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Black History Month Read: Against the Currant: A Spice Isle Bakery Mystery (Spice Isle Bakery Mysteries Book 1)

304 pages Publisher St. Martin’s Griffin Publication date

January 24, 2023

ABOUT THE BOOK

Little Caribbean, Brooklyn, New Lyndsay Murray is opening Spice Isle Bakery with her family, and it’s everything she’s ever wanted. The West Indian bakery is her way to give back to the community she loves, stay connected to her Grenadian roots, and work side-by-side with her family. The only thing getting a rise out of Lyndsay is Claudio Fabrizi, a disgruntled fellow bakery owner who does not want any competition. On opening day, he comes into the bakery threatening to shut them down. Fed up, Lyndsay takes him to task in front of what seems to be the whole neighborhood. So when Claudio turns up dead a day later?murdered?Lyndsay is unfortunately the prime suspect. To get the scent of suspicion off her and her bakery, she has to prove she’s innocent?under the watchful eyes of her overprotective brother, anxious parents, and meddlesome extended family. What could go wrong?

MY THOUGHTS

The start of a brand-new cozy mystery series.
First let’s start off by saying the titles of these cozies are just so clever.
A new woman owned business (with help from her family) opens in Little Caribbean, Brooklyn, New York. I loved seeing how this family comes together, especially Grandma to keep their culture connected to their Grenadian roots. The West Indian bakery is a way to stay connected to the neighborhood and everyone in the neighborhood is excited for its upcoming opening. The line is long on opening morning and every morning after.
Everyone is happy except for another local baker who is worried about the competition and tells her to back off.
When her reply is seen as a threat and then he winds up dead shortly after this young entrepreneur is prime suspect number one.
Sleuthing and baking seem to go hand in hand for a while as the case gets solved.
I enjoyed seeing the closeness of the family and the delicious foods and cultures being talked about in the book. Entertaining read. Delicious sounding recipes included.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Olivia Matthews is the cozy mystery pseudonym for national best-selling and award-winning author Patricia Sargeant.

Patricia’s work has been featured in national publications such as Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Kirkus Reviews, Suspense Magazine, Mystery Scene Magazine, Library Journal and RT Book Reviews. She’s also been interviewed on podcasts including Destination Mystery with Laura Brennan, Conversations LIVE! with Cyrus Webb, Read You Later with Lasheera Lee and Katara’s Café with Katara Johnson.

Stay connected with Patricia:

Website: http://www.PatriciaSargeant.com.

Email: BooksByPatricia@yahoo.com.

Enewsletter: http://eepurl.com/cOOIPf.

YouTube: https://bit.ly/2Jmbp9E.

Twitter: @BooksByPatricia.

Facebook: @AuthorPatriciaSargeant.

Watch her author brand video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivASYzGogfs.

Patricia has been a keynote speaker and presenter at various events. She’s conducted numerous writing craft workshops for writers groups and book conferences, and offers online fiction writing courses through her The Write Spot website. To contact Patricia about attending your event, email her at BooksByPatricia@yahoo.com.

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Black History Month read: Where Wild Peaches Grow

303 pages Publisher Lake Union Publishing Publication date August 30, 2022

ABOUT THE BOOK

In a deeply emotional novel of family, cultural heritage, and forgiveness, estranged sisters wrestle with the choices they’ve made and confront circumstances beyond their control.

Nona “Peaches” Davenport, abandoned by the man she loved and betrayed by family, left her Natchez, Mississippi, home fifteen years ago and never looked back. She’s forged a promising future in Chicago as a professor of African American Studies. Nona even finds her once-closed heart persuaded by a new love. But that’s all shaken when her father’s death forces her to return to everything she’s tried to forget.

Julia Curtis hasn’t forgiven her sister for deserting the family. Just like their mother, Nona walked away from Julia when she needed her most. And Julia doesn’t feel guilty for turning to Nona’s old flame, Marcus, for comfort. He helped Julia build a new life. She has a child, a career, and a determination to move on from old family wounds.

Upon Nona’s return to Natchez, a cautious reunion unfolds, and everything Nona and Julia thought they knew—about themselves, each other, and those they loved—will be tested. Unpacking the truth about why Nona left may finally heal their frayed bond—or tear it apart again, forever.

