Tag: Netgalley Reviews

LADIES of the HOUSE by LAUREN EDMONDSON

Ladies of the House: A Modern Retelling of Sense and Sensibility

A very modern spin on Sense and Sensibility that I adored. Daisy, Wallis, and their mother Cricket never expected the sudden death of father and husband Senator Gregory Richardson. And they certainly never imagined it would be in such a salacious way. The media is all over this juicy headliner and Daisy just wants to disappear.

What they know is bad. What they don’t know is worse. They can’t afford their Georgetown home now and they must sell it and move into much smaller accommodations. While Cricket clings to her former life, and Wallis finds a man and is ready to move on that, Daisy is just trying to support them and protect them. Yes, the journalists are camped out on their doorstep but the worst part is the journalist writing the expose’ on her father.

Atlas has always been her best friend and to be honest she wants more. The question is can she trust him? Is this story only going to bring more pain to her family?

Those Richardson women. My grandmother would say they come from strong stock. And they do. They may have been gobsmacked in the most public and sordid way possible, but they get right out there and figure out who they are and make a new path in the world for themselves.

A very engaging book that I loved. It is so refreshing to not see simpering females in a story like this. Well Done!

NetGalley/Harlequin-Graydon Trade February 09, 2021






The Unwilling by John Hart

The Unwilling

Set in the South at the height of the Vietnam War, The Unwilling combines crime, suspense and searing glimpses into the human mind and soul in New York Times bestselling author John Hart’s singular style.

This book had a little bit of everything in it. The Vietnam War, family secrets, misunderstandings,coming of age,gun running and even murder.

Gibson is the youngest of three brothers. His brothers Robert and Jason are twins. Robert and Jason both were drafted in the war and only one comes home. It’s not the one their mother wanted to come home and now Gibson is on lockdown. His mother controls his entire life. And isn’t about to let him get mixed up with Jason.

Jason wants a relationship with Gibson, but has no idea how to go about it. So they go behind their parents backs. Gibson is drawn to Jason and is determined to find out all he can about him. Spending an entire day with him and two young ladies seems like a good way however, one of whom is certifiable crazy. The day goes from bad to worse when the pass a prison bus and Tyra literally shows her bum. One person on the bus however, recognizes Jason and knows who will pay for that information.

Soon after Tyra is savagely murdered. And I do mean Savagely. There is nothing spared here. Jason is immediately a suspect and Gibson is under suspicion as well.

His brother does have a dark side and when he is caught with a lot of cash and weapons, he goes back to jail.

While he is there things become much clearer. There is a puppet master behind all of this and Jason will get out of jail when X says he can.

This was so twisty and insane I do hope there will be a follow up!

Well Done!

NetGalley/ February 2nd, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press

A STRANGER IN TOWN by KELLEY ARMSTRONG

A Stranger in Town (Casey Duncan Novels Book 6)

A Rockton Novel Number 9

We’re back in Rockton with Detective Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton, along with all the characters we’ve grown to love! But this time the entire town may be in danger.

When a badly injured tourist from a group of four bursts out of the forest screaming and hysterical, Casey and Eric take her back to Rockton’s clinic for April to examine her. At the same time a new resident shows up who understands the woman is speaking Dutch. Hm…

Are the hostiles at work again? Or is this something more sinister?

When one of the original founders flies in, they are suspicious that they aren’t being told everything. Why have they not had any residents in quite a while? Why is no-one getting an extension?

I am not about to tell you anymore, except we finally find out how Rockton began and if it will continue or not.

Kelley’s books are always a solid read with capable female leads and great stories. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

NetGalley/ Minotaur February 02,2021

IN A TOWN CALLED PARADOX by MIRIAM MURCUTT AND RICHARD STARKS

In a Town Called Paradox

“I wasn’t looking for Marilyn Monroe when I bumped into her, even though I knew she was in town filming River of No Return…”

So begins In a Town Called Paradox, which asks the question: If each of us has a life story, then who determines how it unfolds and how it should end?

Set in the mid 1950’s, in Utah. Around the time when Hollywood and Westerns were being filmed on location in old western towns or ones just built to look like an old town.

Corin Dunbar. After her mother died young, her father ships her off to her Aunt Jessie in Utah. On a cattle ranch with few cattle and a lot more projects than money.

