Tag: Book Reviews
Cozy Releases| May 2019
Read on Arrival
A Bookmobile Mystery
Nora Page
Book 2
Releases May 7th
https://amzn.to/2vvQz1q
Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins believes in gracious manners, sweet tea, and justice—library justice. For over forty years, Cleo has tried every trick in the book to get delinquent patron Dixie Huddleston to return the most overdue volume in Catalpa Springs, Georgia. When Dixie says she’ll finally relinquish the book, Cleo is shocked. She’s even more startled by the reason: superstitious Dixie says she’s seen the signs: she’s about to die and is setting her affairs in order.
Cleo dismisses Dixie’s ominous omens…until she and her gentleman friend, Henry Lafayette, arrive at Dixie’s home to find her dead. Cleo suspects murder. The police agree but promptly list Cleo among the likely culprits. To clear her good name and deliver justice, Cleo uses her librarian skills to investigate, with Henry and her trusty bookmobile cat, Rhett Butler, at her side.
However, the killer has opened a new chapter of terror. Death threats appear around town, and residents start seeing bad luck everywhere, including in Cleo and her beloved bookmobile Words on Wheels. With her bookmobile and legacy on the line, Cleo accelerates her sleuthing. Suspects and clues stack up, but so does the danger. Another death is coming due, and Cleo fears the killer may be about to turn the final page on someone she loves most.
The Satapur Moonstone
A Perveen Mystery Novel
Sujata Massey
Book 2
Releases May 14th
https://amzn.to/2PAxXGI
India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur’s royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic hunting accident. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis, the dowager queen and her daughter-in-law.
The royal ladies are in a dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. However, the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future, but she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace’s deadly curse?
A Twist in the Tail
An Absolutely Perfect Cozy Myster
Leighann Dobbs
Releases May 16th
Book 1
https://amzn.to/2VEqkod
$2.99!
Josie Waters has to admit she may have acted a bit hastily when she agreed to purchase the Oyster Cove Guesthouse – a charmingly gabled Victorian mansion on the breathtaking Maine coast – from elderly family friend Millie Sullivan. But Josie was desperate to flee Ohio and in particular her ex-husband, a chef who loved his job so much he left her for it. And anyway, how hard can running a guesthouse be?
The truth is, Oyster Cove Guesthouse is a mouldering money pit with falling-in roof and a cohort of regular guests who are as mischievous as a litter of kittens. And Millie keeps dropping by to dispense unasked-for advice. And Josie might have made a mistake in promising to adopt Oyster Cove’s two resident cats Nero and Marlowe, and treat them in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed. Josie has never had a cat before… let alone two feisty felines who think they own the place.
Ok, it’s not going well. At least it can’t get any worse, Josie thinks. Until her first guest ends up dead.
Murder with Cucumber Sandwiches
A Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery
Karen Rose Smith
Book 3
https://amzn.to/2V3Ehwy
Daisy’s Tea Garden in Pennsylvania’s Amish country is known for its elegant finger foods—but now owner Daisy Swanson has to finger a killer . . .
Restaurant critic Derek Schumaker, notorious for his bitter reviews, is about to visit Daisy’s Tea Garden, and Daisy and Aunt Iris are simmering with anxiety. A bad word from the culinary curmudgeon could really hurt their business, but Daisy tries to stay confident. After all, how can he resist her cucumber sandwiches with pimento spread—not to mention the cheesy cauliflower soup and strawberry walnut salad?
Schumaker takes a to-go order when the afternoon tea service is done, which Daisy hopes is a good sign. But when he perishes from a seizure, it looks like his food was dosed with something deadly. Considering a threat that recently appeared on his blog—and whispers of scandal in his past—Daisy has quite an assortment of suspects to sift through . . .
Murder, She Uncovered
Murder, She Reported Series
Peg Cochran
Book 2
Releases May 28th
https://amzn.to/2WfOt1x
$4.99
An intrepid 1930s Manhattan socialite uncovers deadly secrets during an assignment to the Hamptons in this riveting historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.
Westhampton, 1938. To the dismay of her well-to-do family, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is quickly establishing herself as a seasoned photographer over at the Daily Trumpet. Growing more confident in her decision to pursue a career, Elizabeth is thrilled when she and her reporter sidekick, Ralph Kaminsky, are sent to Long Island to cover the story of a young maid found dead in one of the glamourous summer homes in the devastating aftermath of the Great New England Hurricane—also known as the Long Island Express.
