This was one of my favorite stories this year. I love Milly and Henry and Sylvie and Vern. This story will make you laugh and cry. I love everything about this story. You will not want to put this down. This is very inspirational. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION
Amy Lillard’s uplifting new series unites a “Widows Club” of women who share solace, friendship, and faith in the Amish community of Paradise Valley, Missouri . . .
When her young husband died unexpectedly, Millie Bauman thought her life was over too—until she learned she was carrying his child. Now, as she awaits the baby’s arrival, Millie’s sure her future will revolve around motherhood, the B&B she runs with her Aunt Sylvie, and the beloved Whoopie Pies her Widows Club whips up each week. But when a handsome newcomer arrives in town, Millie is intrigued, and the club wonders if Millie might find a second chance at love . . .
Henry King plans to stay in Paradise Valley long enough to take care of some family business, and hopefully mend the heartache of his own lost love. As Henry and Millie cross paths, it’s clear their neighbors are gently trying to play matchmaker. Not wanting to disappoint, the two pretend to play along—but life gets complicated when a true and tender affection grows. As Millie gets ready to welcome her baby, they must rely on faith and fate to decide if they should risk their hearts on love again . . .
This was a tragic story to read. There were lots of killings and the characters were not really likable. It seems like there is going to be a second book in this series and I want to read it to see how it all turns out. There are many twists and turns and I wish there had been actual chapters to the book. I found it a little confusing at times as to who was who. I received a copy of this book from Harlequin for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
Hans Rosenfeldt is a Swedish screenwriter, radio presenter, novelist and actor. He created the Scandinavian series The Bridge, which is broadcast in more than 170 countries, as well as the ITV/Netflix series Marcella
Book Summary:
The first standalone Swedish crime novel by Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of the TV series The Bridge as well as Netflix’s Emmy-winning Marcella.
A dead wolf. A drug deal gone wrong. A female assassin of rarely seen skill. Hannah Wester, a policewoman in the remote northern town of Haparanda, finds herself on the precipice of chaos.
When human remains are found in the stomach of a dead wolf, Hannah knows that this summer won’t be like any other. The remains are linked to a bloody drug deal across the border in Finland. But how did the victim end up in the woods outside of Haparanda? And where have the drugs and money gone?
Hannah and her colleagues leave no stone unturned. But time is scarce and they aren’t the only ones looking. When the secretive and deadly Katja shows up, unexpected and brutal events start to pile up. In just a few days, life in Haparanda is turned upside down. Not least for Hannah, who is finally forced to confront her own past.
This is the best type of Christmas story. It will give you that warm feeling inside you that a Christmas story should. This has wonderful illustrations. This young boy learns the true meaning of Christmas after others tell him untruths. I received a copy of this book from ireadbooktour for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
What is the meaning of Christmas? That’s what eight-year-old EJ wants to know. The other kids say it’s about getting toys‚ but is it, really?
One evening, EJ’s mother takes him to the Rockefeller Center to see the lighting of the most magical tree in the world, and EJ meets someone who teaches him what Christmas is truly all about.Buy the Book Mascot Books ~ Amazon
Meet the Author: Born in Newark, New Jersey, Damiano has a passion for creativity, and his stories always contain a positive message. He wrote The Christmas Blanket, which earned him a Mom’s Choice Award. In The Christmas Blanket, his character EJ realizes the true meaning of Christmas, which is not about getting presents, but about giving back to others.
This story has really good characters and a wonderful ending but I had a bit of trouble getting to the ending. Make sure to get the anthology Christmas Fiction Off the Beaten Path and read the story by this author to know what happened before this book takes place. This will help you understand who Rae is and what she had gone through to get to this family. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a four out of five stars.
About the Book
Book: A Shadow on the Snow
Author: JPC Allen
Genre: YA Mystery
Release date: December 1, 2021
Nineteen-year-old Rae Riley can barely believe her gamble paid off. After spending seven months investigating the identity of her father and whether he tried to murder her mother, Rae has been accepted by her dad, Sheriff Walter “Mal” Malinowski IV, and his immediate family with open hearts. And for the first time in her life, Rae is making friends, jamming with three cute cops who play outlaw country music.
But someone is leaving Rae threatening notes, reminding her of her late mother’s notorious past when Bella Rydell wrecked homes and lives during the few years she lived in rural Marlin County, Ohio. Fearing the threats will make Mal and his family reject her, Rae investigates the mystery on her own. But her amateur sleuthing may cost her the father she’s always wanted when the stalker changes targets and takes dead aim at Mal.
