Thursday, November 19, 2020

Review: Organized for Christmas Wishes: A Cozy Mystery

Organized for Christmas Wishes: A Cozy Mystery Organized for Christmas Wishes: A Cozy Mystery by Ritter Ames
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Comfort Reading

I love reading Christmas books. Most are firmly entrenched in the spirit that is Christmas. They are what I call comfort reading. This book fit perfectly into that. I love this series so I was excited to get this. It filled my senses with holiday sights, sounds and smells. Mostly though it drenched my heart in that wonderful spirit found at Christmastime. I was left with a heart full of love, hope, healing, and kindness. Read this book. I hope it fills your soul with the wondrous magic of the season, whatever season you read it in.

View all my reviews

Friday, October 2, 2020

Review: Someone We Know

Someone We Know Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a must read! It was difficult to put down. So many secrets! Do you think you know your neighbor? Your friends? What about your best friend? Do you really know them? Would you cover for them? What about your spouse and children? Do you think they are honest with you? Would you lie for them? This book will have you looking at everyone around you and wondering if they are hiding things from you. I have read a couple other Shari Lapena books and really, this woman can spin a tale! Just when you think you know what happens, she pulls a rabbit out of her hat. The last quarter of this book had me turning pages and dizzy from all the twists! As amazing as it was though, I felt a little cheated at the end. I need to know more! I guess I will have to settle for another awesome book from this author.

View all my reviews

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Review: Tequila Mockingbird: Cozy Mystery

Tequila Mockingbird: Cozy Mystery Tequila Mockingbird: Cozy Mystery by Morgana Best
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy Morgana Best books. Since finding her books I have read several and they never fail to entertain me. Tequila Mockingbird is exactly what I was expecting. A good time, some laughs, a number of animals, a dead body, a mystery to solve.
In this book, Mr. Buttons is the main suspect! Cressida and Sibyl know it couldn’t possibly be him. With a house full of suspects ready to leave the country will they be able to convince the police of Mr. Buttons innocence before the guests leave?
Time flew by while reading this. Did I guess who did it? Honestly, I was having such a good time with the antics of Cressida and Sibyl I wasn’t putting together everything. So nope, I did not. There was a second minor mystery playing out to keep you guessing.
This book is perfect for a dreary fall day. You will be laughing in no time. Get your copy and settle in for a couple hours of fun!

View all my reviews

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Review: The Wives

The Wives The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What did I just read? I don’t know but it had me riveted. It’s like the trashy show you love to watch but don’t admit you love it, even when you say you don’t miss an episode. Every time I had to put this book down, all I wanted to do was read more. I fell asleep reading it. Woke up to read it. Got mad when I needed to put it down. I was already mad, too. I wanted to smack everyone in the head and say what are you doing?
I love that this book had discussion questions included at the end. Even if I am not reading in a group, I love answering the questions and exploring my thoughts and feelings. There was a lot in this book. What would I do if my husband had two other wives? I’m not sure about two but after being with my ex husband for fifteen years, I accidentally heard him having a phone conversation with a woman I thought was his ex wife. In that conversation he told her he refused to give her a divorce as he didn’t want one. I know what I did with that bombshell. So yes, I had some experience with the plot. Man. What a twisted plot it was, too! If you are thinking of reading this book, push yourself through the anger you will probably feel at everyone. The twists, and there is more than one, are crazy!
The only thing I really felt was excessive was the profanity. I’m not usually one to be bothered by it. I use it on a regular basis. But I was tired of it pretty quick and made a mental note to myself regarding it’s usage in my life. There are a lot of words out there so it might have been more interesting to see how many ways the author could have said what she said without using the same words over. On the other hand, it was a part of Thursday’s speech pattern, I guess. Looking at my own, the author might have been being true to Thursday. So be aware that it’s there and excessive in the first part of the book. I either was numbed to it in the second half or there wasn’t as much because I didn’t bother me then. Maybe I was just too occupied at trying to follow the rabbit down the hole. Haha.
The ending of the book is something I suspect some will not like. I’m not giving a spoiler because why read the book if I do. I’m just going to say, if you didn’t like it, think about it for awhile. Go back, in your mind, over all of Thursday’s experiences. It clarified what happened for me and I thought it fit.
Do I recommend this book? If you absolutely have an issue with profanity, I wouldn’t. I have read too many reviews that are low stars and start off with I couldn’t read it because of the words used. The story is captivating. If you can’t get passed the language then don’t read it or, at least, don’t review what you haven’t read. If you can handle the language then I am definitely going to tell you to read it. I’m going to tell you to not be like me. Set aside an entire day to read it. It’s that riveting. Like make something in the slow cooker so nobody starves, tell everyone all the coffee is yours and get comfy. I might even tell you that you may want to drop some hints about how nice it would be if someone will occasionally drop some fresh coffee in your cup so you don’t need to stop and do it. Now go read the book.

View all my reviews

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Review: The Babysitter

The Babysitter The Babysitter by Nancy Bush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first book by author, Nancy Bush. I thought it was a thriller but moved it to my mystery shelf. I’m more of the mind it is a mystery with a splash of thriller and dash of horror. I enjoyed reading it though it moved slowly for me. This resulted it a longer time reading it where I picked up various other books. This is how I read though so your experience may be different. I usually have several books going at once.
The book has two time spans on the crimes. One happened when Jamie was a teenager. The one we are most concerned with happens when Jamie returns home as an adult. Emma, Jamie’s sister, was a victim in the first crime. She is still dealing with that when Jamie returns home with her teenage daughter, Harley. The attack on Emma has one group of characters. The fresh attack has a different, though connected, set of characters. If you aren’t good at keeping the characters straight, I would suggest using paper and pen to jot them down along with who they are connected to. (I would never be able to keep it straight if I had been listening.)
Both mysteries are well done. I was all over the place on who did what. Yes, I was surprised at the reveals. That’s about all I’m going to give on the mysteries.
I liked Jamie, Emma and Harley. I also liked Cooper, the detective. Jamie made a few questionable movies but I felt she was doing what she felt was right. Emma, though damaged, was a lot stronger than I think she is credited as being. The rest of the many characters were made up of a few people I liked but more that I didn’t. The dogs were amazing. Haha.
The book reminded me of being a teenager and babysitting at a time when babysitting cautionary tales ran rampant. I loved it. I was also reminded of the many babysitting books and horror movies I enjoyed. Overall, it’s a book I would recommend and I do plan to read more by this author.

View all my reviews

Review: Inheriting Murder: A Bobwhite Mountain Cozy Mystery

Inheriting Murder: A Bobwhite Mountain Cozy Mystery by Jamie Rutland Gillespie My rating: 5 of 5 stars ...