Fiction, Mystery, Women's Fiction

Savannah Sisters by Lulie Roberts

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  • Title: Savannah Sisters
  • Author:Lulie Roberts
  • Genre: Fiction, Mystery
  • Takes Place: Savannah, GA
  • Main Character: Louisa
  • Other Characters: Devon, Henry, Winter
  • Stars: 5

This is the first book I have read by this author and I will be reading more. This is a good story about family secrets and how to maneuver your life when secrets have been kept from you your entire life.

Louisa is planning her wedding with her fiance Henry. She loves her fiance but she isn’t sure she wants the big webbing and she is afraid to tell him. Her grandfather died years ago and she loved him with all of her heart. It was hard for her to move past that. Now her grandmother has died suddenly and she has to go to Savannah to take care of the funeral and her house. Louisa was raised by her grandparents and never knew her real parents. Her best friend goes with her to help her in Savannah but she tends to push her fiance away. Louisa struggles with trust.

There are some big secrets that have been kept from Louisa so now that she is all alone in the house where she grew up, she is determined to find out these secrets.

Why was she raised by her grandparents? What happened to her real parents? There are the secrets her grandparents have kept from her? Will Louisa and Henry get married? The author takes us on a few twists and turns until all these answers are revealed.

Once I got into the book, I couldn’t stop reading. I had to know all of these answers. I recommend this book to anyone who likes family drama and a good mystery about family secrets.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Riddle in Review by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: Riddle in Review
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: The Inn at Holiday Bay #22
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Holiday Bay, Maine
  • Main Character: Abby, Georgia, Jeremy Mylie, Lou
  • Other Characters:
  • Pets: a big cat named Rufus and 2 dogs named Molly, Ramos
  • Stars: 3

I was really looking forward to the 22nd book in The Inn at Holiday Bay series and I must say I was a little disappointed. It seemed to be all over the place with a lot of characters. I needed a score card to keep up. And the mystery concluded with a suspect who wasn’t even part of the plot and seemed to come out of nowhere. I like a whodunit that I can try to figure it but this would have been almost impossible to figure out.

The story starts with a missing bilingual parrot that Beck has been hired to find. This story kinda dropped and we didn’t hear about the parrot again until much later in book. I had almost forgotten about it.

Vanessa is out of town and has left her feisty Aunt Lou to take care of the bookshop. Someone is leaving one star reviews for several of the small business around town. At first it is just an inconvenience and a bit unsettling since the reviews seem to be bogus. Then these same small business start to be vandalized. It seems like the person giving bad reviews is also responsible for the vandalizing. For now, this still seems to be more of an inconvenience and the loss of some profits due to some businesses having to temporarily close until the can repair any damage. That is until there is a fire at one business and, the police find a body. Now it becomes a mystery to find out if this was murder or or did someone accidentally end up dead.

Colt, the chief of police and Abby’s boyfriend, is out of town so the women business owners in town take it upon themselves to try and solve this mystery. With the help of the town bartender/computer hacker, they trace the reviews back to someone in town. Is this person also the one who is vandalizing the business and have they actually committed homicide? Or was it an accident that someone died in the fire? Is all of this connected in some way to the reviews? You will have to read to find out.

Other highlightsin the story are Colt dealing with issues concerning his nephew, a couple gets engaged, Georgia and Tannerreevaluateeevalute their relationship, a new character may be staying in Holiday Bay.

This was not my favorite in the series and I struggled at times to finish it but I did. I will still read the next book in the series once it is released but if this had been the first book in the series, it would not have convinced me to finish the series.

If you read this, give me your thoughts in the comments.

Fiction, Romance

Restaurant on the Wharf by Kay Correll

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  • Title: Restaurant on the Wharf
  • Author:Kay Correll
  • Series: Blue Heron Cottages #4
  • Genre: Romance
  • Takes Place:  Moonbeam, FL
  • Main Character: Tara, Joey, Lance
  • Other Characters: Walker, Aspen
  • Stars: 5

This is another great read in the Blue Heron Series. I am really enjoying the characters in this book which takes place in Moonbeam ,Florida.

Tara’s high school reunion is coming up and she can’t decide of she wants to go but her brother Walker talks her into it. Her ex neighbor, friend and classmate, Joey, shows up early for the reunion and stays at the Blue Heron Cottages. He hasn’t been back to Moonbeam in a couple of decades and has decided to come to the reunion and wants to reconnect with his friend Tara.

Joey shows up at the restaurant that Tara works at and her parents own. Joey lived next door to Tara and they were best friends and inseparable growing up. Tara is excited to see Joey and their friendship picks right back up as if no time has passed between them. Things are going great with Joey and Tara until an old crush, Lance shows up for the reunion. Tara had a huge crush on him in high school but he never asked her out. He evidently hasn’t changed that much and is still good looking so Tara still gets butterflies when she sees him. She still has dreams of her teenage crush asking her out. When Tara and Joey run into a Lance, she gets her wish. Lance asks her to dinner! She can’t believe it and is so excited. Joey is a bit hurt that she is still hung up on Lance. Do you think this date turns out as well as she has imagined? You will have to read to find out if things work out for Tara and Lance or if destiny has other plans.

