Lisa Henson

Yes, I've read my Coffeehouse Mysteries out of order. But now I have finally put the last piece into place with Brewed Awakening. This is my just turned the last page, totally off the cuff review.

What a read!!! When I started, and Clare had lost her memory, I was aghast. (Okay, I've read Honey Roasted - I had an idea things wouldn't stay pear-shaped. But still. She couldn't remember Quinn?!) But I pressed on.

This book, y'all. I don't even have words for how much I enjoyed it. I think I devoured it in about three hours. I wanted to smack Matt for thinking this might be his second chance with Clare, and I was delighted to see that Clare was still herself and wasn't going to fall for his smooth talking. And even when she couldn't remember all that had happened in the past fifteen or so years, Clare retained her investigative sensibilities. She was determined to figure out what had happened.

I'll have more thoughts later. I just had to come write this now to tell y'all that if you haven't gotten to Brewed Awakening in the series, keep reading! And if you haven't read the series, what are you waiting for?! I think I liked this book even better than Honey Roasted, and I liked that one. I hope there's more of the series yet to come. It's one of my favorites!

In a nutshell, beautiful writing, beautiful lake setting that makes me want to visit Michigan, characters who are flawed and realistic – all positives. I was hoping for more clear references to
God and Christian faith and how the characters struggled and grew, though. I don't regret reading the book, it just isn't one I'm jumping up and down about.

See my full review at https://theplainspokenpen.com/book-review-the-girl-who-could-breathe-under-water-by-erin-bartels/

When I think of a beach wedding, a decades-old mystery, a crooked DA, and scandalous secrets of moneyed society aren't what come to mind. But that, and more, is what we get in Michael Ledwidge's Beach Wedding.

I know it's not summer yet, but this would be an excellent summer read. Engaging, a quick read once you get past the first little bit, and characters you'll either love or love to hate. I give it four solid stars.

Full review at https://theplainspokenpen.com/blog-tour-and-book-review-beach-wedding-by-michael-ledwidge/

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

A Curse of Hope and Shadows is a wonderful reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, and so much more. Macdonald once again excels at making me feel all the feels. Dimitri's loneliness and hurt just drips from the page, and I hurt for him. I wanted so badly for him to let Addie in, and waiting to see that happen was deliciously agonizing. Addie never gives up on Dimitri. She is the perfect sunshiny heroine, and she knows when to try to make him laugh, when to kick him in the pants, and when to leave him be. And the Duke?! He is an odious, horrible man who should have been the one cursed, not his son.

So now I'm left with the feeling that I need to get my hands on the rest of the story posthaste. Macdonald has again clearly demonstrated why she is the queen of fairy tale reimaginings, and I will gleefully read everything she writes.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I received an advance copy of this cookbook as part of the launch team for it, and I am so glad I did! I've had the chance to make a couple of the recipes, and they are gold, y'all. Texas Trash Pie is salty, sweet, crunchy, delicious goodness (bonus: I've now got an awesome pie crust recipe!). Chicken and Dumplings are down home comfort food, straight up. I can't wait to try more recipes, and someday I have to visit Round Top and go to the cafe in person! If you like good food, you need this cookbook.

Some stories you read, and they're fun, but they don't make a lasting impression. Some stories, though, grab you by the heart and stick with you long after the last page has been turned. The Bones of Amoret is one of those stories.

Set in west Texas in the town of Amoret, out where the land is as much a character in the tale as any of the people, the story unfolds through the eyes of Dr. Noah Grady. He's telling his story as his life draws nigh unto its end, and we see events unfold through flashbacks as he talks to a much younger reporter doing research on the events of forty years earlier.

Like any of us, Noah has been faced with choices throughout his life. Sometimes he did the right thing, sometimes he did the expedient thing. But he always chose to do what he thought would best protect those he cared about. He helped illegal immigrants get across the border and gave them medical treatment when necessary. The choice to save one of them instead of leaving him to die got the attention of some bad folks focused on him for his trouble. He took actions that he felt were necessary to protect Angelica, his wife, and her son Miguel. He looked after his own in an unforgiving landscape filled with its own harsh beauty. He was a sympathetic character who will stick with me, even if some of his choices weren't necessarily “right” by societal standards.

I also really liked Sheriff McHenry. Yes, he cared about law and order and seeing justice served. But he also realized that sometimes, justice isn't best served by strict adherence to what law and order would require. He and Noah had an interesting and largely cordial relationship, and it made for good reading.

The ending of the story wasn't one that I figured out. Herbert does a good job of laying down rabbit trails for the reader to follow, and then changes direction on you at the last minute. I love stories where the author keeps me guessing!

“It's mankind's evil that gets the headlines. Sometimes we need a reminder that God sprinkles the goodhearted among us too.” Noah Grady is one of the goodhearted.

Great characters, wonderful setting and description, dialogue that was true to where the story took place, tension that moved the book along at a brisk pace – all of these things make The Bones of Amoret a five-star read. Highly recommended!

