Categories
Uncategorized

Top Ten Tuesday-Books I want to read in February for Black History Month

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl and this week’s topic is a freebie. I have a lot of books on my to be read list so I thought it would be a great month to try to read some of my books I want to get to for black history month. I hope to get to all of them, but I do have blog tour books and author review books to read as well so we shall see.

A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

In an early twentieth-century America roiling with racial injustice, class divides, and WWI, two women fight for their dreams in a galvanizing novel by the bestselling author of Golden Poppies.

The author of the award-winning Sally Hemings now brings to life Hannah Elias, one of the richest black women in America in the early 1900s, in this mesmerizing novel swirling with atmosphere and steeped in history.

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.

Set in 1920s New York, an addictively readable, thoroughly entertaining historical novel involving sex and secrets, race and redemption, and power and privilege—based on a sensational real-life case that made international headlines—in which the marriage between a working-class black woman and the scion of one of America’s most powerful white families ends in a scandalous annulment lawsuit.

Four generations of women experience love, loss, war, and hope from the rise of Nazism to the Cuban Revolution and finally, the fall of the Berlin Wall in this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of the “timely must-read” (PeopleThe German Girl.

Berlin, 1931: Ally Keller, a talented young poet, is alone and scared when she gives birth to a mixed-race daughter she names Lilith. As the Nazis rise to power, Ally knows she must keep her baby in the shadows to protect her against Hitler’s deadly ideology of Aryan purity. But as she grows, it becomes more and more difficult to keep Lilith hidden so Ally sets in motion a dangerous and desperate plan to send her daughter across the ocean to safety.

Harlem Shuffle’s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem. 

Running from Bondage tells the compelling stories of enslaved women, who comprised one-third of all runaways, and the ways in which they fled or attempted to flee bondage during and after the Revolutionary War.

Born in West Africa in the mid-eighteenth century, Maryam Prescilla Grace—a.k.a “Momma Grace” will live a long, wondrous life marked by hardship, oppression, opportunity, and love. Though she will be “gifted” various names, her birth name is known to her alone. Over the course of 100-plus years, she survives capture, enslavement by several property owners, the Atlantic crossing when she is only eleven years of age, and a brief stint as a pirate’s ward, acting as both a spy and a translator. 

Set in the Deep South pre Gone with the Wind and the Civil War, The Wedding Gift is a compelling and powerful story of slavery, abuse and passion. Perfect for fans of The Help.

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.

Which book do you think I should start reading first? Have you read any of these titles? What were your thoughts on them?

Have a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping in today.

Categories
Uncategorized

Oh What Fun, Christmas in Blue Dog Valley by Annie England Noblin

378 pages Avon Publisher September 20,2022 Publish Date

About the Book

For anyone who ever loved All Creatures Great and Small, Annie England Noblin’s newest novel—about a big city vet transplanted to a small Wisconsin town—is pure delight as we meet aging alpacas, stump-tailed cats, goats in tutus, a vagabond border collie named Kevin, and the people who think they own them. And through it all, Goldie McKenzie, DVM, navigating the small town of Blue Dog, Wisconsin.

Welcome to Blue Dog Valley. Home of the Fighting Elk. Population 3,411. 

When Goldie McKenzie, DVM, vet to the L.A. pet stars, arrives from Los Angeles to Blue Dog Valley she realizes three things.

  1. Never agree to upend your life when you’re hungover
  2. Pot-belly pigs are not true farm animals
  3. She’s going to need a warmer coat

At first Goldie is nothing more than a fish out of water, with few clients and few friends. But after a less than pleasant encounter with a man whose dog is suffering from a possibly fatal case of bloat, she’s finally earning the trust and goodwill from her fellow Blue Dog Valley citizens. Her clientele grows to include the many farm animals in the town, including a horse named Large Marge, a cape-wearing therapy alpaca, and a yardful of sweater-wearing goats. Add in Kevin, the “worst sheepdog in Blue Dog Valley,” and a Sphinx cat named Airport, and Goldie is having the best time a vet can have. . . aside from the annoying attractive town grump, Cohen, who seems intent on making sure she always feels like an outsider.

With her newfound goodwill, Goldie comes up with an idea to reinvigorate the once flourishing Blue Dog Valley: a Christmas carnival. A petting zoo, pictures with Santa, a baking contest, what more could they want? After only some brief resistance from Cohen and his father, they begin the great plan to reinvigorate Blue Dog Valley.

