Lisa Henson

Heather Webber has done it again. If possible, I think The Lights of Sugarberry Cove is even better than Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe and South of the Buttonwood Tree.

The story is told alternately from Sadie's, and then Leala's, point of view. There are some unresolved emotions from the death of their father when they were young, on the part of both mother and daughters. Sadie is uncomfortable being back in a town where everyone sees her as some kind of miracle, her survival a wish granted by the lady of the lake. She's also got to figure out how she feels about Will, the young man she left behind when she unceremoniously bolted from town. Leala has everything she always thought she wanted, but she isn't happy, and she struggles to figure out why. And then there's the consternation when Sadie and Leala learn that the bed and breakfast is in desperate need of some remodeling, and their mother's finances don't seem to be in a condition to do that.

Her characters are all so wonderfully imagined, they seem like people you could just sit down and talk to. I think Uncle Camp was my favorite, and sometimes I wanted to just smack Connor because he seemed like such a jerk.

As with Webber's other books, this story is, at its heart, about family. Sadie, Leala, and Susannah all have flaws and quirks. The other characters are family, too – whether actually related or family tht they've chosen (or that has chosen them). Like all families, sometimes tensions and tempers flare. And as tends to happen, sometimes secrets are kept that should have been brought to light long ago. But sharing those secrets so often brings healing, and ultimately, joy and relationships restored.

Not gonna lie, the ending made me cry. Let me say it again: I will grab any of Heather Webber's books off the shelf without even seeing what they're about. She is one of my favorite authors. If you like your books full of Southern charm and Southern characters, with a touch of magic, she may become one of your favorite authors, too.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley and Forge Books. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't actually like.

In Living on New Orleans Time, Richard Caire uses his photos of seemingly ordinary moments in New Orleans past and captures pieces of the city's history. He preserves places that “ain't dere no mo'” (I'm a central Louisiana girl, not a New Orleans native, but I can appreciate that sometimes places ain't dere no mo'!) so that people can remember them - fondly, wistfully, however they want to. His descriptions of the places and things in the photographs range from the serious to the chuckle-inducing and everywhere in between, and they're peppered with a range of pop culture references that I could appreciate. Monty Python, Talking Heads, the Platonic solids (okay, that last one isn't pop culture). There are bits of sound advice and wisdom acquired over years woven in there, too. Mr. Caire has either done a lot of research for his book or lived a varied and fascinating life. I suspect it's the latter.

If you love New Orleans, are from New Orleans, have any kind of passing interest in New Orleans, you'll want to pick up this book. Mr. Caire memorializes the mundane, the weird, the abandoned and forgotten that even I find myself longing to visit New Orleans that was. The book makes me want to pay more attention, to find the beauty in the small things.

I'm not a romance reader. But this book was wonderful. I read it while my whole family was sick with the Covid, and it was just what I needed. It was a quick read, with characters I could cheer for, and parts that made me laugh right out loud.

Ryan “The Rocket” Sutton, NFL quarterback extraordinaire, deeply regrets divorcing his ex-wife Coco. When he learns that a judge's mistake on the divorce papers means they're still legally married, he jumps on that as a second chance, an opportunity to win Coco back and make things right. Coco is, shall we say, skeptical. And she's just let her best friend talk her into reading some book called the Yes Dare – encouraging her to say yes to more things in her life. That leads to Coco saying “yes” to being in charge of the town's financially strapped annual Cow Chip Toss Festival, something she NEVER thought she'd do. All this is happening while Ryan is making a foray into professional baseball while still playing football, and a movie crew is following him and Coco around to document the whole story.

Ryan and Coco are both delightful characters. Ryan is so genuine in his love for Coco, I had a hard time believing he was ever, even for a brief moment, dallying with some other woman. And Coco is no pushover. She isn't falling hook, line, and sinker for whatever Ryan says. Oh, no. If he wants to win her back, he's going to have to work for it. Not that she's trying to play hard to get. She just doesn't see them ever getting back together. Ryan persists. Shenanigans ensue. There are some funny moments, some tense moments, and some where I just about cried.

The Suttons' twin boys, mostly grown and flown and off at college, are wonderfully written. You can tell they love their parents dearly, and they're on their dad's side in the whole getting back together thing, even though they realize his efforts are kind of making their mom nuts. I'm a boy mom, so I'll own to a soft spot for boy children.

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a romance reader now. The Yes Dare has put me over the top on that. I have to go read the rest of the series now, and I hope there are more to come after this one.

Five sweet-as-pie stars from me!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the author. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Gigi Pandian is a new author to me, and I'm so glad to have found her! Under Lock & Skeleton Key is a well-written, thoroughly engrossing mystery that I could barely put down.

Tempest Raj is a magician, from a family of magicians. The alleged family curse, that the eldest child dies by magic, didn't keep her from following in the footsteps of other family members. But now she's come back home in disgrace after an illusion goes horribly wrong, facing lawsuits and the possibility of never performing again. She finds comfort in her grandfather's home-cooked meals and in the quirky house her parents designed and created. She also finds her family determined to protect her from what they see as the curse at work.

But when the body of Tempest's former assistant, Cassidy, is found seemingly walled up at the latest job site for her father's construction company, and when she thinks she sees and hears the ghost of her mother, Tempest knows she's got to figure out what's really going on. Is it the alleged curse? Was she meant to be the dead body, or was Cassidy's body put there for her to find for some reason?

I love Tempest! As her name implies, she's headstrong and often quick to jump into action. This sometimes gets her in trouble. Thankfully, she's got friends and family who have her back.

And I want to move in with her family. Grannie Mor is delightful, and I want to eat some of Grandpa Ash's home cooked meals. I think it's wonderful that he goes around delivering lunches to people on his bicycle. And a house with all those secret rooms and nooks and crannies! That would be such a neat place to live.