I read a lot of fantasy. For me, this one ranks near the top of the pile. Marilia is a wonderful heroine - strong, determined, but not so perfect as to be unbelievable. I approve of strong female leads, and I like the fact that Marilia doesn't get where she does by virtue of being born with special powers. She works hard for what she achieves.

The book deals with some fairly serious themes, one being female resistance to a male-dominated society. But it doesn't come across as shrill or angry. It's written in such a way as to make the reader think, and that it does.

I felt like the story moved along at a good pace, and I look forward to the next book in the series.

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

I loved Thief of Spring, so I was excited to get to read the story from Hades' perspective. If you're expecting dark and brooding and maybe mean, that's not Macdonald's Hades. He puts up a good front, but inside he is a boy who expects life to hand him bad things, because that's all it's done so far. He's loved Persephone from afar for years, even though she has no memory of him when she encounters him at the strange party she was invited to. He's horrified to see her there and acts to save her, even at the risk of making her hate him. He has to.

It's fascinating to see the story from the flip side. We got Persephone's point of view in Thief of Spring. (If you haven't read that, you absolutely should.) Now we get to see what Hades was thinking during all the events of the story. And it is so sweet to see their romance blossom, and see how nervous he really was about whether Persephone could actually love him, too. I just want to hug him, because he is so broken and so precious and so deserving of good things.

And I'll tell you what, the ending from Hades' perspective just about broke me. Oh, my heart.

Please tell me we're getting a Hades take on Queen of Night!

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

Eve Mallow jumps at the opportunity to volunteer for Lovelace Sunday, a big to-do held each year at Lovelace Manor. The manor has quite the history and romantic legend, and this year popular historian Cammie Harrington will be there as well, so Eve figures it will be worth taking part. What she didn't expect was that she'd be writing Cammie's obituary and working to solve her murder, too.

Clare Chase writes a delightful mystery! It's full of people like you'd expect to find in a small English town, and some you might not expect. Eve's love interest, Robin, is actually in the witness protection program. That tidbit makes their relationship a bit more complicated than most, as they can't do anything that will risk his true identity being revealed.

Eve is one of my favorite kinds of protagonists – intelligent, keenly observant, and just a bit quirky. I mean, she's a professional obituary writer. That's not your everyday kind of job. And she's got a dachshund. That automatically makes her good people as far as I'm concerned.

Eve's job drafting Cammie's obituary gives her an opportunity to ask all sorts of questions to plenty of suspects. It seems like there are any number of people who might have had reason to want Cammie out of the way. Could it be Ralph Roscoe, her university ex-boyfriend, who tried to jump into the hot air balloon at the last minute? What about Diana Pickford-Jones, the owner of Lovelace Manor, who had once been so close to Cammie? Or Diana's drop-dead gorgeous model brother, Sebastian, and the deep dark secret Cammie said she knew? The taciturn gardener, Josh Standish? And what about the mysterious storyteller, Raven, who may or may not be who she seems to be?

The story is also full of twists and surprises, and even more than one death. Some I saw coming, some I didn't, and one or two I suspected.

Is there anything really new and unexpected about the story? No. But it's an enjoyable cozy mystery in a British setting, which I always like. It's set in a small town, full of characters that I feel like I'd like to know. It's a quick, easy read, perfect for unwinding after a hard day at work or relaxing in a comfy chair by the pool. If you like a mystery heavy on cozy and light on gory details, with just a touch of romance, I highly recommend Mystery at Lovelace Manor!

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

Nonna Maria has lived on the island of Ischia her whole life. In fact, she's never traveled anywhere else. She knows everyone on the island quite well (and is probably related to half the people there), and they know and trust her. They come to her with their problems before they'll go to the law because of their long-standing relationships with her. And Nonna Maria helps. She says she doesn't investigate, she helps friends.

There are two threads to follow here. First, we have Anna, our “missing bride,” who comes to Nonna Maria in tears as the book opens. She has agreed to marry a man, a stranger to Ischia, and now doubts that he is who he claims to be. Then we have Pasquale, a sailor born if ever there was one, who has fallen overboard to his death in the ocean that he loved. The police have very little to go on with Pasquale's death, and can't really do anything with Anna's fiance, but Nonna Maria can and does sort things out.

This is not a fast-paced, action-packed book. If that's what you're looking for, you might not enjoy it. Me, I loved it! I'm not as young as I used to be myself, and it's always a treat for a book to feature a more seasoned sleuth. Nonna Maria is precisely that, and in addition, she's an independent woman who definitely knows her own mind. She only drinks the coffee she makes (and she makes it strong!), and she sees no point in water, but will indulge in a glass of wine. I think she's my new favorite main character.

