Andrea Ward

I loved the little details that let me know this was set in Brazil without hitting me over the head with it. Of course there so many great food details! The neighborhood felt very real, so I was definitely transported while reading this. The enemies to livers trope was very well done! I was all in favor of her hating the Molinas. By the end though, I was starting to like the Molinas, except for maybe the mom. There were a couple times in the book that seemed unnecessarily dramatic, but it didn't detract from my overall love of the book.

I listened to the audiobook and I think hearing him read or made the book better. His childhood was fascinating, but as we got closer to modern day it felt a little more like a recitation of facts. It can be hard to write a memoir about something that recently happened.

A creepy falling down manor on an isolated manor in Maine with family secrets and a cute neighbor boy? Yes! This was everything I was hoping for. I definitely saw many of the twists coming, but I enjoyed Ivy's character and seeing how she was going to deal with everything. There were only a couple little annoyances. Early on she indicated that she doesn't have many clothes, but she keeps changing clothes! Where did she get all of the clothes? Also there were a couple times when Ivy was too trusting considering her background. Those are minor issues, but the did take me out of the story a couple times. Not enough to keep from finishing it in one day though!

Several times I thought I knew where it was going, but it kept surprising me. I was able to guess part of it, but not all of it. So it kept surprising me. The story went a lot of different ways, so the ending wasn't a nice tied in a bow ending. It was left a little loose. I really liked it and I thought it was clever.

I was glad to visit Shady Creek again! I was so excited to find that these audiobooks were now available at my library. We got to visit a couple new businesses and meet new people in Shady Creek. And there are a couple mysteries to solve! I was surprised at how it all came together. I was also pleased with Greyson and Sadie's developing relationship. Just what I wanted in a cozy mystery.

This was just so cozy! Viv found a community that is ready to support her no matter what. It kinda reminds me of the found family that happens in Sing. This was the heartwarming found family book that I needed right now.

I loved getting to know the characters, but the pacing felt weird.

The audiobook was so good! The voice of the lake added so much to the story. I can't imagine just reading the book on paper. I love how the book taught us about how to fix the problem in a natural way. It didn't focus on how it got that bad, but focused more on how to make it better. What a wonderful hopeful book.

This is an amazing book! It is short, but every word is powerful. I'm sure I didn't get all the references, so I will definitely want to reread this. I like the way the fantasy/ magical realism elements were dealt with. It felt like a natural element of the story. I'm still it quite sure how I feel about the ending though.

I loved learning about Josephine Leary and a little bit about Eastern North Carolina. The historical parts were very well done. Sometimes it was just a little detail that really illuminated the historical context. The dialogue was stilted sometimes, but it got better as it went along. I like that there were no big bad things. There were some small difficulties and rude people, but it didn't stop her. She kept moving forward. Her relationship with her husband was annoying, but if this is based on her journals and letters, then we have to accept what it was. I think it ended in a good spot. The ending seemed like a fitting ending.
It is an interesting spot between historical fiction and biography.

I love an epistolary novel, so that is already a mark in its favor.
Another mark in favor of this book is the setting and author. I am finding that I love a Caribbean setting with an own voices author. There is so much history and culture packed into these books just by the experience of the author.
So with those positives right off the bat, I had a good feeling. As I got further into the book those good feelings increased. Alaine's voice is strong and intriguing. The characters are flawed and struggling with the curve balls life is throwing at them. But they aren't giving in. They are trying to keep going through the hard times. That is the part I loved the most.Alaine, her mom, and her aunt are strong and capable women who are not perfect. That makes them compelling and really propels the story forward.
This is just such a good book!

Wow! There is so much to brag on in this book. The way this community is set up feels like it could be real. The extreme customer service and paying for a good trip also felt realistic. So the creepy feeling to go along with these realistic elements added so much tension to the reading. I loved the ads and announcements in between the chapters. The audiobook sets these apart with some sounds and a voice. That part becomes increasingly creepy as the story goes on because we see what is announced is vastly different than the lived experience. As Jay, Connie, Zeke, and Chelle try to find safety in this new dystopian world, they keep finding out more and more secrets. It is hard to know who to trust because so many people are holding on to secrets.
So good and so creepy. I definitely want to check out some more YA horror!

This book is gorgeous! The actual writing is beautiful. The characters are just themselves, which doesn't fit into a box and that's a good thing. As they are just being the best self they can be, they find danger, betrayal, love and family.
I love the way the plot develops and we learn a little bit at a time as to all that is going on. So every time I thought I had a handle on what was going on, it changed and I learned something new.
The story is twisty. The characters are complex. The writing is gorgeous.

This is another fabulous twisty mystery that Tempest has to investigate. I love the old school seance as well as the mystery room the crew created. I was able to guess who did it early on, but the how it was done was a surprise. I had a lot of fun following Tempest's investigation and seeing who was helping her. The solution to everything was as complex as it needed to be. It didn't feel like there was any extra padding or fluff. We get a little further along in the investigation of the family curse, but that was a minor part of this book. Overall, I think I liked this one better than the first one!

