Book Review: Book 4 Murder

Synopsis

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is not a cop. She’s a divorced, middle-aged mom who works as an account clerk for the police department in a small city in Minnesota. But her retired mother, Harriet Plunkett, is convinced Phee is the only one who can solve the mystery of a cursed book. According to Harriet, four members of her book club have already succumbed to the deadly curse. Harriet insists Phee catch the next plane to her retirement community in Sun City West, Arizona, to investigate.

Phee is certain that their book club selection isn’t cursed, but is somebody really knocking off the ladies? As Phee starts to uncover dark secrets hidden in plain sight under the blazing Arizona sun, she’ll need to read between the lines before it’s someone else’s final chapter….

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This book is perfect for the over 55 crowd and anyone connected with them. The authors nailed it. Lots of twists and the culprit I guessed early on, turned out to be someone totally different. If you’re to know what goes on in a senior community anywhere in the country, this is the book to read. Great first book in a series. I truly enjoyed it, especially since the MC is from Minnesota.  This is book I could relate to, understand and truly get.  You will love it!!

Book Review: Black Sheep Mysteries

Black Sheep Mysteries by Anne Canadeo    

The Black Sheep Knitting shop of Plum Harbor, Massachusetts is owned by Maggie Screenshot 2017-09-06 14.34.41Messina who leads her fellow knitters in some amateur detecting. Each book contains a fun mystery solve among friends, recipes and a knitting pattern.  On this day, this blog will review the following books:

  • 1 .  A Stitch Before Dying (Gallery, 2010)
  • 2 .  Till Death Do Us Part (Gallery, 2012)
  • 3.    A Dark and Stormy Knit (Simon and Schuster, 2014)

A Stitch Before Dying

Synopsis:

The third mystery in Anne Canadeo’s winning Black Sheep Knitting series, featuring a group of  five friend who have a knack for knitting—and sScreenshot 2017-09-06 14.34.41olving crimes…

Maggie Messina, owner of the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, has been invited to give knitting workshops at a Berkshires spa resort, she manages to negotiate a cottage that fits all five of the Black Sheep for what promises to be a weekend of knitting bliss. But while the friends are expert at counting stitches, they haven’t counted on murder.

Guests and staff at the Crystal Lake Inn are as varied as a mixed bag of yarn, but most colorful is certainly the owner, charismatic self-help guru and former psychiatrist Dr. Max Flemming. The doctor may have told all in a revealing autobiography, but from his ex-wife to the widow of his former business partner—both employees at the inn—Max seems mired in shad­ows from his past. And when a killer strikes during a mountaintop retreat, the Black Sheep wonder what the good doctor might be hiding. Now who is going to be the victim of the third murder?

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This book was a good read!  Although I have to admit I don’t how they (five women) shared one cottage during this time.  Yes they are friends but really?  The book was my favorite to date. I enjoyed the storyline, the location, the familiar characters mixed with the new ones and it was a good solid story.
The Hotel is owned by a former Psychiatrist, Dr. Max Flemming. His is a sad story indeed. He wrote a book about his trials and re-birth as a holistic follower. Maggie finds she is teaching classes such as ‘Random Knitting” and “Mindful Knitting”, which were actually very interesting concepts.  In addition New Age knitting there were other’ practices that the women found good for their body, by going on various hikes and receiving body treatments. Maggie finds herself liking the classes.

The only glitch is Dr. Max is murdered!

Till Death Due Us PurlScreenshot 2017-09-07 15.44.13

Synopsis

The fourth in this wonderful knitting mystery series that  features Maggie Messina and her close circle of knitting-club friends, who must unravel another murder in their cozy coastal town of Plum Harbor, Massachusetts.

The Black Sheep Knitters new project is helping a bride-to-be knit shawls for her upcoming wedding. Days after the ceremony, the groom dies in a freak accident. As the knitters comfort the family, many secrets and betrayals—both business and romantic—are revealed. When the groom’s body turns up after the funeral in a motel room, dead again, the newlywed widow is the prime suspect, The Black Sheep must prove her innocence and find the real killer among a large circle of family, friends, and foes.  

