Category: Book Reviews

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Book Review: What She Saw by Diane Saxon @Diane_Saxon @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

What She Saw
by Diane Saxon

Amazon  / B&N  Google

‘An addictive 5* read that kept me guessing. Diane Saxon’s DS Jenna Morgan series is brilliant’ – bestselling author, Ross Greenwood.
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Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter
Why does someone want the Lawrence family dead?

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The Lawrence’s were the perfect family; successful, beautiful, and happy until one night their whole world was ripped apart. 

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Detective Sergeant Jenna Morgan is called to investigate the suspected arson attack and death of the Lawrence family at the charred remains of their stunning home, Kimble Hall.

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The case takes a sinister turn as the body count fails to tally. Suspecting that someone may have survived the inferno, DS Morgan and her team need to discover whether they have a witness, or someone far more dangerous.

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Who set the fire? Who wanted this family extinguished beyond recognition?

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As the case progresses, DS Morgan realizes she has a calculating, cold-blooded killer on her hands, and the race is on to track them down before they kill again.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

If there was one thing Jenna had learnt in her career, it was don’t piss off the receptionist. They were the door-openers of life and they knew everything.

 If there was one sound that would make her freeze her arse to the spot, it was that of Blue, a highly trained police search and drugs dog. He may not be one of their attack dogs, but that didn’t mean to say he didn’t have long, sharp teeth he’d willingly sink into human flesh should the need arise, and the command be given… Jenna held still as Blue moved past her, sniffed Lamonte from the ankles, all the way up the length of his legs, and ended up with his nose in the man’s crotch. Lamonte might have attitude, but he never twitched a muscle, didn’t so much as breathe as fear whipped through his eyes. She had to admire the dog’s style. There wasn’t a man on earth who would do anything different when his tackle was quite clearly at risk.

  

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this police procedural/thriller. It had an interesting premise and strong storylines, a strong female kickass main character, hits of humor, interesting and endearing secondary characters, a sociopath for a villain, wizened and amusing octogenarians, and clever animals. I adored the elderly retired farming couple best of all as the mister was my granddad all the way to the ground, but without the accent.

The storylines were engaging and throbbed with tension and impending peril as well as family drama and police unit banter and camaraderie. The writing was easy to follow and the plot was active and eventful on all fronts.

It has been a good while since I have been able to add to my Brit Word List and I found a treasure with wassock, which can also be spelled as wazzock. The Oxford English Dictionary defined wazzock as “British slang, originating in the north, meaning a stupid or annoying person – basically an idiot.” I cannot wait to put this little nugget to good use.

About the Author

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Diane Saxon previously wrote romantic fiction for the US market but has now turned to write psychological crime. Find Her Alive was her first novel in this genre and introduced series character DS Jemma Morgan. She is married to a retired policeman and lives in Shropshire.

 

Social Media Links –

Newsletter sign up: http://bit.ly/DianeSaxonNewsletter

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/DianeSaxonAuthor/

Twitter @ – https://twitter.com/Diane_Saxon

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authordianesaxon

Website –http://dianesaxon.com/

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.co.uk/DianeSaxonAuthr/

Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/diane-saxon

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7122072.Diane_Saxon

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Book Review:Dead Woman Crossing (Detective Kimberley King #1) by J.R. Adler @JRAdlerAuthor @bookouture

Dead Woman Crossing
(Detective Kimberley King #1)
by J.R. Adler

 

Amazon  / B&N / GP/ Apple / Kobo

She threw open the door, running to the crib. When she looked inside, she gasped. The world around her went silent. Inside, there was nothing but a small stuffed elephant. Where was her baby?

When young, single mother Hannah is found murdered by the banks of a twisting Oklahoma creek, her one-year-old daughter sleeping in a stroller near her body, the small town of Dead Woman Crossing reels in horror.