At first it’s assumed that the young woman was caught in the terrible storm, but when a suspicious wound is found on the side of her head, the police suspect murder. The maid’s death becomes even more tragic when it’s discovered she was pregnant, and with Elizabeth and Kaminsky at the scene of the crime, the Daily Trumpet scoops all the other papers in town.
The young woman’s boyfriend emerges as the likeliest suspect. But as Elizabeth follows the story, she begins to wonder whether someone in the household of the maid’s employers might be responsible—someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth about the baby’s paternity hidden. . . .
Cozy Releases: August 2018
Hello everyone! I hope you are having an amazing Summer! My Summer Vacation has been wonderful! Full of reading, filming, and reviewing! I have absolutely loved it! All of these wonderful books will release on August 28th and they are all the 2nd in their series!
Goodbye Cruller World
A Deputy Donut Mystery
Author: Ginger Bolton
https://amzn.to/2LOMlIX
Normally, Emily’s eyes tend to glaze over when prospective brides go on about their wedding plans. But when the owner of the clothing shop, Dressed to Kill, asks Emily to design a donut wall for her reception, she’s immediately sweet on the idea. With the help of her father-in-law and business partner—the former police chief of Fallingbrook—she hangs the treats from dowels on the wall so guests can help themselves.
But that night, when the groom ends up on the floor with signs of poisoning, Emily suspects someone has tampered with her treats. When the groom dies, there’s no way to sugarcoat it: she’s got a murder on her hands. Despite a list of suspects as long as the guest list, Emily vows to find out who created the killer confection to save her shop’s reputation and keep the bride out of handcuffs. She’ll have to move fast . . . before the poisoner takes a powder.
Dim Sum of All Fears
A Noodle Shop Mystery
Author: Vivien Chien
https://amzn.to/2JZezPg
Lana Lee is a dutiful daughter, waiting tables at her family’s Chinese restaurant even though she’d rather be doing just about anything else. Then, just when she has a chance for a “real” job, her parents take off to Taiwan, leaving Lana in charge. Surprising everyone—including herself—she turns out to be quite capable of running the place. Unfortunately, the newlyweds who just opened the souvenir store next door to Ho-Lee have turned up dead. . .and soon Lana finds herself in the midst of an Asia Village mystery.
Between running the Ho-Lee and trying to figure out whether the rock-solid Detective Adam Trudeau is actually her boyfriend, Lana knows she shouldn’t pry into the case. But the more she learns about the dead husband, his ex-wives, and all the murky details of the couple’s past, the more Lana thinks that this so-called murder/suicide is a straight-up order of murder. . .
Died in the Wool
A Knit & Nibble Mystery
Author: Peggy Ehrhart
https://amzn.to/2LCApNl
Pamela is ready to kick back and relax after a busy day selling stuffed aardvarks to benefit Arborville High School’s sports program at the annual town festival. But just as she’s packing up, she makes a terrible discovery—someone’s stashed a body under the Knit and Nibble’s table. The victim is Randall Jefferson, a decidedly unpopular history teacher after his recent op-ed criticizing the school’s sports program. But the primary suspect has an alibi, and the only clue is a stuffed aardvark found on the victim’s chest . . . Now the Knit and Nibblers must unravel the case quickly—before a crafty killer repeats a deadly pattern.
Stabbed in the Baklava
A Kebab Kitchen Mystery
Author: Tina Kashian
https://amzn.to/2LLIPPj
Lucy Berberian has taken over her family’s Mediterranean restaurant on the Jersey Shore after an unsatisfying stint at a Philadelphia law firm. It’s great to be back in her old beach town, even if she’s turning into a seasoned sleuth . . .
Catering a high-society wedding should bring in some big income for Kebab Kitchen—and raise its profile too. But it’s not exactly good publicity when the best man winds up skewered like a shish kebab. Worse yet, Lucy’s ex, Azad—who’s the restaurant’s new head chef—is the prime suspect. But she doesn’t give a fig what the cops think. He may have killer looks, but he’s no murderer. She just needs to prove his innocence, before he has to go on the lamb . . .