Corin is angry that her father sent her away and has been letting that fester for a while now. Aunt Jessie seems very religious and has rules. Corin is the main person telling this story.

First she hates Utah. She hates her circumstances. Until Hollywood arrives putting money into the town and bringing all the hot stars to town. The studios are in love with the scenery so almost overnight Paradox becomes something of a Paradox.

She isn’t interested in being in the movies. Not a fan of the casting couch, she instead decides to save the ranch. As she falls in love with the area, she also is falling for a stranger. A man raised by missionary parents who wants to see the West. Throw in the mix an escaped Native American, put in jail for a crime he never committed and there is some excitement going on.

I enjoyed this book so much. It asked some very interesting questions and I admit I pondered on them a lot. Through tragedies and surprise announcements, this had everything from police corruption, the good old boy network, how little power women had in this time and the question.

Who does control my future choices? And everyone has an agenda.

Very Well Done!

NetGalley/ February 3rd, 2021 by Independent Book Publishers Association



One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon (A Kitchen Witch Mystery)

One Poison Pie (Kitchen Witch Mysteries #1)

In the first in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s Kitchen Witch series, Mia Malone is starting over in Magic Springs, Idaho—where murder is on the menu . . .

We are very excited about Ms. Cahoon’s newest series. The Kitchen Witch!

Mia Malone is a kitchen witch. And when her kind of fiance’ leaves her she is not only alone, but unemployed, with her ex taking credit for all of her recipes. Well, most of them. And he wants to get his greedy little hands on all of them and is not above breaking a few laws to do it.

Mia moves back in with her grandmother in Idaho, where being magical is not a punishable offense, instead it is right out in the open and all magicals are welcome.

Mia is running a gourmet delivery business, with a dash of magic, to kick off her business. A bit overwhelmed, it seems like a blessing when her nasty ex-fiance’s sister, Christina comes needing a place to stay. Mia loves Christina and has no qualms about bringing her in to the fold.

At her first catering job her client is found dead. Stabbed and stuffed under a table. Shocked to find out she is a suspect, when one of her knives disappears she is also looking pretty good at being the next body under the table.

With Christina, her grandma and her grandma’s connections, she sets out to find a killer and solve a mystery before she or someone she loves ends up dead.

Grandma was just the right amount of meddling in Mia’s affairs. There is a sub-plot with Christina and the Ex going on and a lot of miscommunication.

This is the first of a new series for Lynn Cahoon, who is a master at cozy mysteries. She is one of those writers whose works I read before they come out to the public every time.

Congrats on a winner!

NetGalley/ January 26th, 2021 by Kensington Publishing Corporation





The Day Lincoln Lost by Charles Rosenberg

The Day Lincoln Lost

I love historical fiction. However, there also must be some attempt to follow history in some fashion. There should also be a reliable timeline.

I wanted to like this but it just felt flat and uninteresting. I didn’t feel anything for the characters.

 

NetGalley Review/August 11th, 2020 by Hanover Square Press

 

 

 

 

A Curious Incident by Vicki Delany

A Curious Incident (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery, #6)

It’s up to Gemma and Jayne to root out the killer in national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s sixth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery when the winner of a garden tour trophy is left pushing up daisies.

There is always something exciting going on at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, as well as at the tearoom next door.

Gemma is always busy. She is also well known for poking about in things that don’t concern her. And putting herself in danger. When she finds little Lauren Tierney perched on the stool in the shop, she has no idea that things are about to get even more hectic.

As Gemma tries to explain to Lauren that she is not an actual detective, Lauren begs her to please help her find her missing cat, Snowball. Gemma may not know much about sniffing out cats, but her dog Violet does! When Violet drags Gemma into the back of a garden, they find the cat shut into the shed. By accident?

With Snowball back in Lauren’s arms, Gemma is able to give herself a quick pat on the back for that quick find. But when a few days later Lauren is back looking to hire her again, Gemma doesn’t know what to say. Since Lauren would like to hire her to clear her own mother of murder charges.

This is one of my favorite series. A bookshop and a teashop right next to each other? Yes, please! While Gemma tries hard to stay out of trouble, she seems to be a magnet for it. Do people seriously murder their competition in a garden club? I’m sure they do. Remember the cheerleader mom? These are some seriously good characters. I was even suspicious of the old people.

