Jousting and Justice: Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Better Beginnings, Inc. (February 15, 2022)
Number of Pages 315

 

 

Synopsis

 

An invitation to a medieval festival. A ferry ride to a mysterious island. A scheming, inept witch. An office break-in, an unidentified body, and a string of suspects. Can Hayden, her brave, sassy cat, Latifa, and the people of Destiny Falls solve the mystery and enjoy the festival?

Jousting and Justice follows the series format of combining two stories that blend into one. A murder mystery and the island mystery.

The Island Mystery: Hayden and all her friends get an invitation to a medieval festival – but it’s on “the forbidden island.” It’s too enticing to pass up. Of course, strange things will happen once they get there! . . . You’ll also learn the truth about the witch’s sister!

The Murder Mystery: A dead body shows up in the most shocking place. First, they need to figure out who this dead guy is. Then, who killed him and why. There are so many twists and turns on the way to the answers! But we know that Hayden, Latifa, and their family and friends will figure it out and justice will be served.

Hayden’s many adventures in Destiny Falls will keep you guessing with each book in this intriguing series.

 

 

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Review

 

This has been a delightful series to read. There is something about the characters, setting, and mysteries that draw me in and keep me coming back to Destiny Falls.

While this book could be read as a standalone, you will be better off starting at the beginning of the series to truly understand how Hayden came to Destiny Falls, meet the rest of the family, and have a better grasp of the dynamics of this town and island.

The town will be attending a medieval festival on another island and everyone is excited. However, they don’t know the true story behind the festival, at least not in time to not attend. Even though everyone is in frantic preparations for the festival, a dead body is still found and this time in Hayden’s newspaper office. What they uncover is more than they expected and many were surprised at the turn of events. There are a few suspects but new details thwart their efforts to uncover the killer quickly.

We are introduced to the Knitting Club when Hayden is told to go undercover to try and learn some information from one of the members. I love the name of the yarn shop, Knitty Gritty, and while I love the thought of knitting, it isn’t something I have tried myself yet. Maybe one day. There is a surprise member that Hayden discovers at her first meeting. You might never guess who and I’m not going to tell you, so pick up the book and find out.

There are so many characters to love in this series from Bear the personal chef for the Caldwell family to Han, Hayden’s love interest. He isn’t in the book very much since he was called away for a security emergency. But that is ok because Hayden has plenty to keep her busy until his return. There is also the cat trio of Latifa, Lola, and Chanel, which add a little flavor to the story. Lola is still a kitten and I can imagine her voice in my head anytime she says something.

This has been a fun series to read and there is so much to learn about the characters and the town. I can’t wait to read the next book to learn more. We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Elizabeth Pantley says that writing the Destiny Falls Mystery and Magic book series is the most fun she’s ever had at work. Fans of the series say her joy is evident through the stories she tells. Elizabeth is also the internationally bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents. Her books have been published in over twenty languages. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the beautiful inspiration for the enchanted Destiny Falls world.

 

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OUT OF TEMPER

 

Bean to Bar Mysteries Book 3

 

by

 

AMBER ROYER

 

 

Categories: Cozy Mystery / Women Sleuth / Romance

Publisher: Golden Tip Press

Date of Publication: February 1, 2022

Number of Pages: 264 pages

 

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Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand has been the scene of two murders – both of which she has been instrumental in helping solve. So when she gets invited to demo her chocolate skills aboard a cruise ship sailing out of the local port, she’s excited at the chance to get away from the shop long enough to regain her equilibrium. She even brings her best friend along and makes plans for time at the spa. But when she gets on board, she finds out that she’s been booked for a mystery-themed cruise, and said best friend, Autumn, has to finally deal with the real reasons she quit writing mysteries. Only – if that wasn’t stressful enough – it doesn’t take long before there’s a real murder on the cruise, and someone Felicity knows becomes the prime suspect. When said suspect asks her for help, she can’t exactly say no, can she?

Felicity finds herself surrounded by cruise goers who all had connections to the victim – and finds that both Logan (her business partner, whom she recently kissed) and Arlo (the cop who was once Felicity’s first boyfriend, before she moved away from Galveston) are dealing with the case until more official help can arrive. How will Felicity survive the ensuing awkwardness?

One thing that helps: the retired police dog turned therapy dog she meets on board. Satchmo helps Felicity deal with being back on the water after tragedy in her past – and also helps her uncover a vital clue to the case. Can Felicity unmask the killer and keep a friend from being framed before all the suspects leave the ship?