Will Christmas be enough to salvage this dying town—and be enough to bring Goldie closer to a certain grumpy man?

Grab A Copy Here

My Thoughts

This was such a fun story to read and a nice break from the heavier historical books I’ve been reading recently.
You’ve got to admit Blue Dog Valley is an unusual name, but I liked it. It’s the name of a town in Wisconsin, I’m not sure if it’s a fictional town or not.
A young woman, a veterinarian goes through a bad breakup in Cali where she’s she from and on a whim buys a sight unseen veterinarians office in Wisconsin.
From acquiring a cat at the airport to feeling like a fish out of water in her new surroundings this book is fun and funny. Wisconsin is a whole lot different than California and its never more evident than when she arrives at her new veterinarians’ office dressed up and everyone else wears boots and jeans.
At one point the book had me laughing out loud reading a part where she wakes up with a hissing cat on her head.
I loved the small town; everyone knows everyone, aspect of the story.
The characters are great, the typical grumpy yet friendly old guys at the diner, the gossipy old ladies, the farmers and their animals.
I thought it was so fun to read about the country house calls she makes for horses, alpacas and a cat.
There was some family drama, but a very nice reunion happened too.
I enjoyed seeing Blue Dog Valley’s Christmas carnival and how the town’s people all jumped in and worked together planning it and running it.
I will be on the lookout for more books by this author.

Pub Date 20 Sep 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Annie England Noblin lives with her son, husband, and three dogs in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated with an M.A. in creative writing from Missouri State University and currently teaches English and communications for Arkansas State University in Mountain Home, Arkansas. She spends her free time playing make-believe, feeding stray cats, and working with animal shelters across the country to save homeless dogs.

I hope you’re having a great day. Thanks for stopping in today.

Categories
Uncategorized

A mesmerizing page-turner-River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer, a debut

About The Book

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Real Simple, Goodreads, AARP, Boston.com, BookBub and BookRiot

Rare. Moving. Powerful. This beautiful, page-turning and redemptive story of a mother’s gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery is a remarkable debut.
 
Her search begins with an ending.…


The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs.
 
Away from Providence, she begins a desperate search to find her children—the five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know. The grueling, dangerous journey takes her from Barbados then, by river, deep into the forest of British Guiana and finally across the sea to Trinidad. She is driven on by the certainty that a mother cannot be truly free without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear. These are the stories of Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. But above all this is the story of Rachel and the extraordinary lengths to which a mother will go to find her children…and her freedom.

foot of an African child

Grab A Copy Here

My Thoughts

Reading is knowledge. Reading is power and this is a very powerful book, one that makes you sit up and draws your attention. It has an important story in it. It’s about love. The ultimate love. A love story between a mother and her children. Her children that are no longer with her. Children she carried within her body for nine months and then they were stolen from her in the aftermath of slavery. Some stayed with her longer than others, none loved any less because of the time they stayed with her. The day after the King declares all slaves are free, the Emancipation Act of 1834 in Barbados goes into effect. We follow one woman’s journey to find her children as she and her companion’s trek across the Caribbean. A child’s pain becomes the mothers. Will she be able to find all of her children, or will she be caught by the slave catchers for a reward?
Memorable! Once you read this it will stay with you!

Pub Date 31 Jan 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Is this book on your to be read list?

Thank you for stopping in today. May your day be blessed.

Categories
Uncategorized

Every Summer After, a debut beach read from Carley Fortune

320 pages Berkley Publisher Publication Date May 10, 2022

Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
 
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.
 
When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past. 

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic story of love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

Grab A Copy Here

My Thoughts

Be still my beating heart. What took me so long to read this book, it’s her debut book as well.
As young teens a young girl and her family spend summers at the beach in their cottage where she meets two teen brothers.
The book is told in alternating time periods between today’s time period when they are all adults and back when they were teens. It’s a friends to lovers kind of romance. All three are friends but she gravitates to one of the brothers and over their teenage years it gradually changes from best friends spending summers together to more as they get into older teenage years.
The author reels you in and you care about the characters, you are rooting for them.
It’s an awakening of senses, a vulnerability, a coming alive and coming into your own.
This summer romance has turned into so much more.
It’s smooth sailing and you don’t see it coming then you get gut punched! No, it couldn’t have possibly happened! There’s no forgiveness! You start to slightly recover and please, please, NO ! You can’t believe what you’re reading. It’s just not possible.
The author just brought the story to life!