And true to her assertion, Nonna Maria doesn't really investigate. She has no phone, no car, no television. She doesn't get on the internet to dig up public records or old news articles. She talks to people, one friend to another, to learn the things she needs to know. Her circle of friends is broad, ranging from the parish priest at the local church (you know, the one she doesn't attend) to a man who keeps to the shadows but whose reputation still carries weight, to a crime lord from Naples to the local mechanic. It is her many connections and relationships that allow her to get to the heart of just about any matter.

She doesn't go it alone, either. The whole island looks out for their Nonna. She is on good terms with Captain Murino of the carabinieri as well. He may not be local to Ischia, but he would no more let harm come to Nonna Maria than any of her friends or family would. He's got a personal stake in one of the two mysteries, and he hopes she can ferret out information that he might never have access to in his official capacity.

I loved the slower pace of this book. I want to visit Ischia now, to hear Aldo Poli play piano at the Bar Calise while I enjoy a cool beverage. It sounds like a lovely place to spend some time, and I hope the author takes us back there in future books!

If pulse-pounding thrillers are more your speed, don't pick up this book. But if, like me, you enjoy a well-crafted mystery set in a jewel of a place, with a protagonist who's sharp as a tack and who looks out for her friends, you need to read this. It's a hit with me.

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

I am a sucker for Russian history. I remember traveling to see the Catherine the Great exhibit in Memphis with my mother back in the early 1990s. Such opulence! Such treasure! Such beauty on display! It made an impression. So I jumped at the chance to read and review Kelli Stuart's The Master Craftsman. A secret egg crafted by the master himself, Peter Karl Fabergé? A treasure hunt for this lost piece of history? Yes, please! Sadly, it didn't quite hit on all cylinders for me.

First, the things I liked. The story is told in a dual-timeline fashion, and Stuart uses that technique to great effect. A portion of the past revealed would often provide information on the next clue our treasure hunters needed to move forward. I didn't find the shifts between time periods too confusing, and I enjoyed the historical sections most of all. You hear about the Russian Revolution from the aristocrats' point of view, and you hear about the impact it had on the everyday folks. Fabergé, as one of the royal family's master artisans, wasn't quite royalty, but had perks in life that the common folk were lacking. You never really hear the story from that perspective. In this telling, it sounds like being close to royalty wasn't a benefit and might have even been a detriment to the Fabergé family.

The treasure hunt was also a pretty good adventure! There are clues to be figured out, a little bit of cyber sleuthing to be done, and some pretty nasty bad guys to be faced down. It offered some nice suspenseful moments, and I was invested in the outcome. I also appreciated that an older character (closer to my age!) was involved in the hunt. Good not to let the youngsters have all the adventure!

Now for what didn't really work for me. My biggest disappointment is the distinct lack of a strong faith underlying any of the characters' actions. Nick Laine, a renowned treasure hunter, bailed on his family years ago to chase the dream and the goods. Now that he's dying of cancer, he hopes to reunite with his estranged ex-wife, Carol, and daughter, Ava. My goodness, what a golden opportunity there for characters to act out their faith and portray a beautiful moment of reconciliation and redemption of the years they had lost. Did that happen? Nope. There may have been a couple of mentions given to prayer, and Carol cautions against the use of swearing as “unnecessary language.” But none of the characters portray any sort of real faith in God or any sort of reliance on Him, even in really hairy situations. If you like your Christian fiction more overtly Christian, keep in mind that you won't find that here.

It also bothered me that Ava tended to take advantage of her neighbor, Zac. He obviously had feelings for her, and she knew it, but it felt to me like she played on his feelings when it was advantageous for her. She was slobbering all over Xander, their treasure hunt guide, very nearly from his first appearance. She persisted even when Carol tried to remind her more than once that hey, maybe you need to tone that down, knowing that Zac is clearly hooked on you. I know, the heart wants what the heart wants. But that part of the storyline seemed almost high schoolish in the way Ava so visibly crushed on Xander and ignored how Zac felt.

In summary: Interesting historical detail, vivid imagining of what Fabergé's life might have actually been like during the Revolution, lots of adventure with the treasure hunt, minimal mention of the Christian faith, and Ava came across as kind of a mean girl to Zac a lot of the time. I enjoyed it enough to give it three stars. Had the faith component been more prominent and fleshed out, my rating would have bumped up to four stars. Read it for the adventure, not the faith.

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

I'm familiar with James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books (one of which I reviewed here). Before reading Every Cloak Rolled in Blood, I had not read any of his Holland Family Saga works. Y'all know how this goes. Now I gotta go read all of them. I need to win the Powerball and be independently wealthy just so I have time to read all of the books that are calling my name.

Aaron Holland Broussard is cut adrift. Since the sudden, violent death of his daughter, Fannie Mae, he has lost his anchor. Death isn't unfamiliar to him, but the loss of Fannie Mae cuts deep – deeper than deaths on the battlefield in Vietnam, deaths of parents, deaths of friends. He is determined to find a way to reconnect with her, to bring her back or join her beyond the veil. He isn't actively suicidal, but you get the feeling he wouldn't mind if the Good Lord called his number.