Detective Kimberley King, recently relocated from New York to Oklahoma, with her young daughter Jessica, can’t ignore the similarity of Hannah’s death to the case of Katie James, the woman that the town of Dead Woman Crossing is named after. Katie was murdered in front of her small daughter in 1905, on the banks of the same creek, and it seems that someone is drawing inspiration from the crime. Could this killer be a copycat?

But as she interviews suspects, Kimberley is met with blank faces and closed lips. In a small town, people won’t talk and when she pursues a promising lead, her own family turns their back on her. Kimberley isn’t afraid to ask questions, but when she receives a threatening note, she realizes that, as a single mother to a young daughter, she might be putting herself dangerously in the killer’s sights …

A gripping, atmospheric crime thriller inspired by true events, about a town on the edge of collapse and a murder that shakes the community. Dead Woman Crossing is perfect for fans of Rachel Caine, Lisa Regan, and Jane Harper.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Kimberley looked down, noting everything she had in tow— a diaper bag, a stroller, a tote bag, a backpack and Jessica. “They say it takes a village to raise a child, but I think it takes a caravan of random products.”

In a small town like Dead Woman Crossing, gossip was like an airborne virus. Difficult to contain and easily transmitted. They were all infected.

She glanced over at Ryan who gave her a scowl mixed with a leer as if his dick and brain were crossing wires and didn’t know how to respond to her.

Henry Colton is a dickwad. His name stuck out like a mule in a dress…

There weren’t any murders after that. He went inactive, as many serial killers do, as if taking lives was their job and they needed time off.

 

My Review:

 

Oklahoma is one of those states that doesn’t really stand out to most Americans. Nothing much has sprouted from there other than crops, oil, idiot politicians, a few country and western singers, and hmm… me. Other than an old Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and being able to hum a bit of the State song, most people draw a blank at the mention. With that in mind, color me stunned and outright startled when I noticed the main character was not only leaving her job as a detective at NYPD to start a more low-key career as a Chief Deputy near the old family manse but would be working in the very same tiny inbreed rural hamlet of my youth. Oh, my! What a surprise!

The author accurately captured the disconcerting small-town flavor down to the time-warped narrow-minded bigotry and misogyny, down to the very nub of hypocritical arrogance, condoned corruption and nepotism, domestic violence, and female boredom; and also reinforced my smugness at the brilliant decision to move far, far away. While I didn’t find it an enjoyable experience to reside there, as despite the old cliche – it wasn’t even a good place to be from, the breadbasket/short-grass country provided the perfect backdrop for Ms. Adler’s active and suspenseful murder mystery.

I do loves me a kick-ass heroine and I adored Kimberly King as well as her brilliant office genie and my new favorite grandmotherly octogenarian, Barbara. Kimberly held her own and doled out her own brand of sass while doing so. The writing was easy to follow with welcome hits of wry humor mixed in with insightful observations and perceptive character descriptions and depictions. I will be eagerly watching to see what and whom Chief Deputy King stirs up next.

About the Author

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Originally from Wisconsin, J.R. Adler currently lives in Ithaca, New York with her husband, Drew, and her English Bulldog, Winston. When not writing, you can find her reading, playing board games, traveling, and binge-watching The Office for the umpteenth time.
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Book Review: Don’t Look For Me by Wendy Walker @stmartinspress @Wendy_Walker

 

Don’t Look For Me
by Wendy Walker

Amazon  / B&N / GP/ Apple

 

“In Wendy Walker’s thrilling novel Don’t Look for Me, the greatest risk isn’t running away. It’s running out of time.

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life.

She doesn’t want to be found.

Or at least, that’s the story.

The car abandoned miles from home.

The note found at a nearby hotel.

The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together.

They called it a “walk away.”

It happens all the time.

Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over.

But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Not one of these “friends” had stuck around after she’d fallen off the social ladder. And it had not been gradual. The day she was expelled was the day her phone stopped ringing or buzzing or pinging. It was as though she’d caught a deadly virus. A social virus that no one wanted to catch.

