Deck the Halls With Fudge

Title: Deck the Halls with Fudge
Author: Nancy Coco
Published: October 31st 2017 by Kensington
Format: eBook, 101 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: A Candy Coated Mystery #5.5

I am so used to the narrator of this series being Allie that Francis being the storyteller caught me off guard. Newly married and settling into a quiet evening at home, Frances and Douglas Devaney are enjoying the view from their cottage window when they see a body bounced out of a horse drawn sleigh. Rushing to the rescue, Warren Engle is found dead with neither the sleigh nor horses to be found.

Unfortunately, this was no accident and now Frances takes it upon herself to solve the mystery surrounding the death of the stepson of one of her dear friends. Much like her employer Allie of the McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop in previous books, Frances finds herself both central to the investigation and in the middle of a few precarious situations. Seems that old Warren was quite the shady fellow and with several people on the island being ruined by him, Francis knows that she and the women from the senior citizen network can narrow down a suspect faster than the police chief and still get the Christmas tree up on time.

I usually complain about short novellas that do not move the story forward but I have always found Frances and Douglas to be adorable and was glad to see an investigation from their perspective. The story is charming and funny in just the right places and the perfect book to settling in with this winter season. ***Put Review Here***

Delivering Death

Title: Delivering Death
Author: Julie Kramer
Published: January 7th 2014 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Mystery
Series: Riley Spartz #6

I am not sure how I feel about this being the last Riley Spartz book. This series has been a love hate relationship for me. I tend to become invested in series, and cannot walk away, even if I do not like them and yet I am saddened when they end. I know, it makes no sense, but now I can leave knowing that I have finished what Julie Kramer had started.

As an investigative reporter, Riley Spartz has had her share of interesting stories, but when an envelope shows up on her desk with human teeth, her research goes into over drive and darn near gets her killed. This is all in addition to the on goings at the Mall of America where two very different stories are playing out and both will involve Riley running into her ex-fiancé Nick Garnett. There is also a piece of artwork won at auction that has hidden messages, a man in prison is impersonating another, and all of this will be leading Riley down a dangerous path.

Where the teeth came from is a bit twisty, and by the end of the book, seemed like an “oops, guess I need to get back to that” moment, yet the author seems to have pulled the impossible together with only a few, “oh, ok” moments.

There is a great deal going on in this book and Julie Kramer has to pull it all together by the end so Riley can have her chance at the happily ever after that she has been after since book number one where you learned of the death of her first husband. Will I miss Riley – that is hard to say, but I am glad that the series ended where it did.

Home in Carolina

Title: Home in Carolina
Author: Sherryl Woods
Published: March 30th 2010 by MIRA
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction / Romance
Series: Sweet Magnolias #5

I do not know why twenty-something women are portrayed as whiney self-centered teenagers, but that is what you get with Annie Sullivan. Back home in Serenity, South Carolina, Annie is working at the corner spa as a personal trainer when she hears that high school boyfriend Tyler Townsend is back home recuperating from shoulder surgery. This is where you have to let go of reality since a major league ball player would never be permitted to go for rehab with a personal trainer in a small town, that is what highly trained physical therapists are for, but then again Sherryl Woods is known to cut a few corners for the sake of a romance.

Three years prior, naughty boy Tyler had a one-night stand with a baseball groupie and he is the father of a baby that was dropped off at his hotel room door. Annie will not tolerate this sort of betrayal and is just one of the factors that pushed her to an eating disorder. Now three years down the road, with Tyler and his son back in town, all the old feelings and disorders are rearing their ugly heads as the town of Serenity sits back and waits see how this plays out.

What is encouraging about this book is the new generation of Sweet Magnolia’s. Annie, Sarah, and Raylene, grew up together and though they do not want to become their mother’s that just might be the direction that they are heading with a slightly younger spin and new complications.

Though there are annoying parts of this series, I do find myself coming back from time to time to see what these ladies are up to. Seems that very little changes -- they can dominate a town and their husbands, but at the same time remain sweet southern ladies.

The Whispering Room

Title: The Whispering Room
Author: Dean Koontz
Published: November 21st 2017 by Bantam
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 512 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Jane Hawk #2

You have to both love and hate the wordsmith that is Dean Koontz. He is a firm believer in the style of “why use two words when you can use six” and always throw in ‘like’ (approximately 400 times) so the reader understands that you are about to over describe the underside of a rock. Granted, it is not that bad, but after a while, you would not be surprised if it was mentioned.

As a sequel to ‘The Silent Corner’, Jane Hawk continues on the course of eliminating the people and institution that caused not only her husband’s suicide but also the deaths of 8,400 persons per year that that an algorithm has decided are leading people away from an ideal society.