When two local boys paint a swastika on his barn, his 911 call leads Broussard to an ally – a friend? a soulmate? – state trooper Ruby Spotted Horse. Ruby is also struggling with her own grief over the death of her niece, and, like many others in the story, is not entirely what she seems. She confesses to Broussard that she is one of a group called the Guardians, and that the Old People – monsters wrapped in myth and story from ages past – are trapped in her basement.

Broussard knows that people, that things, are not always what they appear to be. He's seen – and talked to – Colonel Eugene Baker, the long-dead architect of a horribly brutal attack on a peaceful band of Blackfeet. He's faced a malevolent little girl who looks like Ruby's murdered niece, but probably isn't. And as the evils of the past bleed over ever more forcefully into Broussard's present, he knows that he must fight evil, in human or spiritual form, with everything he has. Otherwise, it may overtake them all, and Fannie Mae may be lost to him forever.

Burke's books are always filled with turns of phrase sometimes graceful, sometimes spare, sometimes philosophical, and this book is no exception. That, for me, is one of the greatest pleasures of reading his novels – seeing how he will express himself when I turn the next page. Whether Burke wrote the words himself or, as he says in the note at the beginning of the book, “another hand wrote it for me,” the prose is magnificent, and it stayed with me long after the last page was turned.

Burke tackles a lot of chewy issues in this book. The pandemic, social distancing, BLM, white supremacy, twisted politics. But it all takes a backseat to the constant underlying thrum of the pain and loss a parent feels upon losing a child. If this story is Burke's most autobiographical yet, he is surely sharing his grief with us here, and inviting us to feel its weight for a moment.

This is not necessarily an easy read, as emotionally laden as it is, but it is worthwhile. Love opens us up to pain and loss, but it also offers healing and redemption. Burke portrays both masterfully.

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy from Simon & Schuster and NetGalley. All opinions here are my own, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

JeVon McCormick, the CEO of Scribe Media, isn't your average CEO. He didn't grow up with the country club set, learning how to present himself and move in polite society. In Modern Leader, he shares how he got to where he is now and how his upbringing and experiences have shaped his philosophy of leadership.

I normally write All the Wordy Words about books. With this book, I just can't. I'd have to put the whole book here for you, because it is chock full of McCormick's hard-won insights and wisdom.

Ask yourself: Why do individuals feel the need to edit themselves to fit into our organizations?

Why don't we instead edit our organizations to better fit individuals?

Jevon McCormick, Modern Leader
His philosophy is pretty simple (not necessarily easy to implement, but simple): Ask questions. Listen. Hold yourself accountable. Lead by serving your company, your customers, and the people who work for you. And it is working, because everything I've heard about Scribe Media is overwhelmingly positive. The company is growing. Clearly, his putting People First is doing something right!

If more leaders subscribed to JeVon McCormick's ideas, work might not be such a slog for so many people. The world has changed. Is changing. Will continue to change. The “right” degree, the “right” background, those are no longer the only (and maybe not even the best) qualifications that will indicate the talent someone may bring to a role. Leadership has got to adjust and change its focus, and McCormick provides a guide that shows how to get it done.

If you're a leader, or if you just want to improve your ability to communicate and be mindful in your interactions, you need to read this book. I'd like to gift a copy to all the leaders I know.

(Also, if anyone from Scribe is reading this, I would love the opportunity to work with y'all.)

Y'all know how much I love Lisa Regan's books. So I figured Hidden Bones was a perfect read for me.

Guess what? I was right!

As I tend to do, I've jumped into the middle of the series here, so I'm getting to know Detective Ellie Reeves on the fly. I was able to follow the story well enough, but I need to go back and start at the beginning to get all the backstory.

The action starts off with a bang when a teenage girl falls into a pit and realizes she's landed on a pile of bones. The bones are on the property of Hawk House, a former children's home that closed down due to rumors of abuse and mistreatment. Ellie and her team investigate to determine whether the bones could belong to children that used to live at the home.

What starts out as an investigation of potentially old crimes is brought suddenly into the present when a woman's body is found. Ellie learns that the victim used to work at the children's home, and when more bodies turn up, she realizes someone doesn't want the truth about Hawk House to come out.

This is a heck of a ride, y'all. Rita Herron does an outstanding job of throwing down hints and then spinning the story in a different direction. The dual timeline perspective used to tell the story works wonderfully here.

Lots of twists and turns make for a thrilling read! Character development is excellent, and the story never lags. The tension builds with each new discovery.

And talking about tension – at some point, Ellie is going to have to choose. Ranger Cord McClain or Special Agent Derrick Fox? Decisions, decisions. I think I'm Team Derrick right now. Maybe.

If you love a good thriller, you'll want to make Ellie Reeves's acquaintance. I'm glad I did. Five stars from me!

