Month: May 2017

Let’s Salute the Week!

It is memorial weekend!  Please take a moment and thank the veterans and those who died to protect our rights to agree and disagree. All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Some stood through for the red, white and blueScreenshot 2017-05-28 22.26.23
And some had to fall
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
Some Gave All

Read more: Billy Ray Cyrus – Some Gave All Lyrics | MetroLyrics

 

Mysteries, Mysteries and More

I have been reading a lot of books lately.  I just need to get the reviews up and completed. However, I have learned a few things about some of the books I have been reading:

  1.  I am not crazy about reading the second or third book in a chapter, especially when the author constantly refers to the previous books.
  2. The books need to have a hook that sets this book apart from the others, while still keeping it in the series.
  3. Cliffhangers are okay, but I am not real crazy about the ending that book, and still have to read the next book to figure out the ending.

This creates somewhat of problem when I am reading a new book by a new author.  I find myself thinking about what happen where and especially if the story is not the beginning.  Now I have read books that have a back story, but that backstory is part of the ongoing series.  (I hope that makes sense.)

There are a couple of new characters that seem to be different and I have read a cozy mystery where the main character is a male.  This makes the second male in the many cozy mystery stories that I have read.

In addition, I have been asked to do some interviews, blog tours and few other different things.  I also have realized that my blog is not connecting to the different social media sites that I belong to so I will be correcting that as well.

Have a great Weekend and look for the new books!!

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Mainly Needlepoint Series by Lea Wait

Screenshot 2017-05-20 23.09.26Lea Wait has four daughters and husband.  Her husband is a painter and she is a writer.  In addition, this series she writes both mysteries and historical novels.

Screenshot 2017-05-20 23.09.261

Twisted Threads

Synopsis

Screenshot 2017-05-20 23.30.45 After leaving a decade ago, Angie has been called back to Harbor Haven by her grandmother, Charlotte, who raised her following her mother’s disappearance when she was a child. Her mother has been found, and now the question of her whereabouts has sadly become the mystery of her murder.

The bright spot in Angie’s homecoming is reuniting with Charlotte, who has started her own needlepointing business with a group called Mainely Needlepointers. But when a shady business associate of the stitchers dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances, case. . .

Book Reviews and 4.6 stars

This was a sad story.  Not only did Angie’s mother disappear when she was small, but she never knew her father.  Her Grandmother by all accounts was a wonderful person, but her Mom just disappeared.

Unfortunately, there is someone prying upon the Mainely Needlepointers and that is just awful.  I have serious issues with an individual who will steal from a poor, old people who are just trying to make a living.  Angie resolves it, read and find out how!

Threads and Evidence

thread of evidence

Synopsis

Angie Curtis and the Mainely Needlepointers are familiar with the Gardener estate. The crumbling Victorian mansion, known as “Aurora,” has been sitting vacant for nearly twenty-five years–and some say it’s haunted by the ghost of Jasmine Gardener, the teenage girl who died there in 1970 under mysterious circumstances…

Harbor Haven is abuzz with excitement when Hollywood actress Skye West decides to buy Aurora and sell off its furnishings.  Angie is intrigued when Skye asks her to appraise the estate’s sizable collection of needlepoint pictures.

Book Reviews

Not only did they find some interesting items in the Gardener estate. The ladies also find a mystery.  It is a very interesting book and well written. This book was better, much, better than the first one. I really enjoyed it and everyone who reads this book will as well. However, we got to get some outsiders or the population is going to go down quicker. Can’t wait for the wedding!

Thread and Gone

Synopsis

Angie Curtis and her fellow Mainely Needlepointers know how to enjoy their holidays. However, Mary Clough drops in on the group’s Fourth of July supper with a question about antique needlepoint she’s discovered in her family Colonial-era home, Angie and her revelers are happy to look into the matter.

