Sister Eve and the Blue Nun

Title: Sister Eve and the Blue Nun
Author: Lynne Hinton
Expected Publication: May 17th 2016 by Thomas Nelson
Format: ebook, Pgs 336
Genre: Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Divine Public Detective Agency Mystery #3

This third installment is for diehard fans. The redundancy is over the top. While most authors reserve rehashing for the middle or possibly the end of the book, Lynne Hinton has taken this further and believes that it should be done at every opportunity and when she wants to change it up a bit, she uses annoying page filling by having the main character thinking aloud. This book tried my patients more than you could imagine.

Sister Evangeline Divine is in a quandary as to whether she should stay in religious order since the archbishop had decided that priests and nuns should no longer live under the same roof, or if it is time for her to leave Pecos and return to Madrid to help her father and his private investigation business. This is a heavy decisions lying on her heart, she loves the work that she does and the priest and sisters are her family and as everyone is spread far and wide is Eve ready to leave her beloved New Mexico. Now Brother Anthony is the lead suspect in his own sister’s death and he appears to have left the abbey in the middle of the night.

Dr. Kelly Middlesworth has arrived at the Pecos Abbey to give a presentation on Sister Maria de Jesus de Agreda. Prior to the conference, Anthony discovered pages from the 1600’s that had been written by Sister Maria during the event of bilocation with the Jumano Indians. Anthony was having second thoughts about his sister having this information and during this quandary, Kelly is found dead and Anthony is missing.

There are many characters within this story and a great deal of fluff. Characters are thrown about and there is no a straight line for the reader to follow and considering that this is very much a religious book, it is surprising the amount of woo-woo that is surrounding the path that the Lady in Blue has created for Sister Eve.

This motorcycle riding boot wearing nun is not what you think when you picture habits and abbey’s. While her biological sister is a bit on the wild side, Evangeline knew from a young age where her life would lead. The religious life suited her, granted she might have a brilliant mind when it comes to solving mysteries, but her true calling is taking care of people.

I am not sure where Lynne Hinton is going to take this series, but if it continues, the author has added an additional bump in the road in the name of Detective Earl Lujan and the funny tumbling feeling Evangeline Divine gets when he is around.

Christmas at the Beach

Title: Christmas at the Beach
Author: Wendy Wax
Published: October 15th 2013 by Penguin Group (USA)
Format: ebook, 52 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Series: Ten Beach Road #2.5

Usually I am not a fan of novellas. I do not understand why this little snippet of information cannot be included either in the previous book or as an introduction to the next. Maybe it is because the author does not know where they are going with the next book or an editor had taken out parts that were important to the next book in the series, I will never know. What I do find surprising is that this novella did not bother me. I had an hour to waste and this filled it perfectly.

Told from Kyra’s perspective, there is a bit of rehashing of the last book, Ocean Beach, and forward momentum with a major relationship change that would have made the ending of the last book more complicated. Everyone is looking toward to what the future will bring and their interpersonal relationships seem to be on the mend. This does not mean that their lives will be any less problematic, but Kyra has decided that they are the village that will help her raise her son and they will face each new situation together.

I am still loving this series. Not sure why I had picked it up in the first place since it is not my usual, but I am glad that I did since these women have really grown on me.

Ocean Beach

Title: Ocean Beach
Author: Wendy Wax
Published: June 26th 2012 by Berkley
Format: Paperback, 448 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Series: Ten Beach Road #2

It is so refreshing to read a book where the main characters do not expect a man to rush in and save the day for them. Granted, in the first book, they agreed to let Chase lend financial assistance on getting their remodel project off the ground when a hurricane had destroyed Bella Flora, but that was only a minor setback and now the women are moving forward with the Millicent - a glorious art deco home on South Beach owned by Max Golden (if you are old enough, think George Burns of Burns and Allen fame).

There have been some upsets when it comes to keeping their show “Do-Over” on the air since the network wants to turn it into a sensationalized reality show instead of the home remodeling program that it was intended to be. A literal do-over, not only for the house, but also for their own survival. The paparazzi are still making their lives unbearable due to Daniel Deranian suddenly deciding that he wants to be more active in his son’s life; and each woman - Madeline, Avery and Nicole, seems to be at a crossroads.

Helping Max to fulfill Millie’s dying wish of fixing up the Millicent so their missing son can always have a home, the women befriend Max and together they turn the Millicent into a dream home and help Max to heal his broken heart and to shore up their own lives.

With this book, you will find a little romance, but not so much that you will roll your eyes, pasts are revealed, a new secret or two, a bit of amateur detective work, and more than a few strained domestic relationships. Overall, Wendy Wax pulls this delightful beach read together without going over the top and all the while leaving the reader wondering what these women can get up to next. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

15th Affair

Title: 15th Affair
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published: May 2nd 2016 by Little, Brown and Company
Format: ebook, Hardcover, 384 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Women's Murder Club #15

For me this book has a sluggish start. Granted, the dead bodies appeared early, but the whole Lindsay and Joe thing seemed to drag on for too long. For a take-charge kind of woman, to me, Lindsay came across as an insecure house mouse.

The last two weeks of Lindsay’s life has been utter chaos. She is the lead homicide investigator on four bodies in an upscale hotel with no evidence and very little identifications. An airplane bursts into flames moments before it touches down. A body is missing from the morgue. Lindsay suffers a beat down in front of her own apartment. Joe is missing but there might be more to that story (for die-hard fans, Joe’s backstory is finally revealed) and that has Lindsay on edge - and I still have not told you everything.

Trust is a big part of this book. Whose side is everyone playing on? Whose story is to be believed? Grudges are being paid back and honey pots are being set. When you are dealing with government trained liars, the stakes ratchet up quickly and Lindsay is in the middle of it all.

The other women of the murder club have very small parts in this book – which was a shame since I really enjoy them. It was not until the end of the book that everything got interesting. There was a slight rehashing to get the reader caught up, but in the end, I think all the questions were answered. All that is except for Lindsay, as I said, trust is an integral part of this book.