Again. Lisa Regan has done it again with another slam-dunk winner of a book that I could barely tear myself away from. (For my other reviews of books in the Detective Josie Quinn series, go here, here, here, here, and here.) Seriously. I had to keep sneaking peeks on the Kindle app on my phone when I couldn't quite finish the book on my lunch hour. I was at 87% and I could.not.wait until I got home to see what happened!

Josie and Noah are coming back from their long delayed and much deserved honeymoon, driving home on a very foggy road, when someone dashes in front of their car. They stop to try to help and come upon a man choking a teenage girl, demanding to know where “it” is. As Noah tries to save the girl, Josie pursues the man. But he evades her when he jumps off a precipice and disappears, not caring if he lives and seemingly hoping he dies. As they investigate the scene, they realize Dina Hale is dead. Her friend and passenger, Alison Mills, was able to flee and was presumably the person who ran in front of their car. With the killer possibly still on the loose, finding Alison becomes of utmost importance.

The more Josie and Noah and the team dug into the case, the more questions they face. Who is the killer? What is his connection to the two girls? What had the girls stumbled onto, that someone (the killer? Someone else?) would go to such lengths to get it back?

Y'all. The tension in this book is unbelievable. The misdirections, the shifting of gears, the pulling away of things I thought I had figured out. Lisa Regan is a master of the thriller/police procedural, I tell you. I'm not sure anyone does it better. The killer is identified pretty early in the story, but that's just the tip of the suspenseful iceberg. One character's backstory is told in flashbacks, and we don't know who she really is until late-ish in the story. And we don't know for most of the book who the real mastermind behind all of this is.

When the penny dropped? My jaw hit. the. floor. I did not see it coming, and what a reveal! I absolutely adore a book that can keep me in the dark until the end, and Regan has done that with every book of hers that I've read.

It made me happy that Josie and Noah finally got their honeymoon. They deserve to be happy together. Trout, Josie's dog, is a delightful character. I love their interactions with him. And I really like how the team all works together. Nobody squibbles about not wanting a particular assignment. When Josie texts Chief Chitwood in the middle of the night, he tells her to go back to sleep after he responds. When she doesn't, he's up and out, helping her and Noah track down whatever lead she's thought of in the wee hours. They're supportive of each other and genuinely kind to each other, and that's a treat to read, especially considering the difficulty inherent in their work.

If you want a rip-snortin', hang-on-for-dear-life, screaming rollercoaster of a thrill in book form, you'll want to make the acquaintance of Detective Josie Quinn. This one can be read alone, but do yourself a favor and start at the beginning of the series. Then binge 'em all.

Five stars. I'll read whatever Lisa Regan writes without even looking at the blurb. She's on my short list.

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

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

When I first started reading, I was horrified at how dark this story went. I was thinking, comedic domestic suspense, my foot. I wasn't sure I'd finish. But I kept reading.

Laurel and Doug's marriage is a mess. No intimacy, no passion, no love, no humor, just a whole lot of apathy on her part and a whole lot of “I need you (to do everything for me), Laurel” on his. I get it. Life happens. The new and shiny wears off a relationship. Laurel had put herself second to Doug for years, thinking that doing for him and catering to him was the way to avoid the unhappy marriage she saw her parents as having. She was wrong, and now she's reaping the bitter fruit of what she'd sown. But instead of taking constructive steps to get things back on track – like, oh, maybe an honest conversation with Doug about how she's feeling – Laurel starts taking steps to make that little fantasy of Life without Doug a reality. Her co-worker, Charlie, helps her figure out ways to try to hasten Doug's demise.

Is there hope? Maybe. As Laurel starts to stand up for herself, figuring she's going to kill Doug off soon anyway, Doug notices. His attention, missing for so long, feeds something in Laurel that she thought was dead forever, and she begins doing the occasional kindness for him. There are flashes of emotion that might move them from the rut they've been in, might motivate someone to do the right thing. But even with that, Laurel still actively looks for ways to kill her husband. She flirts with another man and contemplates hooking up with him. She still doesn't do much to work to repair her marriage, or even end it by more conventional means. That made me want to pull my hair out. If she was unhappy in her marriage, she could have done something less illegal and morally wrong than trying to kill Doug.

This book was billed as a “comedic domestic suspense.” I didn't see much comedic about it, myself. There were moments that made me chuckle, but I didn't feel it was really a comedy. One thing I found interesting is the fact that, in a book not explicitly billed as Christian fiction, Laurel prayed. Doug's sister Abby prayed. That caught my attention, and I hoped for a redemptive turn to the story.

Alas, while I found good in the story, and while there was a positive resolution, it wasn't redemptive in the way I had hoped. It might have played better with me had it been billed as women's fiction, because Laurel's story is relatable. Any woman who's ever been in a marriage where she felt like she was raising an extra child with her husband understands the feeling of overwhelming frustration, the desire to run away. But to me, comedic it wasn't.

I did appreciate the arc with Laurel's mother Joan. Joan's agoraphobia limits her to the confines of her home, and Laurel treats her with respect and care. She tries to help Joan overcome her fears, but doesn't force her beyond what Joan is comfortable doing, and she's willing to see that others may be able to offer help better than she can herself. Joan also shows Laurel that we may view things wrongly when seen through the lens of youth and what we think we remember.