Support Your Local Pug
A Pet Palace Mystery
Author: Lane Stone
https://amzn.to/2uPQtls
When a break-in at the Pet Palace robs Sue Patrick of more than her beauty sleep, she intends to tidy her ransacked doggy daycare and spa before making any rash decisions. But after Sue abandons her better instincts to rescue a petrified pug stranded at a lighthouse in the Delaware Bay later that morning, she’s lured off mainland Lewes long enough for a freshly murdered body to get dumped in her driveway . . .
Aided by Lady Anthea Fitzwalter, her practically royal business partner from across the pond, Sue sniffs out clues about the yappy pug with a complicated history and the old car spotted at both crime scenes in hopes of IDing the culprit. As the investigation leads them back to the bay, the ladies soon find themselves immersed in a case trickier than a canine agility course—and chasing after a well-groomed killer who will do anything to maintain a perfect reputation . . .
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ARC Review| A Souffle of Suspicion
A Souffle of Suspicion was the second installment in the French Bistro series! I loved every single second of it! I loved getting to know the characters in this book!
It is Crush Week in Napa Valley as well as a Sweet Treats Festival at Mimi’s Restaurant and Inn! This is wonderful word of mouth for her new businesses. It is even more exciting that she was able to help her head chef Camille’s sister Rene in helping with a place for her festival to be.
Rene seems to be ahead of things when it comes to the festival, even though she has left her husband and is staying with her sister. Though she seems to rub a few people the wrong way even her sister. This wouldn’t seem unusual in the slightest if Rene wasn’t found murdered in Camille’s kitchen. It looks as if she was in the middle of making a chocolate souflee, Camille’s boyfriend’s favorite dessert. However there was trouble in paradise as well when Rene’s husband shows up and seems pretty sketchy.
This was a fantastic read and it kept me on my toes the entire time! I am normally quite adept at figuring out the ‘whodunit’ when it comes to Cozies, but this one had me on the edge of my seat the whole entire time! I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves recipes, fun characters, and a great mystery!
****Thanks to the Cozy Mystery Review Crew and Crooked Lane Books for a complimentary ARC of this book. My review is voluntary.
Review: The Pint of No Return
The Pint of No Return is the next installment of the Sloan Krause Beervaria Mystery Series. I loved every single aspect of this book. From learning about the brewing process, to understanding more about Sloan’s childhood, and falling in love with the different characters within the story.
Ellie has an uncanny ability to teach her readers about what her protagonist is passionate about This brings a hint of realism and probability to what she writes. Having a Cozy Mystery or a Mystery in general be believable is the first step in getting the readers to fall into the world and be open to the murder and the ‘whodunit’ aspects of the storyline.
In this book Sloan is still trying to figure out her feelings for her soon-to=be ex-husband, her new boss, and what she wants to do with her life after the divorce happens. This however has to be put on hold as Oktoberfest has now come around and this is the biggest and more important time for the town.
An added pressure is the fact that there is a film crew who are there to make a documentary about the brewing process, how the brewers interact with each other, and everything in the World of Beer. Of course with most documentaries you must have a a host. And a host they have. An old child star here to revamp their stardom. He is a pompous jerk who everyone seems to hate.
After being as to leave Nitro from drinking too much Sloan finds him dead in an alley way. Hoping that it wasn’t alcohol poisoning from their bar Sloan calls the police to get to the crime scene. Sloan is asked my the chief of police to keep an eye our since they are shorthanded due to the Oktoberfest going on.
Sloan wants to make sure that Nitro doesn’t get a bad name and she makes it her duty to figure out what is going on with the film crew, who doesn’t seem too distraught about their star’s death, her estranged husband, and keeping everything together when she learns about her past.
This is a wonderful addition to the Sloan Krause Beervaria series and I highly recommend it if you love Cozy Mysteries!
This was an ebook sent to me by the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review. Everything in this review is my honest opinion.
Tea Talk| Episode 1
Good morning everyone! I hope you are having a most wonderful Friday! I can’t believe it. Today is my 28th birthday! I have walked this planet for 28 years. I have breathed in the air, fell in love, made friends, had heart break, and have started new adventures! Speaking of new adventures, I am hoping that these Tea Talks will be a start of a wonderful new adventure and that you all will become apart of it with me.
