Tag: books

A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death by Valerie Burns

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A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death is just another charming, romantic comfort cozy murder mystery by the incredible Valerie Burns. It’s funny, there are murders to solve, interesting characters and an adorable English Mastiff named Baby. And if that isn’t enough, the main character owns a bakery, and one can almost taste and smell what they are baking!

Maddy’s new life as owner of Baby Cakes Bakery, the store her Aunt Octavia owned and which she inherited (along with her aunt’s dog…very big dog, named Baby) when she died under very mysterious circumstances.

Maddy’s life has finally settled down and she and Baby understand each other, sort of. Maddy has even been attempting to do some baking, as in her prior life she was a social influencer on social media. But when of all people, Brandy Denton, another social media influencer AND the woman who took her fiancĂ© a doctor away from her visits this small town, Maddy goes ballistic on her. Unfortunately, the fight was caught on tape and put on social medial with many views. Of course this happens in Maddy’s bakery!

So, when Brandy shows us dead in the bakery, well unfortunately for Maddy, she becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Why does this keep happening to her? Her roommate, Sherriff April Johnson is taken off the case and the head honcho of the next town who Maddy has butt heads with in the past takes over and pressures her to confess. So does her own lawyer who keeps telling her he can work out a deal.

But, with a little help from her friends, her boyfriend Michael, the local veterinarian as well as the hardworking Baker Street Irregulars, friends of her beloved aunt and murder mystery buffs begin to collect clues.

But it doesn’t seem to be going well. Her ex-fiancĂ© shows up as well as a mysterious stranger who informs Maddy that he has kept something her aunt gave him to give to her. But just as he is to meet her, something goes wrong.

With all this against Maddy, how will this end?

A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death will not disappoint. With so many moving parts, and a wonderful, surprising ending, which will excite Maddy and Baby fans, I suggest you sit and read this delightful story with a cup of coffee (or tea) with one of the recipes at the end of the book!

Thank you #NetGalley #Kensington #ValerieBurns #ACupofFlour,aPinchofDeath for the advanced copy.

One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

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Jamie Day, author of the wonderful thriller The Block Party has another juicy, can’t put down, dysfunctional family murder mystery. Filled with shocking surprises and secrets and a few dead bodies, it also includes a lovable protagonist whom everyone will root for because she is so deserving.

Charley works as a maid at the Precipice, a larger-than-life hotel in Maine. Her mother dead, her nana in a home for dementia which money wise is draining her dry, Charley has resorted to not so legal activities at the hotel to make ends meet.

Now, the owner of the resort, George Bishop has died, and his family are all invading her sanctuary to sort the will out. Charley is very nervous. She can’t afford to be let go or for them to find out her secrets. Also, as the family travels to the Precipice, they are informed there is a hurricane approaching and with all the guests having to be cancelled, she must now be there alone, with her friend and manager Rodrigo. To say she is nervous is an understatement.

But, when the cast of characters make their grand, and I mean grand entrances, well Charley is a mess. Hopefully these high society snobs won’t figure out what she has been doing.

The big family include: Iris, an ex-con, Vicki, married to Todd (who is kind of creepy), their young son Oliver who only speaks in rhymes, Faith who is married to Hope (you can’t make this up!) but Jamie Day did! and Quinn, the very, very handsome college age son of Vicki. Also arriving is the attorney. Because don’t all rich people travel with their attorney?

The chaos really begins when the will is read, and all the sisters realize they have been left barely anything and Todd who is a nobody seems to be left the bulk of everything! Needless to say, the sisters are in shock as is Charley.

Unfortunately for Todd, he dies that night, of what the police believe was a heart attack. Until the next morning, a discovery will not only change that idea, but pin sister against sister, greed against blackmail, and past secrets which seem to keep coming up and shocking everybody. All the while, this hurricane is in full force and nobody is able to leave, except through murder as it looks like another person bit the icy cold.

As the sisters turn on each other, Charley becomes the voice of reason, Oliver gives them creepy clues in rhymes and Quinn is stunned by the revelations of his mother and aunts. Needless to say, everyone is blaming everyone.

The big question for this big family is who is doing the killing? With so many reasons to dislike each other, it becomes hard to figure out who had the better motive. One Big Happy Family is one tumultuous murdering mystery. The story is very funny, yes even with murders happening, but also moving as more of their pasts are exposed, but don’t let any of that fool you…this story is deliriously deadly!

Thank you #St.Martin’sPress #JamieDay #OneBigHappyFamily for the advanced copy.