 

My Review:

 

This was my first taste of Wendy Walker and I can smugly state I picked an excellent starting point to sample her lovely wares. Her storylines were frighteningly realistic and so emotive and tautly written that my kindle seemed to be vibrating from the tension and I am now in need of a spa day to work out the knots in my neck and catch my breath, which I often caught myself holding during perusal. This was a complex, gripping, and heart-squeezing tale laced with tragedy, grief, intrigue, and family drama. There were numerous tangled webs as well as oddly compelling characters to unravel, and this wily wordsmith kept me guessing on several fronts. I fell right into her evocative prose, which smoothly scrolled through my gray matter with sharp imagery and heart-wrenching scenarios. It was marvelous.

About the Author

Wendy Walker is the author of psychological suspense. Her novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages and have topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad. They have been featured on The Today Show, The Reese Witherspoon Book Club, and The Book of the Month Club and have been optioned for television and film.
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Book Review: The Fire By Night by Teresa Messineo #TheFireByNight

The Fire by Night
by Teresa Messineo 

Amazon  / B&N / GP/ Apple 

A powerful and evocative debut novel about two American military nurses during World War II that illuminates the unsung heroism of women who risked their lives in the fight—a riveting saga of friendship, valor, sacrifice, and survival combining the grit and selflessness of Band of Brothers with the emotional resonance of The Nightingale.

In war-torn France, Jo McMahon, an Italian-Irish girl from the tenements of Brooklyn, tends to six seriously wounded soldiers in a makeshift medical unit. Enemy bombs have destroyed her hospital convoy, and now Jo singlehandedly struggles to keep her patients and herself alive in a cramped and freezing tent close to German troops. There is a growing tenderness between her and one of her patients, a Scottish officer, but Jo’s heart is seared by the pain of all she has lost and seen. Nearing her breaking point, she fights to hold on to joyful memories of the past, to the times she shared with her best friend, Kay, whom she met in nursing school.

Half a world away in the Pacific, Kay is trapped in a squalid Japanese POW camp in Manila, one of the thousands of Allied men, women, and children whose fates rest in the hands of a sadistic enemy. Far from the familiar safety of the small Pennsylvania coal town of her childhood, Kay clings to memories of her happy days posted in Hawaii, and the handsome flyer who swept her off her feet in the weeks before Pearl Harbor. Surrounded by cruelty and death, Kay battles to maintain her sanity and save lives as best she can . . . and live to see her beloved friend Jo once more.

When the conflict, at last, comes to an end, Jo and Kay discover that to achieve their own peace, they must find their place—and the hope of love—in a world that’s forever changed. With rich, superbly researched detail, Teresa Messineo’s thrilling novel brings to life the pain and uncertainty of war and the sustaining power of love and friendship and illuminates the lives of the women who risked everything to save others during a horrifying time.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

When a command comes to fall back, it takes an infantryman less than ten seconds to simply turn around – and run. But not military nurses, whose only creed, whose one, unbreakable rule, is never to leave their patients. Never.

Jo looked at Captain Clark now as he came up to her, hands on hips, spitting before he spoke, and realized how much the movies had conditioned her, had prejudiced her. She’d believed that all U.S. soldiers in perilous positions would be just as truthful, upright, clean-mouthed, good, and pure as they were on-screen. Here was an American, and the odds were against him, certainly. And yet the man was still a bastard.

Kay liked to imagine that somewhere – in a small fishing village perhaps, far from all this – a nice plump Japanese woman was bouncing her baby on her knee, singing him a funny lullaby about dragons and magic kites, because other than her, they all seemed madmen to Kay – cruel, hard madmen. Destroying just to destroy, because the rest of humanity wasn’t human, wasn’t like them.

My Review:

The Fire by Night was found treasure, it was an extraordinarily well-crafted, poignant, deeply researched, and beautifully written book. The story featured two young female nurses who had become friends during their training and served in the Army during WWII. One nurse was sent to Europe to work in field hospitals frequently on or near the front lines, and the other was sent to the Pacific where she found herself an unwelcome and poorly treated guest of the Japanese government and placed in an internment camp in the Philippines.