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I have read a majority of the black sheep knitting mysteries. Some I have really enjoyed and other not as much, but all the books are well written.  I really like the bond that the women have together. That bond is what really makes this series come together.  They are all different except that they love to knit.

A Dark & Stormy Knit

Synopsis

In the sixth novel in the series the Black Sheep Knitters must work to solve the mystery of the disappearance of their friend—and figure out who is trying to kill her before it’s too late.

Curiosity Killed the Cat 

Knitting graffiti, in Plum Harbor? Maggie Messina doubts it could ever happen in her quiet village. Until the new parking meters on Main Street are found covered with cat-faced cozies. In the dark of night, the mysterious Knit Kats have struck again! The infamous gang of stitching graffiti artists are totally harmless, and their pranks all in good fun. Or so Maggie and her friends think. Until a yarn-covered corpse is discovered a few days later—the tangles identical to Knit Kat handiwork.

These threads of evidence should be easy to follow. But the clever Knit Kats hide behind a website and secret identities. The murderer could be anyone. A familiar face in town, even a copy Kat.

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This book is the sixth in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series. The series features the support and friendship of members of the knitting group, with Maggie Messina as owner of the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, and plots with plenty of suspense and satisfying conclusions. A Dark and Stormy Night lives up to its title: it’s a bit “dark,” owing to the phantom group of “graffiti knitters” who appear initially to be involved in the crime. It’s quite a contemporary theme for a knitting mystery, and in this way it is quite original.

Anne Canadeo is a wonderful writer. She consistently comes up with very original and unique themes for her stories.

 

 

Book Review: Two Nights

Two Nights by Kathy Reiche

Synopsis:

Meet Sunday Night, a woman with physical and psychological scars, and a killer instinct. . . .
Sunnie has spent years running from her past, burying secrets and building a life in which she needs no one and feels nothing. But a girl has gone missing, lost in the chaos of a bomb explosion, and the family needs Sunnie’s help. Is the girl dead? Did someone take her? If she is out there, why doesn’t she want to be found?

It’s time for Sunnie to face her own demons—because they just might lead her to the truth about what really happened all those years ago.

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I rarely give 5 book reviews to any books.  I mean I like the books usually and I want them to be successful, but this book struck me at a time when I have been battling some demons of my own.  I still have them, but at least I needed to hear that it would be worth something to do that.  I strongly encourage you to read the book.  You will enjoy it!!!

 

I was given this book by the publisher, via Netgalley, for an honest review.Two Nights_Reichs_ecard_v2_pull quote 4

 

Book Review: I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere

I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere but the Pool by Francesca Serritella

and Lisa Scottoline

Synopsis:

The bestselling and “perennially hilarious” mother-daughter team is back with a new collection of stories from their real lives, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Join Lisa and Francesca as they regret drunk-shopping online, try smell-dating, and explore the freedom of a hiatus from men – a Guyatus. They offer a fresh and funny take on the triumphs and facepalm moments of modern life, showing that when it comes to navigating the crazy world we live in, you’re always your own best lifeguard. (summary from the Publisher)

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This is a new style of book for Lisa Scottoline (at least that is what she says in the book), but I think it just a fun project for her and her daughter.  Writing can be all consuming task and it is fun to share with a family member.  This book was a fun read and I think of it highly.  Enjoy!!

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for honest review.

Book Review: Homeschooling Can be Murder

Homeschooling Can be Murder by Susan Lyttek

Synopsis

Army wife and homeschooling mom, Jeanine Talbott has a busy week scheduled, so when her husband’s transfer orders come through, she decides to let him pick out the new house and move their goods while she and the kids slowly wrap up the life they’ve grown to love.