MY THOUGHTS

Nona “Peaches” Davenport has grown up, moved on and has no need for her family in Natchez, Mississippi.
She knows she has all her stuff together living in Chicago as a professor of African American Studies. Having not been to see any of her family in fifteen years she’s satisfied to keep it that way but then she’s notified her father has passed away.
Returning means, she can no longer hide from the past, she must confront it and head on.
It’s not easy, it’s bitter many times. She deeply regrets not having visited her grandma these past years.
As she returns the feeling of betrayal rears its head and the more, she finds out the harder it gets but confront the past she must. Seeing and knowing isn’t easy. A sense of betrayal but regained closeness and forgiveness make this a worthwhile read.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Cade Bentley is a novelist and editor who is also published as Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Abby L. Vandiver, as well as Abby Colette. When she isn’t writing, Cade enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. She resides in South Euclid, Ohio. For more information visit http://www.authorabby.com.

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Blog Tour for The Cottage at the Edge of the Woods

ABOUT TTHE BOOK

The Cottage at the Edge of the Woods

Some houses won’t let go of the past. Some people won’t, either…

When single mum Libby is offered a life-changing sum of money to clear out an old cottage in the woods, she expects dust and decay. She doesn’t expect a house full of secrets, a room full of birds, and a woman who refuses to leave.

The handsome but stressed architect who hired Libby is also a puzzle. Why can’t Ross empty Elm Cottage himself? What can he possibly see in Libby, who has been burned by love and is wary of attachment? How can they persuade the mysterious but kindly Isobel to move on?

As Libby is pulled into the cottage’s story, she must face up to her own deepest fears. Can she help Isobel, fight the past that haunts her, and learn to open her own heart to love once more?

Jane Lovering’s new novel is a delicious, romantic mystery where secrets, love and healing weave through every page.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/CottageattheEdge

MY THOUGHTS

Down on her luck Mum, Libby thinks it’s a dream come true when she gets a job clearing a house, but this house has secrets and it’s not letting go of them easily. Even more mysterious is the man who hired her, Ross an architect. Why can’t he just get on with it and empty the house himself? Heartbreaking and yet heartwarming all at once!
I love the author’s books and have read quite a few of them. Yes, they’re romantic, relaxation books but make no mistake these books are not fluff. Each one has important thought-provoking issues.
The book starts off ordinarily enough, but we meet a character that at first, I was unsure of them they seemed a bit frightening in a sense.
But the more I got to know this character the less frightening they got, and I was intrigued by them and kept wanting to read more.
I became emotionally invested in the characters and wanted to know more.
I loved the characters and the setting and greatly look forward to reading more of the author’s books.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Author Bio –

Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2023 with A Cottage Full of Secrets. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: @jane.lovering

Twitter: @janelovering

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JaneLoveringNews

Bookbub profile: @janelovering

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Biggest challenge coming up?

Daily writing prompt
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?
View all responses

I’d say the decision of who to go with after we get roofing quotes and what type of roof to replace our shingles roof with. We currently have shingles but are considering a metal roof. We have multiple roofs and turrets that will be needing replaced.

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Marrying the Matchmaker: An Irish Matchmaking American Historical Romance Novel Set in 1800s St. Louis (A Shanahan Match)

336 pages Publisher Bethany House Publishers Publication date February 3, 2026

ABOUT THE BOOK

As the middle child of the Shanahan family, Zaira does her best to keep the peace. She doesn’t share her dream of becoming a published author with her family to spare herself their disapproval. When she’s caught in a scandal involving the local matchmaker, Bellamy McKenna, she must put her storytelling ability to good use and feign a match with him to avoid wagging tongues and her parents’ anger.

Feeling the growing pressure to marry as a well-known, yet single matchmaker to St. Louis’s Irish community, Bellamy reluctantly agrees to a temporary match with Zaira. But even though the matchmakers in his family might be able to find love for others, they have a history of disastrous relationships for themselves. When secrets and danger force Zaira and Bellamy to work together, is it finally the matchmaker’s turn to be lucky in love?