 

 

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How can anyone not enjoy a mystery that involves chocolate? Ok, it would be better if I could have it while reading the book…oh marketing idea, each book comes with a bar of chocolate! But I digress. This series is fascinating and I love the discussion about how cacao beans are processed (in previous books) and how we get the chocolate we see in the market today. There is such a history to chocolate and if you ever get a chance to hear the author speak, please do because there is so much information to be learned.

Felicity is off to work on a cruise and talk about how chocolate is made. And it wouldn’t be a mystery without someone ending up dead, and in this case, a character that isn’t well-liked and has something of a shady past according to his ex-wife, girlfriend, and other characters. There are so many red herring clues that you have to put on your thinking cap to figure out who and why. I figured out the who close to when it was revealed and could guess the why once I fixated on this character. There are clues now that I look back that might point you in the right direction, but maybe not. Read the book to see how well you can spot the clues.

I loved the idea of the mystery cruise setting. This sounds like something I would enjoy and might even sign up to do as long as no one really ends up dead. That coupled with a chocolate demonstration and authors sound like my fantasy trip! I will be curious to see if this cruise line makes it into future books with a mystery tied to it. There are so many possibilities and we did see a glimpse of a cruise ship in other books, so I wouldn’t rule it out as an option.

There is a bit of a love triangle for Felicity. There is her high school sweetheart, Arlo, that is now available after a breakup in the 2nd book. There is also Logan who is her partner in the chocolate shop. Both would be good choices and it will be hard for her to make a decision quickly. But who says she has to decide now? She still mourns her husband but that is decreasing as time goes by.

I enjoyed watching the characters continue to grow and we learn more about them as this series continues. Autumn reveals some truths which surprise a lot of people, but I can see why it was kept under wraps. We don’t see as much of Carmen in this book since she is holding down the fort, but I look forward to some of her new baked goods in future installments.

Seriously, a great series and we give it 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists, which boils down her writing knowledge into an actionable plan involving over 100 worksheets to build a comprehensive story plan for your novel. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach. Amber and her husband live in the DFW area, where you can often find them hiking or taking landscape/architecture/wildlife photographs.  If you are very nice to Amber, she might make you cupcakes.  Chocolate cupcakes, of course! Amber blogs about creative writing techniques and all things chocolate.

 

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Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page

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2/23/22	Playlist	Chapter Break Book Blog
2/23/22	BONUS Promo	Hall Ways Blog
2/24/22	Review	Missus Gonzo
2/24/22	BONUS Promo	LSBBT Blog
2/25/22	Review	StoreyBook Reviews
2/26/22	Scrapbook Page	All the Ups and Downs
2/27/22	Top 10 List	The Plain-Spoken Pen
2/28/22	Review	Bibliotica
3/1/22	Top 10 List	Reading by Moonlight
3/2/22	Review	Forgotten Winds
3/3/22	Guest Post	Book Bustle
3/4/22	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles

 

 

 

 

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Synopsis

 

From the USA Today bestselling and Edgar-nominated author of Darling Rose Gold comes a dark, thrilling novel about two sisters–one trapped in the clutches of a cult, the other in a web of her own lies.

Welcome to Wisewood. We’ll keep your secrets if you keep ours.

Natalie Collins hasn’t heard from her sister in more than half a year.

The last time they spoke, Kit was slogging from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the shower about their dead mother. She told Natalie she was sure there was something more out there.

And then she found Wisewood.

On a private island off the coast of Maine, Wisewood’s guests commit to six-month stays. During this time, they’re prohibited from contact with the rest of the world–no Internet, no phones, no exceptions. But the rules are for a good reason: to keep guests focused on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximized Selves. Natalie thinks it’s a bad idea, but Kit has had enough of her sister’s cynicism and voluntarily disappears off the grid.

Six months later Natalie receives a menacing e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she’s about to learn that Wisewood won’t let either of them go without a fight.

 

 

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Review

 

This story is told from three points of view – Natalie, Kit, and an unknown third person until later in the book. I have to admit, for some reason, I was confusing the third person with Natalie or Kit and am not sure why, but maybe because they weren’t named?