The wedding trope in cozy mysteries is not my favorite thing, but this is done really well. It isn't a simple bridezilla with a jerk for a groom. There is more to all the characters than just that. As Carly is Investigating, she is being nosy and compassionate at the same time. That is a fine line that Carly is better at than most other people. The addition of Valerie with several cozy tropes was very clever and fun for a long time cozy reader.
As to the mystery, the clues were there and I completely missed them. So I was totally surprised by the revelation of the murderer. The way that Carly gets saved helped to develop the characters. And I appreciated the wrap up chapter as well. After getting to know these characters and beginning to care about them, I appreciated seeing what was going to happen to them next.
Carly was not in her restaurant as much as I would have liked, but that is bound to happen in some books in the series.

Good reflections

Often memoirs can feel underdone because there has not been sufficient reflection before hand. This is not that memoir. Prescod has done plenty of reflection and that internal work has made this book stronger. My take away: It is good to know that there are people fighting for a healthier fashion industry.

Dessa is really growing in this book! She has her found family and she is working to help them all as best she can. Of course this means she gets involved in solving the crime. And whew was is it a doozy. The ending was more complicated than I expected and there was even a dash of realism thrown in that made this solution stand out from the regular crowd of cozies. This is a really special series.

Wow! This book left me with a book hangover. It was so much more than what I expected. In the prologue, we meet Travis. Since it was the prologue we didn't stay with him long and I was a little sad because I liked him. Then we meet Theo, Calla, and Bee. It took me a while to figure out the timeline and I really like that Ernshaw didn't just tell me the answer. She gave me hints here and there about the timeline, so I had to adjust to Pastoral, which made me feel like I was in the story. There were multiple surprising twists and I liked the way they were revealed. And the ending was perfect! Shea Ernshaw can really weave a good story.

I liked hearing about the various delusions people have, but sometimes the extra bits of history distracted me and then I forgot where the delusion part of the story was.

I love this series and this book is no exception! Whitney and Buck are flipping a new to them type of ‘house', a houseboat! We get plenty of details about lake life to go along with their murder investigation.
The murder investigation is complicated by the number of people that the victim defrauded. There were so many suspects and even a few false confessions. The false confession was different from other cozies I have read and I liked that. The solution was unexpected, but there had been clues that I didn't pick up on originally.
At the end we get a lovely family event to experience. This would be a great read to get you ready for lake season!

I loved all of this!!
The family relationships aren't easy, but they don't give up on them. There are cultural differences that they work through as well. I loved the development that happens throughout the book.
It was a unique to see Rayne's life fall apart in the first chapters and then see how that played out in the rest of the novel. That was a good under current while she was also trying to rescue the castle and town.
The mystery is woven in with Rayne's management of the castle and learning the people and the town. All parts of the story are woven together really well. So there aren't separate parts to evaluate. It is all one flowing story. Even the solution to the mystery flows with other parts.
There are also hints as to where the story is going. I can't wait for book 2!

Surviving an avalanche and then facing a murderer! That leaves a dangerous feeling hovering over the whole book. A few secrets and several suspicious people didn't trick me though. I figured out who it was pretty early on, but it was interesting to see how the murderer kept going and trying to get away. I liked the extra layer of Erin's history as well. It added depth and poignancy to the story and the actions of the characters. This is more like I wanted to The Maid to be.

This was everything I wanted in a cozy and more!! The bakery being from a Caribbean family helped me learn about several new foods and provided a new spin on the bakery cozy. The family was so supportive and also protective. I loved how they interacted and supported each other. We have an opinionated grandma, a sassy cousin, and a kickboxing main character!
A couple piddly complaints- The police investigation was almost non-existent, but there is room for growth in the next book. The romantic possibilities are questionable, but again I can see room for growth in those characters.
A couple unique things- The main character did not find the body. I liked this! Also the main character will be competing in a kickboxing showcase/ tournament in the future. Lyndsey's experience with kickboxing really some depth to her character.
The audiobook narrator has a good light accent for some characters and a neutral accent for others. That helped add the some depth to the neighborhood. The audiobook also helped me pick up a few more clues that I didn't get on my first read.
This is an amazing beginning to a new series.

I wanted a wintry mystery and this was exactly that! The snow in Last Word Colorado and the closed road makes for a good closed circle mystery. So Ellie and Meg have lots of investigating to do to solve the murder, find the missing book, and find their missing colleague. There are plenty of suspects and I guessed wrong more than once. When the murder is solved, I was so glad with how it turned out. It confirmed some of the weirdness I had been feeling, so even though I guessed wrong, I still felt vindicated.
There are so many great characters in Last Word that I can't wait to visit again.

I picked this book because of the title and the cover. I read the description and figured it would be farcical. Every so often I appreciate a farcical book, so I figured this would be challenging, but fun. Unfortunately this was too far out there for me. Multiple characters changed names as they changed jobs within the story, so it was hard to keep track of that. Then we got bogged down in marriage drama and that made everything even more confusing. By that time I was ready for the multiple named characters who kept switching jobs because that was at least about the Faberge piece.
If you are looking for an absurdist novel with out there characters, pick this one up.