MY THOUGHTS

Marrying the Matchmaker is the fourth and final book in the A Shanahan Match series.
An Irish Matchmaking American Historical Romance Novel Set in 1800s St. Louis.
I’ve read and loved all of them. It would be hard to pick a favorite but if pushed to, I’d have to say it’d be this one.
Fake it til you make it or in this book a fake relationship becomes of so real with sizzling chemistry. Swoon worthy writing that’ll keep you reading!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Jody Hedlund is the best-selling author of over seventy books and is the winner of numerous awards. She writes sweet, clean romances with plenty of sizzle (but without the spice).

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Black History Month Read: That Pinson Girl


278 pages Publisher Regal House Publishing Pub Date Feb 06 2024 

ABOUT THE BOOK

In a bleak Mississippi farmhouse in 1918, Leona Pinson gives birth to an illegitimate son whose father she refuses to name, but who will, she is convinced, return from the war to rescue her from a hardscrabble life with a distant mother, a dangerous brother, and a dwarf aunt. When, instead, her lover returns with a wife in tow, her dreams are shattered. As her brother’ s violence escalates and her aunt flees, Leona must rely on the help of Luther Biggs, the son of Leona’ s grandfather and one of his former slaves, to protect her child. Told against the backdrop of the deprivation of World War I, the tragedies of the influenza epidemic, and the burden of generations of betrayal, That Pinson Girl unfolds in lyrical, unflinching prose, engaging the timeless issues of racism, sexism, and poverty.

MY THOUGHTS

An amazing book written by an author that lives in the area she writes about so she’s familiar with the area.
A southern very atmospheric book. Life was so much harder back then but that was their normal, they kept going.
Taking place in rural Mississippi, it covers many social issues taking place back then including racism.
I will be checking to see if the author has a new book out.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Gerry Wilson’s linked story collection, STORM WARNING, is forthcoming from Silent Clamor Press in October 2026. Her debut novel, THAT PINSON GIRL, was published by Regal House Publishing in 2024. Her first fiction collection, CROSSCURRENTS AND OTHER STORIES (Press 53, 2015), was nominated for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Fiction Award.

A seventh-generation Mississippian and a child of the hill country she writes about in THAT PINSON GIRL, Gerry Wilson came of age during the turbulent civil rights era. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous journals.

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Review of three children’s Halloween picture books

1-5 years old 20 pages Publisher Tommy Nelson Pub Date Jun 10 2025

ABOUT THE BOOK

This silly interactive story features a grumpy dog who is not thrilled about Halloween: costumes, surprises, and chocolate. Yuck! Follow the directions to help Cocoa find the perfect doggy treat and avoid tricks in this funny board book.

MY THOUGHTS

Everyone loves Halloween.
This adorable interactive board book for children is the perfect nighttime read along to keep them entertained before drifting off to sleep.
Everyone seems to love Halloween except for Cocoa the dog. He doesn’t want to wear a costume, the thought of dressing up makes him cranky.
Fun counting and finding book for children and wait til they see what makes Cocoa not grumpy anymore.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

4-8 years of age 32 pages PublisherMagination Press ― American Psychological Association Publication date August 4, 2026

ABOUT THE BOOK

You all know Jack O’Lantern, with his wild eyes and crooked teeth. He’s the best on the block at keeping the trick-or-treaters on Irving Street from taking more than one piece of Halloween candy. But have you met his little brother, Jeff?

Jeff O’Lantern has kind eyes and a friendly smile, and he’s a little shy. Unlike his big brother, he’s not very good at scaring away overeager trick-or-treaters. Even his boo sounds sweet rather than spooky. But he’s going to keep trying to live up to the O’Lantern name and make his brother proud.

Despite Jeff’s best efforts, the Halloween treats are going too quickly, and it doesn’t seem like there will be enough for everyone. Join Jeff as he embarks on his pumpkin hero’s journey to save the candy bowl, help out a new friend, and uncover his true talents along the way.

In this funny and charming Halloween tale, can Jeff O’Lantern finally get out of the shadow of his more confident sibling and find his own way to shine?

MY THOUGHTS

Two brother’s Jack O’Lantern and Jeff O’Lantern.
Jack has handed out Halloween candy before on Halloween night many times previously and always does a great job of scaring the children into taking only one piece.
This year it’s Jeff’s turn and he wants to be just like his big brother but he’s not scary, he’s gentle.
He has the time of his life going on a Halloween adventure with a little scarecrow girl trick or treating.
Unique is Jeff and this makes him a very special pumpkin. Brightly illustrated, perfect for young children with an important message about kindness. Recommended!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

3-6 years of age 35 pages Horseman Publishing Pub Date Sep 02 2025 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Inspired by a love for unique and special pumpkins, this multi-award-winning story proves that being different is exactly what makes you perfect.