I also loved how absolutely gaga Laurel was over her new granddaughter. Her desire to travel across the country for her grandbaby was absolutely believable, and their interactions were very sweet.

If you don't mind your stories walking a dark path before you see the light, if you appreciate a woman who can work through her issues and ultimately stand on her own two feet, Take My Husband may resonate with you.

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

Shattered Sacrifice is a short introduction to Emily Huffman's Shattered Trilogy, but it packs a LOT of story into not a lot of pages! Here, we're introduced to Glisenia Tideborn, the girl chosen as a sacrifice to the Kraken. She was nobody special, no gifts, nothing to recommend that she live. She expects to die. But...she doesn't.

The book opens with Glisenia realizing she's still alive. As she tries to decide what to do next, she realizes that she's hearing a voice in her head. This voice is the god of magic, Helm. She's caught his attention, and he's got a task in mind for her.

Glisenia is an intriguing character. She has every reason to want revenge on her parents and her community. They wanted her dead. She survived, and now she has a choice. Listen to the voice in her head that claims to be a god seeking her help? Or not? I think Helm considers her an easy mark for doing what he wants, but I'm not so sure she's going to be his pushover.

This novella gives the reader loads of atmosphere and action in a short space. And now I have questions. Does Glisenia let it all burn? What does Helm want from her? Are her powers from Helm, or has she had them all along, and they were somehow overlooked by those who wanted to sacrifice her? This bite-sized book is a perfect introduction/teaser for the larger trilogy, and I've got to read the trilogy now.

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

I adore the Lady Eleanor Swift series by Verity Bright, so when I had the chance to read and review Death Among the Diamonds, the first in a new cozy series set in 1920s England, I jumped at it. I'm so glad I did!

The Hon. Cressida Fawcett is a young woman ahead of her time. Single and well to do, she's enjoying her life, not looking to make a good marriage match as so many young women are. She lives with her pug, Ruby, and she's quite happy that way.

When she travels to the countryside for a weekend at the home of her friend Dorothy, she certainly never expects to be caught up in a crime scene. But diamonds have been stolen, and the young, affable chandelier cleaner is found dead. Suddenly anyone there on the estate is a suspect, and no one is free to leave.

This book is simply enchanting! Cressida's world of money and the high life is far from my own middle-aged mom existence, but it's a lot of fun to read about. Cressida herself is refreshing, a woman not afraid to buck expectations and do what makes her happy. Ruby is a fun addition to the story, and often a help to Cressida. (And now I want a pug.)

Fliss Chester creates characters that are a joy to read about. (Basil really came off as a creep, though. I think Dorothy can do better.) The story moves along at a nice clip, and there were twists and turns enough to hold my interest. She does a nice job with the locked-room mystery, and I look forward to reading more in the series.

I highly recommend Death Among the Diamonds if you love clean historical cozies. I think I've found a new author to add to my favorites!

I absolutely loved this book! Katherine H. Brown creates a marvelous alternate London set in the Victorian period, and it's a good representation of the steampunk genre. There are hat tips to Mary Poppins everywhere, from Anna-Marie's souped-up umbrella to Bert, the amiable coal deliveryman, and so many more.

Anna-Marie was a very likable protagonist. She cares about the girls she left behind at the orphan home and wants better for them. She uses her common sense to solve problems, and she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty (literally or figuratively). She doesn't shy away from difficult situations, and she's teaching the girls in her charge to do likewise.

Anna-Marie's attraction to Captain Ambrose Banks, and his to her, is delightful. Ambrose's general attitude toward life is so joyful, Anna-Marie can't help but warm to it. But if she wants to gain her freedom from Uncle Ernest's employ, she'll have to find a way to do one last job for him. Can she complete the task and find unexpected happiness with an unexpected man? Read and find out!

The orphan girls – I want to hug them all and feed them and give them a safe place to live. Brown pens a realistic portrayal of the hard lives they led in 19th-century London, and the jobs they might find themselves pressed into with no family to be concerned about them. It wasn't pretty, even in an alternate universe.

The ending of the book makes it clear that this is not the end of the story. Things aren't tied up in a tidy package, so if loose ends damage your calm, you'd best brace yourself. I, however, am here for it. The cliffhanger ending has me clamoring for more!

A Spoonful of Gunpowder is an engaging story and a great start to a new series. Five stars from me!

Disclaimer: Thanks to BookSirens and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Riley Gordan has come back home to Adairsville, Georgia, hoping for a restful break from law school and some quality time with her dear friend, Trish. But the peace and quiet is shattered when one of Riley's Sunday school girls, Kaylene, is kidnapped. Kaylene is friends with Nate Bannister, a bit of a local celebrity around Adairsville. A former pro baseball player, Nate is making a run for local political office. Someone wants to keep him from running, and they figure putting Kaylene in harm's way will make the old man back off to keep her safe.