If you're a fan of the locked-room mystery, you will love, love, love this book. It pays homage to several masters of the genre, and Pandian does a fine job setting up her own locked-room puzzle. I certainly didn't see the reveal coming. Since this is #1 in a series, I hope we'll see more of Tempest and her friends and family.

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Minotaur Press. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I'll grant you, A Letter from Nana Rose is not normally the type of book I'd gravitate toward. I prefer mysteries, usually of the cozy variety, or a good fantasy, or maybe a gripping thriller. But sister fiction? Romance? Meh. The hint of a long-kept secret to be revealed after Nana Rose's death, though, was enough of a hook that I thought I'd take a chance on it.

I am so glad I did!

Nana Rose has been a fixture in the lives of Jill and her sisters, Rachel and Brooke, throughout their childhood. Now, though, Nana Rose has passed away, and the sisters are spending one more vacation at Dune Island at her request. She's left a letter telling them that they'll receive a letter from her each day of their stay, and she's indicated that they'll be learning things about their family that have never before been revealed.

Jill is hoping desperately to convince her sisters to keep Nana Rose's house. Rachel and Brooke, though, have what they feel are strong cases for selling the property. As the letters come in day by day, and Nana's story is told in flashbacks, the sisters learn that Nana Rose wasn't the only one keeping secrets. Nana's past is revealed, and the sisters learn things about each other, too.

This story, y'all. There were ups and downs as we learned what each sister was trying to keep from the others and how that might impact their decision regarding Nana's house. There were moments of frustration when the sisters were apparently at an impasse, and it felt like they were each seeing only their own point of view. And when everything comes out into the open, when all the secrets are revealed, then we see the true power of love and family to unite and heal.

This is the first of Harper's books that I've read. I don't know if she'll revisit these characters in another book, if we'll see what happens with Jill and hunky tree surgeon Alex, if the sisters' children will bring their kids to the house on Dune Island. I liked this story enough that I wouldn't mind seeing the characters again in a future book.

If you're a fan of books that are clean and sweet and give you the warm fuzzies, pick up A Letter from Nana Rose.

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy from Netgalley and Bookouture. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Amanda Cox's first book, The Edge of Belonging, was one of my favorite reads of 2020. I had high expectations for this, her latest. She met them in fine style.

I enjoy a good dual-timeline story, and this one is very well done. We see the story unfold through the eyes of three women: Glory Ann, her daughter Rosemary, and her granddaughter Sarah. In 1965, Glory Ann finds herself in the family way, and her sweetheart is presumed dead in the war. Her parents, determined not to see their child and their family name ruined, find a young man, Clarence, who agrees to marry Glory Ann and raise the child as his own.

In the present time, Glory Ann and her daughter, Rosemary, are on the outs about the Old Depot Grocery. Rosemary insists it's time to sell off the store, citing the shiny new supermarket in town as her reason to get while the getting is good, and Glory Ann is equally determined that it is not. Sarah hoped to come home and take up where she left off, running the store with her grandmother and mother. But now she fears that may not happen.

The main theme of the story is secrets. All three of our main characters have them. They keep their secrets to themselves, even when it would benefit them to let others in on what they're trying to hide. Sometimes I wanted to smack Rosemary, or Sarah, or Glory Ann, for not letting people who might need to know in on their secrets. But the frustration I felt with them for keeping mum on things didn't lessen the fact that I liked them as characters. Because honestly, haven't we all kept secrets when it would have been smarter not to?

The men of the story weren't the main focus, but they were just as important. The whole thing would have fallen apart without Clarence. I mean, imagine agreeing to marry a pregnant young lady and raise her child with someone else as your own. And you stick to your word, and you work to create a family where once just awkwardness existed. I wanted to hear more of Clarence's story. Bo, Rosemary's husband, played only a small role, but he was also a good example of a gentle and good man, loving his wife as best as he knew how. And Clay. My goodness, he just made me smile. I was cheering for him and Sarah. (Does it work out? I'm not telling. Read the book.)

And the ending. Y'all, I did not see it coming, and I was straight up bawling. Amanda Cox can surprise me in such a wonderful, emotional way, and she sure did it here. Secrets are revealed, wounds old and new are healed, and the past comes back most unexpectedly.

My thanks to Revell for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I have long been fascinated by cemeteries and gravestones. Growing up in the South, I was expected to attend funerals and graveside services from an early age, and I always liked walking around cemeteries to see what interesting tidbits I might find on the grave markers. So when I had a chance to review What Lies Beneath, I jumped at it.
The book is divided into ten sections, based on the ten Texas Heritage Trails established by the Texas Historical Commission. That makes it easy to read in smaller chunks (if you can bear to put it down – I found it quite engrossing!), and if you're interested in traveling to see any of these places in person, the book's structure will make it easy to find and visit several in one area.

I lived in Texas for a time, and while I didn't grow up there, I appreciate its history and culture. Massey doesn't just give you a coffee table book full of pretty pictures. She really digs into the pioneer stories, the life and times of the folks whose grave markers she's writing about. I learned a lot of things I didn't know and was introduced to some fascinating characters. Some of the people whose burials she highlighted were lawmen. While many were good, honest men who strove to uphold the law, a couple turned out to be just about as bad as the criminals they were supposed to go after!

I've said before how much I enjoy books that both entertain and educate. What Lies Beneath does both admirably. It's not a dry historical read at all. Massey's prose brings the people she writes about to life, and I particularly enjoyed the sidebar facts. For instance, did you know that a “cemetery” is not the same thing as a “graveyard”? I'd never given it much thought. The terms have always been used interchangeably in my experience. But there is a difference. I also learned how women were identified on their tombstones if they died before or after their husbands. I had really never given that any thought at all.

We'd like to travel more, and I hope we can see at least some of the locations mentioned in the book. I'd love to go take pictures and share them on the Find A Grave site.

This is a great read for “the spooky month,” as my kids call October, and one I'd highly recommend for any student of history and anyone who, like me, feels the pull of the past coming from a graveyard.