JPC Allen started her writing career in second grade with an homage to Scooby Doo. She’s been tracking down mysteries ever since and has written mystery short stories for Mt. Zion Ridge Press. Her Christmas mystery short story, “A Rose from the Ashes”, was a Selah-finalist at the Blue Ridge Mountains Writers Conference in 2020. Online, she offers tips and prompts to ignite the creative spark in every kind of writer. She also leads workshops for tweens, teens, and adults, encouraging them to discover the adventure of writing. A lifelong Buckeye, she has deep roots in the Mountain State. A Shadow on the Snow is her first novel.
More from JPC Allen
“Write what you know.”
This piece of advice is given to a lot of beginning writers. But many writers are successful concocting stories in fantasy worlds or researching 18th century Russia and writing brilliant historical fiction. I’ve never been comfortable in any genre but mystery, and the more I’ve written, the more I’ve come to write what I know. There’s only one me, and if I pull from my experiences, I hope to give my mysteries a unique touch.
A Shadow on the Snow is set in southeast, or Appalachian, Ohio, because that’s where I grew up. I based Wellesville on St. Clairsville, the town I lived in as a kid. The library my main character Rae Riley works in looks like the library there, and the courthouse is right across Main Street, just like in my novel.
Until I was thirty, my mom’s parents lived out in the country on a ridge between St. Clairsville and the Ohio River. Their home was my favorite place on the planet, so when I needed a farmhouse for Rae’s family, I modeled it on Grandpa and Grandma’s house. I’m sure when my sisters and cousins read about the breezeway that runs between the house and the garage and the steps that lead from it to the outside door to the walkout basement, they’ll instantly know where I got my inspiration.
None of the characters are exact copies of real people I know, but I do use traits of real people to bring my characters to life. Aaron has my oldest child’s enthusiasm for science. Jeanine shares qualities with my youngest sister. Jason Carlisle is based on a man I saw once at my youngest child’s soccer game. All the other dads who coached wore baggy t-shirts and shorts. This man looked like he’d stepped off a yacht with perfectly styled hair, a navy blue windbreaker, and tailored white shorts. In my fictional Marlin County, where most men consider a plaid shirt without a tear to be formal attire, I thought a man who is fashionable would be an interesting contrast to the other characters.
Rae has a lot of me in her. She works at a library, which I did for ten years, but I was a children’s librarian, instead of a check-out clerk. She’s interested in photography and horses like I am. Both of us are shy, don’t like to inconvenience people, and worry what others think of us. However, I have never had the courage or the nerve to set a trap for a stalker, and that experience, as well as the most heart-pounding scenes in my book, are pure inventions. There’s a limit to writing what you know, and as a mystery writer, I’m very glad I can write about crimes without having to experience them!
To celebrate her tour, JPC is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card, a signed copy of Christmas Fiction Off the Beaten Path, a signed copy of A Shadow on the Snow, and a bookmark based on the artwork of an Ohio artist!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
As always this series keeps making me laugh and cry and try to solve a murder. I love this small town in Kentucky where you get to gossip or just discuss things over your daily coffee and treats. You can do this with your favorite fur baby also. I love Maxi and Roxy and Patrick and all the other people in the town. We need to know what Maxi and Loretta are up to during the Pawrade and dinner. I also love the twist at the end. I do recommend reading this series in order so you know what is happening to the main characters. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
Welcome to the Bean Hive Coffeehouse where the coffee and gossip are HOT!
Sure, Honey Springs, Kentucky is a destination for summer time visitors but our annual Christmas Festival, which includes a PAW-rade (mmhmmm for furry friends) is giving the summer tourist season a run for its money quickly becoming a tourist favorite!
Aunt Maxi is hosting a progressive supper for the community to raise funds for Pet Palace, our local SPCA. You’d think it would be GREAT for the tourists and it is but when Aunt Maxi literally has a hissy fit with a tail on it after she finds out Loretta Bebe’s involvement…things turn south.
A dead body appears during the appetizers, Aunt Maxi and Loretta are suspects, and it’s all she wrote from there.