A Novel Summer by Jamie Brenner

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A Novel Summer is a wonderful beach read, about…a beach town! Set in Provincetown, MA, it tells the story of three strong women who have known each other since childhood. Growing up in a small, close nit town, they promised no matter what to return to P-
Town every summer to be together. But, what always seems to happen, life and lives change and sadly friends go their separate ways.

So, when they finally do reunite you would hope the reunion would be special. But unfortunately, that is not the case with these three beloved friends. What does happen is they air their differences which include jealousy, heartbreak and tension. But this is also a very moving book about how friends who have become lost to each other can somehow, not easily, resolve their differences, move past obstacles and come together during crisis and even apologize and admit to past mistakes. And of course, there is romance!

When Shelby’s best friend Colleen, whose parents own the only bookstore in town, which she manages, called Land’s End implores Shelby to come home to help her, Shelby, an author with her first book out, living in New York City goes to her friend’s aid. You see Colleen is pregnant with twins and has been told she must take it easy.

Shelby has not been back to Provincetown for a few years and is hesitantly excited to go back. She realizes she has left some unfinished business behind. But, Colleen is more important. Unfortunately their friend Hunter, who herself is in publishing and is living in town is not very pleased with her return. Hunter is embarrassed as she feels Shelby used her life and secrets in her new book and everyone in town knows it. She wants nothing to do with her.

On top of all this, Shelby has a second book coming due and she has a bit of writer’s block. Oh and she now has to face her high school boyfriend, Justin whom she left to go to the Big City to become a writer. She realizes she has a great deal to make up for. but will they all be able to fix what is obviously broken, and also help keep Colleen calm?

But, there seems to be many obstacles at work which will keep them from obtaining their goals. With each, their lives begin to fall apart rather than come together. A Novel Summer is a sweet, second chance story, in so many ways, with romance, deceit, forgiveness and love.

Thank you #NetGalley #ParkRow #ANovelSummer #JamieBrenner for the advanced copy.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

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The Lost Story is a beautiful fairy tale for most ages which will not only tug at your heart and bring tears to your eyes, but also will have you falling in love with the most wonderful, strong, funny characters as they attempt to go to battle for each other against some very unlikeable enemies.

Where to begin…Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell disappeared in a West Virginia forest as teenagers. After many massive searches and attempts to find the lost boys, hope was lost. No clues were ever discovered. As mysteriously as they disappeared, six months later Jeremy and Rafe walk back out of the woods to the shock of the not only their parents, but the whole town. Rafe does not remember anything about his time in the forest, and Jeremy chooses to keep it that way.

Now, years later, the boys are men and have gone their separate ways. Rafe lives alone in a cabin and loves art, still with no memory of what occurred all those years ago. Jeremy is now a missing person’s advocate who seems to have a gift for finding lost or missing people.

One day, a girl named Emilie Wendell walks up to Jeremy and begins pleading with him to find her sister Shannon, a sister up until recently she didn’t know she had, who seems to have disappeared into the same forest as Jeremy and Rafe. A teenager, she for all accounts was a budding writer. She had been abducted. Her abductor had been found dead, but Shannon was gone.

Jeremy and a reluctant Rafe agree to take Emilie’s case and thus begins a magical, fantastical journey as the three begin their quest to find Emilie’s sister in the forest in which they too had disappeared. What happens to them all is for the most part, pure joy, and love and excitement. Yes, there are those who hate them and want them dead, but there are also those who want to make amends and protect them.

I will not say much about their journey, as I don’t want to spoil the wonderous discoveries, funny situations and of course the danger they are in. What I will tell you is at the end of the story; I had tears in my eyes.

The Lost Story is a lovely, wonderous, imaginative tale with extremely lovable, quirky characters but is also filled with heart and soul. I am truly glad I was able to find this lost story! And hopefully it will go on for a long time!

Thank you #NetGalley #BallentineBooks #MegShaffer #TheLostStory for the advanced copy.

Ladykiller by Katherine Wood

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Ladykiller checks all the boxes for a masterful exciting mystery, suspense story with well-developed characters, so well developed you can’t seem to trust any of them, all with flawed personalities and unsightly behavior. You will gasp as you begin to discover the truth which was hidden right in front of your eyes!

When Gia invites her best friend Abby to Sweden to meet her new husband Garrett, someone Gia met and married weeks after the death of her father and someone Abby feels perhaps is not right for her friend, she decides not to go. Although she adores Gia, she just isn’t ready for this next chapter in Gia’s life. But, when Abby discovers Gia’s brother, Benny has been invited and is going as well, that changes her mind. You see Abby and Benny have had crushes on each other since childhood.