In the pumpkin patch at Stephens Farm, one little pumpkin doesn’t look like all the others. While his smooth, perfectly orange friends feel confident about Halloween, Bumpy Pumpkin worries that his colorful bumps make him too different to ever be picked.

Day after day, families visit the patch. Day after day, they walk right past him. Bumpy Pumpkin begins to wonder if he’ll be left behind forever.

But when a special little girl named Olivia comes looking for the perfect pumpkin, she sees something wonderful that everyone else missed. Could Bumpy Pumpkin be exactly what she’s been searching for?

MY THOUGHTS

A young children’s picture book with a wonderful and important message for children.
Vividly and colorfully illustrated that will have children eagerly flipping pages in this holiday book.
Very cute story but also it demonstrates it’s okay to be different.
Being different is what makes us unique because who wants to be exactly like the rest?
The bumpy pumpkin is an underdog story, and he comes out the winner in the end, glowing with happiness.
Fully recommended!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

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Two Black History Month Reads: A Woman of Endurance and Walking in Tall Weeds

350 pages Publisher Amistad Publication date April 12, 2022

ABOUT THE BOOK

Combining the haunting power of Toni Morrison’s Beloved with the evocative atmosphere of Phillippa Gregory’s A Respectable Trade, Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s groundbreaking novel illuminates a little discussed aspect of history—the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade—witnessed through the experiences of Pola, an African captive used as a breeder to bear more slaves.

A Woman of Endurance, set in nineteenth-century Puerto Rican plantation society, follows Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman who is captured and later sold for the purpose of breeding future slaves. The resulting babies are taken from her as soon as they are born. Pola loses the faith that has guided her and becomes embittered and defensive. The dehumanizing violence of her life almost destroys her. But this is not a novel of defeat but rather one of survival, regeneration, and reclamation of common humanity.

Readers are invited to join Pola in her journey to healing. From the sadistic barbarity of her first experiences, she moves on to receive compassion and support from a revitalizing new community. Along the way, she learns to recognize and embrace the many faces of love—a mother’s love, a daughter’s love, a sister’s love, a love of community, and the self-love that she must recover before she can offer herself to another. It is ultimately, a novel of the triumph of the human spirit even under the most brutal of conditions.

MY THOUGHTS

Quite heartbreaking and emotional read.
An African woman is kidnapped and brought to Puerto Rico as a breeder slave. Babies taken as soon as they are born.
This is the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade, a little-known time in history and not what we think of when we hear the word slavery.
A hard read but it’s so important that attention is brought to this terrible time.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

424 pages Publisher Tyndale Fiction Publication date July 19, 2022

ABOUT THE BOOK

From award-winning author Robin W. Pearson comes a new Southern family drama about one family who discovers their history is only skin-deep and that God’s love is the only family tie that binds.
Paulette and Fred Baldwin find themselves wading through a new season of life in Hickory Grove, North Carolina. Their only son, McKinley, now works hundreds of miles away, and the distance between the husband and wife feels even farther. When their son returns home, his visit dredges up even more conflict between Fred and Paulette.
McKinley makes it no secret that he doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps at George & Company Fine Furnishings or otherwise. Fred can’t quite bring himself to accept all his son’s choices, yet Paulette is determined McKinley will want for nothing, least of all a mother’s love and attention—which her own skin color cost her as a child. But all her striving leaves Fred on the outside looking in.
Paulette suspects McKinley and Fred are hiding something that could change the whole family. Soon, she’s facing a whirlwind she never saw coming, and the three of them must dig deep to confront the truth. Maybe then they’ll discover that their history is only skin-deep while their faith can take them right to the heart of things.

MY THOUGHTS

The premise sounded interesting.
I enjoy reding books about Southern fiction with some drama thrown in.
Good plot and characters.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

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Black History Month Read: The Light Always Breaks

384 pages Publisher Harper Muse Publication date July 5, 2022

ABOUT THE BOOK

As 1947 opens, Eva Cardon is the twenty-four-year-old owner of Washington, D.C.’s, most famous Black-owned restaurant. When her path crosses with Courtland, a handsome white senator from Georgia, both find themselves drawn to one another—but the danger of a relationship between a Black woman and a white man from the South could destroy them and everything they’ve worked for.

