Tag: Book Review

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.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Frozen in Motion by Lori Roberts Herbst

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  • Title: Frozen in Motion
  • Author: Lori Roberts Herbst
  • Series: Callie Cassidy Mysteries #3
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: Rock Creek Village, CO
  • Main Character: Callie Cassidy
  • Other characters: boyfriend Sam, Bestfriend Tonya, Parents Butch & Maggie Cassidy, Detective Raul Sanchez, Ms Finney
  • Pets: Golden Retriever named Woody and a tabby cat named Carl
  • Stars: 5

Review:

Another great read by Lori Roberts Herbst and the 3rd book in the Callie Cassidy Mystery.

I really enjoyed this book. I tend to get lost in it and lose track of time.

Callie is a successful journalist/photographer turned photo gallery owner of Sundance Studio. Her dad calls her Sundance so that name is fitting.

Callie once again finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. She kinda just fell into this or should I say it fell on top of her, literally. She went to the local ice rink to do a photo shoot with the ice hockey team when a body just fell on top of her, injuring Callie. The body that fell on her happened to be dead. So was he pushed? Did he fall or jump? or was he already dead and thrown over the railing? You will have to read the book to find out.

What makes this complicated is the dead man, Jeffrey just happens to be the ex husband of Renata. Renata is Callie’s friend and the sister of the police detective Raul Sanchez. Renata and Jeffery and a huge confrontation earlier outside Sundance studio which the police dective ended up having to get involved.

Of course Renata becomes the prime suspect. Jeffery is arrogant and self absorbed so he is very unliked, The cast of suspects could be just about anyone. Callie is determined to prove her friend didn’t commit this crime. But if not Renata then who?

This book takes you on some twists and turns along the way to find a killer.

Of course we also see Callie’s golden retriever Wood and her tabby cat Carl along with her boyfriend, Sam, her best friend Tanya and the other quirky characters who live in Rock Creek Village, including Ms Finney.

This is a great read and I highly recommend all the books in the Callie Cassidy Mystery series. Can’t wait for the next one.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Photo Finished by Lori Roberts Herbst

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  • Title Photo Finished
  • Author Lori Roberts Herbst
  • Series: Callie Cassidy Mystery #4
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: Moonglow Dude Ranch in Maverick, Colorado
  • Main Character: Callie Cassidy
  • Other characters: boyfriend Sam, Bestfriend Tonya, Parents Butch & Maggie Cassidy, Detective Raul Sanchez, Ms Finney
  • Pets: Golden Retriever named Woody and a tabby cat named Carl
  • Stars: 4

Review:

This is book for of the Callie Cassidy Mysteries.

I have read all of Lori Roberts Herbst books and she has become one of my very favorite authors. I find her books engaging and interesting. A “can’t put down” read!!

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because their were snakes in it and I am deathly afraid of them. I can’t even look at pictures in a book or talk about them. Writing the word even freaked me out. I can’t read about them at all.
I did read this book and would skip over a paragraph when I read that word. That is my fear, not because The book wasn’t good. Luckily it wasn’t all through the book but it was mentioned several times and when I would see the word, I would skip that paragraph.

That being said I did finish the book and liked it except for those parts.

If you have liked the other books in the Callie Cassidy Mystery Series, you will enjoy this on.

This book takes us to Moonglow Dude Ranch in Maverick, Colorado for Callie’s best friend, Tanya’s, bachelorette party.
Their friend, Summer’s, Aunt and Uncle own Moonglow Dude Ranch. They are having trouble getting it opened because of nearby neighbors objecting to it. They even have the mayor involved to keep it from opening.

The bachelorette party seems to be going good until Tanya’s mother, Lydia shows up. Tanya and Lydia evidently don’t have a good relationship. I guess we could say that Lydia is a bit ‘over the top”..
Then to top everything off, there is a murder in the stable.

Maverick has an inept police department so, of course, Callie and her cop friend Lynn from Rock Creek need to investigate.

So who among the cast of suspects could have committed this murder!!

Along the way we meet a sexy ranch hand, Tanya’s mother, the tour guide, kitchen staff, the aunt and uncle (owners of the ranch), the billionaire neighbors who are protesting the dude ranch, staff, the guests at the bachelorette party and we even meet a psychic.

Read the book to see who the murderer is and all the drama leading up the final reveal.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Double Exposure by Lori Roberts Herbst

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  • Title: Double Exposure
  • Author: Lori Roberts Herbsst
  • Series: Callie Cassidy Mystery #2
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Location: Rock Creek Village, CO
  • Main Character: Callie Cassidy
  • Other characters: boyfriend Sam, Bestfriend Tonya, Parents Butch & Maggie Cassidy, Detective Raul Sanchez, Ms Finney
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is Book 2 in the Callie Cassidy Mystery series by Lori Roberts Herbst,

I enjoyed this book just much as I did the first one.