Ms. Messineo’s magical arrangements of words immediately ensnared my full attention and inserted me into the corners of their tents and into their pockets. I heard the weeping, felt the turmoil, and smelled the adrenaline. She also placed me between their ears, behind their eyes, and straight into their souls. I was devastated when they were abused and my heart lifted when they fell in love. Ms. Messineo’s scenes were vividly and thoroughly detailed for sight, sound, smell, and emotional tone. She cleverly wove in exceptional and thoughtful ancillary details that added considerable depth and gravitās to the saga. I was awed by her extensive knowledge, sensitive and insightful observations, and breathtaking word prowess.

I had no earthly idea nor had I ever considered what military nursing during wartime would entail, what their living conditions would have been like, or the hardships the women would have faced from the very people they were serving. If I had thought about it at all, I would have assumed they had been in military hospitals. I finished the book with an intense appreciation for their sacrifice and survival, as well as for their bravery. I do love a feisty heroine, and Ms. Messineo gave me two.

About the Author

Teresa Messineospent seven years researching the history behind The Fire by Night, her first novel. She is a graduate of DeSales University, and her varied interests include homeschooling her four children, volunteering with the underprivileged, medicine, swing dancing, and competitive athletics. She lives in Reading, Pennsylvania.
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Book Review: The Faithfuls (The Sisterhood Series) by Cecilia Lyra  @ceciliaclyra @bookouture

The Faithfuls
(The Sisterhood Series)
by Cecilia Lyra 

Amazon  /B&N / GP/ Apple / Kobo

A summer house in the Hamptons doesn’t always buy happiness, as one woman is about to find out…

For fifteen glorious years, Gina Dewar has been married to her college sweetheart Bobby. Years in which she has lived in the small company town of Alma, New York, lovingly raised their son Calan, been secretary of the Alma Social Club, and tried not to think too often of the family she said goodbye to when she became a Dewar.

But then Bobby is publicly accused of having an affair, and Gina’s life changes overnight overwhelmed with scandal, speculation, and the agony of uncertainty.

Gina’s sister-in-law Alice is her polar opposite, she has never appreciated the traditional values of Alma or tried to fit in with its quaint neighborliness. But in these devastating circumstances, could she be the one person who can help Gina piece her life back together?

After Gina makes the decision to trust Bobby, who has claimed his innocence all along, she hopes her family can move forward. But then she hears the rumor that his supposed mistress is pregnant and she is shaken to the core. With Alice’s unexpected support, Gina must face up to the secrets within her marriage, and do whatever she can to protect the people she loves…

A moving, emotionally gripping novel about family secrets and the unbreakable strength of female friendship. A stunning new read for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Nancy Thayer.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

… when Alice met Gina, she had been utterly unprepared for her new sister-in-law’s chirpy disposition and never-ending energy. Gina had seemed like the type of person who only existed in cartoons, carrying herself in a way that makes one envisage woodland animals talking to her.

 

There’s no word for what they are, and even if there was, Gina wouldn’t want to use it. She prefers her situation to remain nameless. Nameless things aren’t real.

 

Lies. The things we tell to protect the ones we love. To give us a fighting chance in an unpredictable world. To allow us to start over.

 

My Review:

 

This family had created and lived in quite an entangled, torn, and mangled web of deceit, power, love, privilege, familial bonds, and avarice. There were numerous betrayals, infidelities, scandals, and everybody lied.   And I mean e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y!   Even the Mormon lady, who was holding on to one of the biggest whoppers of all. And when I say lies, I don’t mean little white lies, omissions, misrepresentations, or even the current occupant’s self-aggrandizing “Alternative Facts.” I’m talking black-hearted and treacherous deceptions.