Five stars as bright as the ones you'll see in an old country cemetery on a moonless night.

Natalie Curtis was a classically trained musician with a bright future ahead of her, or so she thought. But she suffered a breakdown that left her a shadow of herself, and she hid herself away from the world, physically, mentally, and emotionally weakened. Her brother George, back home from the West where he's been working and traveling, invites Natalie to join him. Against her mother's wishes, and with the caveat that she'll return home after just two months, Natalie sets off with George in hopes of finding healing, a new hope at living again.

She finds her spark in the music of the Indian people, who have largely been removed from their homelands and placed onto reservations with the government instruction that they must assimilate. Natalie is shocked by the horrific injustice of the government's Code of Offenses, which requires, among other things, that the native peoples refrain from singing their songs, performing their dances and ceremonies, and speaking their languages. Natalie sets out to preserve as much of the Indian music as she can, fearing it will be lost forever, and in doing so, she rediscovers and recreates her own song.

Jane Kirkpatrick has a positive gift for taking little-known historical figures and bringing them to life with her words. I'd never heard of Natalie Curtis before having the chance to be on the review team for this book. But now I feel the need to learn more about her.

Kirkpatrick paints a wonderful picture of Natalie as a young woman, in the public eye as a musician but still sheltered, who's suffered a derailment of her life plans. She's hidden herself away from public scrutiny, but she's ready to move forward in spite of her mother's desire to continue to protect her. She knew something had to change, and she was going West whether her mother agreed or not. “Most important, she wasn't seeking permission. She was intentionally stepping into the grace pause, bringing the past with her, and for the first time in so long, the tempo of her life had picked up.” Doesn't that sound remarkably hopeful?

Curtis' journey isn't portrayed as an easy one, though. She had to learn to navigate new things like horseback riding, and travel rougher than a young lady of her social status was accustomed to. She had to find a way to reach out to the Indian people whose culture she wanted to preserve without making it about her. In Kirkpatrick's telling of her story, Natalie Curtis rises to the occasion and overcomes the challenges she faces. Not only does she travel far and wide and record songs from a variety of tribes, she learns that the thing she thought had broken her in the past didn't merit the importance she had placed upon it. In finding a way to free the Indians to sing their songs, Natalie finds the music hasn't left her after all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'd love to track down a copy of Curtis's The Indians' Book and see her writing for myself. Jane Kirkpatrick's story has me wanting to know more about the events she describes, and isn't that what good historical fiction should do?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through the Revell Reads blogger program. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I enjoyed Luminous. Mara Rutherford's writing style is very readable, and that made it easy to keep reading...and reading...and reading long past my bedtime.

The story is engaging – a young woman who's long been kept hidden away from the world for fear of a powerful warlock discovering her power, the young man she loves who has secrets of his own, the powerful warlock himself (who may not be as he appears).

Liora and her family fled the king's court for the small village of Sylvan after her mother's death. Liora's father feared that Lord Darius, a warlock with his own nefarious agenda, would discover Liora's magic and take her away. When she leaves the house (seldom), Liora has to keep her radiant skin covered up. But Darius does discover Liora's magic, and instead of demanding her, he takes her younger sister Mina as collateral. Thus begins the quest to save Mina. Liora must go into the king's court, where Darius holds sway, and even into the heart of darkness itself, to wrest Mina from Darius's clutches. In the process, she learns about the true power of her magic, and why Darius has been seeking it, and realizes that perhaps she isn't the monster she'd always feared herself to be.

The story is perhaps a little simplistic. There are no detailed descriptions of the magic system or how it works. Some people have magic, some don't. Something has to activate the magic. But Rutherford's writing makes it work. She does a marvelous job of drawing pictures with her words, and those pictures kept me scrolling through the book, wanting to know what happened next. And her characters aren't simplistic. There is more to most all of them than how they first appear. (With the exception of Luc, perhaps. He was just a troll. Figuratively. There are no actual trolls in the book.)

I was particularly intrigued with the project Margana had been working on for Darius for twenty years, the tapestry of darkness. It was a thing – a tapestry. And yet it was like a Tardis, bigger on the inside. Way, WAY bigger. What a thing to conceive of!

Liora's power calls to mind that of Penn in L. J. Hatton's Sing Down the Stars. If you enjoyed that story, you may also like Luminous.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an advance reader copy! All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't actually like.

Once Upon a Camel is a story about life, and learning, and change, and finding family where you are. The story is told from the viewpoint of Zada, a camel who started her life as one of the Pasha's camels in Smyrna, Turkey, in 1850. She was raised as a racing camel. Zada is now in her later years, and she is no longer in Turkey, but is (as far as she knows) the last camel in Texas. She came to Texas as part of a group of camels that would be used to transport supplies for the U.S. military.
The rest of the camels, including Zada's best friend, Asiye, are long gone. Zada has formed new friendships with a pair of kestrels, Perdita and Pard. When a haboob (what Zada knows it as – we'd call it a sandstorm) comes blowing in, Perdita and Pard ask for Zada's help in getting their babies, Wims and Beulah, to safety. Thus begins a tale of adventure!

Zada gets the little birds settled snugly atop her head, but as they set out for a place of safety, the storm blows Perdita and Pard away! Zada is faced with the rather daunting task of protecting her young charges from the wind and sand, from an old frenemy, and even from each other. She does so with patience and good humor, and as she works to help the little birds stay calm, we learn the story of Zada's life.

I had no idea there were camels in Texas! My history nerd husband, of course, knew exactly what I was talking about when I told him about the book. I love books that are fun to read and that educate at the same time, and this one does both admirably. Wims and Beulah are just about the cutest little baby birds ever, and they bicker and squabble just as you'd expect siblings to do, even when there's danger lurking nearby. Their interactions are so humorous, I couldn't help but laugh.

Zada isn't like a surrogate mother to the baby birds. She's more like a grandmother figure, who's gained wisdom through her life and is now figuring out how to pass that on to her unruly charges. She's patient, she doesn't let Wims and Beulah see her lose her cool even when she's not quite sure how things are going to work out, she perseveres to get them to safety.

