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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2423 KP) rated Easter Basket Murder in Books
Jan 25, 2024 (Updated Jan 25, 2024)
Here’s to a Deadly Easter
Kensington has called on their go to trio for three new holiday themed mysteries, this time featuring Easter. Up first, Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone gets involved with a promotion for the local businesses leads to the theft of a golden Easter egg. Then Lee Hollis’s Hayley Powell finds the Easter Bunny dead at a community Easter egg hunt. Finally, Barbara Ross’s Julia Snowden’s Easter on the family island off the coast of Maine is interrupted when she finds a man in coat tails dead in the garden. Then, a few minutes later, he’s gone.
All three stories have fun with the theme, and present it in some clever ways. As is often the case, I found the first story the weakest, but the mysteries in the other two stories are strong. Still, I was engaged no matter which story I was reading. All three have some great Easter elements that made me feel like it was spring. And I love the community aspects we get. I’m only a regular reader of Barbara Ross’s series, and I was interested in the updates we got on the characters there. If you are looking for some new dishes to serve this year, you’ll be interested in the recipes we get with the second and third story. Each story is roughly 100 pages, so you can read them in a sitting or two. Overall, this is a fun anthology you’ll be happy hopped on to your to be read pile.
All three stories have fun with the theme, and present it in some clever ways. As is often the case, I found the first story the weakest, but the mysteries in the other two stories are strong. Still, I was engaged no matter which story I was reading. All three have some great Easter elements that made me feel like it was spring. And I love the community aspects we get. I’m only a regular reader of Barbara Ross’s series, and I was interested in the updates we got on the characters there. If you are looking for some new dishes to serve this year, you’ll be interested in the recipes we get with the second and third story. Each story is roughly 100 pages, so you can read them in a sitting or two. Overall, this is a fun anthology you’ll be happy hopped on to your to be read pile.
A Slay Ride Together with You
5.0
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The slay bells are ringing in this festive seventh installment of national bestselling author Vicki...
Calvin (Almstead Island: Newcomer's Club #2)
10.0
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What could go right with a Daddy who doesn’t know how to be one, and a boy who’s scared to let...
Contemporary MM Romance Daddy kink Content Warnings: Daddy/boy parental death
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated I Found You in Books
Feb 13, 2018
Alice Lake is a frazzled single mother of three children. One day she spots a man on the beach; he is alone and getting drenched in the rain. Despite her better judgement, Alice goes to talk to him. He has no memory of who he is or where he came from. Alice is drawn to him, and she invites him to stay in the shed on her property. Her young daughter dubs him "Frank." Meanwhile, in Surrey, Lily reports her husband missing. Married for less than a month, Lily cannot believe that her husband would simply abandon her: they are madly in love. She hasn't been in the country for long, though, and soon Lily learns that the name on her husband's passport was fake: he never truly existed. Cut to more than twenty years ago: teenagers Gray and Kirsty are (reluctantly) on vacation with their parents. While on the beach, they meet a young man who clearly has eyes for fifteen-year-old Kirsty. He charms their parents, but quickly rubs Gray the wrong way. Together, these characters combine for Jewell's latest.
<i>This was a rather spellbinding novel for me, even if it requires you to sort of check your rational thought at the front door when beginning it.</i> Alice is a bit of an odd duck--a loner mom with three children by three different fathers who doesn't really play by the rules. The fact that she so easily invites a complete stranger, with no history or backstory, to stay with her family is rather bizarre. As is everyone's reluctance to not just report Frank missing (found?), to say, the police. But we're led to believe that this is rather par for the course for the eccentric Alice and if you can just go along with that, the story falls into place fairly easily. This novel probably came along at a good point for me: I'd just finished a big project at work and needed something for a quick escape. I FOUND YOU is perfect for that: I blew through it in about 24 hours and while I basically had things figured out, it kept me guessing the entire time, wondering if I was right.
I was never truly attached to any of Jewell's characters - Alice is a bit flighty, Lily a tad remote, and Gray and Kirsty a little young. If anything, I was almost more drawn to "Frank" and his predicament. Still, I enjoyed how the story unfolded in bits and pieces, slowly letting the reader in on the past, while still giving us points of view from Lily, Alice, and Frank in the present. As I said, I was never quite sure if I was on the right track with the story, which kept me compulsively reading. Many of the characters' decisions are a bit bizarre, but I still found this to be a fun, quick read for a bit of an escape. Overall, 3.5+ stars. Great for a vacation or an airplane ride.