I will forewarn you that there could be some triggers for parental emotional abuse for the unknown third person. While I don’t have any trigger issues normally, the descriptions of the scene with the third person and her father were hard to read. He basically treated his wife and two daughters as if they weren’t good enough and forced the girls to earn points to be able to sleep. It got harder as they got older and what would “count”. It is no wonder that they both wanted to get away from him, yet his wife wouldn’t leave despite knowing it would have been for the best for everyone. Over time, this unknown person finds her way but many would wonder about her chosen field and the lengths she goes to for “art”. Perhaps it is the extreme that draws people into her and the fear of allowing themselves to be in her shoes. Perhaps that is why she calls herself Madam Fearless.

Natalie and Kit have a strained relationship despite being all that they have left when it comes to family. Their mother has passed away and while they lead separate lives, they try to stay in touch, at least for a time. That is until Kit decided that she needs a change and ends up at a remote retreat location in Maine. I can see the good and the bad about this place, no technology and getting in touch with your inner demons. However, there are some fishy things happening with the owner and the staff that are revealed to us over time. Kit has learned to resolve some of her issues and thinks she knows what she wants from life but Natalie can’t seem to accept this. Natalie may be right, but she may be wrong, and what she learns (or the reader learns) is that everything may not be as it seems.

Despite the synopsis describing what is going on with Natalie and Kit, that doesn’t seem to be the main focus of the book, at least not until about 1/2 way through. There is a lot of back and forth in the chapters with Natalie and the unknown person, which might explain why I thought it was tied together, until much later. We know that Natalie is heading to Wisewood to tell her sister what she did based on an email she received and that if she didn’t, an unknown person will tell her. When the secret is revealed it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal but I can see Kit’s viewpoint on that secret.

The last 25% has some crazy twists that I didn’t expect and the ending does leave you wondering what might happen next.

There is a lot to unpack with this book and while I enjoyed the book, it did feel a little scattered and didn’t really start coming together until about 2/3 – 3/4 of the way through the book.

We give this book 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Stephanie Wrobel is the author of Darling Rose Gold, a USA Today and international bestseller that has sold in twenty-one countries and was shortlisted for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Wrobel grew up in Chicago and now lives in London. This Might Hurt is her second novel.

 

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The Secret in the Wall: A Novel (Silver Rush Mysteries)
Historical Mystery
8th in Series
Poisoned Pen Press (February 15, 2022)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages

 

Synopsis

 

 

Sometimes you can’t keep your gown out of the gutter…

 

Inez Stannert has reinvented herself—again. Fleeing the comfort and wealth of her East Coast upbringing, she became a saloon owner and card sharp in the rough silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado, always favoring the unconventional path—a difficult road for a woman in the late 1800s.

Then the teenaged daughter of a local prostitute is orphaned by her mother’s murder, and Inez steps up to raise the troubled girl as her own. Inez works hard to keep a respectable, loving home for Antonia, carefully crafting their new life in San Francisco. But risk is a seductive friend, difficult to resist. When a skeleton tumbles from the wall of her latest business investment, the police only seem interested in the bag of Civil War-era gold coins that fell out with it. With her trusty derringer tucked in the folds of her gown, Inez uses her street smarts and sheer will to unearth a secret that someone has already killed to keep buried. The more she digs, the muddier and more dangerous things become.

She enlists the help of Walter de Brujin, a local private investigator with whom she shares some history. Though she wants to trust him, she fears that his knowledge of her past, along with her growing attraction to him, may well blow her veneer of respectability to bits—that is, if her dogged pursuit of the truth doesn’t kill her first . . .

 

 

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Guest Post

 

 

Mapping out the past

 

When I settled in to create my Silver Rush historical mysteries, set in the 1880s “Victorian West,” I weighed whether to use fictional or real settings. I quickly realized that grounding my historical mysteries in real locations gave me a framework to build upon… and I’m very fond of structure (of all types, including buildings).

To get a better feel for the places I write about, I turn to historical newspapers, city directories, census data, and (my not-so-secret passion) maps!

With Leadville, Colorado, the primary setting for the first five books of my series, I was lucky. Much of the downtown and nearby streets of Leadville had not changed much from its long-ago days. But there were challenges.

