.

“I sometimes wonder if she’s after my husband,” murmured Lottie, only half-joking, as Roger and Madame laughed heartily over a lame joke he’d cracked. “I think you’re safe. She’s got more facial hair than he has.” Martha couldn’t stop the uncharitable but true remark slipping out.

 My Review:

This was my fourth exposure to Stephanie Dagg’s amusing prose. I always enjoy her wry humor and comfortable storytelling, regardless of the unusual conditions of the murder victims her main character of Martha seems destined to encounter in this pleasantly entertaining cozy mystery. Martha was a highly relatable and realistically drawn character whom I enjoyed getting to know. Adding to my reading pleasure, I also picked up a few new additions to my Brit word list with two having the same meaning – todger and John-Thomas are both slang for penis; and rosbif – which the Urban Dictionary defined as a derogatory term for a Brit by the French, “probably because of the enjoyment and pride the English take in their roast beef.”

The Library of Lost and Found
by Phaedra Patrick

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Martha’s cheeks began to burn. If she touched them with a wet finger they might hiss.

“He said he liked your traumatic reading.” Martha hoped she meant dramatic reading.

“Is it true he was on board that fishing boat, that cat’s-eyed?” “Capsized?”

“We’ll just do a little trim,” Suki said. The bells on her ankle bracelet jingled as she circled Martha, peering into her hair as if she was looking for eggs in a large bird’s nest.

“Sometimes putting things to rest from your past can be catholic.” “Do you mean cathartic?”

I’m having a crustacean section next week.” “A cesarean?” … “The baby is lying in a beach position.” “Do you mean breach?”

My Review:

Ms. Patrick taunted me with her cunning and maddeningly paced story, I reviled this family – they were simply heinous. I enjoyed the cleverly placed use of the levity the amusing quirk of Suki’s poor auditory discrimination and confused vocabulary skills, which helped to counteract and ease the frustrating and prevalent miasma of angst and oppression. I deeply despised the selfish and abhorrent Machiavellian father as well as the mousy mother who allowed it – which was equally as vile, as was the manipulative and favored younger sister. I wanted to administer some foot to posterior therapy to those three.   Yet, despite my irritation, I could not stop reading.

I adored Zelda, the colorful and unconventional Nana, although I had no pleasant thoughts for the rest of them – as they were all conniving and disingenuous conspirators. I was taut with tension and grinding my teeth, but I was invested and entrenched, and could not leave my Kindle for more than a few minutes.

I was impatient and greatly annoyed with the spineless main character of Martha for not only rolling over and allowing her continual subjugation but extended her servitude to every Tom, Dick, and Harry she knew. She permitted herself to be treated like a doormat and willingly gave her power away, which is an issue I have very little patience with.   Yet, I could not walk away and leave her story hanging.

I was frustrated, bitterly antagonized, and fully vexed; yet I had to see where this aggravating tale was going. I was hooked, intrigued, and ruthlessly curious about a deeply buried thirty-year-old secret about Nana. I am delighted and pleased with myself now for sticking with it, as the last few chapters ushered in a totally unexpected, stoical, laconic, and quietly observant hero, as well as writing so poignant that my vision was inexplicably blurred and an odd wetness seemed to be leaking from my eyes while I simultaneously experienced an uncomfortable squeezing in my chest and the sensation of several hot rocks in my throat. What madness! This was my first experience of the unpredictably wily skills of Phaedra Patrick – she is a crafty one.

Favorite Quotes:

Squeezing in to a gap at the bar, I dug a ten-pound note out of my handbag and waited until I finally caught the attention of the young man behind the bar. Again, in days gone by I might have been tempted to pop a button on my blouse and lean forward to see if I could get served more quickly, but these days my bras were less a feat of construction, pushing my wares up and out with their scaffolding, and instead were more comfortable and practical. I tried to pretend that buying them in black was enough to keep them from being boring but it probably wasn’t true.

I’m a child psychologist. And no, that doesn’t mean that I have all of the answers when it comes to bringing up my own child. It just means I have more insight into where I’ve gone wrong.

My Review:

I greatly enjoy stumbling upon books featuring mature professional or established women facing significant life transitions or epiphanies, and such was the case for Karen – teacher, recently betrayed and abandoned wife, and somewhat of an unsociable loner – being dragged out by her only friend on her fortieth birthday. Her party attendees were limited to a few of her vaguely familiar fellow teachers who had required the incentive of a free meal and drinks to attend a celebration in her honor, ouch. Ms. Pearl’s amusing writing style was observantly insightful and often ironically humorous and fairly balanced in emotional tone with entertaining storylines which were easy to follow and relevant to many. Her characters were an interesting, authentic, and quirky mix of realistically flawed personalities with relatable traits and issues. And score, I noticed a new phrase for my Brit word list with “gee myself up,” which Mr. Google implied is to encourage and lift someone’s spirits.