I fell right into this juicy and complex tale of family drama with no hesitation or struggle despite not having read the first in the series, although the characters from the initial book only briefly carried over in passing. The plot was multi-layered and tightly wound with considerable second-guessing, intrigue, and compelling and untrustworthy characters. But which liar is currently lying and which one isn’t this time? The gossip was rabid and even worse the actual events. Ah, small town living, I remember it well – and not at all fondly.

About the Author

Cecilia is an author with a reading addiction — a serious one. She is a lover of wine and all things chocolate, and the proud mother of Babaganoush, an English Bulldog. She is also a recovering lawyer but asks that you do not hold that against her.
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Book Review: Stuck On You by Portia MacIntosh @rararesources @PortiaMacIntosh @BoldwoodBooks

Stuck On You
by Portia MacIntosh

 

Amazon / B&N / GP/

Could a post-it note really lead to love…?

Sadie doesn’t have time for finding love. She’s too busy as PA for famous artist Damian Banks. When she’s not arranging exhibitions, she’s organising his dry cleaning or dumping his never ending stream of girlfriends.

But when she strikes up an unusual friendship with her desk share buddy, she finds a confidante and a new potential love interest. Problem is, they’ve never actually met…

With Christmas just around the corner, can Sadie put herself first for a change and find what she’s been looking for all along?

The brand new romantic comedy from top 10 bestseller Portia MacIntosh. Perfect for fans of Sophie Ranald, Mhairi McFarlane and Zara Stoneley.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Break-ups must always be done in person, that’s just the way it is –they should probably make it the law, which might sound extreme, but I’m sure it would cut down on a whole host of angry follow-up crimes.

 

… she really is a Karen. A middle-aged boomer with a can-I-speak-to-the-manager haircut who has lots of opinions about lots of things but none of them feel all that well thought out

 

‘Good morning,’I say brightly as I walk through the main office. There are murmurs of greetings from the troops but, honestly, I could burst into flames and the most they would probably do is move their plants and crack a window. I will not miss this bunch of miseries at all.

 

I squeal in such a high pitch I’m sure only dogs and Mariah Carey can hear me.

 

My Review:

 

This was a delightful introduction to the highly engaging wit and lively humor of Portia MacIntosh, and I’m outraged at myself for not having noticed her cleverly amusing and winsome arrangements of words before. It was so enjoyable I want to read her entire listing while hoping for more of the same. Apparently she has been beavering away with seventeen delectable books to her credit while in the meantime, I have obviously been distracted by any manner of shiny objects or pounding sand.

Stuck On You was written from the first-person POV of Sadie, a frustrated PA who was secretly seeking greener pastures away from her tediously demanding celebrity boss.   This was pleasurable reading and I adored these quirky characters as much if not more than the entertaining storylines they inhabited. The writing style was wily and clever with keenly humorous insights, breezy inner musings, and snarky observations. I have a new author to fangirl and zoom to the top of my Favorites List.

 

About the Author

Portia MacIntosh is a bestselling romantic comedy author of 12 novels, including It’s Not You, It’s Them and Honeymoon For One. Previously a music journalist, Portia writes hilarious stories, drawing on her real life experiences.

Social Media Links –

Newsletter sign up: http://bit.ly/PortiaMacIntoshNewsletter

https://portiamacintosh.com/

https://www.facebook.com/macintoshportia

https://twitter.com/PortiaMacIntosh

http://instagram.com/portiamacintoshauthor

http://bookbub.com/authors/portia-macintosh

 

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Book Review: First Girl Gone (Charlotte Winters #1) by L.T. Vargus & Tim McBain,  #FirstGirlGone #LTVargus #TimMcBain @Bookouture #NetGalley

 

First Girl Gone
(Charlotte Winters #1)
by L.T. Vargus & Tim McBain 

 

Down the beach, she can just make out the rusting hulk of the Ferris wheel through the dawn mist. The hairs prickle on her neck as she drags her focus back to the chestnut hair fanned out in the shallow water at her feet, to the grains of sand decorating the beautiful girl’s white cheeks like freckles.

