Month: April 2026

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone by Catherine Mack

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This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone is the third in Mack’s vacation mystery series. Mack is also known for her thrillers under the name Catherine Mckenzie. This story is once again a very funny murder mystery where we follow our beloved heroine (but for some reason always wanting to be killed) author Eleanor Dash as she takes us along for the ride as she tries to get in a vacation with boyfriend Oliver and her sister/assistant Harper while at a book conference in the Bahamas.

But a death quickly occurs even before Eleanor opens the door to her room as she discovers a dead body in said room! As Eleanor tells the story to the reader with her exceptional wit, humor and footnotes, we will soon discover the death was not a suicide as first thought, but a murder. Shocking I know!

Eleanor who has a book coming out soon had been invited to the book conference to give a few lectures and figured she could use a little bit of a rest…I guess not because as the authors, agents and others assemble she discovers the cast of characters are similar to those in her previous books…I mean life. Crazy Cathy is there as well as her nemesis Connor Smith and even our favorite Italian detective makes an appearance. But unfortunately, a few people Eleanor has ticked off through the years.

As the clues begin to show themselves, we soon discover that someone is trying to kill Eleanor. Again. But for what reason now? As Eleanor and Oliver delve deeper into the suspects and their relationship, they soon discover they are all keeping secrets and they are not particularly good ones.

Will she figure out who is trying to kill her or will this be her last book conference ever! Also, guess how many murders are in this book!

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone is not only hilarious, with terrific sarcastic characters but Mack actually incorporates great information into the story on how to actually write a mystery thriller. Which as I have mentioned was what Eleanor was actually there to do. The story and clues are exceptional, and the ending is very Agatha Christie surprising!

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #CatherineMack #ThisWeekendDoesn’tEndWellforAnyone for the advanced copy.

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone: A Novel (The Vacation Mysteries, 3): Mack, Catherine: 9781250326164: Amazon.com: Books

Lisa Leone-campbell’s review of This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone: A Novel | Goodreads

Heart the Lover by Lily King

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Heart the Lover is extraordinary, heartbreaking yet hopeful and deserving of any literary prize it is nominated for. The story encapsulates every emotion known to a person… love, hate, regret, heartbreak and optimism. While the reader will experience a few shocking twists, the story’s honesty is its message which is genuine.

It all begins when her senior year in college she meets two males from her 17th Century Lit Class. They both sit up front. She is in the back. Their names are Sam and Yosh. Why they begin to talk to her she will never know. But they end up inviting her to the huge house they are staying at during the semester which actually belongs to a professor on sabbatical. All she has ever wanted to do was become a writer. But she needs all the help she can get.

Thus begins their friendships, beginning with them deciding to call her Jordan…not her name. The three become inseparable although their personalities could not be more different. Jordan enjoys the attention and begins to have a crush on one of them. She starts to stay over at the house which for her is exquisite as her small apartment she shares with too many students has no air conditioning, no heat and sometimes no water.

The year will be a rite of passage for all three. There will be arguments, relationship changes and some decisions which will hurt the others and carry them all into the future.

Until one day years later a visit from one of them will once again change the trajectory of the three of them, change their lives forever as the past and present must come together again.

What Jordan will learn is as some decisions from the past need to be addressed, others should try and stay buried so as not to hurt the others. Decisions will need to be made and lives will change. Friendships are fragile but in certain situations you must have superhuman strength to keep going.

Heart the Lover is just beautiful while showing the imperfections we all have when it comes to our friends. But also, the strength one needs to resolve issues which were hidden years ago before it’s too late. The story is painfully magnificent.

Published by Grove Press

Amazon.com: Heart the Lover: 9781837265589: Lily King: Books

The Night Nurse and the Jewel Thief by Marilee Dahlman

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The Night Nurse and the Jewel Thief is a very funny, fast-paced story with quirky characters. Two who are very different people with very different personalities, values and lifestyles although they seem to have similar taste for 007 meet under very strange circumstances and must come together somehow to get out of a very messy and I mean that literally, situation. Who would have thought being a night nurse could almost kill you!

Nancy Norman is having a bad time. Her house exploded leaving her and her beloved cat Dr. GoldenPaws homeless. The good news was that her ex-husband’s car was ruined. The bad news besides being left homeless with practically no money is that Dr. GoldenPaws was hurt but recovering.

As she moves into an apartment complex with her cat, Nancy, a nurse decides it’s time to retire. But she, her cat and her glue gun (she loves to bejewel) realize quickly she’s not really interested in pickleball and gossip. She envies her ex who is now living THEIR dream of traveling and enjoying life.