The artwork complements the story nicely. There isn't much of it, but what there is is wonderfully done. And I'm not going to spoil the ending, but it made me smile (and even tear up a little) to see how Appelt wove all the threads together.

So much fun to read! This will be a great book for younger middle readers. The age range given on Amazon is 8-12 years, but it may be a little on the young side for some 12-year-olds. My younger son is a very precocious 12, and he wasn't the least bit interested in the story. His loss. I loved it. (And when he was 8 or 9, he would have loved it, too!)

Five humps – I mean, stars – for Once Upon a Camel!

When I hear “bookbinder,” I think of someone who does just that – binds books so that they can be published. But the books being bound here aren't just for sale at your local bookstore, though. Oh, no. They are so much more.

Sophie's mother died under mysterious circumstances when she was a teenager. Her father took her away from the Ayredale Library, only home she'd ever known, thinking he was saving her from...something. She's got a good job, but she's starting to question her relationship with Victor. Her uncle, Edward Talbot, reappears unexpectedly in her life after her father's death, with an offer of a job at the Library. Sophie takes it, leaving behind the manipulative Victor and all that she's known for years.

When she returns to the Library, memories begin to return in bits and pieces. Sophie hopes she can learn what happened to her mother. She also remembers the attraction she and Will, the Library's guardian, once shared, and wonders/hopes that can be rekindled. The Library is starting to feel like home again, drawing Sophie in, and she's finding her place there, remembering who she was and who she is, when her past comes crashing back in unexpectedly.

The atmosphere Thorne creates is enthralling. It calls to mind The Night Circus and Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe for me. Her word choices are exquisite, and she builds a lush, fantastical world for her characters to inhabit. The magical system she envisions is intriguing, with chaos willingly sacrificing itself for creativity to thrive, and the ideas going forth into the world, to be seeded and discovered and used. And how can you not be sucked in by a description of a tree with leaves glowing gold, swirling and falling into Sophie's hands?

The romance with Will feels a little rushed, especially as Sophie has just broken free of an abusive relationship. I understand, though, that it's made to fit the confines of a story, and there are allowances to be made. I also would have liked to know more about Will – what actually happened to turn him into the Library's guardian?

And Victor (said abusive relationship) is just SO ROTTEN. I wanted to reach into the pages and shake Sophie (just a little) when she turns away from Will to go with Victor. I know abusers can be very charming and manipulative, and I know Sophie was a young woman wounded by her past. But it's hard to imagine how she ever saw anything in him worth her time, because he's written as such a positively awful character.

Tia may have been my favorite character. So much about her seems baffling, until things click into place and her true nature is revealed.

I might have enjoyed this as book one of a duology. A second book might have given Thorne room to expand more on the characters, tell us more of how they came to be part of the Library. But overall, I found it engaging and a worthwhile read. Recommended for people who like magical realism and are willing to suspend their disbelief while they read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I was delighted to receive an advance copy of The Growing Season. It's a devotional based on seasons and farm life. I grew up with a farming father, so this sounded right up my alley.

If you've ever read Bash and the Pirate Pig, Bash refers to the Bible as the “Farmin' and Fishin' Book.” (If you haven't read it, and you have kids, go get it and read with them. But I digress.) Farming is a theme that blends nicely with the Christian faith - the Bible talks about us as believers bearing fruit, the Word of God as a seed that takes root in our hearts, Jesus as the true Vine and believers as the branches, and so much more that fits well with agriculture.

I'm not done with the book yet. It's not designed to be devoured in one sitting, but rather for savoring one devotional each week. I started with Fall, and I'll work my way through. I love how each devotional tells a story from Sarah's own experiences and weaves that in with Scriptural truth. It feels like I'm talking to a friend over a cup of coffee, not being hit upside the head with a King James Bible. (As an aside, I love that she uses the phrase “hades in a handbasket” - I've said that a lot myself!)

The Growing Season is an excellent read for us farm gals and anyone who wants a good dose of simple truth, whether we're actually working on the farm, living in the suburbs, or in a high-rise city apartment. Bonus if you want some good recipes. Pick up this book and use it to draw closer to Christ.

My thanks to the author and publisher for an advance reader copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I enjoy a good time travel read, and this one had a bit of a different take on it. Here, time travel involves alchemy.

Ayoub is a Moroccan boy, growing up Muslim, learning what can only be called terrorist ways. When he is helping his mother steal a book from a museum, things go wrong. His mother loses her life, and Ayoub is on the run with this book. Inside it he finds an artifact of some kind. The artifact whisks him to the days of the Barbary pirates through a ball of light.

Experience Fuller (or Peri, as she understandably prefers to be called in this modern world) is a freshman in college. She's looking forward to enjoying the college experience, and she's flattered and maybe a bit overwhelmed when Liam, an older student, takes a romantic interest in her. She discovers an artifact in the shallow waters off Martha's Vineyard. During a storm, the artifact attracts ball lightning, and much like Ayoub, Peri is transported back in time. She finds herself in the era of the Puritans.

Ayoub is rescued by a pirate crew. He resolves to become captain of his own ship, and then use the artifact to travel forward in time and bring modern weapons back. His goal is then to establish the Caliphate before America becomes a nation powerful enough to fight against them.

Peri is rescued from the water by a group that includes Daniel, a Wampanoag who has converted to Christianity and is training to become a minister. She ends up meeting her ancestors and, by the by, Connecticut Governor John Winthrop, Jr. Winthrop is an alchemist, and Peri is able to learn about alchemy from him in hopes of figuring out how she can get back home. She has realized that there's a connection between her artifact and a book she'd seen on her travels, and between the book and terrorist activity.