Pub Date 10 May 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The Author

Website

http://www.carleyfortune.com

Twitter

carleyfortune

Carley Fortune is the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of EVERY SUMMER AFTER. Her second book, MEET ME AT THE LAKE, comes out May 2, 2023. It’s a breathtaking love story about two strangers who come together when they need each other most. Once, in their early twenties, and again a decade later.

Carley is an award-winning journalist and worked as an editor at some of Canada’s top publications, including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, and The Grid. She was most recently the Executive Editor of Refinery29 Canada.

Carley spent her young life in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, and in Barry’s Bay, a tiny lakeside town in rural Ontario and the setting for EVERY SUMMER AFTER.

EVERY SUMMER AFTER was an instant international bestseller and Carley’s debut novel.

Carley lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons. Follow her on Instagram @carleyfortune.

Thank you for stopping in today. Stay safe and warm.

Categories
Uncategorized

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Taking on a World of Words

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Clue meets Indiana Jones with a fiction-loving twist only Grace Percy can provide.
 
Newlyweds Lord and Lady Astley have already experienced their fair-share of suspense, but when a honeymoon trip takes a detour to the mystical land of Egypt, not even Grace with her fiction-loving mind is prepared for the dangers in store. From an assortment of untrustworthy adventure-seekers to a newly discovered tomb with a murderous secret, Frederick and Grace must lean on each other to navigate their dangerous surroundings. As the suspects mount in an antiquities’ heist of ancient proportions, will Frederick and Grace’s attempts to solve the mystery lead to another death among the sands?

In 1942, Evie Farrow is used to life on Ocracoke Island, where every day is the same–until the German U-boats haunting their waters begin to wreak havoc. And when special agent Sterling Bertrand is washed ashore at Evie’s inn, her life is turned upside down. While Sterling’s injuries keep him inn-bound for weeks, making him even more anxious about the man he’s tracking, he becomes increasingly intrigued by Evie, who seems to be hiding secrets of her own.

First in a new cozy mystery series!

There’s nothing sweet about murder…

Leila Khoury has always believed that everyone loved her father as much as they loved his artisanal maple syrup. But when he’s killed, and she returns to Sugar Ridge, Vermont to take over his business, she starts to realize how much of his life she’s left untapped.

With her brother under suspicion, her mother just barely holding it together, and police not producing any leads, Leila will have to investigate herself if she wants answers about her father’s sticky end. But the more she learns, the more she worries that there won’t be a sappy ending to the story.

A cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke, this edition includes 5 delicious maple recipes for mystery readers with a sweet tooth!

In 1715, Lady Blythe Hedley’s father is declared an enemy of the British crown because of his Jacobite sympathies, forcing her to flee her home in northern England. Secreted to the tower of Wedderburn Castle in Scotland, Lady Blythe awaits who will ultimately be crowned king. But in a house with seven sons and numerous servants, her presence soon becomes known.

From the author of THE UNMATCHMAKERS and THE STAND-UP GROOMSMAN comes a chocolate-filled love story starring a heroine who is convinced she knows what will make her happy and a hero who seizes the opportunity to prove her wrong.

What are your thoughts on my books? Let me know in the comments your reading plans.

Have the best day ever and thanks for stopping by.

Categories
Uncategorized

Publication Day Review-Yesterday’s Tides by Roseanna White-WWI and WWII

416 pages Bethany House Publishers January 24,2023 publication date

About The Book

In two world wars, intelligence and counterintelligence, prejudice, and self-sacrifice collide across two generations

In 1942, Evie Farrow is used to life on Ocracoke Island, where every day is the same–until the German U-boats haunting their waters begin to wreak havoc. And when special agent Sterling Bertrand is washed ashore at Evie’s inn, her life is turned upside down. While Sterling’s injuries keep him inn-bound for weeks, making him even more anxious about the SS officer he’s tracking, he becomes increasingly intrigued by Evie, who seems to be hiding secrets of her own.

Decades earlier, in 1914, Englishman Remington Culbreth arrives at the Ocracoke Inn for the summer, never expecting to fall in love with Louisa Adair, the innkeeper’s daughter. But when war breaks out in Europe, their relationship is put in jeopardy and may not survive what lies ahead for them.

As the ripples from the Great War rock Evie and Sterling’s lives in World War II, it seems yesterday’s tides may sweep them all into danger again today.