Lordy bee…let’s hope this things wrapped up in a nice little package with a bow on top so Santa doesn’t have to make a stop at the local jail!less
This has been one of my favorite books this year and one of my favorite in this series. I did not want to put this book down until I knew what happened to Christy, Ellie and Sam. There were many twists and turns that had me guessing as to what was going to happen next. I felt that there were some very interesting twists with some of the characters. I definitely was not sure how this book would turn out. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION
From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Dana R. Lynn
Hiding in Amish country
may not be enough to save her…
In a killer’s sights after she witnesses her sister’s murder, Christy O’Malley’s only option is to flee to Amish country–and the estranged husband she left behind. But there’s something Sam Burkholder doesn’t know–they have a daughter. With enemies closing in, Sam will do anything to protect Christy and their little girl…but can he forgive the past for a chance to be a family for Christmas?
From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.
Amish Country Justice
Book 1: Plain Target Book 2: Plain Retribution Book 3: Amish Christmas Abduction Book 4: Amish Country Ambush Book 5: Amish Christmas Emergency Book 6: Guarding the Amish Midwife Book 7: Hidden in Amish Country Book 8: Plain Refuge Book 9: Deadly Amish Reunion Book 10: Amish Country Threats Book 11: Covert Amish Investigation Book 12: Amish Christmas Escape
I really enjoyed the illustrations for this wonderful, cute story. There is a little mystery and you will laugh a bit. These three children have to figure out who ate the cookies. This is a great story fir parents to read to their little ones or for young children who are learning to read to themselves. I received a copy of this book from ireadbooktour for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
Abuela made cookies to eat after school. The gingersnap kind, just the thought made us drool! We rushed home excited. We opened the door…The cookies were missing – just CRUMBS on the floor! Can you help the kids crack the case of the GINGERSNAP SNATCHER?
Vicky Weber is a musician and an elementary educator with a love for children’s literature. As a Puerto Rican author of Taíno descent, she strives to create picture books that are fun, engaging, and educational. All her current titles are based on her background in music education or her heritage. While she has taught a variety of grade levels, primary level education is where her passion lies. It has long been a dream of hers to teach children through the magic of books and she hopes you love reading her works as much as she loved writing them.
This is a book that makes me like to read about WWll again. I really like that it takes place hear in the United States. It showed that there were spies that infiltrated the US to try to hinder our involvement in the war. This is a great romance and we get to have some suspense. I had never heard of the SPARS program before and that some of them were trained in Iowa where I am from was really neat. The characters are wonderful. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
About the Book
Book: Saving Mrs. Roosevelt
Author: Candice Sue Patterson
Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical/Adventure
Release date: December, 2021
Shirley Davenport is as much a patriot as her four brothers. She, too, wants to aid her country in the war efforts, but opportunities for women are limited. When her best friend Joan informs her that the Coast Guard has opened a new branch for single women, they both enlist in the SPARs, ready to help protect the home front.
Training is rigorous, and Shirley is disappointed that she and Joan are sent to separate training camps. At the end of basic training, Captain Webber commends her efforts and commissions her home to Maine under the ruse of a dishonorable discharge to help uncover a plot against the First Lady.
Shirley soon discovers nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust? Why do the people she loves want to harm the First Lady? With the help of Captain Webber, it’s a race against time to save Mrs. Roosevelt and remain alive.
Candice Sue Patterson studied at the Institute of Children’s Literature and is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons in a restored farmhouse overtaken by books. When she’s not tending to her chickens, splitting wood, or decorating cakes, she’s working on a new story. Candice writes Modern Vintage Romance—where the past and present collide with faith. Her debut novel How to Charm a Beekeeper’s Heart was a 2012 ACFW First Impressions finalist and made INSPYs Longlist for 2016.
More from Candice
The idea for Saving Mrs. Roosevelt literally came overnight. I had just finished writing a contemporary romance set in Maine, centered around a harbor town where lobstering is prevalent. My agent called me and told me about the Heroines of WWIIseries and asked if I’d be interested in writing a WWII novel. If so, I needed to come up with a story and proposal fast because spots were limited and filling quickly. My mind was so consumed with research of the lobster industry that I felt I couldn’t clear my brain fast enough to come up with another story on such short notice. That’s when I started wondering how I could take the knowledge I already had and make it work for a WWII novel. I googled Maine during WWII, came across an article that mentioned the SPARs, and the idea for Saving Mrs. Roosevelt was born.
I don’t want to give too much away, but the Nancy Drew deep inside me figured out a unique way to merge lobstering with espionage.
Though the plot is purely fiction, there are some characters and events that are historically accurate that were fun to include as well. I love Maine, but I’m Hoosier born and raised, and in my SPAR research, I discovered that Dorothy C. Stratton–the woman the Coast Guard asked to direct the SPARs–was the Dean of Women at Purdue University in Indiana. She was a woman of true character, grace, and strength. I knew right away she needed a cameo in my story.