Detective Charlie Winters never thought she’d find herself back on Salem Island, but she’s forced home re-open the wound that never healed: her sister was abducted from the small town when they were teenagers. But now a family friend needs her help to find her missing daughter, Kara.

Searching Kara’s messy, poster-covered bedroom, Charlie finds more questions than answers. Did Kara run away, or was she snatched? She’s clearly been keeping secrets from her family—but don’t all teenagers?

A little black matchbook hidden in a jewelry box is Charlie’s only lead, but the seedy nightclub it comes from proves to be nothing but a dangerous dead end. Until Charlie is approached by a second distraught mother whose daughter has also vanished.

Forced at every turn to relive the trauma she ran away from, Charlie’s blood runs cold when a girl’s body is discovered in the exact spot on the water’s edge where the last trace of her sister was found. It’s clear someone is taunting Charlie, but with other innocent girls’ lives at risk, she has no choice but to take the bait…

An absolutely unputdownable crime thriller that will leave you gasping for breath. Fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni, and Lisa Regan will need to sleep with the lights on!

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

So… Misty Dawkins… She got fat… See? That’s why I’m never having kids… You pop out some crotch fruit, and your hips and thighs stay doughy until the end of time.

 

He’d lost so much weight, and the lack of hair and eyebrows only added to the frail appearance. He looked withered and gaunt. Like a tree that someone forgot to water.

 

His hulking figure looked, in this moment, very apelike. Between his oddly animal posture and the unkempt beard crawling so high on his cheeks, Charlie couldn’t help but think of him as a man about halfway through the transition to werewolf.

 

It strikes me that a lot of us live in a sort of echo chamber these days. We surround ourselves with people who agree with us on everything— politics, art, entertainment.

 

But you don’t know what it was like growing up next door to him. He was like Bart Simpson. One time, he melted a hole in one of my Barbie dolls with a magnifying glass.

 

My Review:

 

This was a ripper of a series opener; I will be camping out on the authors’ pages to make sure I don’t miss the subsequent installments. I am hooked, ensnared, addicted, and infatuated with these clever and conniving wordsmiths as well as their oddly appealing and unusual quirky characters.   I do loves me a kickass chick with clever snark, and this book had two.

The writing was easy to fall into with storylines that intrigued, beguiled, and taunted the little pea in my brain to immediately begin to conjure theories. I was so smug in believing I had easily solved the case with my initial suspect being the villain. But, nooooo. These wily authors had outmaneuvered me and I had fallen for their trickery. How have I not read these prolific scribblers before? They seem to be like potato chips as now that I’ve had a taste of their salty goodness, I must have more.

About the Author

L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain are the authors of the Violet Darger series and The Scattered and the Dead
series among others, which have collectively tallied over
a million downloads. Their book, Dead End Girl, peaked at #3 in the US Kindle charts an

d has remained in the top 10 in multiple sub-categories since it was published in 2017.  

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Book Review: A Witness to Murder (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #3) by Verity Bright, @BrightVerity, @bookouture

A Witness to Murder
(A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #3)
by Verity Bright

Amazon / B&N 

A medieval house, a dead body, and some rather suspicious chocolate fudge? Call for Lady Swift!

Autumn, 1920. Lady Eleanor Swift, accidental amateur detective, and retired explorer, is determined to take a break from investigating murders. So when a local politician dies suddenly at an elegant dinner party at Farrington Manor, she tries her hardest not to listen to the raft of rumors around the village that he might have been poisoned by the fudge. It’s the anniversary of the disappearance of her beloved parents and she’s promised herself not to get mixed up with any more mysteries. She isn’t sure they’d have approved.

But when she arrives home to discover that Mrs. Pitkin, the kindly cook from Farrington Manor, has been dismissed without wage or reference because the police consider her a suspect, Eleanor knows she needs to act. If there was a murder, then she needs to track down the culprit and clear Mrs. Pitkin’s name.