So, when she receives a call asking if she would like to work one night shift for an excentric billionaire who is in a coma she hesitates, but when the price goes up, she decides why not? She will have enough money to do a little of the traveling she dreams of. How hard could a job giving meds to a man in a coma be?

Well, unfortunately for Nancy the night turns into a nightmare. The compound is burglarized and the thieves seem to know what they are doing, looking for a stash of precious sapphires worth a great deal of money and trying to destroy the work empire of a man in a coma. Suddenly she is in for the fight of her life trying to get out alive with one of the robbers, (although he is pretty cute) and avoiding the other misfits who are it seems former business associates of the mansion owner.

As Nancy’s fear turns into anger at the situation, she decides to go on the offensive and teach them all a few lessons. She’s had a look at the caviar and champagne life, and she wants to get out alive!

The Night Nurse and the Jewel Thief is a humorous cozy with a James Bond theme. I personally couldn’t get enough of GHOST. You’ll see! He needs his own backstory!

Thank you #BrotherMockingbird #MarileeDahlman #TheNightNurseandtheJewelTheif for the advanced copy.

Amazon.com: The Night Nurse and the Jewel Thief: 9781960226327: Dahlman, Marilee: Books

Edit Review – The Night Nurse and the Jewel Thief | Goodreads

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

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Mad Mabel is a mysterious story about an elderly curmudgeon woman who has been able to keep her identity hidden for many years. Her early life was filled with trauma, embarrassment and fear. But she was able to make a quiet life for herself living on a cul-de-sac and keeping to herself. But unfortunately, that will all change when one of her neighbors passes away and her real identity is exposed. What on earth should she do now?

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years young. She has lived in this neighborhood for decades. She keeps to herself for the most part except for her lifelong friend Daphne. She has everything she needs and enjoys the quiet. Very opinionated, the neighbors keep their distance. Until…

Two situations happen simultaneously. First, she realizes she has not seen a certain neighbor for a bit and discovers the body inside his house. Second, she seems to have made friends with a very young girl named Persephone who decides she wants to be Elsie’s best friend, and she cannot get rid of her.

But unfortunately, the police discover her past and how she was called Mad Mabel when she was young. They also discover Mabel was the youngest Australian child at the age of fifteen to ever be imprisoned. As her world begins to blow up and the neighbors begin to look at her as if she’s crazy, Mabel is visited by a true crime channel and asked if she would like to tell her story.

As she decides what to do, we go back in time with Mabel as she tells her story revisiting her childhood and what has brought her to this point in her long life. What is discovered is there is much more to her story, and to Elsie and how she was able to come out of her youth unscathed, even though she went to prison is amazing.

Unfortunately, no one believed her then and so why would they believe her now?

Does she risk her privacy to open that door in which has been locked for years? What on earth will the neighbors think? What will this lonely child think of her? How does she reconcile her past with her present?

Mad Mabel is very funny, yet a bit sad, heartbreaking but so uplifting. You will fall in love with Mabel as she begins to understand life and friendship and love at the ripe young age of eighty-one!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #SallyHepworth #MadMabel for the advanced copy.

Amazon.com: Mad Mabel: A Novel: 9781250284549: Hepworth, Sally: Books

Lisa Leone-campbell’s review of Mad Mabel | Goodreads

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

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The Book Witch is a magical, beautiful trip down a memory lane of books. A wonderful quote from the book is “All stories are love stories if you love stories”. This book is a love story to not only books, but to those who love to read them. It’s as I call her books, Meg Shaffer’s imaginative mind as only she knows how. Embrace the journey, the book and understand the importance of not only characters you will fall in love with, but just how special their authors are as well!

Rainy March, yes that’s her name, is a book witch just as her mother and grandfather. She is able to jump in and out of books whenever there seems to be a problem with a character or plot change. For example, a main character hopping out of the book accidentally or on purpose. Rainy is there to find the person and get them back into the story. Or if something happens to change a plot, she can go in with her trusty magical umbrella and put the story back on track. She loves her job!

Rainy’s grandfather also is able to do this type of work. Her mother who passed away when she was young was from everything she has ever been told the best book witch who ever lived. But the only item she has from her mother is a Nancy Drew book which of course Rainy has read hundreds of times looking for some type of clue her mother might have left for her but to no avail.

Rainy is not a rule breaker. She understands the rules of a book witch. First and foremost, you cannot bring a book character into the real world, and you cannot ever stay in a story. But, unfortunately for her she has fallen madly in love with a character from a detective series she has read and reread. She had to go into one of the detective’s stories and once she met the Duke of Chicago well, let’s just say the rules went out the window.