Adairsville, Georgia is a real place, similar in size to the small town I grew up in. So it's easy for me to visualize, and Danny and Wanda Pelfrey have filled it with engaging characters. I love the friendship between Riley and Trish. I can imagine the shenanigans they got up to when they were younger, and now they're putting themselves in harm's way to try to rescue Kaylene.

I liked the relationship between Nate and Kaylene, too. We live in a society where so often, older people are dismissed as no longer having worth. It was refreshing to see a friendship between the old and the young, and when Nate explained why Kaylene meant so much to him, I choked right up. Would that we valued and learned from our older folks more.

Faith is a strong component of this story. Riley teaches Sunday school. The characters pray and attend church services and rely on God for direction in their lives. They reach out to others and try to treat them as Jesus would have. It's nice to see a book where Christianity is an active part of the story, not just a passing mention, and it's done without leaving the reader feeling like they've been whacked upside the head with the King James Version of the Bible. Nicely done!

The story also did a good job of keeping me in the dark as to the bad guy's identity. I love stories where I'm kept guessing until the end.

There's a bit of romance, but it's clean. Language is also clean.

In short, this is a delightful mystery in a setting I hope to visit again in the rest of the series!

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

Harlow Durant is taking some much-needed time for herself. But when she gets a call that her partner, Lucas Park, needs her, she heads back to New York, to the small upstate town of New Paltz, where Mazie Winters has been murdered and her body deposited on a seemingly unrelated crime scene. But as Harlow and Lucas begin to dig into Mazie's murder, they start to question whether her death and the cold case Lucas has been working on are related after all. Their investigation opens old wounds for Lucas, whose mother disappeared years earlier and who was never found.

I liked The Girls in the Fire, second in this series. Their Final Cry is even better! The story unfolds mostly through Harlow's eyes, going between present day and her childhood nineteen years earlier. We see more of what she went through growing up that informs her current mindset and attitudes. We also learn a bit about Lucas's earlier experiences.

When the case dredges up old hurts for Lucas, Harlow has a choice. Does she shut down, or does she find a way to support the best partner she's ever had? The struggle is real, and Harlow and Lucas's relationship is tested.

The threat of a potential cop killer carries over from The Girls in the Fire. Is a serial killer targeting cops, and is Harlow next on his list? Or Lucas? And what's the story with the journalist who tracks Harlow down and demands that she talk to him for the book he's allegedly writing about her parents?

Tension is high on all fronts, and Poirier pulled me along with the story. This is a compelling read that's hard to put down once you get started, and the ending left me hungry for the fourth in the series. I recommend Their Final Cry and the Harlow Durant series for anyone who enjoys a good thriller and likes staying up past their bedtime to see what happens next.

I have loved Cleo Coyle's books since the first Coffeehouse Mystery came out, and The Ghost and the Stolen Tears is no exception!

Penelope and her aunt Sadie run a bookstore in Quindicott, Rhode Island. Norma Stanton, who lives the nomadic life out of her van and trailer, has become quite the helper working at the bookstore, and Pen is glad of her help. Norma has a wise, gentle way about her, and she's always able to help people in the store. So when a young social media influencer staying at the Finch Inn claims that her vintage jewels, inherited from a family member, have been stolen, and Norma ends up in the crosshairs of the investigation, Pen finds it hard to believe. The problem, though, is that Norma is suddenly nowhere to be found, so it's tough to refute the evidence mounting against her. Pen turns to Jack Shepard, PI (who may be dead, but who's still very much present!) for help in clearing Norma's name.

Coyle weaves the Valentino Teardrops through the story, past and present. I liked the way Jack took Pen back to his past experience with the Teardrops while he was alive and how she saw his case unfold through her dreams. She gets a sense of what Jack's life and career was like through her dream travel with him. I thoroughly enjoyed the vintage gumshoe vibe of those portions of the story. The use of things she learned in dreams to unravel the mystery facing her in the present also worked well.

I also enjoyed seeing Pen's son, Spencer, play a little bit bigger role. He's working on a class project and he's taken an interest in forensic evidence, specifically fingerprinting. His investigative skills nearly get him into trouble at school, but they come in very handy in solving the real-life mystery.

I look forward to the next adventure for Pen and Jack!

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

After his death, Vivienne is unable to locate her father's elusive ward, Rosamond Swansea, either by direct inquiry or by gaining employment at the asylum as an aid under an assumed name. Someone knows Vivienne for who she is, though, and does not wish her to succeed in finding Rosamond. Darkness soon seems to overtake her as she finds herself deemed mad by the powers that be at the asylum, held there against her will with what appears to be no hope of escape.
But trapped in circumstances she cannot control, Vivienne soon begins to see the women around her at Hurstwell not just as broken, irredeemable bodies, but as people. And even in the darkness, music finds a way – to reach her; to reach Doctor Mitchell Turner, struggling since the death of his wife while in the asylum's care; to reach the patients who have been cast off by society, forgotten, considered to be broken and worthless.

