Category: Fiction

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Saint Paddy’s Promise by Kathy Daley

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  • Title: The Saint Paddy’s Promise
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #6
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

This is Book #6 in the Tess and Tilly mystery.

An old woman returns to a bench where she was supposed to meet her boyfriend over 50 years ago so they could run away and have a life together. He never showed so she returns to the bench every year on St Patricks day.

Then of course there is a murder at the local bar and Tess & Tony are doing their own investigation right along with Mike.

I loved this book and this series. These books are a fairly quick read. The author gets to the point to you stay engaged while reading. As will all of the Tess & Tilly books, the author takes you on a roller coaster ride. The victim isn’t organized and the bar is a mess so there weren’t a lot of clues. The few clues there are take you in different directions with several suspects and DNA tests. I really thought I had it figured out and was convinced I was right but I was wrong. I love it when a mystery isn’t obvious and takes a lot twist and turns.

There are several mysteries going on with the 50 year old mystery of the no show boyfriend, who killed Brick at the local bar, Where do the DNA tests lead, and what about the mystery surrounding Tess’ dad. On a good note, there are wedding plans.

Pick up this series or download it to your ereader, you won’t be disappointed.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday, Romance, Women's Fiction

The Thanksgiving Trip by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Thansgiving Trip
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #5
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

This is the 5th book of the Tess & Tilly series and Tess’ mom wants to take a trip to the moutains where Tess’ dad used to go every yea tofish. So Tess’, her mom, Tony, Mike & Bree head to the lake for Thanksgiving week.

What should they find when they arrive but a dead body in the leak by their cabin. The local police is called but you know that Tess & Tony also have their own investigation to do.

The author takes on a roller coaster ride through some twist and turns to find out who the killer is. There are a lot of suspects but who really did it.

Then to top this off, Tess finds out some more info into the myster of her dad. What do you think that mystery couldl be? Has he been alive all these years or does someone just want Tess to think he has been? Read to find out.

I am really enjoying this series and when I finish one book, I can’t wait to read the next one. Even though there is a stand alone mystery in each book, the mystery of Tess’ dad is carried out throughout the series, at least so far.

Can’t wait to start the nest book.

Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Women's Fiction

No Place too Far by Kay Brat

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  • Title: No Place too Far
  • Author: Kay Bratt
  • Series: By the Sea
  • Genre: Romance, Mystery, Women’s fiction
  • Takes Place: Maui, Hawaii
  • Main Character: Maggie Dalton, Quin
  • Pets; Woodrow (Maggie’s service dog)
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is the 2nd book in the By the Sea series by Kay Bratt. This book takes up where the first book, True to Me, left off.

If you have read the first book, then you know it was about Quin going to Maui to search for the father she never knew about and discovers a whole family she didn’t know existed.

This book follows the journey of her best friend, Maggie. Maggie and her young son has a stalker who is now in prison. She needs to get away and needs a place to start over with her young son. Quinn is now running an inn in Maui and encourages Maggie to come and stay with her. She takes Quinn up on her offer. She gets a job as a vet tech and makes a new home for her and her young son. She is settled in and starts to feel at peace and comfortable again until strange things start to happen. Maggie’s past is catching up with her and is about to rock her peace & security and any safety she was starting to feel. =Maggie isn’t sure what to do but she fights for herself and for her son.

This takes you on a lot of twists and turns. It is definetly a page turner.

The author has a way of making you feel like you are there. Not only are the characters so well developed that you feel like you know them but I felt like I took a virtual tour of Hawaii.

This book is about love, hope, friendship, family, survival and starting over. I loved this book and can’t wait till the next one in the series.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Halloween House by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Halloween House
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #4
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Jordan
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

Halloween is approaching in White Eagle, Montana. With halloween you know there has to be a haunted house. There is a o mysterius old mansion that was built over 50 years ago. Noone has lived in it for a long time but it has a history. A millionaire built it as a vacation home for his wife and 5 kids. The family that lived there died mysterious deaths and are now buried about back. This is the house that kids sit around and tell ghost stories about and then dare there friends to go up to the front porch and ring the doorbell.

The history of this house is very disturbing. After the family died in the house, it was never sold and noone every lived in it till now! Jordan Westlake has inherited the house and decides to renovate it. During the renovation, he finds a skeleton in the closet.

Now of course Tess and Tony have to put on their amateur sleuth hats to find out who the skeleton is and find out what really happened to the Harrington family in that house.

Will they find people who are still alive that remembers what happened? Will the discover who that skeleton is and what happened?