But when she gets caught, and her umbrella taken away, that seems to be the end of Duke. Until her grandfather disappears while on a secret book assignment and she feels she has no choice but to go in and ask Duke for his detective skills help in locating him.

Thus begins Rainy’s life changing journey which will take her down rabbit holes she never knew existed. Could this perhaps help her understand not only where her grandfather is, but what really happened to her mother all those years ago? And what about Duke? With him in the real world will that change him and their relationship.

The Book Witch is a mystical mystery book tour with some beloved stories we all know and love. The reader will savor every minute to see where the plot will take them and become emotional as we weave through the twists and turns of Rainy’s journey.

Thank You #NetGalley #BallentineBooks #MegShaffer #TheBookWitch for the advanced copy.

Amazon.com: The Book Witch: A Novel: 9780593983584: Shaffer, Meg: Books

Lisa Leone-campbell’s review of The Book Witch | Goodreads

The Last Letters of Sally and Walter by Cammie McGovern

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The Last Letters of Sally and Walter is a beautiful story about two retirees who begin a friendship and reveal their faults in order to move forward into their futures. As they get to know each other, by playing scrabble, they begin to confide to each other about their children, regrets and secrets. How fortunate they are to uncover and learn from mistakes.

Sally has just moved into Golden Grove, an independent living retirement home, against her children’s wishes. After taking care of her late husband most of her life she feels she needs this freedom. As she looks into the different clubs they offer, she sees there is a Scrabble Club. But, when she goes to the meeting, there is only a man named Walter who is the leader and no one else. Walter seems to be a bit of a curmudgeon, and she is told the club lost its members because of him, but if she would like to play a game, he would love it. She agrees and not only does she discover she loves the game but with Walter’s expert advice she becomes good at it, very good.

Sally and Walter begin to develop not only a friendship but with his guidance she decides to enter a tournament. As their companionship grows, they begin to tell each other about their past lives, their children, spouses and disappointments with their children, their pasts and more important themselves.

As Sally enters tournaments with Walter by her side coaching her, she feels powerful, doing something just for herself. But that all starts to crumble when she discovers her children need her. She goes to them leaving Walter questioning if it was him. Meanwhile Walter’s son has a crisis and in the only way Walter knows how he tries to help but only seems to make the situation worse.

And they will both encounter health issues which neither wants to admit or have help for, but their friendship will guide them. Slowly…

Both Sally and Walter must take a hard look at their previous lives and discover perhaps what they could have or should have done differently. Their futures will depend on it.

The Last Letters of Sally and Walter is not only a love story, but a rite of passage for each of them as two lost souls are able to piece together new lives, conquer hardships and learn to lean on others.

Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #CammieMcGovern #TheLastLettersofSallyandWalter.

Icing on the Murder by Valerie Burns

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Icing on the Murder is the fourth book in the Baker Street Murder series and as funny and cozy as the previous stories. In this new installment we learn more about Maddy’s previous life as she and her now fiancé Michael, best friend Sherrif April Johnson and of course the star of the book, Baby, her 250-pound English Mastiff, begin their journey on picking wedding sites and attire as well as all the other good stuff. Of course, there is a murder! The Baker Street series is such an enjoyable read.

As Maddie reminisces about her Aunt Octavia who passed away and left her not only her bakery, Baby Cakes Bakery, but her beloved dog Baby, her heart aches that she does not have her to lean on for advice on how to plan a beautifully cheap wedding.

But, Maddy does have her social media background and discovers there will be a wedding expo coming to their town in New Bison, Michigan. And they are going to be running a contest. Now, Michael does not want to participate in any of these expos. But of course, Maddy enters figuring she just won’t tell him because of course she doesn’t think she will win.

Maddie discovers the wedding planner is none other than Serafina a social media star! But unfortunately, Serafina is not an angel and treats not only those who work for her horribly, but during the beginning of the expo also finds dirt on some of the contestants!

Unfortunately for Maddy, Serafina is murdered during the expo with, gulp, baking skewers from Maddy’s bakery making her the prime suspect. Now not only does she have to find the real killer, but she has to fess up to Michael about not telling him the truth. Will there even still be a wedding to plan?

With a killer on the loose it’s up to Maddy, the Sherriff, the community and of course Baby to figure out who the real murderer could possibly be. And there are many people who did not care for Serafina!

Icing on the Murder is amusing, entertaining and Burns’ books always have great twists and turns. I also can’t get enough of Baby’s antics, and I bet neither will you!

Amazon.com: Icing on the Murder (A Baker Street Mystery): 9781496753403: Burns, Valerie: Books

Edit Review – Icing on the Murder (Baker Street Mystery #4) | Goodreads