Politano does a marvelous job of weaving Scripture throughout the book. The story of the apostle Paul in prison figures significantly in Vivienne's gradual realization that maybe – just maybe – she IS right where she belongs, and that God DOES have a purpose for her there. I love how one of the other patients at the asylum reminded Vivienne, when she was talking about how she had to get back to her life outside the asylum, to what she was meant to do, that “not right now you ain't, because you're here. And nothing happens without the Almighty's say-so.”

There are a lot of tense moments in the story, and Politano pulls no punches in her descriptions of the conditions inside the asylum. The superintendent of the asylum rules with a heavy hand, consumed by fear and hatred stemming from a painful event deep in his past. But even he comes to see that the darkness he carries cannot blot out the radiance that God shines into hidden corners through Vivienne and her music.

“For all the locking up he'd done, all the patients he'd managed to control with cells and restraints, there was one thing those walls could not contain.

“Light.”

And at its heart, that's what the story is about: the triumph of light over darkness. Vivienne determined what she thought her path should be. But God disrupted her plans and put her into the darkest place she could envision so that, if she would let it, His light could shine through her and touch lives in ways she had never imagined.

“We're all of us told to walk in the light, but we don't. We simply wish to drag the light over to where we're already standing, so we may better see the path we've set out for ourselves. I dearly wished to set my own path. To take control for once in my life. But perhaps I wasn't meant to – not in the way I'd tried it, anyway.”

In the end, The Lost Melody is a fascinating, well-researched peek into the beginnings of music therapy and the treatment of mental health issues in the late nineteenth century, a clean romance in an unexpected setting, and a testament to God's ability to take all things and work them together for good for those who are called according to His purpose, to bring beauty from what we see as only ashes. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. It's a five-star read for me.

Avery Elliott's grandfather raised her. She has always known him to be a man of faith and a straight shooter, in his business, personal, and political dealings. So when she sees him standing over the body of a dead man with a gun in his hand, it rattles her. Add to that a billing discrepancy that she discovers in regard to their company's construction of the Lago de Cobre Dam, and she begins to have serious questions—questions that are compounded by her grandfather's mysterious disappearance.

This was a real barnburner of a book! Mills kicked off the action early on, and it felt like a runaway horse. All I could do was hang on and keep turning the pages. Not only is Avery trying to figure out where her grandfather is and what his involvement with the dead man she saw might be, she's also trying to sort out how the dam their company built passed two inspections and now suddenly...doesn't. And to keep things revved up, there's a big hurricane headed toward Texas, and if that dam breaks, a lot of folks are going to be in a mess of trouble.

Faith is a clear theme in the book. Both Avery and Marc are Christians, but the events surrounding her grandfather's disappearance (for Avery) and his father's abandonment of him and his mother (for Marc) cause them to question. Avery is driven by her questioning of all the things she thought she knew to draw nearer to God through study and prayer, and we see both characters grow in their faith as a result of their struggles.

The pacing of the book is steady and compelling, and Mills throws in enough twists to keep the suspense high until the resolution. The characters were well written, and seeing Marc get to know the younger sister he didn't know he had was a nice sideline. I hope there are more stories written with these characters. I'd love to know what happens next!

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

Ever since getting my hands on Jen Hatmaker's Beef Bourguignon recipe in her book For the Love, I have dearly wished she'd write a cookbook. That is the best dang beef stew recipe you will ever put in your face hole, and I knew if she could make one dish that marvelous, she had to be able to cook more.

The angels have sung and my wish has come true. And I have Jen Hatmaker's cookbook in my hot little hands, and IT IS GLORIOUS. The pictures are stunning, the stories are wonderful, and the author's sense of humor and personality shines from the pages.

I've made a few of the recipes (and more will follow!). When I'm cooking, I feel like Jen and I are old friends, and she's hanging out at my house, and we will make all the food and eat until we are stupid and have a marvelous time.

The Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby is an amazing breakfast that smells like Christmas. I'd never made a Dutch baby before, but I see many of them in my family's future. The Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders were wildly popular with my boys, who are notoriously picky eaters. Our favorite so far, though, is the Potato Chip, Bacon, and Raspberry Grilled Cheese. My husband tried it and said he could eat NINE of them and we should never do a grilled cheese sandwich any other way ever again. It sounds weird, I know. But trust me. You NEED this sandwich in your life.

My one teeny little disappointment is that Jen does not have a sweet tooth like I do, and there's only one dessert recipe in the whole book. But she's got recipes for hummus and fried mozzarella sticks and migas and queso, so that redeems the lack of dessert recipes. For good queso, I can skip dessert.

Five stars for food that sounds so yummy I want to lick the pages, and for a cookbook that's well organized and does a great job of breaking recipes and techniques down so that even kitchen newbies can make the tasty, tasty food.