I am currently drinking an amazing tea that I received in my June Sipsby box. This is a subscription box that I have been really enjoying. It has brought some AMAZING and mouth-watering teas into my life that I couldn’t be happier about.
This is a Super Fruit tea, if you are interested in knowing more about the tea click here. This is NOT an affiliate link, I am just loving this amazing caffeine free fruity tea. I love the name of the tea and the taste bursts on your tongue! It has a beautiful aroma and color as well.
So, you are probably wondering what are these Tea Talks going to be about? Are they bookish related? Are they going to be something that I want to watch or read about?
The short answer: I hope so.
The long answer: I have recently noticed somethings on my channel and on my blog. I have been drawn to different genres and different types of content lately. Isn’t that the way human nature works? We are constantly evolving and changing. To stay stagnant in something is to stop evolving.
I have had many people comment and question about whether or not I am going to be doing anymore Cozy Mystery reviews, books, and the like. Yes, most certainly. Cozy Mysteries are always going to be my favorite genre. There is just something about the small towns, the proud and tough women, and the mystery of it all that I love and can’t get enough of.
However, I am going to create more and new content. I have become interested in other genres and new and exciting types of videos. I see you all as my friends. I see you all as amazing people who love the same things that I love and who are also growing in their lives as well.
I have recently been reached out to by A Year of Boxes Company. They love the pictures I have been doing on my Instagram and the fact that I review tea and different types of fun things like that and have asked me to be a reviewer for some different type of subscription boxes. This is so exciting for me, because it gives me the chance to see how others think of their boxes, I am STILL working on getting The Cozy Mystery Escape up and running. It is a lot more work than I thought.
Cozy Mystery
I’m stating all of this because I was thinking about doing unboxings on my channel and I wanted to see what your thoughts were about that. You are all part of my Bookish Family and I want to grow with you and get your opinion and what you think about the different things that I am wanting to incorporate into my channel! This is something that I am SUPER SUPER excited about and I wanted to share all of it with you! EEEK!
On a slightly more serious note, I have been having some serious thought as to whether I should bring this up or not. I normally don’t want to bring attention to negative aspects of my channel, but lately it seems as though there are a few people who have been consistently thumbs downing my videos.
Now I know that there are always going to be people who you can’t make happy. I have had to remind my students quite a bit over the years that not everyone is going to like you. That is just life. You could be the nicest person in the whole entire world and someone wouldn’t like you because you are too nice.
I once had someone tell me that I am way too happy of a person and there must be something wrong with me. That I brought them down because of my perkiness at work. Of course that hurt my feelings and I have now realized that not everyone is going to like me or my videos or the changes I have been making. But I wanted to ask a favor.
If you see yourself as my friend as I see ALL OF YOU, please let me know if there is something that I have done to upset you. Maybe give me suggestions on some videos you would like to see. I want this place to be a place of happiness and fun. I normally ignore the thumbs down and love all of the comments that you all send me every week. They really are the highlights of my week!
Well, that is the end of the Tea Talk Episode 1. I am super excited to get to know everyone more and to have you all get to know me more than what I normally film every week. I am hoping that once Summer is over I’ll be able to keep up with three videos a week, including these Tea Talks.
XOXO Happy Reading! XOXO
Reading Wrap Up!| June 2018
Happy Wednesday and Happy 4th of July everyone! What an amazing year so far, am I right? I can’t believe that we are already halfway through 2018. It seems like yesterday that it was the beginning of the New Year and now we are already almost done with Summer break and I’ll be heading back to work later this month!
I had a pretty decent reading month! I was super exited to find new authors, new characters to fall in love with, and a new genre to read. Sometimes you have to get outside of your comfort zone to really spread your horizons and fall in head over heels with something different. This month, I would say that I stepped outside of my comfort zone! So, without further ado lets get into this!
Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab was the second book in the series and I really enjoyed it. Normally with Young Adult novels you expect everything to end happy and that the main character will get what they want or are looking for.
I did not expect that this book would be so dark! Even though the title most certainly did warn me! Haha! I loved getting to know Kate and August more. Watching them evolve and become the young adults that they were meant to become was something that I really enjoyed.
I will admit, I did tear up in this book. I was more attached to these characters then I thought I would be and I am super happy that I decided to finish this duology. It was most certainly worth the read.