In my opinion, this story is a bit unrealistic that she would still have a crush on someone after 20 years but overall, I loved the story.

It is a sweet, clean romance of finding expectant love and realizing people don’t really change and they aren’t exactly who you imagine they are.

If you love a clean romance with great characters, then you will love this series.

Fiction, Romance

Bookshop Near the Coast by Kay Correll

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  • Title: Bookshop Near the Coast
  • Author: Kay Correll
  • Series: Blue Heron Cottages #3
  • Genre: Romance
  • Takes Place:  Moonbeam, FL
  • Main Character: Violet, Collette, Mark, Rose
  • Other Characters: Rob, Evelyn,
  • Stars: 5

This is another sweet book by Kay Correll. It is the 3rd book in the Blue Heron Cottages series. It took me a bit longer to get into it but I did enjoy it.

Mark Wheeler is staying at the Blue Heron cottages for a vacation that was highly suggested by his boss. Okay it was actually required by his boss and Mark really didn’t get a vote. There was an innocent at the hardware store where Mark works and he feels like it was his fault so his boss sent him on a 2 week vacation so he could decompress.

Collette owns the bookstore in town. She is an avid reader and feels like everyone should read. Whatever your interests, Collette can suggest the book you should read. She befriends Mark and invites him to come to her bookshop. Mark is not a reader. Collette is well read, well traveled and is extremely smart in a lot of areas. Mark has never left the state of Florida and doesn’t read and he feels like he isn’t smart. Collette talks him into reading a book that was written by Violet’s brother Rob. Mark knew he would never read the book but was embarrased to tell Collette. Then he discovers audio books and becomes addicted but he is still embarrased to tell Collette that he listens to the book instead of reading it.

Collette knows he is hiding something and they always seem to be running into each other. Collette just isn’t sure if he is interested in her so she tries to avoid him. Mark is afraid to share his secret and he has a couple of them. He is afraid Collette won’t think he is smart enough.

This is a story romance, a wedding & realizing life is too short to wait for love and happy ever after.

Happy Reading,

Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

Walks along the Shore – Kay Correll

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  • Title: Walks along the Shore
  • Author: Kay Correll
  • Series: Blue Heron Cottages
  • Genre: Romance
  • Takes Place:  Moonbeam, FL
  • Main Character: Christie, Tony, Jill, Scott
  • Other Characters: Violet, Rose
  • Stars: 5

This was a sweet story of rekindled love along with a Wedding mishap

Christie and Tony are getting married and choose the quaint Blue Heron Cottages as their destination but things don’t quite go as planned. First her wedding planner is ghosting her and her wedding dress ends up being shipped to Paris. Everything seems to be falling apart until her best friend & maid of honor Jill steps up, along with the owner of the cottages, Violet and others in this small town and plan the perfect wedding in less than a week. It shows that if everyone pulls together miracles can happen.

During the wedding planning, the maid of honor, Jill and the best man, Scott seem to have a history that is causing a lot of stress since they are both participants in the wedding party. As much as Jill tries to avoid Scott they keep being thrown together.

This is a sweet, clean story of Community, friendship & rekindled love. I really liked this sweet romance.

When you read it, be sure to download the bonus epilogue to read the rest of Jill & Scott’s story. In the Ebook version, there is a link at the end of the book to join the author’s newsletter. Once you join, you will be emailed the bonus epilogue. It is worth the read.

Let me know if you read this book and give my your thoughts in the comments.

Happy reading

Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

Memories of the Beach by Kay Correll

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  • Title: Memories of the Beach
  • Author: Kay Correll
  • Series: Blue Heron Cottages #1
  • Genre: Women’s fiction, Romance, Contemporary Romance
  • Takes Place:  Blue Heron Cottages in Moonbeam, FL
  • Main Character: Aspen & Willow
  • Other Characters: Violet, Walker, Tara, Rose
  • Stars: 5

This is was my first book by this author and I absolutely loved it. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to read book 2 which I will be starting today.

This is the best story of 2 sisters who didn’t know the other existed until they both receive a letter to go to Blue Heron Cottages.

Aspen’s mother deserted her when she was 17. She didn’t have the best mother and they moved around a lot, never settling in one place. Aspen’s dad left them when she was a little girl so she never knew her dad. Even when she was little, her mom would leave her days at a time and she wouldn’t tell anyone because she was afraid of being taken away. She didn’t have a good mom but it was all she knew and she was afraid it could be worse if she was taken away from her mom.

