Review -- Banana Cream Pie Murder

Hannah and the whole Lake Eden crew are back in Banana Cream Pie Murder to solve the latest killing in their small town. Hannah’s mother discovers the body this time, just before Hannah returns from her honeymoon cruise. It’s full steam ahead when Hannah and hubby arrive home and they are tossed into the investigation, along with two very busy careers – her cookie store and Ross’ thriving television career – all while they’re settling into married life. 

A bake sale and pie-eating contest serve as a fundraiser for the local theater group as well as the chance to draw out the murderer. Of course, intrepid Hannah is at the center

of the danger and the action, following clues, discovering and discarding red herrings and figuring out whodunit in this latest installment of the fun, popular series.

Fans will not be disappointed…especially with the great twist at the end that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next release in the series from author Joanne Fluke. 

Four stars!

Review -- Come Next Winter

COME NEXT WINTER

Seasons of Change Series: Book One

By Linda Hanna and Deborah Dulworth

Published by Mountain Brook Ink

  

Come Next Winter is a tale overflowing with strong emotions – love, sadness, fear, joy – that carries the reader along for the poignant ride!

When Carol faces a life-altering catastrophe, she must find a way to re-build her life with her sons, one still at home and the other away at college. It’s not an easy road she must travel, but with her faith strong and most of her family behind her, she takes each difficult step in creating joy and a full life again for herself and her boys.

From the snowy ski hills of Vermont to the flatlands of Arizona, readers will be drawn into the story of Carol and her teenage son Andy, meeting her Mom and Dad, aunt and uncle, cousin and even touching base with her older son Ethan when he’s home from school.

Starting over is never easy, but Carol trusts in God, makes friends, finds love and begins a new chapter in her life in Come Next Winter.

This inspirational novel is an easy read, with well-developed characters, realistic situations, and a pleasant style and voice. The author team smoothly combines life and conviction, love and redemption, family and faith. Pour a cup of tea, put your feet up and treat yourself to this first book in the Seasons of Change series.

5 Stars

Review -- In Such Good Company

This behind-the-scenes look at the eleven seasons of the Emmy Award-winning Carol Burnett Show is just a delight. It recalls so many fun characters, guests, skits and general hilarity, but it also shares some of what was going on in the background. Do you know how the show found its way on-air? That’s an interesting tale. Do you know how the main stars Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and Tim Conway ended up on the show? Read some lovely anecdotes about guest stars and friendships that lasted decades.

Part of the beauty of this book is you feel like you’re sitting chatting with Carol Burnett. Her voice is so authentic and you’re suddenly transported back to the fun of the show with all its laughter, music and even some characters who tugged at our heartstrings.

You’ll be glad you spent some time together with one of comedy’s most iconic stars and you’ll be In Such Good Company.

5 Stars

Review -- The Widower's Wife

The Widower's Wife

by Cate Holahan

Crooked Lane Books

When insurance investigator Ryan Monahan opens an investigation into the death of Ana Bacon, who fell overboard, disappearing into the ocean during a cruise in the Bahamas, he has no idea where it will lead. It’s his job to see if there is a way for his company to deny the ten-million-dollar claim, but his investigation takes him in a direction he never expected.

Ana and her husband Tom have had some problems in their marriage, as well as in their personal and professional lives. What secret is the widower Tom hiding? What secrets did Ana take over the side of the ship?

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this thriller told from the alternating points of view of Ryan and Ana – investigator and victim. What I got was an addictive page-turner that I thoroughly enjoyed. Ms. Holahan tells a compelling story and writes so you feel like you’re right there with the characters. I’m looking forward to her next novel!

Five stars.  

Review -- Live and Let Growl

Live and Let Growl

by Laurien Berenson

Kensington

When Melanie Travis and her aunt Peg Turnbull set out for the Kentuckiana Cluster dog show, loyal fans know the trip will be adventure-filled. And author Laurien Berenson does not disappoint in this newest addition to the series.

It’s spring break, and Peg has been invited to judge Poodles at the show, so off to Kentucky they go, meeting some of the series regulars there – Bertie, Terry and Crawford, top handlers and friends, who are showing. While in Kentucky, Peg reconnects with Ellie Gates Wanamaker, with whom she’d showed thirty years earlier and who had retired from the breed ring after a mysterious event a decade ago. Melanie, enlisted to squire Miss Ellie around the show, is surprised by the varying reactions to the legend in the Poodle world – from warm welcome to dislike.

Ellie comes from a wealthy family deeply involved in the Thoroughbred industry as well, which comes in handy since Peg has just inherited a pregnant Thoroughbred broodmare. Peg and Melanie visit the mare and discover how much there is to learn about becoming a horse owner.

In typical Melanie fashion, she’s drawn into solving an unexpected murder…this one with lots of twists, turns, Thoroughbreds and terriers.

Don’t miss this new Melanie Travis adventure…horses are the icing on the dog-filled tale this time.

Five stars

Review -- A Haven on Orchard Lane

A Haven on Orchard Lane

by

Lawana Blackwell

Bethany House Publishers 

When Charlotte Ward attempts a comeback on the London stage of the 1880s, she has more than one challenge to overcome. And not everything goes well, but her daughter Rosalind steps up and relocates her mother to a quiet coastal Port Stilwell. It means Rosalind must leave the teaching job she loves, but there are compensations, including getting to know the mother she believes abandoned her as a child.

As Charlotte and Rosalind heal their relationship and then begin reach out to others in need, their lives expand in joy, love and friendship.

The cast of characters is interesting, and you want to get to know them, cheering for them to find their way and to find love and build futures, although some choose not to take the steps needed to improve their lives.

This sweet novel of love, forgiveness and growth is a wonderful read.

5 stars

Review -- The Forgotten Room

The Forgotten Room

by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig

Penguin Group Berkley, NAL/Signet Romance, DAW

 Three women, one mansion, a tangled history. The Forgotten Room traces three generations of women in a family, the secrets they’ve concealed and what has been hidden from them through the decades. From 1892 to 1944, the secrets are slowly revealed through the stories of these women linked to a mansion on East Sixty-ninth Street in New York City.

The architect who designed the house couldn’t know his daughter Olive Van Alen would end up working as a maid in the the Gilded Age mansion he created. The choices Olive made, what she’s hidden, would drive her daughter Lucy Young to travel to Manhattan from her home in Brooklyn in search of answers to questions about her past. Lucy’s daughter Kate Schuyler would work as a doctor in a private hospital in the converted home during World War II, caring for a mysterious, critically wounded patient to whom she is inexplicably drawn.

Why does Kate’s patient Captain Ravenal have a miniature portrait of a woman who resembles Kate? And why does it appear she is wearing a pendant that belongs to Kate, handed down to her by her mother?  How does this tie into the lives of Olive and Lucy?

Combine romance, misunderstandings and the secrets of a forgotten room at the top of a New York City mansion and you, too, will be drawn into the narratives of Olive, Lucy and Kate. Moving back and forth from one era to another over five decades, the reader gets to know these fascinating women and their mysteries. Richly layered with complex characters and their intriguing tales, The Forgotten Room is an addictive read.