Murder on Valentine’s Day by P. Creeden

Murder on Valentine’s Day by P. Creeden

by Carol2 Comments
I have to assume that I'm not the only person out there who's perfect read for Valentine's Day includes a murder, right? "Murder on Valentine's Day" was a good choice. Emma, our amateur sleuth, is sent to the home of the richest person in town to pick up a cat, even though she tends to be allergic to them. I sympathize with her; I love cats but they make me sneeze and my eyes itch and swell. The cat's owner is dead, apparently of a heart attack, but of course it was actually murder. This is a short story, so we only have a couple suspects, but the author does a good job at planting the clues, even if the motive was a little weak for me. Emma manages to put the clues together, and convinces her dad, the sheriff, whose house he needs to search, but she does put herself in a bit of unnecessary danger. I like Emma. Like...
Read More
Murder on New Year’s Eve by P. Creeden

Murder on New Year’s Eve by P. Creeden

by Carol8 Comments
Murder on New Year's Eve was a fun, short mystery, perfect to start the year with. If you read the blurb above, you know it was murder, of course. Emily's youngish, 20, but her dad, who she has lived with since her parent's divorced when she was about 11, is the local sheriff, so she's been around crime scenes and cops most of her life. When she's helping solve the case, she's intelligent and observant. When she's working with her foster dog, a St. Bernard, she's patient and caring. When she's thinking about her crush, Colby, she seems like she's 13 and I want to roll my eyes, but maybe that's part of being 20 in a small town, shelter by a sheriff father. Given that it's only about 40 pages, I though the mystery was well done. There were enough clues and it was pretty clever. It wrapped a little quickly, but it had to. The characters were well-developed, we...
Read More
Heart Note by Cassandra O’Leary

Heart Note by Cassandra O’Leary

by Carol3 Comments
I love a sweet holiday romance and "Heart Note" fits the bill. Lily is adorable and Christos is sexy as all get out. Sparks start flying from the minute they meet, and I honestly liked them both. It was light-hearted and fun. Their romance is believable, and their are a couple of steamy-ish parts, but nothing to make you blush. They are just a good couple. The other ladies who work at the perfume counter are enjoyable too. One's very Parisian and the other is a bit of a gossip, but I can see why they are all friends. The mystery aspect of the plot was a bit lacking, but that's not really the focus anyway. The bad guy gets caught, Christos has to save Lily from a moderate amount of trouble, but it definitely doesn't overshadow the romance. The story takes place at Christmas in Australia, which makes it a bit different for me. It's summer there this time of year, so...
Read More

A Visit to Bar Harbor, Maine – Guest Post by Heather McCoubrey, author of Back to December

by Carol6 Comments
Today, Heather is taking us to visit one of the setting locations from Back to December. When Cooper invites Anna to go away for a weekend, he takes her to a little town called Bar Harbor, Maine. Bar Harbor holds a special place in my heart: two days after my wedding, my husband and I packed a moving truck and moved from Virginia to Maine. Between my husband, my sister-in-law and myself, we drove three vehicles north--the moving truck broke down twice and we had to constantly pull over to fill it with oil. We arrived in Maine in the early hours of the morning and spent the night in a hotel. The next morning, we woke to do the final walk-through, and on approximately four hours of sleep, we closed on our house. We spent the next two days unloading the moving truck and then we decided to it was time to finally take our honeymoon. So we left our brand...
Read More

Spotlight on Unexpected Outcomes by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

by Carol3 Comments
Read an excerpt: CHAPTER ONE “I can’t believe I’m gonna die. Please, no. Why are you shooting at us?” I pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet raced through the air, smacking my best friend in the center of her chest. I bolted upright; sweat dripping from my forehead, tears streaming down my cheeks, my heart beating faster than ever. I’d just dreamed I’d shot my best friend. My best friend. “It’s just a dream,” I mumbled. “Just a dream.” My husband, Jake rolled over and rubbed my leg. “You okay, Babe?” I lay down and snuggled into him. “I just shot Mel in my dream.” He squeezed his arms tight around me. “We both know that would never happen. You’d be lost without her. It was just a dream. Don’t let it upset you.” I glanced at the clock. It was four AM, and I knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep, so I kissed Jake and got up for the day, resigned to the fact that...
Read More

When the Sky Falls by Joseph Bendoski

by Carol1 Comment
I loved the concept of When the Sky Falls and it was clearly well-researched. Sky Fall Events cause mass panic in a population, but the "news" itself is fictional. It's a little complicated subject, but fascinating really. The writing style is direct, which works here. The book starts off with a really gripping scene, which you can read below. A couple of complaints. First, there are a lot of characters. It was a bit difficult to keep track of them and several of them are not as well-developed as they could be. Second, there was a bit too much violence for me personally, especially in the second half of the book. I guess I just wasn't expecting it. Read an excerpt: Porto, Portugal. October 30, 1988 The lights flickered and went dark, that’s when it started. Luis reached up and adjusted the bulb with his fingers. The hot glass burned his skin. He gritted his teeth as the sensation grew stronger. He doubted the bulb...
Read More