Ms. Denny clearly did her research on this book. The historical detail is almost an education in itself! I'm not a huge student of history, and I never really think about what else was going on in the world when studying one aspect of history. This book helped me do just that. The Barbary pirates were the terrorists of their day, so it seems fitting that our time travelers should end up in similar situations when they were transported back – Ayoub with like-minded fellows, Peri with the Americans that will be.

Peri was a little dithery at first, and I really wanted to scream at her when she was so infatuated with Liam. He just seemed off to me (and indeed, he is). But I thought about what I was like at that age, and realized I was probably very similar to Peri when I headed off to college. Ayoub is slightly terrifying in his single-mindedness and his determination to bring 21st-century havoc to the 17th century.

The book doesn't have a cut and dried ending. It's rather a cliffhanger. I loathe cliffhangers, because it means I have to wait to get my hands on the next book, and I hate waiting. So I'm anxiously looking forward to seeing how the story continues. Will Ayoub succeed? Will Peri stop him? Will Peri find a way to stay with Daniel, or to bring him with her back to modern times? How will that even work? I have so many questions!

I recommend this if you like well-researched and detailed historical fiction, time travel, and a little bit of romance. It's a lot of fun, and I look forward to reading more.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the author for an advance copy of the book. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't really like.

Katherine Macdonald has done it again. She's reimagined Beauty and the Beast in a most delightful way.

I can relate to Asami. She's a quiet heroine - introverted, logical, inquisitive, and tenacious. All the qualities that make her a good scientist lead her to ask questions when her research isn't adding up. Her questions lead her into danger, and to Beau - Beaumont, a former soldier, left deformed by the experiments conducted on him and other soldiers. He's one of the few who lived. Those close to him know him as “Beast.” Asami walks away from her career to try to help Beau, to see if she can undo some of the damage that's been done to him.

The world building here is superb, as it is in all of Macdonald's books. It may not be anything like the world of Beauty and the Beast that we're familiar with, but that makes this retelling all the more enjoyable.

The character development is on point. Asami and Beau are not perfect people. They have flaws. But they are perfect for each other, even if their attraction doesn't come to fruition immediately. And the Dread Doctors are deliciously macabre. When I learned what they really were, I just about dropped my teeth. I didn't expect that!

Macdonald's treatment of Beau's deformities is sensitive and realistic. They clearly make Beau uncomfortable and make him think he's unworthy of affection. Asami doesn't gloss over them and pretend they don't exist; rather, she tells him that yes, she sees them, and that they aren't the things about him that matter most to her. He struggles to accept her love, to believe her when she says that his deformities are part of him but they don't make her want to pull away from him. I thought this was very well written.

You don't get the straight-up “happily ever after” ending here. But there are hints at a chance for happiness yet to come, and it sure sounds like there will be more stories to be told in the Mechanical Kingdoms. I am here for them. Every single one.

My thanks to Booksprout and the author for an advance review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Maiden, Mother, Crone. The three archetypal stages of a woman's life. The Maiden is young and fair, blooming with life and potential. The Mother is nurturing and giving. And the Crone? Well, we all know what people think of her. Dried up, not much use anymore, withering away to the end of life.

In Creatrix Rising, Stephanie Raffelock is here to smash the Crone archetype to smithereens. In the Crone's place, Raffelock proposes the Creatrix.

“Unlike the Crone, the Creatrix is no haggard old woman of the forest. She has the radiant beauty we all seek, that of wisdom, compassion, courage, and strength. She is the witness that holds the lamp to illuminate the path the younger women behind her will traverse. The Creatrix is the pinnacle of a woman's life.”

I'm a middle-aged woman myself. I'm a bit of an oddball in that I'm still in the parenting years in my 50s. I have two boys, 19 and 12, so they're not quite grown and flown – I'm the oldest mom in the 7th grade class. Even so, in middle age, the idea that my best years are behind me has never set well with me. Growing up, I knew many older women who were graceful and confident, living their best lives. So why does society expect women to shrink and dwindle? Are we useless once we're no longer able to contribute to the continuation of the species? I think not.

Raffelock's Creatrix, introduced to us through stories and personal anecdotes, is no shriveled hag. She is a woman full of vitality and creativity, life and grace. Raffelock walks us through some of her own experiences that led her to conclude that there was a need for a new archetype. Her insights and experiences help me think of my own life in a new light.

I like the way the book is divided, and I like that it looks at the Creatrix in different aspects: Teacher, Healer, Illuminator, Artist. We're all different, and it makes sense that that continues into our later years. I also like the questions for reflection, activity, and journaling. I read through the book straight through the first time, but I'll be going back and working through all those questions.

I love the message of the book, that life isn't winding down just because we're at or past the midpoint of our lives. I kept hearing Helen Reddy's “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar” as I was reading. I highly recommend this book for any woman who's starting to feel less than because she isn't a pretty young thing anymore. It'll give you a much-needed new direction and new outlook on growing older and living with purpose.

Five stars from me!

This is the seventh in Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes series, but the first that I've read. I watched and enjoyed the Netflix show before I even knew there were Enola Holmes books, so I was delighted at the chance to take part in the blog tour for this one. This book reads just fine as a stand-alone – there's enough of an intro at the beginning to give you a sense of the backstory, and I didn't feel like I'd missed out on anything vital to a proper understanding of this story.

Enola is a headstrong, independent delight of a protagonist, and often a trial to her older brother Sherlock (in no small part because she seems to often be one step ahead of him!). She shares his investigative mindset, and when Miss Letitia Glover comes to ask for Sherlock's assistance in finding out what has happened to her twin sister Felicity, it is Enola who springs to her aid.

Felicity was married to the Earl of Dunhench. Letitia has been informed, apparently after the fact, that her sister has died unexpectedly and that her body has already been cremated. As cremation wasn't the usual practice in Victorian times, Letitia feels that something doesn't ring true. She also feels certain that she would know if her twin were dead. When Enola learns that the Earl's previous wife also allegedly died suddenly and was also cremated, nothing will do but that she go to the Earl's estate, undercover, to try to find out what really happened and what the arrival of a mysterious black barouche had to do with Felicity's disappearance.