Grab A Copy here

My Thoughts

How do I even begin a review for this absolutely incredible book? Not much got done yesterday, I can tell you that. I read it all in one day.
We visit the Outer Banks in North Carolina several times a year and was so excited to see this took place there in Ocracoke Island, NC. I have been reading this author's books for years and she is an automatic read. I cannot resist her books. Her other books have been fabulous, I've loved them all but with this one she's totally blown it out of the water.
Taking place in two time periods, 1918 and 1942, it's always a treat to read a book taking place in multiple time periods with multiple points of view.
There is so much happening in each time period.
This historical fiction starts out in 1942 and I learned so much about this time period.
I found it fascinating to learn about the HMT Bedfordshire an armed naval ship in the service of the Royal Naval Patrol during WWII. It was sunk by the German submarine U-558 on May 11, 1942, off the coast of Ocracoke Island. It was staffed by British and Canadien crew.
Fascinating history switching between WWI era and WWII time periods the thread runs with the same family and includes not able to put it down action, heart-wrenching family drama, suspense and romance. There is a mixed-race relationship that leads to racism and discrimination which the author deals with carefully and respectfully.
I loved the book and am eagerly awaiting what this author puts out next.

Pub Date 24 Jan 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at http://www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

Have you read this author yet? What are your favorite books by her?

Thank you for visiting the blog today. Have a wonderful day.

Categories
Uncategorized

Top Ten Tuesday-New to Me Authors I’ve Read in 2022

Hey all, welcome. Today’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday on That Artsy Reader Girl is New to me Author’s we’ve read in 2022.

Some people are hesitant to read new author’s books and prefer to stay with what they’re comfortable with, the tried and true. I respect that and can see their point of view. As for myself I love trying new to me authors. I have found many great authors that I can’t wait to try their backlist now and then you find some that you try a book and say, eh and move on. To me it’s always worth trying a new to me author.

New to Me Authors I’ve tried in 2022

“Don’t go in the guest bedroom.” A shadow falls on Douglas Garrick’s face as he touches the door with his fingertips. “My wife… she’s very ill.” As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can’t risk losing this job—not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe…

Mariah Fredericks’s The Lindbergh Nanny is powerful, propulsive novel about America’s most notorious kidnapping through the eyes of the woman who found herself at the heart of this deadly crime.

Two ordinary sisters. A long and brutal war. A heroic sacrifice…

London, 1915. As German bombs rain down on the East End of London and hungry children queue for rations in the blistering cold, fifteen-year-old Florrie is forced to grow up fast. With her father fighting in the muddy trenches, Florrie turns to her older sister Edith for comfort. But the war has changed Edith. She has grown quiet, with dark shadows under her eyes, and has started leaving the house at night in secret. When Florrie follows her sister through the dark and winding streets of London, she is shocked by what she discovers. But she knows she must keep her sister’s secret for the sake of their family, even if she herself must pay the ultimate price…

A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives.

She was the perfect wife, with the perfect life. You would kill to have it…

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care. But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her—but she’s going to have to work for it.

Beloved, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers a hopeful and heartwarming story about an impossible Christmas dream, an unexpected act of goodwill–and a surprising chain of events that could gift joy far beyond the holiday season…

Sometimes you need to face the past to find your path in life…

A gorgeous, uplifting story about family secrets, unconditional love and staying true to who you are—even when life throws you a curveball. This irresistible novel is perfect for fans of RaeAnne Thayne, Elin Hilderbrand and Susan Mallery.

Barby Keel is used to all manner of creatures arriving at the door of the Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary where she lives and works, deep within the Sussex countryside. Nothing can prepare her for the arrival of Teddy, however, a neglected, traumatised puppy who is dumped at the gates of the sanctuary in a filthy box, terrified and desperate for someone to love.

Two cousins who start a food stall at their local night market get a serving of murder in this first novel of a delicious new cozy mystery series by Jennifer J. Chow, author of Mimi Lee Gets a Clue.

A collection of lost books holds the clues to her family’s legacy…and her future.

Hope Sparrow has mastered the art of outrunning her tragic past, learning never to stay anywhere too long and never to allow anyone control over her life again. Coming to Wanishin Falls in search of her family’s history already feels too risky. But somewhere in the towering stacks of this dusty old bookshop are the books that hold Hope’s last ties to her late mother—and to a rumored family treasure that could help her start over.

There are so many more authors and books I could list but this is a start.

Thank you for stopping in. What new to you authors have you discovered while reading their books last year?