Not sure how many books are planned for this series, but the second outing reminded me of the lull in a stand-alone where you are not quite sure in which direction the characters are going and they are doing their best to regroup before a thunderous conclusion. Jane Hawk spends most of the book jaunting back and forth across the country with multiple costume changes and near the end the author decides that it is a good time to mention characters from the first book. Thankfully, a wizened traveling companion for Jane was added that livened thing up a bit, and here is to hoping he will reappear further down the line since he was the only highlight of the book.

Yes, you will have to read the first book to understand the second, but if it were not for the first, you would not want to read the second. Hope that made sense since book two is a major let down and hopefully, Dean Koontz and his editors will be able to get this series back on track and someone will earn their paycheck by word searching “like” and tossing most of them out.

Origin

Title: Origin
Author: Dan Brown
Published: October 3rd 2017 by Doubleday Books
Format: Hardcover, 461 pages
Genre: Thriller
Series: Robert Langdon #5

Love him or hate him, Dan Brown sure likes controversy and to stir the pot, but in doing so, he also causes his readers to think. Maybe I am one of those moronic readers that others bash, but I always enjoy his books. Granted, every book tends to have Robert Langdon running through some glamorous city with a beautiful woman, but that does not negate the narrative.

This is a story of conflicts. Ideologies, worldviews, and science are at the forefront. Tech wunderkind Edmond Kirsch (think Steve Jobs and Elon Musk) has brought together the world to watch his touted release. Centered in Bilbao, Barcelona, at the Guggenheim museum, Kirsch sets about to answer the top two questions that haunts humankind. Where did we come from and where are we going? He has claimed to discover the answers to both of these questions and in doing so has angered the religious elite and a small group of mercenaries. As an Atheist, he does not look at religion is the same light as others and with his singular focus on science he has set about to prove once and for all that religion is man’s invention and science is the only path to the future.

Robert Langdon is both mesmerized and confounded by his invitation to this event. Kirsch was once a student of his at Harvard and months prior, the two had a visit where interesting questions has been posed. As Langdon enters the museum, he is handed an earpiece that will help guide his way through the museum and its displays. Only that is not the sole purpose of this devise. Winston, his audio tour guide is nothing like what Langdon was expecting and with this interesting twist. Kirsch’s discovery is held in the balance when a mercenary steps forward and abruptly ends this performance. Langdon and Ambra Vidal, the beautiful woman who is destined to be the queen consort (I know, that was an interesting twist), launch into a race across Barcelona to release Kirsch’s discovery to a desperately waiting world.

The reader has to get past the parts where Robert Langdon is more superhero than Harvard professor. That a woman in a formal dress and heals has no problem traversing streets, paths, and chain link fences. This book is designed to get the conversation started. What if Kirsch’s discoveries are our past and our future. What if tomorrow the entire world were to stop fighting over ideologies and grasp onto one singular destiny. With the speed of which science is moving, and the conversations that have been started, this is a fascinating tale brought to life in a way that will have the reader wondering out loud and bringing up the what-ifs when discussing both religion and science.

Artemis

Title: Artemis
Author: Andy Weir
Published: November 14th 2017 by Crown Publishing Group
Format: ebook; Hardcover, 384 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

I am wondering if I was the only one that missed something earlier in this book and did not know how old Jazz was. I could have sworn that this was a young adult novel with the antics that Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara was up to and the simplicity of the earlier chapters. Granted, there were a few things thrown in that were a little more adult, but still not totally breaking the YA Genre rules completely. Then I am not sure how, but midway through the book, all the numbers came together and I realized that the character that I though was sixteen was actually twenty-six years old and only acted like an insolent teenager.

Artemis is the first and only colony on the moon consisting of two thousand people occupying connecting bubbles with names like Armstrong, Bean, and Shepard. Jazz currently works as a porter ferrying goods from one section to another with a bit of a smuggling business on the side. There are certain products that are not allowed, but since she is a rule breaker, she has decided what should be allowed as long as her rules are followed. Of course, this has put her on the outs with authority figures that she is constantly butting heads with, but that is not going to stop her. She needs to make more money since she has a debt to pay and as long as she follows her own rules, no one will get hurt.

Turns out that there is something very sneaky going on in Artemis and when the local billionaire asks for a favor with a high payoff who is she to say no. Turns out that she was not given the full picture and when that job goes astray, she finds herself a wanted person. There is only one way out and this will put not only her life, but also the lives of everyone in Artemis, in danger.