As she unravels the clues, Enola proves herself quite capable at a number of things – quick thinking, disguise, surviving what appear to be most dire circumstances. She doesn't let the constraints that society places on women keep her from doing what she feels needs to be done. When Enola asks for her assistance in unveiling the truth of what happened to Felicity, Letitia also shows herself willing to move beyond societal expectations in order to make things right. They were both wonderfully written.

The mystery wasn't incredibly complicated, but that doesn't make it any less of an engaging read. The historical details, the setting, the characters both good and bad, the dialogue – all combine to form a literary treat.

Now I've got to go read the rest of the series.

Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press – Wednesday Books. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't actually like.

I was intrigued by the title of The Safecracker's Secret and wanted to read it before I even knew what it was about. Sandra Bretting does not disappoint.

Gene Jacks is getting up in years. He lives with his dog and runs a locksmith shop. In the past, he was known as the best of the best at safecracking. Now, from time to time, he uses his skills to assist the Houston Police Department in opening safes at crime scenes. He's old school - no high-tech gizmos or explosives, just a good ear and a deft touch with the tumblers. He's called upon here to help when the police find a young woman, a student at a local college, dead at a drug house.

Skye has a less than stellar relationship with her father. He just doesn't seem to connect with her or really understand her. But Skye stumbles across Gene's shop, and Gene hires her when he realizes that she's a lot better with numbers than Reef, the guy he'd just hired. Skye finds something of a father figure in Gene, and Gene finds a protege in Skye. Turns out she has some raw talent at safecracking, and I'd love to see more of that story unfold in a different book.

There are unexpected connections throughout the story, and while the murder of the young woman is a mystery to be solved, to me, the story was more about relationships. Skye and her father, Skye and Gene, Gene and his past and how that both draws him toward and pushes him away from Skye, all of these threads are woven throughout the story. Bretting does a wonderful job at presenting each character's viewpoint clearly, and she weaves them together nicely at the end.

Josie Quinn is coming back to work after the traumatic death of her grandmother Lisette. She isn't sure she's ready to be back at work. As she stops to visit the grave of her first husband, Ray, on her way in to the office, she hears a woman screaming. Turns out that what had appeared to be a mourner kneeling at a nearby gravesite is Krystal Duncan, a woman who's been missing for several days and who is now most definitely dead. Duncan's corpse has wax coming from her mouth, which is an odd note.

Krystal was the mother of one of five children killed several years earlier in a horrific school bus accident. The bus driver was charged in their deaths, and his trial is coming up soon. Does Krystal's death have anything to do with that tragedy? When another parent of a child killed in the accident also goes missing, it's an angle that Josie has to consider.

Once again, Lisa Regan has spun a suspenseful yarn that pulled me right in and didn't let me go. Everyone in this book has secrets, and once she starts investigating, it doesn't take long for Josie to figure out that the killer has got to be someone connected with the bus accident. What secrets do they know? How do they know them? Can she figure out what secret is worth killing for before all the parents of the children who died are taken out?

Not only is Josie having to solve a challenging, emotionally charged case, she's also having to deal with her own emotions. She's struggling with grief over Lisette's death, and each crime scene brings flashbacks to the night Lisette was shot. Josie is tough, but in this book we clearly see that she isn't some crime-solving superwoman. She's human, and she hurts, and it makes her that much more of a believable, relatable character.

The story moved quickly, and it was hard for me to break away from it. I wanted desperately to see what happened next! And isn't that the hallmark of a great story? Lisa Regan has set a new standard for thrillers with Josie Quinn. Gotta read 'em all.

Disclaimer: My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy of the book. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Ellie Fields comes to the small south Louisiana town of Bernadette, Louisiana looking to break out of the mold life seems to have set for her in her home state of Alabama. She isn't sure who she'll turn out to be, but she knows she can't find out by staying where she's always been. So she moves to a place where she knows no one to take the position of teacher in the town's school.

The people of Bernadette are welcoming, but there is some skepticism about this new teacher. The state board of education decided that the French-speaking culture didn't fit with the desired image of America, and the previous teacher had punished the students severely if they slipped and spoke in their native tongue. Ellie has her work cut out for her to not only educate the children, but to win their trust as well.

Raphe is a local fisherman who lost his family in a hurricane. He is raising his nephew Remy, who is one of Ellie's students. He shares the legend of the white alligator, l'esprit blanc, with Ellie. She learns to love her new home, and the town comes to love and respect her for her care toward their children and their culture.

But all is not peaceful in Bernadette. As it does with just about everything in Louisiana, politics comes into play when a well-connected politician takes aim at enriching his bank account with the potential fortune in oil under Bernadette. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, and he doesn't care who he has to hurt or kill to do it.

This book, y'all. I'm a Louisiana girl. (Raised in central Louisiana, not south, but still.) My former father-in-law was Cajun French. He'd tell us how they were punished if they spoke French in class. That is absolutely true. Louisiana, French to its core, tried to destroy its own heritage because some folks thought it was low-class. That breaks my heart. (Glad to say we got away from that narrow-minded attitude – I took French from elementary through high school, and French immersion classes aren't uncommon these days. Trying to bring back what never should have been driven away.) The Cajun people will give you the shirt off their backs, but if they don't trust you – and in the 1940s, they had no reason to trust anyone representing any aspect of the government – they will shut you out. Ellie had quite the task set for her, and Luesse has her handling that task admirably. I loved how Ellie drew in some of the older children to help her, not only to keep order, but to show all of them that she wasn't interested in cutting off their connection to their roots. I loved how she used cultural aspects in the classroom, to engage the children and hold their interest.

And the politics ring true as well. Everything is political in Louisiana. That's why our roads are hot garbage and so many things seem so very backward. It's not out of the question that someone would bulldoze over others to get what they want if it stood to make them money.