Categories
Uncategorized

Sometimes all you need is a little encouragement, Lauren the Jumping Cow by T.I.Frazier

22 pages Timothy Frazier publisher December 15, 2022 publish date

About the Book

Taking place in the countryside, Lauren is a Jersey cow (calf) who is determined to be a jumping cow when she grows up. She has to work hard and train if she is going to accomplish her dream. In the end, she doesn’t just jump but discovers she can fly.

This story teaches children to believe in themselves and to try new things even if it has never been done before. It encourages the spirit of exploring yourself and to push beyond what you think is possible.

My Thoughts

Lauren the cow lives with her mother in the countryside. When this jersey calf grows up, she is determined to become a jumping cow.
One thing I noticed right away is how vividly illustrated this book is. Younger children will be especially drawn to these beautiful illustrations. Older children who can understand the concept of the story will appreciate the lesson it tells, as it will help them to believe in themself.
Lauren wants to be a jumping cow and as they are not known for jumping the way horses are she starts out small and works her way up to bigger and higher things, a blade of grass, a stick and has finally worked her way up to trying to jump over a fence. Lauren, try as she may fails time and again though she has plenty of encouragement from the other animals on the farm.
Will she be able to jump the fence finally and become the jumping cow she is determined to become? Children will enjoy reading this with an adult and the encouragement they'll get out of it.
Highly recommended as a positive book for children.

Pub Date 15 Dec 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

T.I Frazier was born on the East Coast and spent most of his younger years living near Boston, MA. As a young teenager, his family moved to Southern California, where he completed High School and competed in Track and Field. Tim graduated in 2008 from Calvin University with a degree in Sociology and went on to receive a Master of Business Administration from Western Governor’s University in 2018.

Before writing his first book, he worked in a variety of financial-related roles, including business banking, private banking, analysis, and procurement in the healthcare and food industries. Concurrently, Tim served 10 years with the United State Army National Guard in various roles, including Chaplain Assistant, and was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2010.

Today, Tim works for a trust company as he continues to write inspiration and children’s books. He also looks to inspire others through various speaking engagements. If he isn’t running around playing with his toddler son and wife Lauren, he may be on the farm with his faithful dog Rocky and cat Al.

Thank you for stopping in. Have a marvelous day.

Categories
Uncategorized

A Maple Syrup Cozy Mystery, A Doomful of Sugar by Catherine Bruns

278 pages Poisoned Penn Press October 25,2022 Publish date

About The Book

First in the new Maple Syrup cozy mystery series from USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns.

There’s nothing sweet about murder…

Leila Khoury has always believed that everyone loved her father as much as they loved his artisanal maple syrup. But when he’s killed, and she returns to Sugar Ridge, Vermont to take over his business, she starts to realize how much of his life she’s left untapped.

With her brother under suspicion, her mother just barely holding it together, and police not producing any leads, Leila will have to investigate herself if she wants answers about her father’s sticky end. But the more she learns, the more she worries that there won’t be a sappy ending to the story.

A cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke, this edition includes 5 delicious maple recipes for mystery readers with a sweet tooth!

What readers are saying about A Doomful of Sugar:

“There’s no shortage of twists and turns”

“Memorable characters, a charming setting…a well-plotted mystery”

“Developed characters, a strong plotline, and a few red herrings”

Grab A Copy Here

My Thoughts

A Doomful of Sugar is the debut book in the Maple Syrup Mysteries Book series. The descriptions of maple syrup bring back a lot of memories. When the children were younger, we took them to a maple syrup festival in Meyersdale, PA. There was the maple syrup tour and explanation of how the syrup was tapped and boiled and made, which is exactly what the book had as well.
It was an easy-to-read book with not too many characters that you can't keep them all straight.
I liked the idea of our main character inheriting the maple syrup business from her father upon his suspicious death. As a teacher out of state, she has no plan to stick around she is just there for the reading of the will. Her surprise is genuine when she realizes her father has left the business to her rather than his wife or son.
Her father has no enemies, she is sure of it, but having not been there in four years she shouldn't be so sure. Always quick to extend credit and the grandfatherly type he seems like the last person you would expect to see knocked off.
As we move through the book and start to see a backstory of this man and his financial dealing a clearer picture is painted for us.
The suspected killer seems very clear as the clues point right to them, but you'll have to read this to judge what you think of the suspects.
I loved all the cooking and mentions of food, it made for a delectable read. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

Pub Date 25 Oct 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Books In The Series

Book 2

Only a sap would try to ruin a bride’s special day…

Spring has finally come to Sugar Ridge, Vermont, and with it the end of syrup-making season. But Leila Khoury, new owner of Sappy Endings Farm, won’t be making like molasses any time soon. Her best friend Heather’s wedding is coming up, and Leila will do anything to make sure it lives up to all her sweetest dreams.