For instance, I found many newspaper references to a thoroughfare called “The Boulevard,” in early Leadville articles and descriptions—in fact, it’s mentioned several times in an 1880 Leadville Daily Chronicle article, quoted here. (You can also view a great photo of The Boulevard by photographer William Henry Jackson on my Pinterest site, here.) However, by the time I went looking for it for the second book in my series, IRON TIES, it seemed to have fallen off the map. Honestly, how could a wide, macadam road described as “so smooth that it had nary a straw to impede the wheels of a carriage” disappear so completely? Finally, in an early-2000s version of a Google Maps satellite image, I spotted the faintest track heading out of town in the right direction through a wooded area.

When I tried to find The Boulevard on a research trip, it was almost invisible: more an overgrown, rubble-strewn trail than a road. I would have never found even that, if not for Google Maps.

For IRON TIES, I also had to invent a fictional gulch since one did not actually exist exactly where I needed it to. I named it “Disappointment Gulch” and confessed all in the Author’s Note. However, that particular agony had a silver lining: A Leadville expert, who I had exchanged increasingly desperate email about nearby real gulches and the various distances, etc., from town, gifted me with a large, plastic, three-dimensional topographical map of Leadville and its environs.

 

 

 

When my protagonist, Inez Stannert, decided to pick up and move to San Francisco, I sure wished I’d had such a 3D map of the “Paris of the West,”  to help me chart the ups and downs of the hilly city. However, Google maps had much improved at this point, and with its “street view,” I could trudge (virtually) all over, from the east-facing waterfront on San Francisco Bay to the Cliff House overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the west. Also, there is a wealth of San-Francisco historical maps available online. Two map-related sites I often turn to are the David Rumsey Map Collection and OldSF.

On the David Rumsey site, one of my favorite maps is Bancroft’s 1881 map of San Francisco. This map is very high resolution and, like all maps on this site, can be downloaded for free. To get my bearings for the first San Francisco book, A DYING NOTE, I took this map and zoomed in on the area that includes the intersection of Pine and Kearney streets, where Inez now works in a music store. To get a better sense of this area, I printed that section out and plotted where various historical buildings and businesses were, using the map’s “reference list” and the 1882 city directory. After doing so, I realized the building holding the music store and the apartment above—where Inez lives with her young ward, Antonia Gizzi— is encircled by houses of worship. The sounds of bells would have been deafening at certain times of day, a fact I incorporated into my fiction.

 

 

OldSF combines a map of current-day San Francisco, a database of historical photos, and a variable timeline. You can widen or narrow the timeframe, choosing any period from 1850 to 2000, and view photos at various locations from those times. For instance, choosing 1850–1898 provided two very nice images of the Montgomery Building on the corner of Montgomery and Washington Streets—the perfect location for one of my fictional lawyers in THE SECRET IN THE WALL to have his office.

In THE SECRET IN THE WALL, I also needed a map of Alcatraz Island so I could better envision what my characters would see there in 1882. From 1853 onward, the military outpost was in constant transformation, with structures and fortifications built, expanded, repurposed, and destroyed at a rapid pace. I searched long and hard but never could find a map specific to my timeframe. However, my brother dug up a 1910 Alcatraz map online. With many thanks for his sleuthing, I gleefully printed it out and, working from 1880s written descriptions, marked it up to get a sense of what it looked like in 1882 (or thereabouts).

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Ann Parker is a science writer by day and a fiction writer by night. Her award-winning Silver Rush Mysteries series, published by Poisoned Pen Press, a Sourcebooks imprint, is set primarily in 1880s Leadville, Colorado, and more recently in San Francisco, California, the “Paris of the West.” The series was named a Booksellers Favorite by the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association, and Ann is listed in the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame. The Secret in the Wall is the eighth and newest entry in the series.

 

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Giveaway

 

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Synopsis

 

Everyone else in the tiny town of Enfield, Texas calls fall football season, but for the forty-three members of the Fighting Enfield Marching Band, it’s contest season. And for new saxophonist Anna James, it’s her first chance to prove herself as the great musician she’s trying hard to be.

When she’s assigned a duet with mellophone player Weston Ryan, the boy her small-minded town thinks of as nothing but trouble, she’s equal parts thrilled and intimidated. But as he helps her with the duet, and she sees the smile he seems to save just for her, she can’t help but feel like she’s helping him with something too.

After her strict parents find out she’s been secretly seeing him and keep them apart, together they learn what it truly means to fight for something they love. With the marching contest nearing, and the two falling hard for one another, the unthinkable happens, and Anna is left grappling for a way forward without Weston.

