#66 Roots of Murder

#66
Roots of Murder
Janis Harrison
1999
246
Cozy Mystery
3
TBR
In this debut novel in Harrison's Gardening Mystery Series we are introduced to Bretta Solomon a recently widowed woman who in addition to learning how to deal with her grief, owns a flower shop which she describes as her life’s passion, the towns reaction to her recent weight loss and the murder of Isaac Miller an Amish farmer. If that sounded confusing, well then you get the gist of this book. Too much was going on - too many tangents. It was all roughly connected, but too many storylines and an over abundance of metaphors. Amazon Review: Too Many Tangents http://tinyurl.com/2uuulo

#65 I'm the Vampire, That's Why

#65
I'm the Vampire, That's Why
Michele Bardsley
2006
324
Fiction
4 out of 5
TBR
Don't let the cute little cover fool you, this book contains some explicit sexual content. While Jessica Mathews is minding her own business and taking out the trash she is blindsided by something big and hairy only to wake up realizing she is sucking blood out of a very gorgeous man. But funny, that isn't her only problem. Add in 11 of her friends also being turned, the woman who stole her husband constantly showing up and just the whole thing of being a Vampire mom. What's a woman to do, well, make a list and get busy kicking some butt. The graphic descriptions did catch me by surprise, but that was ok when balanced with the very funny writing and the whole list of interesting supporting characters that could easily have their own books. Amazon Review: It ain't easy being a vampire http://tinyurl.com/3dhwbt

#64 Cut

#64
Cut
Patricia McCormick
2000
151
YA - Fiction
3.5
TBR
I love Young Adult books, but this one is heavier than most and doesn't fully explore the Self-Mutilation issue. Speaking in a first person account, teen Callie is in a mental care facility for treatment for cutting herself. She has stopped talking and refuses to participate with either her counselor or groups. With the threat of being turned out, Callie comes to the realization that to be healed, she must come to terms with her chaotic family life and heal some old wounds. Over Simplified http://tinyurl.com/23b5yr

#63 Deadly Advice

#63
Deadly Advice
Roberta Isleib
2007
255
Cozy Mystery
4 out of 5
TBR
Rebecca Butterman's post divorced life is finally coming to a peaceful point. That is until her neighbor appears to have committed suicide and the editor of her advice column wants her to try and spice it up with a foray into online dating. Throw in a somewhat attractive but cranky police detective and you have an interesting start to a new series. This book is different than most cozies, Isleibs background as a psychologist makes this book read more like a psychology textbook than a typical mystery.

DNF Heartsick

DNF
Heartsick
Chelsea Cain
Fiction
Library
Couldn't get past page 50. Interesting beginning, but unnecessary swearing for the sake of shock value wore thin quickly.

#62 Life on the Refrigerator Door

#62
Life on the Refrigerator Door
Alice Kuipers
2007
220
Fiction
3
TBR
Claire and her Doctor/Mother live their relationship out in a series of notes left on the refrigerator door over a one year span. Then low and behold, a crisis hits and we see how shallow a teen daughter can be and how when communication between parent and child breaks down, there is always the refrigerator door. This small quick read book left me expecting that there should have been more. Wish there was. http://tinyurl.com/29dpyv

#61 The Accidental Mother

#61
The Accidental Mother
Rowan Coleman
2006
392
Chick Lit
4 out of 5
S&S Review I’m not a fan of Oprah-esque finding your true self kind of books so this one took me off guard when I actually enjoyed it. Sophie is a 20 something year old woman with the job and apartment of her dream, when she finds that her once best friend Carrie has died and her pact to care for Carrie’s two young daughters is now a reality. This just isn't part of Sophie’s well ordered life so the first thing to do is find the father of these two lovable terrors. In walks the quite handsome Louis who Carrie once described as "making her pants fizzy” and the unequipped sudden mother now must put this family back together, but which pieces go where and which pieces need to be chucked. This funny heartbreaking book makes you laugh and cry and in the end you are cheering on an ending that in a way I didn’t see coming. I would have chucked the wrong pieces. I highly recommend this book to those that love a fairy tale.

#60 A Phantom Death

# 60
A Phantom Death
Annette Mahon
2000
252
Cozy Mystery
3 out of 5
TBR
In this slow meandering book, Maggie Browne and the ladies of the St. Rose Quilting Bee, set out to find the killer of Jon Hunter the lead in the traveling company of Phantom of the Opera that is currently playing at Arizona State University. Jon grew up with Maggie's sons and she felt as if he were one her very own. Yet everything wasn't as it appeared in their tight desert community and Maggie finds out interesting things about her neighbors. First in the Arizona Mystery Series. Unfortunately this book did a lot of repeating and was quite slow in spots. If she would of just kept the book moving forward it would have been very good - even though the ending was predictable. Secrets Buried in the Desert http://tinyurl.com/38bnos