We have Callie again in the book, who now owns her own photography studio called Sundance Studio. This is fitting since her dad calls her Sundance. Callie has also rekindled a romance with her high school sweetheart. who has a daughter, Elyse.

Callie’s coworkers from her old job are coming to town for a retreat and will be staying at her parents ski lodge. Everything was going great until she finds her old rival, Bree, dead In her darkroom.


The detective is investigating the murder but Callie just can’t help investigating it herself.
Lori takes us through some twists and turns to keep us guessing until the killer is revealed.

This is a must read book.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Christmas Letter by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Christmas Letter
  • Author: Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #1
  • Location: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Donny, Hap, Hattie and Pike
  • Pets: a Dog named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short)
  • Stars: 5

This is the first book in the Tess & Tilly Cozy mystery series by Kathy Daley.

This is a great little read.  Tilly is a mail carrier and along with her dog Tilly, oshe meets interesting people along   her mail route. But when she was delivering a letter to Pike, who happens to be the oldest living resident of White Eagle, she finds him dead on the floor of his bedroom.

To top that off, her ex and now her best friend’s boyfriend, Donny, is arrested for the crime.

Her best friend Bree, is convinced that Donny didn’t do it. Tilly’s brother, Mike,  works for the police department and the evidence he has is pointing right to Donnie, so Tilly is starting to believe he did it.

Bree convinces Tilly to help her prove that Donny  is innocent. Tilly begrudgingly agrees even though she is afraid it will turn out that Donnie did it.

With the help of her friend Tony, who is the smartest person she knows and whiz at technology helps her find who killed Pike.

And then there is also a sexy new Vet in town. You will just need to read the book to find out more.

This is fun read and I really enjoyed it.

Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

New York, New Year, New You by Rachael Bloome

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  • Title: New York, New Year, New You
  • Author: Rachael Bloome
  • Main Character: Quincy
  • Takes place: Mostly New York City, NY
  • Star rating: 5

Review:

Rachael has been one of my favorite authors since i read her first book and this one does not disappoint.

A family competition sends Quincy to New York City to visit her best friend, Brynn for 3 months,. She has a bucket list she needs to complete which starts with moving to NYC.

Quincy has spent her whole life competing with her brother and sister and had trouble finding her place. She was known as Quincy the quitter. She wanted to prove to herself that should follow through with what she said she was going to do,

When Quincy’s dad’s right hand man decided to retire, he was going to put either Quincy or her brother in that position. Quincy jumped up without thinking and said she wanted to be the running as well. To do this, she has to prover herself.

She started by showing she wasn’t a quitter and to finish things on her bucket list that she never seemed to get to. First on the list was move to New York. Her best friend lived there, who she hadn’t been to visit in years, so she decided now was the time

Quincy learns a lot about herself along the way.

This book is funny, romantic and everything you would expect from Rachael. I have loved her books from the very first one I read, and this book does not disappoint.

If you are looking for a feel-good book that is an easy read and a ‘can’t stop’ reading book, then this is the book for you.

Read this to see where Quincy goes and if she wins the competition.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Suitable for Framing by Lori Roberts Herbst

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  • Title: Suitable for Framing
  • Series: Callie Cassidy Mystery #1
  • Author: Lori Roberts Herbst
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Setting: Rock Creek Village, CO
  • Main Character: Callie Cassidy
  • Other characters: Sam, Bestfriend Tonya, Parents Butch & Maggie Cassidy, Detective Raul Sanchez, Kimberly, Ms Finney
  • Pets: Golden Retriever named Woody & cat named Carl
  • Star Rating: 5

Review:

This was actually the first Cozy Mystery I read. I didn’t even know about this Genre. I had read plenty of mysteries but had never heard any of them called Cozy. I fell in love with this genre after reading Lori Roberts Herbst books

Lori is a fairly new author and I am so glad I found her.

This is the first book in her series Callie Cassidy Mystery. The main Character, Callie is a photo journalist who faced a professional crises. Her mom convinces her to come back home to Rock Creek Village, CO to take pictures at the Snowflake Swirl Winter Ball. She runs into her ex boyfriend, Sam, and finds out that her old high school nemesis, Victoria, will be her boss while she is there. She goes to the office to speak with Victoria only to find she has been killed.

Now Callie finds her self in the middle of a murder investigation with a lot of suspects, including Sam. You will meet a lot of quirky characters along the way including her best friend, Tanya and Mysterious Ms Finney who is a guest at Callie’s parents Rocky Mountain Ski Resort. Of course their are pets so you will meet Callie’s golden retriever Woody and her adopted cat Carl.

You are going to love Callie and the other quirky characters in this book. Lori has done a great job at developing each character and keeping it interesting. It is definitly a ‘can’t put down’ read.