Then of course there is still the mystery of what happened to Tess’ dad so many years ago and a mysterious picture of her mom that was emailed to Tony.

This is another great book by this author. She gives us some more twist and turns and edge of your seat writing to keep you intersted. It is another ‘can’t put down’ read.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday, Romance

The Mother’s Day Mishap by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Mother’s Day Mishap
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #3
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie,
  • Pets: a Dog named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s dog Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is the 3rd book in the Tess & Tilly Series.

This is another great Cozy Mystery by Kathi Daley. Mother’s day is approaching and Bree receives a card at her bookstore. She opens it believing it is for her but it is actually for someone else. It was meant for the woman who used to own the shop next door but has unfortunately passed away about 6 months ago. This card is from the son noone knew she had. She and her son were estranged for a quarter of a century. This card is him trying to reconnect with her after 25 years. He ends the card by saying he would meet her at their special place at noon on Mother’s day.

The problem is, he evidently doesn’t know she has passed away. Also, there isn’t a name or a return address so noone knows how to reach him or who to return the card to.

Teess, her friends Tony & Bree and her brother are out to solve the mystery of where Edith’s son is because they want to notify him of her passing. They don’t even have a name and have no idea where the ‘special place’ is.

So they are racing against time to find the son before mother’s day. Will they find him?

This isn’t the only mystery they are trying to solve. Is Tess’s mom’s new Italian boyfried a murderer? Is the father that Tess believed was dead for years, really alive? And if he is, where has he been and why did he leave?

The author is great at twisting these mysterys to keep you guessing. This is a great cozy read in a beautiful small Montana town and of course there is a little romance thrown in.

Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Holiday, Romance, Women's Fiction

The Clause in Christmas by Rachael Bloome

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  • Title: The Clause in Christmas
  • Author: Rachael Bloom
  • Series: Poppy Creek Series
  • Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance
  • Takes Place: Poppy Creek
  • Main Character: Cassie Haywood
  • Other Characters: Luke Davis, Frank, Beverly. Dolores, Maggie (Luke’s mom), Eliza Carte
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is the first book in the Poppy Creek Series by Rachael Bloome.

Cassie Haywood is down on her luck, lost her job, broke up with boyfriend and hates Christmas. she hates everything about Christmas from decorations, songs, movies, Santa, I mean everything.

Then an inheritance takes her to Poppy Creek right befor Chrismas. She was born in Poppy Creet but hadn’t been there since she was a baby and her mother moved her to San Fancisco. She never really knew her grandmother but her grandmother has left her an inheritance.

Things may be looking up since Cassie has unexpectanty inherited her grandmother’s charming Victorian cottage. There is just one little problem…. there is a clause in the will. Her grandmother also left her a Christmas calendar!! To inherit the house Cassie must complete this calendar each day in December until Christmas, overseen by Luke, the handsome attorney.

Casses is trying to get accostomed to life in this small town until she can complete the Christmas calendar, but she misses good coffee. Her dream is to own her own coffee shop. The coffee in Poppy Creek is not what she is used to and she struggles to get a good cup of coffee. Then she meets Frank and things seem to change in that area of her life.

This is a clean, sweet romantic, Hallmark like, Christmas story with some great characters in a small town. Read to follow Cassie’s quest to find good coffee, complete the Christmas calendar, get rid of some past complications, find romance and start a new life, that she didn’t even know she needed.

What makes this book even more special is the author wrote it from her heart. It is based on a town she grew up in Northern, California. Also the Coffee theme of the book is based on her family owned and operated coffee roasting company. I wondered how the author knew so much about coffee and this explains it.

This is my second book by Rachael Bloome but I will definitly be reading more.

Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Women's Fiction

True to me by Kay Bratt

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  • Title: True to Me
  • Author: Kay Bratt
  • Series: By the Sea Novel
  • Genre: Mystery
  • Main Character: Quincy
  • Takes Place:Maui, Hawaii
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This was my first book by Kay Bratt and I absolutely fell in love with her books after this one.

Quinn was raised by single mom believing that her dad deserted her and her mom when she was born. Her world was rocked when her mom passed away and left her a death bed confession that would change her life. She found out that her father was not the man she thought he was. Her Quest to find who her father is sends her to the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii. The author makes you believe you are in Maui as she takes you on Quinn’s journey. Quinn meets several people along her way but one in particular holds the key to Quinn’s past.

The author takes you ona journey of family and self discovery. It is a wonderfully written book with lots of twists and turns to find out about Quinn’s past and truth of where she came from.