Few women own upscale restaurants in civil rights era Washington, D.C. Fewer still are twenty-four, Black, and wildly successful. But Eva Cardon is unwilling to serve only the wealthiest movers and shakers, and she plans to open a diner that offers Southern comfort to the working class.

A war hero and one of Georgia’s native sons, Courtland Hardiman Kingsley IV is a junior senator with great ambitions for his time in D.C. But while his father is determined to see Courtland on a path to the White House, the young senator wants to use his office to make a difference in people’s lives, regardless of political consequences.

When equal-rights activism throws Eva and Courtland into each other’s paths, they can’t fight the attraction they feel, no matter how much it complicates their dreams. For Eva, falling in love with a white Southerner is all but unforgivable—and undesirable. Her mother and grandmother fell in love with white men, and their families paid the price. Courtland is already under pressure for his liberal ideals, and his family has a line of smiling debutantes waiting for him on every visit. If his father found out about Eva, he’s not sure he’d be welcome home again.

Surrounded by the disapproval of their families and the scorn of the public, Eva and Courtland must decide if the values they hold most dear—including love—are worth the loss of their dreams . . . and everything else.

The author of When Stars Rain Down returns with a historical love story about all that has—and has not—changed in the United States

  • Historical romance set in civil rights era Washington, D.C.
  • Stand-alone novel
  • Book length: approximately 120,000 words
  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs

MY THOUGHTS

I’d give this more than five stars if I could, I just loved it. I could barely put it down.
It started out with a fiercely independent black woman. She owns one of the most prestigious D.C. restaurants in 1947.
At a New Years party there she meets a white politician from Georgia.
This turns into a forbidden romance that people on both sides try to dissuade each other from this romance.
This junior senator has high ambitions in D.C., and his father in his mind, already has him married off to one of the smiling white women and taking his first steps towards the presidency.
Falling in love with a white man is an unforgivable sin in her family’s eyes. Her mother and grandmother both did and the results weren’t favorable.
In this civil rights era novel, we see threats both verbal and physical aimed at the public’s displeasure of the relationship.
They must decide if them being together is worth possibly losing everything they hold dear or to let the chance at strength, compassion and not giving in to others wishes is worth it.
Fabulous read but heartbreaking. Will not easily be forgotten.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Angela Jackson-Brown is an award-winning writer, poet, and playwright who is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN and a member of the graduate faculty of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY.

Angela is a graduate of Troy University, Auburn University, and the Spalding low-residency MFA program in creative writing. She has published her short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry in journals like the Louisville Courier Journal and Appalachian Review. She is the author of Drinking from a Bitter Cup, House Repairs, When Stars Rain Down, and The Light Always Breaks.

I hope your day is going well. Thank you for stopping in.

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Valentine’s Day Read: The Fall Risk: A Short Story

81 pages Amazon Original Stories Pub Date Mar 01 2025 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Two good neighbors make the best of a bad Valentine’s Day in a funny and improbably romantic short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much. But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity. Soon their defenses are breaking away. Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and Seth could be in danger of falling—in love.

MY THOUGHTS

Novella length but it packs a punch.
It’s Valentine’s weekend but our mc’s are not looking for love.
She’s sworn off men, he’s her across the hall neighbor and an arborist. Recently divorced he has trust issues himself. This forced proximity quick read is a fun with witty banter and a fast-falling romantic read.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Abby Jimenez is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of laugh-out-loud, pull-at-your-heartstrings romantic fiction. Her novels have sold over 1.5 million copies and been translated into 28 languages. Some of her favorite highlights include a Good Morning America Book Club pick, a BOTM’s Book of the Year Award, and the Minnesota Book Award. Before her writing career, Abby was in the national spotlight as a Cupcake Wars champion and founder of Nadia Cakes bakery, which has since gone on to win numerous Food Network competitions and amass an international following. She lives near Minneapolis with her husband, three daughters, and four dogs—all TikTok famous in their own right. Abby loves romance novels, coffee, doglets, and not leaving the house.

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