Their best guess is that the mystery piece may have been stitched by Mary, Queen of Scots, famous not just for losing her head, but also for her needlepoint. If they’re right, the piece would be extremely valuable. For safekeeping, Angie turns the piece over to her family lawyer, who places it in her office safe.

Book Review and 4.5 stars

This was interesting to me, because I didn’t realize the Mary, Queen of Scots was famous for her needlepoint.  (I guess she had to do something while she was imprisoned.) Unfortunately has with everything else that has value, it pull all types of thieves to the piece.  What happens is awful, and the murder is someone who no one would suspect, but value is placed on the piece and the murder wants the piece of materials.

 

Tightening the Threads

Screenshot 2017-05-20 22.57.07

Synopsis

Sarah Byrne is an antique dealer who has never spoke about  the truth about her past to anyone—not even friend and fellow Mainely Needlepointer Angie Curtis. However now the Aussie finally has the one thing she’s searched for all her life—family. She has a  long-lost half-brother, Ted Lawrence, a wealthy old artist and gallery owner in town, are ready to reveal their secret connection . . .

Unfortunately, Ted’s adult children are suspicious of their newfound aunt Sarah—especially after Ted, in declining health, announces plans to leave her his museum-worthy heirloom paintings. So when Ted is poisoned to death during a lobster bake, everyone assumes she’s guilty.

Book Review and 4.5 stars

The writing is very sequential and I was totally unaware that the Ted was going to announce the fact that they were family.  Family is very important, but it is also very hurtful.  Non of the children have seen one another for over a decade and they have a new aunt to deal with, something that no one wants!  Especially since this new aunt will get a piece of the estate and it apparent that the children all want and need the original will to stand.

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Death Around the Bend by T.E. Kinsey

Synopsis

September 1909, and Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence, have been invited to Lord Riddlethorpe’s country estate for a week of motor racing and parties. They both agree that it sounds like a perfectly charming holiday. But when one of the drivers dies in a crash during the very first race, they discover that what seemed like an uncharacteristic error in judgement, reveals that the driver’s car was sabotaged—and the driver murdered.

Book Review plus 4.7 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the story.  This story illustrates the difference in classes among those who live above the stairs and those who live below the stairs.  It is interesting to see the difference among the servants below the stairs .  Florence is a ladies maid who gets the information for her lady as their investigate.  It is just so thoroughly enjoyalbe story!!!

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Zodiac Mysteries by Connie di Marco

Julia Bonatti is the main character of zodiac mysteries, a womanMadness of Mercurywhose life has taken anunexpected turn, whose clients bring their problems to her doorstep and sometimes lead her into grave danger. This series is written by Connie di Marco

 

 

 

 

 

Madness of MurderScreenshot 2017-05-20 22.17.13

Synopsis

San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti’s life is turned upside down when she becomes the target of the city’s newest cult leader, Reverend Roy of the Prophet’s Tabernacle. Driven out of her apartment in the midst of a disastrous Mercury retrograde period, she takes shelter with a client who’s caring for two elderly aunts. One aunt appears stricken with dementia and the other has fallen under the spell of the Reverend Roy.

Book Review and 4.6 stars

 

I am a Christian and I don’t believe in people who foretell the future.  However, I would never be part of situation that Julia finds herself involved in.  This cult in my opinion is a group of individuals who are judgemental and we need to leave judgement to our God.  Having said this, I would like to state that this is a good read and the author did a good job in writing the book in a non judgemental manner and provided all of with an insight to what can happen when a person is involved in such a situation.  It is a dangerous situation and I encourage you to read it and find out what happens to Julia.

All Signs Point to Murder

Signs Point to Murder

Synopsis

Julia Bonatti is alarmed by the astrological signs looming over Geneva Leary’s wedding day, but nobody asked Julia’s opinion and being a bridesmaid means supporting the bride no matter what. especially, when after the end of the wedding one of the wedding partner is killed.  Who was the murder? With anger and grief threatening to tear the Leary family part, Julia is determined to understand how such a terrible tragedy could occur.