This is a great read with well developed characters and a great story. It maes you smile and cry at the same time.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Valentine Mystery by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Valentine Mystery
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series:Tess & Tilly #2
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Coby
  • Pets: a Dog named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is the 2nd book in the Tess & Tilly series and I liked it even batter than the first one.

If you read the first book, The Christmas Story, then you are already familiar with Tess and know that she is mail carrier and seems to always be in the middle of some sort of mystery. This book isn’t any different. Once again, Tess finds herself in the middle of a mystery. There are a couple of side mysteries in this one

Tilly witnesses an accident and stops to help. She sees the first car and a man is stuck inside so she helps him get out. They see anther car down the embakement so they both go down there to get the man out. The first man, who we now know his name is Coby, gives the man CPR while Tess calls 911. The EMTs get there and take the man to the hospital but he is dead. He supposedly had a heart attack that caused the accident. But is everything as it seems!!

Once Tess talks to Cody, she finds out that he is in town to look for his biological mom, According to him his bio mom left him at a church right after he was born and all he has from her is a picture from when she was pregnant. Naturally Tess wants to help him find his bio mom so with the help of her friend Tony they do some research to track her down.

Whilel she is help Coby find his bio mom she is also involved in another mystery involving her dad who has been dead about 13 years at this point. But is he really dead or he is he living a secret life somewhere. We will have to keep reading to find this out.

Also Tess’ mom has a new young boyfriend that Tess is suspicious of. Tess has her friend, tony, run a background check on him and he seems to check out fine, but does he really? Hmmmm another mystery!

This story takes some twist and turns while they search for this mystery woman. Do they find her? What really happened? You will have to read it to find out.

I think you will love this story while you fall in love with Tess and the other characters in the book I especially love her kids (as she likes to call her dog and cats)

Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

Blessings on State Street by Rachael Bloome

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  • Title: Blessings on State Street
  • Author: Rachael Bloome
  • Genre: Romance
  • Takes Place: Blessings Bay
  • Main Character:Abby Preston & Logan Matthews
  • Other Characters: Max
  • Stars: 5

This is the book that got me hooked on Rachael Bloome books. I fell in love with this story from page 1. It is a sweet book of heartache and starting again.

Abby lost her husband and wants nothing to do with Christmas this year. She discovered her husband owned a vacation home that she knew nothinng about. When she gets there she finds something unexpected; someone is living in the home.

Logan who dealing with a Medica discharge from the service. He was also a good friend with Abby’s husband and to a job as caretaker of his vacation home.

They decided to coexist in the house for the time being on the condition their would be no mention of Christmas and no celebrating.

Then they meet a neighbor child, Max, who changes everything. They discover he is an orphan and his foster family left him.

This a sweet Christmas story about loss, starting over, moving on and finding love again.

What really made this story special is when I found out that a real Bed & Breakfast was the inspriation for this story. In fact, the picture on the cover is the actual Bed in Breakfast that was an inspration for this story. The story is fictional but Rachael was inspired by the Bed & Breakfast located in Jacksonville, IL and the owners story.

Happy Reading!

Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

The Beach House by Rachel Hanna

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  • Title: The Beach House
  • Author: Rachel Hanna
  • Series: South Carolina Sunsets #1
  • Genre: Contemporary Romance
  • Takes Place: on an island off the coast of South Carolina
  • Main Character: Julie
  • Other Characters: Dawson, Janine, Dixie (My favorite)
  • Stars: 5

This was the first book I read by Rachel Hanna and it got me hooked on her books. It is probably still my favorite.

Julie has been married for over 20 years with 2 grown daughters and one day her husband announces to him that he is leaving her. He has met someone else and to make matters worse, he tells her they have a 6 month old son. All of this happened after they sold their house and made plans to move to a beach house. Julie is flabergasted and can’t believe this is happening to her. So he tells her the offer on their house went through but the beach house isn’t going to happen. So here is Julie with no home and no husband.

She didn’t know what to do and just wanted to start over somewhere new so she did something that probably wasn’t the smartest idea at the time. She bought a fixer up house on an island off the coast of South Carolina. She had never been there so she picked up her life and moved. The house was in worst shape than she ever imagined[. Then she met Dawson and he is the local contractor so helps her fix up her house. And of course their is Chemistry.

Then her extranged sister and mom show up so their is drama. I think my favorite character is the southern belle, Dixie who owns the local bookstore where Julie eventually works.

This is great read and made me want to read more.