Within twenty-four hours of receiving my agent’s call, I had plotted the entire story and sent a proposal. Weeks went by, and as fall ushered in its beautiful colors, my husband surprised me with a trip to Monhegan Island, Maine. We walked the trails, ate amazing seafood, and took in the gorgeous view. While on the island, my agent called again, this time to let me know that Barbour had contracted Saving Mrs. Roosevelt. What a special moment it was to be standing on the very shoreline where the book is set when I received the good news.
Since the book is set in Maine where the heroine works on a lobster boat with her father, I wanted to share my favorite recipe for Maine blueberry pie.
Maine Blueberry Pie
Ingredients:
2 Pie crusts
1 quart of fresh Maine blueberries
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
Freshly grated nutmeg
¼ c light brown sugar
¼ c white sugar
¼ c flour
2 tbsp tapioca for thickening (if the berries are juicy)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the berries into a large bowl, add lemon juice, and toss. Add the remaining ingredients and toss until the berries are well coated with the flour and sugars mixture. Line the pie plate with one crust. Put the berries into the pie plate and top with a solid or lattice-top crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the berries are bubbly and the crust is golden brown.
I loved the descriptions of the island and the butterflies. The women on this island were made from sturdy stock. I loved learning all the secrets that the women on this island had accumulated throughout their lives. I did find it hard to understand what was really happening at times and I really did not like the ending all that well. It seemed to leave me hanging a bit as to what the island was really like. I enjoyed most of the story and I really liked the characters. I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
Polly Crosby grew up on the Suffolk coast, and now lives deep in the Norfolk countryside. THE BOOK OF HIDDEN WONDERS was awarded runner up in the Bridport Prize’s Peggy Chapman Andrews Award for a First Novel, and Polly also won Curtis Brown Creative’s Yesterday Scholarship, which enabled her to finish the novel. She currently holds the Annabel Abbs Scholarship at the University of East Anglia, where she is studying part time for an MA in Creative Writing. THE WOMEN OF PEARL ISLAND is her second novel.
Book Summary:
With the same atmosphere and imagination of THE BOOK OF HIDDEN WONDERS, Polly Crosby’s new novel, THE WOMEN OF PEARL ISLAND is set on a lush, secluded island where family secrets bring together an unlikely friendship.
On a secluded island off the British coast, an elderly woman named Marianne collects butterflies and memories from her past. No longer able to catch butterflies herself, she enlists the help of a young woman named Tartelin who has peculiar birthmark on her cheek. Tartelin’s mother has recently passed, leaving her unmoored and eager for new beginnings on the island.
Marianne has spent most of her life on the island, her family having owned it for generations. She begins to tell her young assistant her family’s story – from the prosperous days when they harvested pearls and held banquets, to the harder times and her father’s desperate money-making schemes. But during WWII, the British government commandeered the island for nuclear testing and they were all forced to leave. Though, secret to everyone, Marianne stayed behind and experienced something she calls “the blast,” an event that changed everything for her. Now, the older woman is obsessed with tracking the changes in butterflies and other creatures on the island to prove what she witnessed so many decades before.
With a mystery spanning decades, this is an emotional and atmospheric story of a young woman coming into her own as she forges an unlikely friendship with her employer, both women grieving their pasts and together, embracing a new future.
This is the type of Christmas story that is sweet and makes you want to believe in the magic of Christmas. This is a wonderful story of the ornaments on a tree coming to life every Christmas. The illustrations are fantastic. This is a great book that parents can read to their children or older children can read to themselves. I received a copy of this book from ireadbooktour for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
I give this book a five out of five stars.
Book description:
During the day, the Miller family’s Christmas tree stands tall in their living room, sparkling with lights and ornaments. Little does the family know that their Christmas tree is anything but ordinary. Each evening, the magic of Christmas brings their tree to life—much to the delight of Hannah and William Miller. Follow along as Hannah and William experience the magic of Christmas in a whole new way.
Meet the Author: Kristin Sponaugle was born in Butler, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Duquesne University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in health sciences and her master’s degree in physician assistant studies. Kristin had always dreamed of becoming an author, and made that dream a reality with her two published children’s books, The Princess Puppy and The Living Christmas Tree. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cross-stitching, and playing with her Maltese dog, Rosie. Kristin lives with her husband, daughter, and Rosie, and resides wherever the Air Force sends them.
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