You can read my reviews of two of Jewell's previous novels here: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27276357-the-girls-in-the-garden">THE GIRLS IN THE GARDEN</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22430311-the-third-wife">THE THIRD WIFE</a>.
<center><a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">Blog</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcmoto">Twitter</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KristyHamiltonbooks">Google+</a></center>;
<i>This was a rather spellbinding novel for me, even if it requires you to sort of check your rational thought at the front door when beginning it.</i> Alice is a bit of an odd duck--a loner mom with three children by three different fathers who doesn't really play by the rules. The fact that she so easily invites a complete stranger, with no history or backstory, to stay with her family is rather bizarre. As is everyone's reluctance to not just report Frank missing (found?), to say, the police. But we're led to believe that this is rather par for the course for the eccentric Alice and if you can just go along with that, the story falls into place fairly easily. This novel probably came along at a good point for me: I'd just finished a big project at work and needed something for a quick escape. I FOUND YOU is perfect for that: I blew through it in about 24 hours and while I basically had things figured out, it kept me guessing the entire time, wondering if I was right.
I was never truly attached to any of Jewell's characters - Alice is a bit flighty, Lily a tad remote, and Gray and Kirsty a little young. If anything, I was almost more drawn to "Frank" and his predicament. Still, I enjoyed how the story unfolded in bits and pieces, slowly letting the reader in on the past, while still giving us points of view from Lily, Alice, and Frank in the present. As I said, I was never quite sure if I was on the right track with the story, which kept me compulsively reading. Many of the characters' decisions are a bit bizarre, but I still found this to be a fun, quick read for a bit of an escape. Overall, 3.5+ stars. Great for a vacation or an airplane ride.
You can read my reviews of two of Jewell's previous novels here: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27276357-the-girls-in-the-garden">THE GIRLS IN THE GARDEN</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22430311-the-third-wife">THE THIRD WIFE</a>.
<center><a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">Blog</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcmoto">Twitter</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KristyHamiltonbooks">Google+</a></center>;
HOME OUTSIDE®: Landscape Design for Everyone
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HOME OUTSIDE®: Landscape Design for Everyone ***As featured in The New York Times, Fox News, USA...
Explore Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
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**2016 Parents' Choice - Gold Award** "The app is a charming and effective way to teach a wide...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The World in Johnny's Back Garden in Books
Nov 28, 2019
I was lucky enough for the author to let me have a preview of this book while he was toying with publishing it. I am very glad that he did because it is rare for a book to be so engrossing from beginning to end while running through so many different themes and emotions.
The plot revolves around Johnny, a more-or-less ordinary boy who is a bit of a loner at school. One day he decides to offer to help the old lady next door - Masie - with her garden. Everyone at school calls her a witch and throws stones at her house but that doesn't deter Johnny.
From this point forward the narrative takes Johnny through a range of experiences showing how his narrow existence could be so much richer if he took more notice of the things around him. This is literally mind expanding and life-changing for Johnny, although he must accept the hardships that come with his new friendship and knowledge.
The result is a fantastic read for both young adults and older, gently suggesting a sound ecological message without labouring it and without sugar coating any of life's ups and downs. Johnny experiences much throughout the book but ends up a stronger and better person for it. The reader goes with him on his journey every step of the way.
This is the kind of book that makes me wish I could award 11 stars out of 10 and will always be a favourite of mine. The only way this book could be any better would be for it to be the start of a series.
The plot revolves around Johnny, a more-or-less ordinary boy who is a bit of a loner at school. One day he decides to offer to help the old lady next door - Masie - with her garden. Everyone at school calls her a witch and throws stones at her house but that doesn't deter Johnny.
From this point forward the narrative takes Johnny through a range of experiences showing how his narrow existence could be so much richer if he took more notice of the things around him. This is literally mind expanding and life-changing for Johnny, although he must accept the hardships that come with his new friendship and knowledge.
The result is a fantastic read for both young adults and older, gently suggesting a sound ecological message without labouring it and without sugar coating any of life's ups and downs. Johnny experiences much throughout the book but ends up a stronger and better person for it. The reader goes with him on his journey every step of the way.
This is the kind of book that makes me wish I could award 11 stars out of 10 and will always be a favourite of mine. The only way this book could be any better would be for it to be the start of a series.
Bible Stories for Children - How God Created The World
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***READ, LISTEN, INTERACT…AND BE INSPIRED BY THE GRACE OF GOD’S CREATION!*** Why do we believe...