Imagine her suprise when she received mail from an attorney that included a letter from her mom telling her to go to Blue Heron Cottagres in Moonbeam, FL . She has a weeks paid reservation there in her name. The letter said that she would find out about her past.

Aspen was suspicious but she had a dead end job so she figured why not. When she asked for a week off of work she was fired so she loaded everything she owned into her car, left her apartment and drove to Blue Heron Cottages.

Willow received an almost identical letter asking her to go to Blue Heron Cottages to find out about her past. Willow’s mom had died less than a year before and she was still grieving. Her mom tried to tell her something important on her deathbed but died before she could say it. Maybe this trip could answer some questions.

This is a story of these 2 women, not knowing about each other and then developing a bond they never could have imagined. Aspen has never had a real family and in Moonbeam she finds family, friends who are like family and even romance.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story about family and friendship and then there is also the beach.

Happy Reading

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

A Cruise to Murder by Dawn Brookes

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  • Title: A Cruise to Murder
  • Author: Dawn Brookes
  • Series: A Rachel Prince Mystery
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  The Coral Queen Cruise Ship
  • Main Character: Rachel
  • Other Characters: Sarah, Carlos, Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe
  • Stars: 3

A broken engagement, mistaken identity and a killer is lose on a cruise ship. What more could you ask for in a cozy mystery book.

This is the first book I have read by this author and It may be the last. I gave it 3 stars because it took a bit to get to the point. I got a little bored with it because it went into a lot of background before it got to the main plot. Once it gets to the main plot of the story, it moved faster and got to the climax pretty quick.

Rachel’s fiance breaks up with her because he finds someone else. Her best friend, Sarah is a nurse on a cruise ship so she convinces Rachel that she needs to take a 2 week cruise. Soon after boarding the cruise ship, Rachel befriends an elderly woman whose husband has recently died. Marjorie is a wealthy woman and she and her husband use to cruise and they loved it. Since her husband has passed away, she decides to go on a cruise by herself. She had a lot of doubts on going alone but feels like she really needs this. She meets Rachel and their staterooms just happen to be right next door to each other. Rachel takes it upon herself to look after the woman. But could Marjorie’s life be in danger?

Marjorie befriends another elderly woman who just lost her husband as well, so they decide to get off the ship at port together. Her friend is hit & killed by a truck so the question is, was it an accident or was she pushed? Was it a case of mistaken identity or was this woman the target ? There a lot of questions to be answered.

In the meantime, Rachel meets a guy on the ship whose name is Carlos. He is assigned to her table in the main dining room and she finds herself attracted to him. She seems to see him everywhere she turns and sometimes she thinks he may be following her. Could Carlos be a killer or is he as nice as he apears to be.

Rachel finds her self right in the middle of the drama and could find herself as the killer’s target. Once it got to the point, the book took a few twists and turns. I found myself watching to see how many pages I had left to finish the book. it was slow in the beginning but picked up right at the end. The problem is that I love a good who dunit. I like to see if I can figure it out. This one can’t be figured out because the characters came out nowhere at the end of the book. I am not going to finish this series.

If you read this book, let me know in the comments what you think.

Happy Reading

Fiction, Mystery

In My Life by Kay Bratt

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  • Title: In My Life
  • Author: Kay Bratt
  • Series: Hart’s Ridge #3
  • Genre: Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Hart’s Ridge
  • Main Character: Taylor Gray
  • Other Characters: Lucy, Sam, Cate, Anna, Jo, Shane
  • Pets: Diesel, Brand
  • Quote: “Make your words sweet. You may have to eat them someday.”
  • Stars: 5

Kay Bratt comes through again with the 3rd book in the Hart’s Ridge Series. I am really loving this series.

In this book, Taylor’s mother, Cate is looking for a job. Even though she has been exonerated, a felony is still on her record so she is having trouble finding someone who is willing to hire her. Taylor has an idea that the people who own the tree farm, just might give her a chance so Taylor drives her over there. When they arrive, the owner’s son, is there to greet them. As he goes back to the house, Taylor hears him yell. They find his brother has been shot to death. Then in the garage, Taylor finds Amos (the owner of the tree farm) has also been shot & killed execution style along with an employee who is also dead.

Now Taylor is dealing with a triple homicide. Who in the little town of Hart’s Ridge could have committed such a heinous crime!!

Shane’s prime suspect in the triple homicide, is the owners other son Danny. He is the one who found his brother shot so Shane’s money is on him. Taylor just can’t believe that Danny would kill his brother, his father and his best friend. There are other unlikely suspects but they continue their investigation to find a killer.

While Taylor & Shane are investigating a triple homicide, Cate finds a job at the humane shelter. She worked with dogs at the prison so this job is a perfect fit for her and she loves it.