Accompanied by her faithful partner in crime, Gladstone the bulldog, who has the best nose for sniffing out bones in the country, Eleanor sets out to find the killer. And when another body turns up and she finds poisoned fudge in the victim’s house, Eleanor knows she’s on the right track. But can she sort the truth from the lies before she becomes a witness to another murder – this time rather closer to home?

An utterly charming cozy mystery! Warm and witty, fans of Agatha Christie, TE Kinsey, and LB Hathaway will be totally hooked.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

As we say in the valleys, everything you have in this world is just borrowed for a short time.

 

…have you seen a fish hooked out of water and hurled three miles inland? Because that would be me trying to make it in the murky world of politics. Bad smell and all.

 

‘…my thoughts are now burning like acid. Clifford, what would you call indigestion of the mind?’ ‘Cerebral dyspepsia, my lady?’

 

You, Lady Swift, are all class. Which class, I’m not honestly sure.

 

My Review:

 

I am totally enamored and fully ensconced in the vastly entertaining and intriguing cozy mystery setting of Verity Bright’s Lady Swift series. A Witness to Murder is number three in this refreshingly crisp series which I hope continues into perpetuity. Each book has been a relaxing and pleasurable perusal of wry humor, engaging storylines, and an endearing and oddly compelling cast of characters, and this one even more so. Lady Swift finds herself nose deep in an unofficial murder investigation while also attempting to campaign for local politics, both were unexpected activities which she finds to be surprisingly and dishearteningly perplexing and strewn with countless roadblocks.

Each delightful installment in this series seems to be even more elegantly written than the last and feel as well-crafted and aesthetically complete as a well-produced program of Masterpiece Theater with more than one curiosity teasing mystery to be solved, clever humor, and brain twitching thoughts and vernacular of the times. I adore Lady Swift and her ever observant and well-connected butler and am already fervently awaiting the arrival of her next adventure.

About the Author

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Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humor, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

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Book Review: The Mistress by Jill Childs, @author_jill

The Mistress
by Jill Childs

It wasn’t until that night that I found out he had been cheating. I never would have guessed it of Ralph – I was still head over heels in love with him then. I would have done anything for my husband… that is, until I found out what he was really hiding.

The night it happened, I was late home from a parent-teacher conference. Things hadn’t been the same between us recently and I was hoping we could start over – make things right over a bottle of wine and an early night like the old days. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I sometimes think I never really knew Ralph at all. Because I never thought he’d be capable of doing what he did. It wasn’t only dangerous, it was very, very wrong. And I’m not talking about the affair with Laura.

As I said, I came home that night hoping to finally fix things with the man I love. The very last thing I expected was to find my husband murdered.

No marriage is ever what it seems from the outside. A compulsively unputdownable domestic thriller from a USA Today bestselling author. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and The Silent Wife.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She seemed to have collapsed into herself, as if she’d borrowed energy to take control in the way she had, to do what she thought needed to be done, and was now in debt.

 

I always knew he was a charmer, of course I did. I just thought the charm was reserved for me.

 

My Review:

 

I was steady on absorbed in this tale, even when it got a bit out there but I also struggled as I didn’t like these people, not a one of them. The writing style and storylines were intriguing and tickled and teased my curiosity with unexpected twists and odd turns, some of which squeezed my heart while exasperating me at the same time. But underneath it all, these were just horrid, selfish, and deceitful human beings. I felt sorry for what had ultimately happened to the final mistress, as she was easy prey being unstable, lonely, vulnerable, and apparently a complete sucker, but she was also beyond annoying in her neediness. I had no respect at all for the unrepentant womanizer or his enabler of a wife who just ignored his blatant and numerous infidelities. I just don’t get that. But I champion the Lorena Bobbitt philosophy on such matters.

About the Author

Jill always loved writing – real and imaginary – and spent thirty years traveling the world as a journalist, living overseas, and reporting wherever the news took her. She’s now made her home in south-west London with her husband and twin girls who love stories as much as she does. Although she’s covered everything from earthquakes and floods, wars and riots, she’s decided some of the most extraordinary stories are right here at home – in the secrets and lies she imagines behind closed doors on ordinary streets just like yours.