Even with Leila’s own romantic past stirring up trouble, everything is going to plan until the bridal shower ends up with a body count.

Heather’s rich and backstabbing aunt had a whole orchard of enemies, so Leila will have her work cut out for her. Can she tap the killer before Heather’s dream wedding becomes a nightmare?

Includes delicious Middle Eastern recipes!

About The Author

Catherine is the USA Today bestselling author of the Cookies & Chance mysteries. She lives in New York with her very patient husband, three sons, and several spoiled pets. Catherine has a B.A. in English and is a former newspaper reporter and press release writer. She also writes the Italian Chef mysteries, Cindy York real estate and Carrie Jorgenson (Aloha Lagoon) culinary series. Her book, For Sale by Killer, won the 2019 Daphne du Maurier award for Mainstream Mystery/Suspense.

Get a free ebook when you sign up for Catherine’s newsletter at https://www.catherinebruns.net/contact

Please feel free to connect with her on social media as well:

facebook.com/Catherine-Bruns-Books-218522341685434

twitter.com/@writesmystery

Thank you for visiting today. May your day not be stressful.

Categories
Uncategorized

Pleased to Invite you onto my blog today for the Bookouture Blog Tour of The Undercover Secretary by Ellie Midwood

Book: The Undercover Secretary 

Author: Ellie Midwood 

Pub Day:  January 19th 2023 

Buy Link(s):

https://geni.us/B0BJQBT43Hsocial

About the Book

France, 1942. “I forced myself to hold his gaze. My heart thrashed inside my chest like a bird battering its wings. They knew who I was. They knew what I’d done.” This heartbreaking and unputdownable World War Two noveltells the incredible true story Dora Schaul, who risked her life by coming face-to-face with enemy—the monsters who killed her loved ones.

Dora has lost everything to the Nazis. Her dearest friends have disappeared into thin air. Her parents have been imprisoned in concentration camps and murdered for the crime of simply existing. She has no idea if her darling husband, the devoted and brave Alfred, is still alive.

Though her world is crashing and burning around her, Dora refuses to give in to Hitler’s tyranny. The Nazis may have broken her heart, but they will not break her spirit.

Secretly working for the underground network in France, Dora risks her life on the most dangerous mission in the history of the local resistance. She goes undercover as the secretary of the Head of Gestapo; a soldier with a brutal reputation. A cold-blooded killer.

She is tasked with leaking the names of the SS to the British press. Every day, she rubs shoulders with the enemy. She makes coffee for the people she despises. She types letters for the monsters who killed her family. At any second, she could be found out…

Can she survive, turning the tide of the war and saving thousands of lives? Or will those she loved the most in the world, and millions of other innocent people, have died in vain?

Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network, and The Lilac Girls will be utterly swept away by this heart-wrenching and totally gripping novel about one of history’s most courageous women.

My Thoughts

I love a well-researched historical book, whether it is fiction or nonfiction. This historical fiction book has held my interest the whole way through with its characters especially our main character, Dora.
The characters are portrayed very well, and I very much enjoyed reading about Dora’s strength despite the many terrible situations she found herself in.
This is a fictionalized story of true events.
The evil characters made me shudder, I couldn’t even imagine thinking of tricking them the way Dora did. She saw the torture they put men through and knowing she could be subjected to the same but yet she continues to act normal and pleasant among them while at the same time extracting and giving information right under their noses without them being any the wiser.
The author is an absolute magician with words. The way she has with words, she brings out such emotion in reader. Absolutely marvelous, soul stirring book that I will read again. Have your tissues with you, this is heartbreaking!

Pub Date 19 Jan 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Visit other blogs on the tour here

About the Author

Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author, whose works have been translated into 14 languages. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, “The Girl from Berlin.” Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.

In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their two dogs.

Social Media

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/EllieMidwood/

Website: http://elliemidwood.com/

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/elliemidwood/

Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/ellie-midwood

Follow Bookouture on Facebook 
Follow Bookouture on Twitter 
Follow Bookouture on Instagram
Follow Bookouture on TikTok

If you’d like to sign up to our reviewer database you can sign up here

For the best deals on books you can’t put down, make sure to sign up to our Bookouture Deals mailing list!
Sign up here!

Thank you for visiting today. Have a wonderful day.