In addition, her good friend is about to face her ex husband in divorce court.  This man is awful and wants his ex-wife on the street.

Between her new friend’s situation with her ex and her old friend’s family issues at the wedding, life if hard.  The two situation provide a way for the reader to see how hard love can be and what it can do to us when we are caught in the middle.

Book Review and 4.3 stars

This was a very interesting book.  I encourage individuals to spend time reading the story and really  see how our life are affected by what other people do to us. It is very interesting how the Julia reads the star to see how life can work out for us

 

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A Haunted Vintage Mystery Series Review

RoseRose Pressey states on her Amazon web page that she really likes to write quirky books about the paranormal.  Her contact links are as follows: In order to receive her newsletter at http://oi.vresp.com/?fid=cf78558c2a. Or join her on Facebook for lots of fun and prizes. https://www.facebook.com/authorrosepressey

 

Cookie Chanel owns a vintage clothing boutique called It’s Vintage, Y’all.  The series began in December 2014.  The main character is  Cookie Chanel who has moved to the town of Sugar Creek, Georgia.  Cookie is always on the lookout for stylish second-hand steals and blogs about her buys, store and vintage tips. A newly murdered ghost usually attach themselves to her and she must solve that persons murder in order for the ghost to cross over.  That is, with the exception of Charlotte Meadows. Also her friend Heather (a non psychic who runs a psychic store and can’t see ghosts), her parents and newly transplanted detective and lawyer….and her cat Wind Song (really her grandmother).

If You’ve Got it, Haunt it

Synopsis

Cookie Chanel has opened her own vintage clothing boutique, It’s Vintage, Y’All, in ta small town of Sugar Creek, Georgia. At an estate sale of deceased socialite Charlotte Meadows, she gets a lot more than she bargained for when Charlotte’s ghost appears before her—offering fashion advice and begging Cookie to find out who murdered her.
In addition, psychic  cat moves into the shop. Hoping to solve the murder without dying herself, Cookie sorts through all of the possible suspects and with her psychic cat and non-psychic friend the murder is solve.

Book Review and 4.7 stars

It was a good, well written book.  Cookie seems a little lonely initially, but as the book developed I think she got more company that she hoped for, not to mention Charlotte.  Charlotte is an out spoken, strong community member, who is constantly criticizing Cookie’s dress, love life but wants her car.  Who knows?

All Dressed Up and No Where to Haunt (Book Two)

Synopsis

A film is being shot on a historic plantation, and vintage clothing store owner Cookie Chanel has been asked provide authentic period outfits for its stars. When Cookie discovers the temperamental leading lady drowned in a pond, wearing a lovely vintage dress, she’s suddenly on location for a real-life crime scene. Her psychic cat provides her with  supernatural support as Cookie looks for the murder.

Book Review and 4.5 stars

This was a good, strong book.  It provided me with insight on why I would not like to supply a movie with something that cannot be replaced.  AS Cookie stated even though her contract states that they will pay for the item, she still cannot replace the item.  Hopefully, Cookie doesn’t get to hurt as follows up on the clues that she discovers during her investigation.

Haunt Couture and Ghosts Galore

Synopsis

A hot-ticket charity fashion show is the perfect chance for Cookie Chanel, proud owner of It’s Vintage Y’All, to show off her stylistic savvy for a good cause. However the ghost of a former private investigator asks for Cookie’s help, when he is murdered.  Charlotte Meadows (her ever-present ghost) develops a flirtation with the new ghost, as she offers interesting suggestions.  While all of this is going on, the private eye ghost wants his hat, try explaining that to the police.  As ever, her psychic cat provides her with clues Cookie tries to stop the feud between her cat and her best friend. Cookie works hard to prevent another murder, her own.