A heartbreaking novel about finding your first love and what happens when it’s over too soon. Ashley Schumacher’s Full Flight is about how first love shapes us—even after it’s gone.

 

 

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Review

 

I could relate to this book like you wouldn’t believe! It may be 30+ years since I was in high school, but I was in the band and in a small Texas town and understood the dynamics of Friday night football, band competition, and small-town life.

Anna and Weston are destined to be together once they get past their hangups and controlling parents (at least on Anna’s side). However, these two are good for each other as they bring out the best in each other and push each other to strive for more than they thought they could achieve.

This novel encompassed many aspects of life from the teen perspective and I felt like these were spot on with what kids might experience in high school from friendship, bullying, pressure, and so much more. While the synopsis hints at what happens at the end, it still broke my heart and I admit to having a few tears running down my face. It was hard to imagine how I might have felt in the same situation.

I did feel like Anna’s parents were overbearing and while I know they were just trying to protect her, she also had given them no reason to go overboard with their judgments of Weston. It was a shame they took so long to get to know him because, in the end, that time wasn’t enough.

Make sure to have some tissue on hand for the last 15-20% of the book. You will need it.

We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

ASHLEY SCHUMACHER is a young adult author with a degree in creative writing from the University of North Texas. She lives in a small town with her antisocial but lovable husband and more books than is strictly necessary. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her belting Disney or Broadway songs, protecting her snacks from her greedy golden retriever, hand embroidering, or playing Mario Kart. Amelia Unabridged is her first novel. She lives in Dallas, Texas.

 

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Hunter Whitloch’s Wall Street career is on the fast track until he learns about his boss’, Egon Gregory, underhanded dealings. Hunter’s and Egon’s confrontation means Hunter must turn a blind eye or return to Crystal Creek and walk away from a lucrative career and the only woman he’s ever loved⸻Egon’s daughter, Bryce. He won’t let her make a choice between him and her father, so he makes that choice for her.

Bryce watched Hunter walk out of her life and never expected to see him again⸻until he shows up at her father’s funeral. The mystery deepens when Bryce learns her father asked Hunter to return to New York⸻the night her father died. The authorities have ruled Egon’s death a suicide but attempts on her life unearth more questions than answers⸻namely who can she trust? The man who abandoned her a year ago, or her father’s right-hand man who wants to seize control of the company from her?

Hunter has to return to Crystal Creek, but he won’t leave Bryce as bait to someone who wants her dead. But Crystal Creek isn’t the haven he expected, and soon he and Bryce race against the clock to find out what secret died with Egon, and how to endure the pain that has them fighting to protect their hearts and their lives.

 

 

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Meet Bryce Gregory and Hunter Whitloch

 

 

As the daughter of billionaire Egon Gregory, Bryce has it all, including men who want to marry her. She soon learns that her father’s billions makes her attractive to men who are looking for a way to get rich quick. One heartbreak is one too many,  and she develops a distrust toward men. Can any man love her for herself, or will her wealth be the most attractive feature about her? She won’t let her guard down when it comes to men. Though she’s cool and aloof, men still seek her out. Afraid of another heartbreak, she keeps her distance from men. It will take a special man to break past the barrier and convince her he loves Bryce for herself.

Could that man be Hunter Whitloch?

Hunter knows too well what it’s like to live in the shadow of the powerful. His grandfather is the wealthy financier Max Whitloch, Sr. Hunter’s father, Max, Jr., never forgave his father for abandoning him after his mother died.

Hunter loves his grandfather, but learned early on that many wanted to be his friend because of who his grandfather is. He understands Bryce’s reluctance to have relationships. He doesn’t know who wants to be his friend and who wants to use him. Because of Bryce’s fear of relationships, he lets her go. He’ll be there when she needs him.

After Hunter and Bryce graduate college, Bryce’s father, Egon, hires Hunter. He’s now climbing the corporate ladder. When Bryce opens her heart to him, he know she’s the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

His life couldn’t be better. He’s with the woman he loves, and he’s becoming a success without the help of his grandfather. He’s on the fast track …

Until …

His fraternity brothers started a company in their dorm room and want to take the company public. Hunter’s excited to help. He drafts the public offering and with Egon’s blessing prepares the deal. When the offering is scheduled to close, his brothers call and tell him the payout they’ll receive is less than the agreement.