There is a lot going on in this story. Besides the murder and Cate’s new job. Against Taylor’s advice, Lucy moves into a houseboat with her son, Cate dognaps an abused dog, & Taylor has 2 men who are interested in more than friendship with her. And could Cate possibly find love.

As will all of the author’s books, she knows how to keep the reader engaged and wanting more. I just can’t put her books down and this one is no different. Each book is even better and I am drawn into these characters.

I recommend this series to anyone who likes a good mystery with suspense, family dynamics, dogs and a little romance thrown in.

When you read this book, there is a link at the end to download a bonus story about Suki and Ian. If you remember, they are the ones that were going to take Lucy’s baby. We never really found out what happened to them after Lucy left that hotel. Read this bonus book to find out.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you liked this book.

Happy Reading!

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Cupid and cool jaz by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: Cupid and cool jaz
  • Author: Kathi DaleyAmy
  • Series: Bistro at Holiday Bay #3
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Holiday Bay, Maine
  • Main Character: Shelby, Dawson, Colt
  • Other Characters: Duke, Amy, Dax, Abby, Georgia, Nikki
  • Stars: 4

This is the third book in the Bistro at Holiday Bay series. This series is a spinoff of the Inn at Holiday Bay so you will see a lot of familiar characters along the way. As you remember, Shelby is one of the three sisters who received a huge inheritance from her grandmother, who she never knew existed. She also didn’t know about her twp sisters, before this all happened. Shelby decides to buy the Bistro with part of her inheritance.

It’s Valentines Day in Holiday Bay and the Bistro is having a big celebration with a cool jaz musician Duke Armstrong. When Duke is found dead in his hotel room the next morning, Police chief Colt Wilder is called. Duke evidently fell and hit his head on a table which caused his death. But did he really fall or was he pushed? Colt, along with the help of Shelby & Dawson (the bartender at the Bistro), investigate to determine if this was an accident or was it murder and if so, who did it. Dawson had a quite a few enemies so their are several suspects.

I liked this book but not as well as the first two. Shelby mentioned twice that the door to the roof was left open and she was curious as to why it was open but it was never explained. She kinda made a big deal about it so I kept expecting that someone was hiding on the roof or something but I guess it was dropped.

If you like a good mystery with some twists and turns and surprise ending, you will enjoy this book. Like I said, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two but I did like it and I was surprised by the ending. I am looking forward to book.

Happy Reading

Mystery

Lucy in the Sky by Kay Bratt

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  • Title: Lucy in the SKy
  • Author: Kay Bratt
  • Series: Hart’s Ridge #2
  • Genre: Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Hart’s Ridge, New York City
  • Main Character: Taylor Gray, Lucy Gray
  • Other Characters: Cate, Ian, Sam, Jorge, Suki, Jackson, Anna, Jo, Cecil
  • Pets: Diesel (previously known as Bernard)
  • Quote: “Time is too slow for those who wait and too swift for those who fear”
  • Stars: 5

This is the second book in the Hart’s Ridge Series and I think I liked this one even better than the first. I couldn’t put it down.

In this book, we find out more about Lucy If you remember from book one, Lucy stole $1000 from Taylor’s emergency fund and disappeared. In this book, we find out that Lucy followed her dream to visit New York City and the Diesel building where John Lennon once lived.

While homeless, Lucy is mistaken as a dog walker for a rich family who lives in the Diesel building. She decides she needs a little bit of money so she pretends to be the dog walker. This leads her to meet Ian (his wife is the dogs rich, stuck up owner). After meeting Ian and being offered a job, she thinks her dream has come true since she is now living in the Diesel building. Lucy has a secret that Ian finds out about and he has agreed to help her by offering her $50,000 in return. Lucy thinks she has hit the big time and agrees to let Ian help her. But are things really as it seems. Usually if something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Lucy finds her in a predicament that she isn’t sure how to get out of. Lucy might also find love but will her involvement with Ian destroy this?

In the mean time, Taylor is in the middle of another investigation. This time it involves her family and her past. She finds out that her dad has been sending money to an inmate in a Montana prison. Imagine her shock when she finds out who. Taylor always wondered why they left Montana, now she is going to find out that answer. What she thought was her past wasn’t exactly true. We find out about the backstory of what really happened in the fire that kills her mom and baby brother. She also meets another unexpected family member. Her investigation takes her to Montana. She has asked for time off from work so she could investigate which is causing friction at her Job.

Then there is Sam, the first owner of Diesel. Taylor was determined to track down Diesel’s original owner so she could find out his backstory. She always thought that Diesel looked sad and she wants to try to find out why. Will Taylor lose Diesel to Sam? You will have to read the book to find out.

If you love a good story that includes a great mystery with unexpected twists and turns, then you are going to love Lucy in the Sky. This author really knows how to engage a reader and keep their interest. This is definitely a “can’t but down’ book.

Happy reading!