The characters of the book were so vivid, I felt like they could live just down the road from me. The portrayal of the older Cajun ladies, willing to trade knowledge for knowledge, was marvelous. Haywood was a delight. I know people like Haywood, just full of the joy of life. He made me smile. And it was a treat seeing Ellie grow and blossom. She may not have known her own mind when she came to Bernadette, but she certainly went a long way toward figuring it out. I cried at the end, waving goodbye to friends.

Since this book is set in my home state, I was predisposed to like it before I turned the first page. The fact that the author is a Baylor graduate (like me!) also inclined me to think favorably of it. Now that I've finished, I can say that this is a book that will stay in my mind for a very, very long time. It isn't the same type of magical realism as, say, Heather Webber or Sarah Addison Allen, but Under the Bayou Moon is magical all the same. Luesse draws a compelling picture of small-town south Louisiana, its people, and its culture, and that weaves a spell all its own. Go, read it. You won't be disappointed.

I enjoy a good memoir, and Taken at Birth was just that. Jane Blasio's true story of learning her parents bought her from a shady doctor in small-town Georgia is gripping, intense, and hard to put down once you get started.

I was adopted as an infant, so I can relate, just a little, to some of Jane's experience. My adoption went through an agency – I wasn't a black market baby. My parents told me I was adopted as soon as I was old enough to understand. I don't remember a time I didn't know I was adopted, and very much wanted, and very much loved. But I can empathize with Jane's desire to know her roots, her people.

Dr. Hicks was a man who coerced young women into giving up their babies, or worse yet, aborted their babies against their will. A man who profited off of the heartache of couples unable to have children of their own. And yet, his family did good for the community of McCaysville, Georgia, to the point that a lot of people weren't happy with Jane coming around, poking into things they considered none of her business.

But Jane persevered, and found not only the truth of her family, but also helped other birth mothers and “Hicks babies,” as they became known, find each other, or at least find closure. Her story is well worth the read.

I do love a good fairy tale retelling, and I've decided no one does them better than Katherine Macdonald. Kingdom of Thorns is a wonderfully written, vividly imagined version of the story of Sleeping Beauty, one unlike any other I've read. Here, an enchanted sleep isn't just a sleep, and nothing is what it seems.

The interactions between Talia and Leo are delightful to read. Leo has self-deprecating charm as a second son, but he doesn't descend into self-pity. Talia is often brusque and sarcasm is her second language, but there is more to her than that. Their jibes back and forth, especially once they realize that maybe they feel more for each other than prince on a quest and forest guide, are lots of fun.

The dark fairy who cursed the princess is a menacing presence more often than a present and active character in the book, but that's all that is needed. And when she shows up, she really is quite nasty. I enjoyed Macdonald's vision of how Briar tried to fight the curse and what effect that might have had. You think, oh, sleeping princess in a castle, her true love just has to find her and wake her up, problem solved. But I always thought it would be kind of ridiculous for a princess asleep for who knows how long to fall in love with the first guy who happened along and gave her a smooch - she wouldn't know the first thing about him, how could he be her true love? And would getting there really be just as easy as walking into the castle? Macdonald fleshes all of that out quite nicely here.

I think this is my favorite of Macdonald's books that I've read so far (and that's saying something, because I adored Hades and Persephone). I laughed, I cried, I cheered. I want to read it again.

Thanks to Booksprout and the author for a complimentary review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't actually like.

Chloe isn't your average college freshman. She's a psychopath. No, literally. She's attending college as part of a program with six other diagnosed psychopath students, designed to monitor their moods and feelings, and just maybe to help them learn some semblance of empathy for other people. The scholarship is nice and all, but Chloe has plans of her own – she's there to kill Will Bachman for a wrong done to her years ago.

The students aren't supposed to know each other. They're never supposed to meet. But when oen of them ends up dead, and then another, Chloe and two other students in the program work together to sort out who's doing the killing. Can they figure it out before the killer takes them out, too?

This was a fascinating concept for a book! Chloe is an engaging main character – sharp and funny, and always calculating how to turn any situation to her advantage. She's a psychopath, a “bad guy,” but she isn't. Sure, she wants to kill Will, but he did her wrong. In her mind, that justifies his death. If Chloe were a real person and I knew her, I suspect I'd find her mostly likeable, if coming off a bit of a mean girl sometimes.

Someone killing program students is an entirely different matter, though. That isn't acceptable, largely because Chloe values her own skin, and if she's dead, she can't take Will out.

Charles and Andre, the two program students working with Chloe to figure out who's behind the killings, are interesting as well. Three young people with the same diagnosis, yet very different in their backgrounds and personalities, their relationships, and how they present themselves. Their interactions are fascinating. Can they trust each other? Is one of them the killer? Who's lying? Who's not exactly lying, but maybe gaming the others a little?

And the ending. I'm not giving it away, but I didn't see it coming until it whapped me upside the head. I love books where I don't figure it out ages before the big reveal!

This was a unique take on the thriller, and a bang-up debut from Vera Kurian. Five nail-biting stars from me. Thanks to Netgalley and Park Row Books for an advance reader copy.

A couple of months back, I had the chance to participate in the cover reveal for Anita Dickason's Deadly Business. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the blog tour and review the book. And boy, am I glad I read it!

The book opens with our protagonist, U.S. Marshal Piper McKay, on a raid. As the raid wraps up, she gets word that her grandmother, Jen, was seriously injured when she was thrown from her horse. Jen took Piper in after her parents were killed, and Piper is skeptical that any horse could throw Jen. When she gets back to the ranch where she grew up, Piper talks to Grady, the ranch foreman, and does a little investigating of her own. She soon realizes that something is out of line. And then we're off and running.

I could not love this book more if I were twins. It grabs you by the heart and the throat from the beginning, and it does. not. let. up. The action is intense, the emotion Piper and Grady feel over Jen's injury and whether or not she'll recover is wrenching, and the characters are vividly drawn. I'd love to know how much of Piper is drawn from the author's own life experiences in law enforcement, because the book sure reads like Ms. Dickason is writing what she knows.