Book Review and 4.6

The private eye liked Cookie’s car, but couldn’t always remember his investigation in order to help Cookie solve his murder.  Heather really is bothered by the fact that she is the one running a psychic store, but Cookie is the one with the ghost, the psychic cat and other weird things that go on in her life. It is a great book, that really keeps you wanting to read it all the way through to the end.

 

Haunted is Always in Fashion

Synopsis

As the owner of It’s Vintage, Y’All in Sugar Creek, Georgia, Cookie Chanel has agreed to share her expertise with author Juliana McDaniel. But on her way to town, Juliana is shot dead, and that was all she wrote. Cookie must solve the murder in order to help one of the inquisitive ghosts to move on. As usual her psychic cat, best friend and a couple of inquisitive ghosts help her to unmask the killer.

Book Review and 4.8 stars

The author is starting to tie interesting threads together and I hope that they will explored in further vintage mystery books.  I think that any reader will enjoy the book and want to real the entire series.

If the Haunting Fits, Wear it

Synopsis

Cookie Chanel lands a dream assignment of providing vintage hats for a high-society Kentucky Derby party. She leaves her mother and best friend, Heather, to mind the store  It’s Vintage Y’All, while Cookie, her psychic cat and resident ghost Charlotte  and Ginger (a new ghost)  to Kentucky.  While she is attending her first Derby party, a murder happens, the rider of the potential Derby-winning horse, Now she’s saddled with the jockey’s ghost, who insists she find his killer.

Book Review

It was kind of quirky, funny book.  Cookie thought she was going to have a fun working vacation as she dressed one of the players at the Kentucky Derby.  At first, it seemed to play that way for her, but then the murder happened and now she has three ghosts following her around. Two she brought with her, Ginger and Charlotte, and the jockey.  It turns out that the jockey did not have the most sterling character, so there are a few to many suspects.  Topping the list is a former girlfriend/witch, who enlists her friend to make Cookie’s life miserable.  A bed and breakfast, with a funky, make that weird hostess. Then her two boyfriends show up at her place of residence.  So many events occurring before the murder is revealed.

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The Red Carpet Catering Mysteries by Shawn Reilly Simmons

Shawn Reilly Simmons is the author of The Red Carpet Catering mysteries featuring Penelope Sutherland, an on-set movie caterer. Cooking behind the scenes on movie sets perfectly combined two of her greatest passions, movies and food, and provides the inspiration for her series.Shawn Reilly Simmons

The Red Carpet Catering Mysteries:
Murder on a Silver Platter (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #1)
Murder on the Half Shell (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #2)
Murder on a Designer Diet (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #3)                                     Murder on the Main Course (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #4)

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Murder on a Silver Platter (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #1)

Synopsis

Penelope Sutherland and her Red Carpet Catering company just got their big break as the on-set caterer for an upcoming blockbuster. But when she discovers a dead body outside her house, Penelope finds herself in hot water. Things start to boil over when serious accidents threaten the lives of the cast and crew. And when the film’s star, who happens to be Penelope’s best friend, is poisoned, the entire production is nearly shut down.

The father of the Penelope’s best friend actually has a variety of children from different spots where he filmed his movies.  Unfortunately, he missed a child and that one wants attention.

Book Review plus 4.5 stars

This was a great read!  I liked how the author wove Hollywood into her plot.  It was a sequential read and I thought throughout very realistic.  It did take me a few pages to figure out all of the players, but all in the end the team of characters really put on a great story!!

Murder on the Half Shell (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #2)

Synopsis

Filming a movie on a sunny Florida beach may seem like working in paradise, but dealing with the brutal heat, a difficult director and a leading lady with a serious aversion to seafood makes for a challenging task for Penelope Sutherland and her Red Carpet Catering crew.  When a flashy celebrity chef is accused of the crime, Penelope Sutherland steps in to help her former culinary school instructor find the truth.