Mayhen at The Orient Express was the first book in A League of Literary Ladies Cozy Mystery Series. It was also the Cozy Mystery Bookclub book of the month for June.
I rated this book a 4/5 Stars. I really enjoyed the different characters and the fact that it gave a nod to the Mystery Queen Agatha Christie. I loved that there wasn’t just one main character. I enjoyed getting to know the four ladies who ended up being the League of Literary Ladies.
I do anticipate reading more from this series because I am eager to see how their friendships blossom and I also want to know more about Bea Cartwright’s life from before she moved onto the island.
While I was joining in for the Library-A-Thon I picked up the Court of Thorns and Roses series. As my blog post for the readathon stated, I was originally going to be listening to Cinder on audiobook. However, once I started the audiobook I realized that I couldn’t stand the woman’s voice who was narrating it and that I needed to pick up something else in that genre and read it for myself.
Thus started an addiction to a brand new series that was totally outside of my comfort zone. I have fallen in love with the Fae world in this series. The characters are so well developed. The flaws, the strengths, the weakness, the falls, and the way they bring each other up.
I can’t explain what this series really means to me. I loved it so much that I brought my best friend Bre into reading the series and she is as in love with the series as I am, maybe even more if I’m being honest. All I know is that I will be reading everything written by Sarah J. Maas soon. If she writes this way in all of her books, then I am already in love.
As always Ellie Alexander has left my heart fluttering and my mouth watering! This was the 8th book in The Bakeshop Mystery series featuring the amazing baker Jules Capshaw. She has a lot on her plate during this book! A wedding to plan, an expansion of her bakeshop Torte, her feelings for her estranged husband, and trying to be there for her friends. To top it off someone has a grudge towards Jules herself and tries to poison her!
This book had me laughing, it had me tearing up, and falling in love with the characters over and over again. Ellie has a way with her characters, she brings them alive. She is able to weave words of meaning, feeling, and scrumptiousness like The Bard himself!
I recommend this series to anyone who loves coffee, friends, family, and a good mystery! You will find yourself lost in the world of the characters trying to figure out the ‘whodunit’. This book had me on my toes the whole time guessing and I loved every second of it!
I have always been wary of reading poetry. I have never really been able to get into it. Even in high school when I took a Creative Writing course and we were required to do a whole unit on Poetry and write our own I always felt silly. I don’t know why.
It didn’t help that all of the poetry that was required reading during school was the old and classical poetry. I know that as a history major I should appreciate and love the classics, but I personally don’t. At least not a lot of them.
So when Bre and I hung out last week and went to Books-A-Million we stopped by the poetry section. Bre is an English Major and is getting her Bachelors in English. She was talking to me about poetry and mentioned this author and her poetry books. I opened the first one up and immediately knew that I was hooked.
I bought both books on Thursday and read both of them while laying in bed on Friday. I loved this set of poetry. I could relate to all of it. Some of it broke my heart. Other parts made me laugh. I loved all of the different aspects.
Fawkes is one of those books that surprised me. I went into it believing that this was going to be a Young Adult Fantasy novels, which is the reason why I picked it up! I have been on a Fantasy kick lately. This book was so much more than that.
This is technically a Historical Fiction novel with a fantastical twist. It was a wonderful rendition of 1600s England. An outcast of people who live by the pure way of magic called the Keepers versus the Igniters a group of people who talk to the White Light, the original color who created all other color powers. There is a war between them with the Keepers being exiled, killed, tortured, and worse.
This story is based on true events with fantastical characteristics. I loved the characters. The elements of magic were really intricate and fun. I loved the idea of having a mask that helps with their magic.
Our main character is Thomas Fawkes. He is a teenager who is readying himself for his last year in school where he will get his mask from his famous father Guy Fawkes and he will finally be able to cure himself from the Stone Plague that has swept through the country since the Igniters have taken the White Light.
Thomas’ father fails to show up to the ceremony where he is supposed to be getting his mask. Thomas is bound and determined to find his father and demand his mask. He finds himself in London and scary place for Keepers and Plague. He is drawn into a plot, trying to find his feelings for his father, whether or not he is a Keeper or an Igniter.
This was a fun, magical, and well written book about finding yourself, accepting others for their differences, and learning a little bit about history. I highly recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley, Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