Gia, who is a writer, is in Greece at the moment with her new husband trying to get the family estate in order and fixed up. Thier father when he died left nothing to his children and Gia although she thinks she married well, has never been one to not spend and is comfortable living the life of the rich and famous. Her plan is to fix up the estate sell it and bank the cash to live on for herself.

While in Greece, Gia begins a second manuscript. This is a memoir about her life in Greece fixing up the place, being with her new husband as well as other tidbits of the goings on in her life with a bit of flirty embellishment (those type of books sell better) including Gia and Garrett meeting a couple while dining and discovering their boat broke down and are awaiting for it to be fixed but there is nowhere for them to stay. Gia immediately invites them to stay at the estate, hoping for some excitement for her book. But unfortunately, what actually happens as the reader discovers through chapters of the manuscript is how the cracks begin to show in not only her marriage, but with this young couple staying there.

Meanwhile, Abby is getting ready to leave for Sweden when she receives an ominous email. Someone has sent her a prompt or threat, she’s not sure about a past situation. They say they know Abby lied. Abby thought that secret had been long buried, and she and Gia were safe.

But when Abby and Benny land in Sweden, there is no Gia. They receive a text allegedly from Gia which says she fell ill. But something is off and the two decide to go to Greece and see Gia. But what they find is a mystery. Nothing. No Gia, no husband, only her manuscript.

Abby starts to read the story, which of course the reader already knows, or think they do, and the mystery of what happened at the house only deepens. But not everything is as it seems and with the discovery of hidden secrets, unmistakable clues and lies, so many lies, it all begins falling into place which makes for a shocking ending.

Ladykiller was quite the killer of a book!

Thank you #Bantam #NetGalley #KatherineWood #Ladykiller for the advanced copy.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

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What on earth do you do when your college English professor gets you pregnant at the young age of twenty, then leaves you high and dry because of course he is married and has children, and you can in no way afford the cost of a baby as you can’t afford the cost of yourself? You can’t ask your dysfunctional divorced parents for help, that’s for sure. In this absolutely hysterical, heartwarming, very unconventional story, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, creativity becomes the key! To everything!

Margo decides to have the baby and now she has very serious money issues. The father will have nothing to do with her, and she gets fired from her job at Hooters because she needs to breastfeed and take the newborn, Bodhi with her to work because she cannot afford childcare. But…it’s a Hooters!

Where are her parents you may ask? Well, her mother has found a boyfriend who is very religious, and she hopes to make him her husband, so she’s out, as well as the fact that her mother really didn’t mother her anyway. Her father is a former famous wrestler who has just gotten out of rehab for the hundredth time, and she is not close to anyway seems like a very unlikely choice, and when two of her three roommates move out, she is just plain out of luck.

That’s when her dad, Jinx, comes knocking at her door because he needs a place to stay and promises he will stay clean for room and board and babysitting. Well, that sounds great to Margo. With one problem solved, she now needs to figure out how to make some money and fast.

When someone mentions a new platform called Only Fans where you create a profile (fake) and they pay to see and hear what you want to put out there, Margo hesitates, for about a minute and decides this would be a good way to be able to stay with her baby and make money at the same time. And make money she does! Of course, she tells no one, especially her parents about her new venture.

She suddenly realizes she’s good at this gig. She even comes up with another idea and teams up with a couple of influencers and that takes off as well! Although not really accepted practice she even begins to crush on one of her “clients”, but the good thing about hiding behind a fake persona is you can fake it till you make it, and they have no idea!

She’s managing it all, taking care of Bohdi, working, making money and spending time with her dad until it all comes crashing down around her. Suddenly the State wants to take her baby away because of her job. But this job is not only making her money but helping her support her son in more ways than she ever thought she would be able.

If she leaves her job, they won’t take her son, but then she won’t be able to afford what he needs. How can they do this? Why are they doing this? She needs a new plan. And boy does she get even more creative!

Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a laugh out loud story about a young naive woman, who took on the system, not knowing much, but knowing no one, absolutely no one was going to take her baby away from her. But the story is much more than just about a determined woman. It’s about heartbreak, feeling you are worth nothing, disappointment in yourself as well as others, but realizing if you find the right community, anything and everything is possible.

And even better news Apple+ is going to do a series and Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer will star! Can’t wait!