Another excellent addition to the series!

NetGalley/ January 12th, 2021 Crooked Lane Books



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THE WIFE UPSTAIRS by RACHEL HAWKINS

The Wife Upstairs

Jane is new to Alabama, running from a past she won’t discuss.

Sharing an apartment with a creepy guy and walking dogs in the ritzy neighborhood of Thornfield Estates. Your typical Macmansion homes with bored, gossipy, nosy housewives with way too much time on their hands to notice if a shiny thing or two goes missing.

Jane both looks down on them and wants to be them. The curse of the have nots.

There is a sadness in the little cul de sac, however. Two of the women have recently disappeared and are presumed drowned. Having been best friends for life they go out for a night boat ride and never return.

When Jane meets Eddie Rochester, whose wife Bea was one of the women who presumably drowned, she is in love. Here is a man who could give her everything she wants. And when he asks her to move in, odd things start happening. Thumps from upstairs. Feeling as if she is not alone and is being spied on she digs into Bea’s past and her friendship with her bestie.

What she finds will shock her and may just kill her!

A story with a wife in the attic?? You may think you know what and why, but I can assure you it is much worse!

Delightfully evil!


NetGalley/ January 5th, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press

The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston

The Garden of Promises and Lies (Found Things Book 3)

For all of you readers who loved Secrets of the Chocolate House, we are back in the Found Things Series, with Xanthe.

Things are coming together in the Little Shop of Found Things as Spring slides in. While she is still keeping her time travel secret, except for Harley, things get tricky right away.

Fairfax is back. In her own time! Watching her. She knows what he wants. The Book. Spinners. He isn’t content to be a Spinner, he wants all control. So now Xanthe must use her spinning skills to go back and stop him from harming the people she loves.

Before she goes however, she attends an auction at an old estate and that is where she finds her next thing. An antique wedding gown is singing loudly to her. The visions she is getting tell her that the gown is tied to Benedict Fairfax somehow and she now needs to find out who needs her help.

There is no question that she is going back, but there is going to have to be an explanation and that could be tough on Flora and Liam.

When Xanthe accidently takes a dog back with her and returns with both intact, she has an idea how to tell her mother. She takes her along. Not for long, just a peek at what she does. Her mother is on board but agrees with Harley that taking Liam would be a smart idea. Fairfax is strong and could harm a lot of people.

So into the blind house they go and just like that they are in Bradford-on-Avon around 1815. Liam is gobsmacked to say the least and her old friend and mentor at the Chocolate House is not impressed with what she has done. She is also acting very odd.

As the two concoct their story and meet up with the owner of the wedding dress, Fairfax ups the odds. Things are happening at a lightening fast pace and someone may not be coming back.

This is the series that my sister and I wait for. And then dissect every paragraph together. It really is that good.

And Oh! What a cliffhanger!

NetGalley/ December 15th, 2020 St. Martin’s Press

COURTING CAN BE KILLER by AMANDA FLOWER

Courting Can Be Killer (An Amish Matchmaker Mystery #2)

An Amish Matchmaker Mystery #2

In the second Amish Matchmaker Mystery by USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower, Millie Fisher has plenty to keep her busy through her golden years, whether it’s minding a pair of rambunctious goats, meetings with her quilting circle, and matchmaking. But the witty widow always makes time to solve the odd murder…

When Millie came home from caring for her sister in Michigan her young neighbor boy follows her to Ohio. Ben Baughman left home when his father remarried and wanted to start a new family.

Ben has his own place now and has at least four jobs, all in the hope that Tess Lieb will marry him. But Tess’s father has no intention of marrying his daughter off. Instead she can go to Wyoming and live with his sister. But Tess is wily. Does she love Ben or is she using him to get away from her father?

Millie thinks it’s the latter and counsels Ben to slow down but we all know young love won’t wait.

When Ben dies in a fire at his night job, Millie is definitely grabbing Lois and finding out who did what! And lucky for her gossip is thick around town on the whys. Not so much on the who.

I love Amanda’s series. I enjoy the crossovers as well. Why shouldn’t they crossover? They all live in the same small area and know each other and while I wait for another Bailey’s Sweets book, I can find out how she is while reading Millie’s adventures. Brilliant!

I can’t wait for the next one!

NetGalley/ December 1st, 2020 Kensington Publishing