Book Review and 4.2 stars

I don’t know, the book was well written, I enjoyed the story.  BUT it didn’t have the hook that the previous story did.  I guess because the middle kind of sagged for a few pages, however, it did pick up and the final chapters really brought the story back into a good read.

Murder on a Designer Diet (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #3)

Synopsis

Penelope’s life revolves around cooking and keeping her Red Carpet Catering business afloat, and she’s just landed a hearty new job for her and her staff. Just when Penelope thinks life couldn’t be sweeter, a panicked late-night phone call from Max, her best friend’s brother, ends abruptly with shots fired on his end. Her relationship with her police boyfriend as sturdy as a soup sandwich, because of his involvement. Penelope hopes to resolve it and get her boyfriend out of hot water.

Book Review

The main reason I liked this book is because the boyfriend was depicted in a realistic manner.  He was investigated because of his involvement in a situation that totally outside of his jurisdication.  This is a good reminder that cozy mysteries the main character doesn’t have a set of rules that they must follow.  That touch really enhance the story and brought it home.  It is a great read!

Murder on the Main Course (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery #4)

Synopsis

Small Town. Big Secrets. Penelope and her Red Carpet Catering crew find themselves transported to a different world when they arrive on their newest movie set in rural Indiana. , Penelope feels more homesick for the big city and her boyfriend than ever before. Penelope works to uncover the darker truths boiling beneath the surface of his seemingly perfect life so they can leave.

Book Review plus 4.0

I don’t like it when small town are presented in a cliched manner, even for a book.  I grew up in a small town and outsiders were just that, outsiders.  There are things that no outsider will every know, but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.  Anyway, the sequence of the book and the writing really held up and the book was fun to read once I got off my bandwagon concerning small towns.

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Carol Childs’ Mysteries by Nancy Cole Silverman

Nancy Cole Nancy Cole silvermanSilverman’s new series, the Carol Childs Mysteries (Henery Press) takes place inside a busy Los Angles Radio station. Carol Childs is a radio reporter who works a for a local radio station.

Book Reviewsfor eacy of Nancy Cole Silverman’s Carol Childs’ Mysteries

Synopsis

A top Hollywood Agent is found poisoned in the bathtub of her home and the police suspect one of her two nieces. Carol Childs, a reporter for a local talk radio station, doesn’t believe it, she knows these people and knows that they could not have committed Carol knows she must save her friend from being tried in the court of public opinion.
shadow of a doubt
Carol must challenge both her friendship and the facts, and the only thing she knows for certain is that the killer is still out there.

Book Review and 3.8 stars

This cozy mystery was an interesting read, however, I stayed with until the end.  I didn’t give it my usual 4 because I thought some aspects of the story were cliche, but for the most part I did enjoy this book.

Synopsisbeyond a doubt

Carol Childs is called to the scene of a murder, where she has no idea she’s about to uncover a connection to a string of missing girls.  A judge’s daughter leaves behind a clue and a trip down Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame reveals a connection to a high powered real estate mogul and to a cartel targeting girls for human trafficking.

As Carol Childs investigation gets to close, she finds herself  at odds with powers that threaten to undo her career and like the very girls she’s seeking, make her disappear.

Book Review and 4.3 stars

I liked this story a lot better. It was interesting to watch how the connection to past was illustrated to a series of murders that had occurred in Hollywood.  I think that the author put the information together in a very sequential manner.

without a doubtSynopsis

Our favorite radio reporter Carol Childs investigates a series of Beverly Hills jewelry heists, when she realizes her FBI boyfriend, Eric, is working the same case. Even worse, she may have inadvertently helped the suspect escape.  Now Carol is faced with the difficult choice of choosing between her job and her personal relationships. It was just a coincidence that Carol and Eric were investigating the same case, now before the thieves can pull off a daring escape, they are leaving a trail of dead bodies behind, and taking the jewels with them.

Book Review and 4.5

This was a great sophmore follow up in the series.  I think that it was good to explore the relationship, but I wish the author had spent more time on this aspect. However, it is a mystery not necessarily a romance.