Thank you #Goodreads #WillamMorrow #RufiThorpe #Margo’sGodMoneyTroubles for the advanced copy.

What’s in a Kiss? by Lauren Kate

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What’s in a Kiss? is a captivating, funny enchanting story about a woman whose future was extremely promising, until it suddenly took a horrible turn. As she prepares to marry off her best friend since childhood and see the handsome crush she almost but did not kiss back in high school, who is now famous, she begins to feel she has nothing to show for her life since her promising high school years. For her, she’s never been able to get past the “what-if’s” and that kiss that never happened.

Liv is a Lyft driver who lives in the same place she grew up. She lives with the love of her life…her dog, Graham Parsons. Her best friend Masha is still the best friend she had when she was in kindergarten, and her mother is the love of her life. She feels content, well sort of.

The reality is during high school she had a promising future as an actress. She had been accepted to Julliard and was looking forward to the move to New York. Unfortunately, something devastating happened and that ended her dreams and she chose to stay with her mother and her best friend.

So although she is excited that her best friend is getting married and she is the maid of honor, she begins to relive her past as well as the crush she had on one Jake who is the best man in the same wedding, who is a famous podcaster and of course, dating a model. She’s not jealous! She always regrets that she had that one chance at prom to kiss him, but for some reason it never happened. But she still carries this with her even in the present.

So, when she picks up a fare and it’s Jake, their meeting does not go very well. She’s embarrassed and he’s just plain obnoxious. How she’s going to be able to put up with him in the next few days is beyond her.

But, something happens during the wedding ceremony which changes her life…literally…as Masha and her fiancĂ© are about to say I Do, Liv catches Jake’s eye and her head begins to spin, and she thinks she’s going to faint. She comes out of this trance in a very different reality!

In this new reality, Liv is a popular actress, living in a mansion, Masha refuses to talk to her, her mother is not in her life and acts as if she hates her and oh, she married to Jake! As for Jake, he adores her and is the opposite of what he was in high school. He is so supportive, handsome and puts her career first. Clearly in this reality that prom kiss did happen…but what happened after that??

Although Liv enjoys being with Jake, she needs to go back. She wants Masha to be her best friend again and of course she wants her mother to love her again. But going back will mean she loses Jake.

What should she do?

What’s in a Kiss? is a hilarious, heartwarming and romantic story. Wouldn’t we all want a do-over about something from our past if we could?

Thank you #NetGalley #G.P.Putnam’sSons #LaurenKate #What’sinaKiss? for the advanced copy.

The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne

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I picked this memoir up not because I knew anything about Griffin Dunne, but because I was obsessed with his father, Dominick Dunne’s books as well as fascinated by the shocking murder of his sister, Dominique who rose to fame in the movie Poltergeist. The title itself is an homage to her as she had such a club of friends who met every Friday afternoon for drinks and talk.

But what I discovered is that The Friday Afternoon Club is so much more than a memoir. It starts with Dunne’s parents Dominick and Lenny (Ellen) and takes the reader not only their journey through being rich to Dominick’s fall from grace to Lenny’s battle with MS to the lead up to the death of Dominique as well as the heartbreaking trial which left the family angry and stunned.

But the most amazing part of this book is the stories…every page is filled with incredible tales which include many, many 1960’s and 1970’s movie stars. Also included are stories about the family, his brother Alex’s breakdowns, his father’s drinking and his wife divorcing him. His sisters short-lived life and how everybody loved her wit and charm, but nobody knew what was happening to her at the end of her life.

Griffin Dunne’s life journey is filled with so many stories, such as how Sean Connery saved his life from drowning in their pool, to story after story about his best friend Carrie Fischer who he loved, adored and spoke to the day she got on the plane in which she died.

He tells stories of his Uncle John an acclaimed writer and his father becoming estranged until one day when they met at their cardiologist’s office neither knowing they went there. John, who was married to the profound writer, Joan Didion would play an important part in Dunne’s upbringing, and Didion and his uncle would be in his life until their deaths, with Dunne actually doing a documentary on Didion.

The book goes into the dark place of death with Dominique’s murder and actually opens with the scene of a police officer coming to Lenny’s house to tell her of her daughter’s injuries and being transported to the hospital. In great detail, Dunne goes into what they believe happened to her and the abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. As Dunne points out when you wanted to tell someone a secret, Dominique was the one to go to, but in the end, she died with no one knowing what she had been going through.

As for the trial, the boyfriend was made to look like a saint, and the outcome shockingly horrifying for the family. And this was actually the impetus which broke Dominick and John’s relationship.