Angry and humiliated, Hunter confronts Egon. Egon’s partner, Percy, is cheating Hunter’s fraternity brothers. Egon is enraged. How dare Hunter accuse Percy of underhanded dealings. Unless Hunter can prove Percy’s duplicity, he can leave.

Hunter can’t prove it. He’ll leave, but he’ll take Bryce with him.

Egon tells him that’s where he’s wrong. If he leaves the company, he’ll leave Bryce.

Hunter can’t walk away from Bryce.

What happens next?

Buy Whisper a Kiss and find out.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

A native of California, Laura Haley-McNeil spent her youth studying ballet and piano, though her favorite pastime was curling up with a good book. Without a clue as to how to write a book, she knew one day she would.

After college, she segued into the corporate world, but she never forgot her love for the arts and served on the board of two community orchestras. Finally realizing that the book she’d dreamt of writing wouldn’t write itself, she planted herself in front of her computer. She now immerses herself in the lives and loves of her characters in her romantic suspense and her contemporary romance novels. Many years later, she lived her own romantic novel when she married her piano teacher, the love of her life.

Though she and her husband have left warm California for cooler Colorado, they enjoy the outdoor life of hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, and snow skiing. They satisfy their love of music by attending concerts and hanging out with their musician friends, but Laura still catches a few free moments when she can sneak off and read.

 

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Synopsis

 

Nina de Gramont’s The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder—and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.

“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet.”

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.

London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

 

 

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Review

 

What really happened to Agatha Christie when she went missing for those 11 days?

While I have read some of Agatha Christie’s novels over the years, I will admit that I didn’t know much about her personal life. While this is a fictionalized telling of what happened during those eleven days, it was fascinating to imagine the dynamics of the relationship between the Christie’s and how this mistress came into their lives and destroyed their marriage. While mostly told from Nan O’Dea’s POV, there are some chapters that are told to us from Agatha’s POV and also the detective that found her quite by chance.

We learn a lot about Nan and her childhood and the first love of her life. There are some other things that come about that add complexity to the story and the reason why Nan did what she did to get to know this family. While I probably should have seen it coming, it was a bit of a surprise.

I found that the multiple POV added depth to the story and kept me intrigued as to why this story was playing out as it was for the characters. Did some of this happen? Perhaps.

You will also find that the chapters jump around in time but it is important to understand Nan’s motivation for her actions.

This was a surprisingly delightful story and we give it 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Nina de Gramont is the author of a collection of short stories, Of Cats and Men, as well as the novels Gossip of the Starlings and The Last September. She has written several YA novels (Every Little Thing in the World, Meet Me at the River, The Boy I Love, and — under the pen name Marina Gessner — The Distance From Me to You). Nina teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She lives in coastal North Carolina with her daughter and her husband, the writer David Gessner.

 

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Synopsis

 

January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.

Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.

Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls.

None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.

On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.

January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders.

There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.

But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.

At once a dazzlingly time-twisting murder mystery and a story about grief, memory, and what it means to—literally—come face-to-face with our ghosts, The Paradox Hotel is another unforgettable speculative thrill ride from acclaimed author Rob Hart.

 

 

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This book releases 2/22/22

 

 

Review

 

This book packs a lot into the pages with a diverse character group, addressing issues we see today, and even a little bit of a mystery thrown in to boot.

This book is not one that you will sail through because of the complexity of the plot and the vast amount of characters. However, it is well worth the read especially if you like science fiction and fantasy rolled into one.

January Cole is a whipsmart character that isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Accompanied by a robot/drone that helps keep her in check, these two make the story quite fascinating. They play off of each other and the snarky comments add levity to the situations at hand. January does have an advantage, or perhaps disadvantage, as an Unstuck person. She can see snippets of things to come which aids her in doing her job and what to look for, but at the same time, it hinders her because of the prejudice from those around her.

This story delves into time travel and what it might be like to travel back in time to a historic event and watch it live. Granted, the TEA has to watch out for those that might be trying to alter history or profit for themselves. There is a scene where 3 dinosaurs are caught running around the hotel and the story of how they arrived in the present only adds to the mystery of what is going on at the hotel.

As I mentioned, the characters are diverse and range from LGBTQ+, nonbinary (which is still hard for me to get used to They/Them and not expect it to refer to a group of people vs just one), entitled wealthy individuals, and even some down to earth characters. Each adds something to the storyline even as a minor character.