 

 

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A Little Support . . . A Lot of Hope

When I went to college I was was one of the few people, I knew,  who had not changed their major.  There was no doubt in my mind that I would always work as a teacher, an educator in some capacity. There was no question that I would use technology as I was an audio/visual worker in high school. I have dreamt about working as a preschool teacher, a special education teacher, or elementary AND I WOULD BE GOOD.

My dreams did come true, I have worked at each level of education with the exception of post high school education, but I have conducted professional developments for teacher, online and in person.  I have always been interested in technology and that is why when I renew my license this year I will add that endorsement to my license.

It is the end of the year!  It has been a tough year.    I have thought hard and long that there were ways I could manage each job, I could use technology.  However, since I was not the technology coordinator, I didn’t have administrative rights, which made it difficult, if not impossible to use anything that was not school issued.  The end is near.  We have rough 3 weeks of school left this year and I will not return next year.

I subscribe to a blog written by Vicki Smith and she provides links to wonderful sites. She has a site that I would like to be part of my blog, but I also like to give my opinion of various sites.

Finally, there are individuals like myself who are sad and happy to see the end of the year.  I will miss the students, this is the first year in a long time where students outside my classroom stop and say hi to me during the day.  Students from past years have stopped me; in a lot of ways it has been ego affirming that individuals know, like and remember me.  However, I have also lost co workers and relatives this year.  It has been a year for reflection. 
This blog will still be about technology, teaching and curriculum, but I want to acknowledge where I am and I don’t want to be teaching for the rest of my life in a public or charter school.
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A Sherlock Homes Bookshop Mystery Series by Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany is a Canadian based writer who writes crime fiction.  She still lives in Body on Baker StreetCanada and is the author of several crime fiction. She is a best-selling author and the president of Sisters in Crime in Canada.

 

 

 

Elementary, She Read (Book 1)

elementary she reads

Synopsis

Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to get over a bad marriage to a cheating husband.  In West London she co-owns with her Great Uncle Arthur’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and she also manages the shop on a day-to-day basis.  When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body.

Book Review and 3.8 stars

This was a different type of cozy mystery for me, at first I wasn’t sure exactly what to think about the book. The story, however, got better as I read through the story.  I finally realized what kind of character she was and people treated her the way they did.  In addition, the people who were her friends WERE HER FRIENDS.  Her former boyfriend is a police detective and I got the feeling she and he had feelings for each other, but their personalities were just so different from one another.

It is a good book, an interesting book.

vicki delany (Book 2)

Synopsis

Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy  (managing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium (which she co-owns with her Great uncle) on Baker Street and adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room. Reanlta VAn Markoff’s assistant calls and asks Gemma to host her mother, who is Renalta Markoff, a hugely popular author, for a book signing with the illustrious with Renalta Van Markoff, author of the controversial Hudson and Holmes mystery series. A dedicated Sherlockian,  Donald Morris verbally attacks Renalta and her series for disgracing Sherlock’s legacy, only to be publicly humiliated when the author triumphantly lashes back and gains the upper hand. That is until Renalta collapses on the table—dead.

Book Review 4.2 stars

This book was much better than the first book, maybe it was because I better understood the main character.  The book was well written and if didn’t have a sagging middle, the whole book just flowed from the first page until the very end of the story.

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Changing Your Position in Education

I recently made the decision that after a  year of learning many lessons about working in a different school environment in four different roles I will not return next year. In 25 days, I will be changing my title to that of an online learning specialist.  I will be working online, full time.

There are so many negative things that I could say and why do negative thoughts come into a persona’s mind rather than positive.  Of course there are plenty of people who think positive thoughts right away. In the meantime, I learned that the best thing I could do was to keep my mouth closed.  
Working online should be interesting, I need to learn another set of skills as I work online and earn a living.  I am very excited and grateful to see what God has in store with me.
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