Andy Weir is known for his humor and there is no exception here. The readers will find themselves laughing aloud and definitely shaking their heads in wonder in not only how Jazz got herself in this situation but also on how she will manage to get herself out. The way this book ends, you can most assuredly see a series in the making and if the rumors are true, the option to purchase this book as a new television series is in the works and we will soon be seeing Jazz in all her brazen ways.

Seeds of Revenge

Title: Seeds of Revenge
Author: Wendy Tyson
Expected Publication November 14th 2017 by Henery Press
Format: eBook, Paperback 259 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Greenhouse Mystery #3

This book was twisty from the start with little distinguishing the good guys from the bad guys.

Being the good person that Megan Sawyer is, she picks up stranded Becca Fox on the side of the road during a brutal winter storm in Winsome, Pennsylvania. What Megan did not know at the time was that she was opening herself up to a family drama of epic portion with a bit of Gaslight on the side.

Becca is in town to sell her “Love Potions” at her aunt Merry’s store during the Christmas season, but when she arrives on her aunt’s doorstep, her estranged father is there. There is no love lost on Becca’s side since she is convinced that he killed her mother. With the reconciliation that Merry has hoped for out the window, odd things begin to happen with Becca, her brother Luke, their father Paul, and their aunt Merry.

Megan is trying to stay out of other people’s issues and run her organic farm and in town café, yet little by little this amateur sleuth is pulled in when a body is discovered, an anguished girl shows up in her kitchen, a house is burned down, a person is over medicated, cryptic messages are left, and all seem to follow a master plan that had been laid out in books that Megan’s aunt Sarah had written.

I know, very twisty and from time to time, I had to refresh my memory to names and relationships, but in the end, I realized how much I had enjoyed this book over her last “Bitter Harvest”. The last left me wondering if I wanted to continue with this series, yet this one left me wondering when the next will be published.

Britt-Marie Was Here

Title: Britt-Marie Was Here
Author: Fredrik Backman
Published: May 3rd 2016 by Atria Books
Format: Hardcover, 324 pages
Genre: Fiction

Though you do not need to read Backman’s books in published order, if you had, you would remember Britt-Marie was first introduced in “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry”.

Suddenly traversing the world on her own since she can no longer tolerate her husband coming home with perfume on his shirt, Britt-Marie moves out and suddenly finds herself in an unemployment office with no skill set other than cleaning with bicarbonate of soda and her very particular brand of window cleaner. The woman in the office is as tolerant as a person can be with the Britt-Marie who has a way of offering suggestions that come out as criticism, but that it not her intention. With daily pressuring, a job is secured and this is truly where Britt-Marie’s life begins.

Borg is a depressed roadside town that is mostly shut down due to the local trucking company going out of business leaving the few remaining, mostly those that cannot get out and orphaned children, to get by as best as they can. As the overseer of the recreation center, Britt-Marie sets out cleaning the place and even befriending a rat. It is football (soccer) that holds this town together. They each have their favorite teams and the children are determined to play in the local tournament even though they can only practice on an asphalt pitch and need car headlights to light their way.

It is the children that start to melt this nag-bag of a woman’s heart. Since she has never had her own, she eventually learns their names and life stories. She tries not to be shocked, but when their realities become her own, she finds an inner strength to fight for them in a way that no one ever fought for Britt-Marie. Borg is becoming her town, her people, and a place that finally feels like home.

Of course, as she becomes settled, her husband comes looking for her and since Britt-Marie only knows how to be a wife, she is emotionally drawn back into that role - but is that what she truly wants? The local policeman is also knocking on her door and hopes that one day she would knock on his, but what direction will she go as the town is rocked by death and the children need her more than they ever have before. With a repaired car and enough petrol to drive to Paris, where will she go, what will the new Britt-Marie do with her new found confidence and independence.

The middle part of this book is a bit clunky and meandering, but that is all made up for in the end. If it is possible to have a coming of mid-life age book, this is it. You can see Britt-Marie’s growth and you can see that she has found her purpose if only she continues to have enough courage in herself to be the person that she has always wanted to be.

A Bella Flora Christmas

Title: A Bella Flora Christmas
Author: Wendy Wax
Expected Publication: November 7th 2017 by InterMix
Format: Kindle
Genre: Holiday Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Ten Beach Road #5.5

I cannot reiterate enough how much I dislike novellas. Rarely do they move a book forward and are only used as unnecessary fillers that rarely affect the overall outcome of the series. A Bella Flora Christmas is no different.

Wendy Wax spends half of the book explaining to her readers who each character is and their relationship to each other in addition to their personal relationships. If you have been reading since the beginning, you already know whom everyone is and how Bella Flora plays into their lives.

Kyra is the main character of this novella and you get to hear her incessant whining when it comes to the father of her son, his over the top wife and the threat that they are holding over her.