The mystery comes in trying to find out who is erasing video and other data files, who might be trying to kill some of the super-wealthy, and just creating general havoc that keeps January and the rest of the staff on their toes.

I enjoyed the book and while it might not be for everyone, I think many might just enjoy this book. We give it 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Rob Hart is the author of THE PARADOX HOTEL. He also wrote THE WAREHOUSE, which has been sold in more than 20 countries and been optioned for film by Ron Howard, as well as the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection TAKE-OUT, and SCOTT FREE with James Patterson.

His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and “Take-Out,” which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.

He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and the current class director at LitReactor. He lives in New York City.

 

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A Killer Sundae (An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Berkley (January 4, 2022)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Ice cream shop owner Bronwyn Crewse is in for two scoops of murder in this charming mystery from Abby Collette.

 

Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is gorgeous in the fall, and Bronwyn Crewse, owner of Crewse Creamery, knows just how to welcome the new season. At the annual Harvest Time Festival, residents will get a chance to enjoy hot-air balloons and hayrides, crown a new Harvest Time Festival Queen, and eat delicious frozen treats sold at Win’s freshly purchased ice cream truck. But she gets into a sprinkle of trouble when a festivalgoer is poisoned and Win is implicated.

Although the victim was a former Harvest Time Festival Queen, her once-sunny disposition had dimmed into bitterness, leaving no shortage of suspects at the festival. To clear her name before the chill of winter sets in, Win will have to investigate and hope that her detective skills won’t “dessert” her.

 

 

Amazon * B&N * Kobo * Google Play

 

IndieBound *  Alibris * Penguin Random House

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Abby L. Vandiver, also writing as Abby Collette, is a hybrid author who has penned more than twenty-five books and short stories. She has hit both the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller list. Books one and two, A Deadly Inside Scoop and A Game of Cones, from her latest cozy series, An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery, published by Penguin Berkley, is out now.

 

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Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Bree Thompson has suffered a tragic loss, one from which she’s afraid she won’t recover. Bree needs a drastic change; so that every time she turns around it doesn’t remind her of what she once had.

She drives to the east coast, determined to find what she thinks she needs in the sun and the sand.

Bree starts to believe it’s possible; she finds the perfect house on the water and a construction crew for her fixer-upper. One of them might even be able to mend her broken heart.

But that’s when the trouble starts…

Watching, waiting, someone’s lurking in the shadows to take it all.

 

 

Amazon

 

Read for free via Kindle Unlimited

 

 

Review

 

This book combines the best of a mystery, thriller, and romantic suspense novel which are all some of my favorite reads.

Bree is a broken woman having lost her family in a tragic accident. She is wary of others and this puts her at a disadvantage at times when it comes to potential relationships. Ryker has his own set of issues but falls for Bree almost immediately when she punches him after thinking he might be there to harm her. Not the best first meeting! But that event was a good basis for them to get to know each other over time and learn to trust each other. Of course, neither expected to have to deal with a stalker that wants back whatever Bree took from him.

The book starts off from the stalker’s POV and it sets the reader up for an intense read. We don’t know who this person is or why they have it in for Bree, and it will take until nearly the 2/3 mark to really get that answer, and even then, we still don’t know who it is just why they want to harm Bree. I did suspect the correct character for no specific reason but almost changed my mind and thought it might be another character, but it really didn’t fit. It may (or may not) be hard to determine whom to suspect because until closer to the end of the book, the stalker could have been someone we hadn’t met yet. So many possibilities.

I enjoyed the pace of the relationship that developed between Bree and Ryker. It wasn’t quick and allowed them to get to know one another better before becoming intimate. It was better that it developed slowly because of Bree’s baggage and Ryker’s playboy attitude.

I love the descriptions of Bree’s photographs because I could picture them in my mind. I loved how the author describes how she alters the photos to bring things more into focus, or blur the lines of other aspects of the image. I am amazed at what we can do with technology these days.

I really enjoyed this novel and it was hard to put down, I just had to know how the events were going to play out, find out if I was correct in my suspicions, and wonder if Ryker was going to remember he installed a certain app on Bree’s phone just in case. (you’ll have to read the book to discover what app I am referring to!)

We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Melissa Roos was born and raised in Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family. Melissa published her first book, a cozy mystery/romantic suspense in 2020, titled You Can Hide. Her second novel, In the Shadow of the Black Moon, is also in the same genre and was released in September of 2021.

 

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