As she pulls up to their new residence, she discovers her darling bought a charming fixer-upper complete with rather unexpected neighbors—a graveyard full of Civil War veterans.  As the family, gets settled in Gentle Springs, Jeanine hears strange noises coming from next door.

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I really liked this book  There were a few things that were off, hence the 4 book reviews, but ON  the whole I highly recommend reading this book.  I think that you will enjoy it.  Those of us who are military spouses will really enjoy the book!!

 

 

Book Review: Leave the Night On

Leave the Night on  by Laura Trentham

Synopsis

Love, betrayal, and sweet revenge—life in Cottonbloom is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

Sutton Mize is known for lavishing attention on the customers who flock to her boutique on the wealthy side of her Mississippi town. So when she finds a lace thong in her fiancé’s classic cherry-red Camaro, she knows just who she sold it to: her own best friend. In an instant, Sutton’s whole world goes up in flames. . .

Wyatt Abbott has harbored a crush on Sutton since he was a young kid from the other side of the tracks. He witnessed Sutton’s shocking discovery in the Camaro at his family-owned garage—and it made him angry. What kind of man could take lovely, gorgeous Sutton for granted? But then Sutton comes up with an idea: Why not give her betrothed a taste of his own medicine and pretend that she’s got a lover of her own? Wyatt is more than happy to play the hot-and-heavy boyfriend. But what begins as a fictional affair soon develops into something more real, and more passionate, than either Sutton or Wyatt could have imagined. Could it be that true love has been waiting under the hood all along?

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Romance!  Well the story of two people from either side of the tracks was a lot of fun to read, when it was just Sutton and Wyatt.  However, the other individual characters, didn’t like so much. However, I would take the time to read the story, you will enjoy it!!

This book was given to me, via Netgalley, in exchange for a honest review.

Author: Laura Trentham

Author Bio:

An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several yeLaura Trentahm IIars.


She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. The first two books of her Falcon Football series were named Top Picks by RT Book Reviews magazine. Then He Kissed Me, a Cottonbloom novel, was named as one of Amazon’s best romances of 2016. When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she’s shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as big as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

 

Social Links:

Facebook

Author Blog

Twitter– @LauraTrentham

Author Website

 

Buy Links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million

IndieBound

Powells

Book Review: Girl in Snow

Synopsis

This book is about Cameron, Jad and Russ, their response to a popular high schooler who has been murdered. The tro are as different in almost every sense, except that they each have their own secrets.  The ending will unnerve you , but you have read the whole book to understand the ending.

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It is a stay-up-all-night-just-a-couple-of-more-pages-even-I-know-I-have-to-work-in-the-morning.

In other words, you will stay with it!!!

This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: A Wedding Tail

A Wedding Tail by Casey Griffin

Synopsis

Zoe Plum is a well-known, sought after wedding planner.  However, Zoe doesn’t want her own wedding and really doesn’t like weddings.  Now she has met Levi Dolson, a singer of a loca ban, who really likes Zoe. They, actually both really like each other and Levi is trying to keep Zoe safe from an unknown foe. Oh my!  Now what will happen!

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Romances aren’t really my thing and reading a book in the middle of the series is not a good idea either.  However, this romance story masequerading as a romance really wasn’t that bad.  Not the pard of the story that brought me in was in the title is say “A Rescue Do Romance”, I love dogs and I have a soft spot for rescue dogs.  I have one of my own. Hence the reason for the 4 book rating, it is a cute story and I think people will enjoy it.

 

This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Cirak’s Daughter

Cirak’s Daughter by Charlotte MacLeod

Synopsis

Nineteen year old Jenny Cirak has moved  into her DAd’s house under an assumed name. However, she didn’t really know her Dad, which is one of the reasons she has moved to Meldrum, Rhode Island to figure out her Dad.  Why did he leave her everything ?  Why is he dead?

Unfortunately one person does not want her to know the answers to these questions.

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I do like Charlotte MacLeod as an author.  I had thought it would be a little better, but I can’t say it was bad.  I think you should read it an decide for yourself.

 

 

 

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