With all this said, there are many, many funny stories as well as interesting tidbits of Griffin’s life and trying to succeed as an actor and producer and his innocence and how his life was changed in so many ways by being the son/nephew/brother of a prominent, but dysfunctional family.

The Friday Afternoon Club is a fascinating read, one of the best memoirs I believe I have ever read. You can actually feel the pain, the sorrow, the joy and the crazy in his magnificent writing.

Published by Penguin Press

Peg And Rose Play The Ponies by Laurien Berenson

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Peg And Rose Play The Ponies is the third book in this adorable senior sleuth mystery series. Peg and Rose venture out of their comfy, cozy town and head together with Peg’s poodle Hope to Kentucky to sell Peg’s mare. Who knew Peg owned a horse? Along for the drive, Rose will try continuing to bury the strained relationship she has with her sister-in-law Peg, as well as learn way too much about horse breeding and then of course, there’s a murder…

When the women finally arrive at Six Oaks Farm after a harrowing, joyless drive being together for one too many days, they both settle into the hotel then go to visit Peg’s mare. But unfortunately, their first interaction with the yearling manager, Jim Gable leaves them both less enthusiastic due to his being not very nice, and downright rude behavior at the meeting!

But they certainly don’t find enough time to even discuss Jim’s anger issues when they discover that night on the news that he has died. At first deemed an accident, the women are approached by one of the workers named Lucia who discovers she is the prime suspect of his now declared murder. Although Six Oaks is trying its best to keep that bit of information under wraps. Yes, she had a difficult relationship with the man, but she in no way had anything to do with killing him.

Of course, the women agree to help her and begin their instinctive snooping and asking questions. Being their age sometimes it’s very easy to discover clues while just sitting on a bench, as the elders seem for some reason to go unnoticed. But in doing so, they soon discover that Six Oaks is not entirely the greatest place to work. Not only that but between shenanigans and missing equipment, the list of suspects soon seems to grow.

As always Peg and Rose will use their charm and wit to discover whose “horsing around” and what could possibly have led to the murder. Peg And Rose Play The Ponies is another captivatingly sweet cozy mystery!

Thank you #NetGalley #KensingtonCozies #LaurienBenson #PegAndRosePlayThePonies for the advanced copy.

Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams

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Husbands & Lovers is an intriguing book which tells the stories of two women from different periods of time, both ironically dealing with similar issues. The book’s appeal is as the two stories begin to intertwine, the reader starts to understand the connections these two women have as well as the pain and suffering they have both been through which wonderfully creates two sadly beautiful stories in one.

Mallory Dunne is a single parent. Her son’s name is Sam. She has never, ever revealed who is his father. The year is 2022 and Mallory and Sam experience every parent’s nightmare. Something happens to Sam. It’s very bad.

Meanwhile, Hannah Ainsworth is in Cairo. The year 1955. Married to a wealthy man she dislikes, but having been born in Hungary and fled there, has no choice but to continue in the marriage. She meets and falls in love with the worker of the hotel they are staying, named Lucien. He’s very secretive but impossibly charming. He changes her life forever.

Mallory, who is barely making ends meet, decides to go on vacation with her sister Paige where they had spent many happy years. Never having told anybody who the father of Sam was, is shocked that he is actually there as well. He is a superstar musician now, and is there planning his wedding.

Hannah wants nothing more than to have a child, something she tells her lover Lucien. Before she fled Hungary, she had the perfect life and lost it all. When she gets pregnant, she tells her husband it is his. He doesn’t believe her and banishes her just as the city of Cairo is being burned down. Somehow Hannah must find her way out.

Mallory sees instantly that Monk knows he is Sam’s father and now must begin to make very difficult choices. Does he let him into Sam’s life? Does she answer his questions as to why she left so suddenly when they were so in love?

But the most wonderful mystery which is encompassed by both stories is a bracelet which was passed down from who? and left for Mallory’s mother and after she died was given to Mallory. But why Mallory? Her mother was closer to her sister. What does this bracelet have to do with their family?

As all the moving parts come together in Husbands & Lovers it will tell the wondrous story of hidden love, loss and privilege and so many secrets. Some of them lurk in the dark corners hoping to never be revealed while some look innocent but are more than one person care bear. The stories in the book are both spellbinding, and you will be amazed at the connections which these women and the men they have chosen to fall in love with.

Thank you #NetGalley #BallentineBooks #BeatrizWilliams #Husbands&Lovers for the advanced copy.