There is a possibility that this is a small lead into her next book, “Best Thing Ever” due to release the end of May (2018) since the reader was never told the full outcome of the two things that were keeping Kyra up at night. Granted, one was partially decided, but the full consequence of events with the Deranian’s could fill a book all on their own. And what is going to happen over the next year with Bella Flora? That could be entertaining as well since the women tend to confuse situations more than they solve their own problems.

A Fatal Collection

Title: A Fatal Collection
Author: Mary Ellen Hughes
Expected Publication: November 8th 2017 by Midnight Ink
Format: eBook, Paperback: 264 pages
Genre: Cozy Mysteries
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Keepsake Cove Mystery #1

A Fatal Collection is the first book in the new Keepsake Cove Mystery series. Taking its lead from Lorna Barrett’s Booktown series, Keepsake Cove, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is the home to small specialty shops, with descriptive names, that cater to tourists looking to add to their hobbies and collections.

Callie Reed has returned to Keepsake Cove, which is a little town within a town, and her Aunt Melodie’s “House of Melody” music box store to take a breather from her relationship with Hank and to figure out what she wants and to come to terms with the fact that their relationship is just is not working out. When Melodie is found dead in the shop the next morning, no one is more surprised than Callie to find out that she is the sole beneficiary of both the home and shop.

From all outward appearances, her aunt suffered from a simple accident, but what does not make sense was why she there in the middle of the night. What had also been kept from Callie was that Melodie was fighting with her business neighbor. Karl Eggars wanted the music box shop, so he could expand his business for his nephew but Melodie would not sell. Was this accident, no accident at all?

There appears to be a couple of strange goings on in Keepsake Cove and with the business owners up in arms over the association treasurer having such an expensive and elaborate lifestyle, there is a very public outcry for an independent audit to see if he is stealing from them. Between the infighting and Melodie’s death hanging over them, everyone seems to be a bit out of sorts.

Between shop assistant Tabitha and her costume of the day, psychic abilities, tarot cards and Grandpa Reed’s music box going off at odd times, Callie is in for an adventure when she stumbles across the reason why Melodie was in the shop at 3am, not to mention what secrets a shop patron holds, and a surprise or two that Melodie herself, may have had.

There is a great deal thrown into this first book and quite a few names and business to get to know. Hopefully, the second book will calm down a bit and readers can take their time strolling through Keepsake Cove with their “brick walkways, ornamental street lights, hanging flower baskets, and Dickensian shop front” and slowly get to know the people and place that their clientele have come to love.

The Vineyard Victims

Title: The Vineyard Victims
Author: Ellen Crosby
Expected Publication: November 7th 2017 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 335 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Wine Country Mysteries #8

After the sixth book in this series, The Sauvignon Secret, Ellen Crosby took a break from her Wine Country series and I missed them. When she returned five years later with The Champagne Conspiracy, I was delighted but apprehensive since I was not sure if she would be able to return to her characters the way that she had left them. I was not disappointed and now with book eight, I am once again glad to return to Montgomery Estate Vineyards.

Failed presidential candidate Jamison Vaughn sails his car past Lucie on a rain slicked road outside of Montgomery Vineyards and plunges headlong into the stone pillars. Many believe that it was an accident but Lucie was there and knows that it was a deliberate act. No one wants to say the word suicide, but what would cause a man, with so much to live for, to end his life in such a brutal way.

These stone pillars have a history with Lucie, it is in this same location, ten years prior, where she was in a horrendous accident that has left her disabled and people are sure that she is confusing her accident with what she saw. No, she is sure of what she knows and being the last person to see Vaughn alive and hearing his last words, she is determined to find out whom “Rick” is and why he needs to forgive Vaughn.

Suddenly walls have gone up and the Vaughn family is shutting Lucie out. They will handle the press and since her ex-lover Mick Dunne, who has held long ties to the Vaughn’s, dismisses her at every turn, Lucie with no option other than to strikes out on her own to find answers. The Vaughn family is happy with their “accident” explanation and would like for this whole messy affair to go away, but it appears that Jamie was meeting with a reporter and was about to go public with a long held secret.

Trying to buy Lucie off only seems to get her in deeper and when college cover-ups are revealed, and the truth of whom “Rick” is, leaves a wake of devastation that will send a members of their small community to prison and set an innocent man free.

Ellen Crosby weaves a twisty tale that spans decades, but in the end, loyalties are tested and those that have been hiding a ghastly act have their truth revealed. I cannot say that it was obvious from the start, but by the end, there could have been only one mastermind that could hold it all together and keep Lucie from the truth.