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Book Review: A Wish in Irish Falls (Wishing Tree, #2) by Jen Gilroy, @JenGilroy1

 

A Wish in Irish Falls
(Wishing Tree, #2)
by Jen Gilroy 

 

When you wish on a wishing tree, you don’t always get what you want. If you’re very lucky, you get something even better . . .

When Tara Lynch’s husband was killed on military duty, her happily ever after died too. Although she still wishes on her hometown wishing tree, she’s no longer certain it makes dreams come true. All Tara wants is to somehow move forward without the love and family of her own she’d counted on.

Walker Cavanagh’s the new veterinarian in town. After his fiancée’s death in a car accident, he’s sure was his fault, he won’t get close to another woman to get hurt, or hurt her. As for wishes, they won’t bring back his lost love.

Yet, as Tara and Walker work together on a fundraising event to train service dogs for veterans, they find they have more in common than they think—and are soon more than a little hot and bothered.

With some wishing tree magic, can Tara and Walker face their biggest fears and open their hearts to each other . . . and find a new beginning in Irish Falls?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“Scoop up your poop, take responsibility for your actions, and control yourself.” Rowan glanced at Tara and her lips twitched. “Good advice for pet ownership as well as life.”

 

Spring’s the season of new beginnings, after all. Besides, we all survived an Adirondack winter and fifty-seven snow days. I want to celebrate any chance to get my clothes off.

 

Patty has mellowed over the years, but she’s a bit like medicine, better in small doses.

 

Like my sainted grandmother used to say, you can’t sew buttons on your neighbor’s mouth, although, in Patty’s case, I wish I could.

 

My Review:

 

This was a gentle, slowly evolving, and sweet story with generous servings of humor, personal angst, family drama, small-town life, and attempts at a new romance while widowed and living that small-town life – which certainly isn’t easy. I markedly enjoyed the characters as they each brought something uniquely appealing and different to the story. Ms. Gilroy’s writing style was easy to follow and pleasantly engaging and lazily pulled me in bit by bit as I grew familiar with these likable and hard-working characters and their individual traits. I covet their communal wishing tree as well as the exceptional treasure of knowing Mrs. Kathleen Byrne and look forward to a return trip for the remaining sister’s tale. I also learned a new term, as I needed to consult Mr. Google for a full explanation of the widowhood effect.

About the Author

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Growing up under the big sky of western Canada and spending summers in a little Ontario town, books were my passport to other worlds. Pioneering Laura Ingalls, Jo March and her sisters, the English girls in Noel Streatfeild’s books and L.M. Montgomery’s independent, nature-loving heroines all became friends.

I started writing poems and stories in elementary school and, as a teenager, reached the semi-finals in a local short story contest. Even after all these years, I still remember the thrill of the judge encouraging me to keep writing.

I earned undergraduate and graduate degrees, setting fiction writing aside to teach at universities, write and publish academic research and work in marketing communications and international business development.

Along the way, I read romances, escaping into a world where a happy ending was guaranteed. One day, though, I realized that by losing my creative writing, I’d also lost part of what makes me who I am.

Now I write the kind of stories I like to read–heartwarming romances about finding home, family and community–where ordinary women overcome sometimes extraordinary challenges to earn their happy ever after.

I’m an RWA® Golden Heart® finalist 2015 in Contemporary Romance, and that manuscript sold to Hachette Book Group USA, Grand Central Publishing, Forever. It releases on January 31, 2017 as THE COTTAGE AT FIREFLY LAKE.

I’m a member of RWA® and the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA). And despite a few detours along the way, I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do since childhood.

After many years in England with my husband, a tech guy who’s still a small-town boy at heart, and our tween daughter, an English rose, who teaches me to cherish the blessings in the everyday, I’ve come home to my roots and live in a small town in Ontario’s Rideau Valley.