I love Piper, of course, because who doesn't love a strong woman who takes no crap and does a great job in a typically male-dominated field? Her relationship with her boss and co-workers is excellent – she says she needs help, and she gets it, no questions asked. We should all have such great working relationships! Grady is wonderful, too. He helps Jen keep the ranch running smoothly, and he's a great cook, too. If there are more books in Piper's world, I'd love to see some of Grady's recipes added in at the end! Jen is the heart of the story. Everyone revolves around her, and their care and concern for her is palpable.

While romance can sometimes be a distraction in a good thriller, the chemistry between Piper and Cade Tanner works here. It isn't insta-romance. It's a slow burn that hints of romance and fireworks yet to come. I hope we see more of their relationship in later books.

And I learned some things in this book, too! The information included about cattle breeding and certain characteristics that make one animal more desirable over another was fascinating to me. I didn't grow up a rancher's daughter, but I was a farmer's daughter, so anything that can relate back to what I learned in 4-H, I'm all about learning more on the subject. I loved the factual details included in the book.

If I hadn't had to work while I was reading Deadly Business, I probably would have stayed up and finished it all in one night. It's that good. I nearly got myself in trouble by reading past my lunch break at work. It's a well-written, engaging, hair-raising ride with a plot that rings true and characters you either love or love to hate. Give me more.

Five bad-guy butt-kickin' stars. If you enjoy a good thriller, go grab this one. Quick. (Or scroll down and enter the giveaway and see if you can get yourself a copy for FREE!)

A mystery, where our protagonist runs a bookstore and dealt with rare books in a previous career? I was hooked!

Murder by the Book is a cozy mystery that borders on romantic suspense to me. Addie Greyborne is new in town, having just inherited the estate of an aunt she didn't know she had. She's lost both her father and her fiance to mysterious deaths that were ultimately deemed accidental, and to make a fresh start, she's opening a used bookstore in Greyborne Harbor. She doesn't expect to make an enemy of a fellow shop owner in town, and she certainly doesn't expect to find herself at the center of a police investigation.

There's a LOT going on in this book. Addie's new store is broken into her first day there. Her home is also broken into more than once. Martha, another business owner, is trying to run her out of town, saying Addie was involved in criminal activity and has brought it to the town. Serena, Addie's new friend, finds herself a murder suspect, and Serena's brother Marc is trying to stay impartial on that front and investigate all of Addie's unfortunate events, too. It all got to be a little confusing at times. However, it is the first in a series, and I felt like a good bit of this might be necessary to lay the groundwork for future books.

The Marc/Addie relationship has potential, although it feels like he needs to commit to either wanting her help with an investigation or telling her to stay out of police business. He seemed to waffle back and forth between wanting her to help and telling her she needed to leave the scene now. A good defense attorney would have a field day with that if any of these cases ever went to trial.

I love the friendship between Addie and Serena. I also love that Addie has hired Paige, the daughter of her new nemesis, as her part-time help. I hope to see Paige develop more as a character. She seems to have some spunk to her, and I'm curious as to why she and her mother are on the outs.

I'm giving this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I look forward to seeing how other books in the series develop.

How many of us have heard people joke about being “over the hill”? “Put out to pasture”? “In my twilight years”? We as a society have relegated people past a certain age to a slow downward slide from middle age to death. Many people think their later years bring nothing but a trip to the nursing home, there to sit and wait for the Grim Reaper to knock at the door. And since medical science is allowing us to live longer, the prospect of decades of withering away, seen as a doddering elder, good for not much of anything anymore, is bleak.

But getting older doesn't have to be like that! As I'm right about middle-aged myself, I jumped at the chance to read and review Ramona Oliver's book, Inclined Elders: How to Rebrand Aging for Self and Society. The basic premise of the book is simple: We don't have to fade away as we get older. Instead of declining, we can choose to Incline – to move onward and upward, stay active, stay involved, and stay positive.

Oliver's book is broken into three broad sections: Attitude, Growth, and Empowerment. Each section is chock-full of the experiences and inspiring stories of people who have chosen to continue to be active learners and experiencers of life as they have gotten older.

The Attitude section focuses on what we can do internally to continue to Incline as we get older. One of my favorite stories here is that of Carolyn, who found a way to “dance” even when religious restrictions didn't allow for dancing. (I grew up in the Baptist church, so I can relate to that, a little bit.) The stories look at characteristics like curiosity, courage, gratitude, and resilience.

The Growth section has an external focus and relates ways in which we can choose to interact with others around us. Stories here touch on topics such as connections, community, culture, and wisdom. I loved Lee's story, reading about all of the challenges she overcame and how she made wise choices as she grew older.

The Empowerment section focuses on leaving a legacy and living as a role model to the generations coming behind us. The people whose stories are told in the book do this in a variety of ways, from setting a higher standard for their children through their own education, to overcoming introversion and volunteering to help others with disabilities, to creating a program that helps children learn to make life decisions on their own. These stories were particularly uplifting, because who among us doesn't want to think that, when we leave this earth, we will leave something of value behind?

Each chapter had questions for personal reflection, designed to help the reader move toward his or her own life of Incline. I haven't worked through them all yet, but I will re-read and take time to answer them all. The book is also packed with helpful resources, many of which I've made note of to go back to and work through. I read an ebook version of Inclined Elders for the blog tour, but I've enjoyed it so much, I'm going to pick up a hard copy. (And if you're interested, scroll on down and enter the giveaway to win your own copy!)

This book is excellent for anyone who's getting to the midpoint of life, or even younger people who have parents that may benefit from the wisdom found here. It is a glorious guide to making your later years even more fabulous than your younger ones, and a great reminder that we're not all doomed to waste away and slide into the grave quietly. Like Def Leppard says, “It's better to burn out than fade away.” So I'm going to put this book into practice and Incline and shine!

Five big stars, y'all. It's good stuff.