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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

May 23, 2020  
Historical romance fans are in luck because I have the first part of the prologue from Camille Di Maio's latest book THE FIRST EMMA on my blog. Stop by, and check it out. Then enter the #GIVEAWAY to #win your own #signed copy of the book!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/05/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-first-emma.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
The First Emma is the true story of Emma Koehler. Whose tycoon husband Otto was killed in a crime-of-the-century murder by one of his two mistresses – both also named Emma – and her unlikely rise as CEO of a brewing empire during Prohibition. When a chance to tell her story to a young teetotaler arises, a tale unfolds of love, war, beer, and the power of women.
     
A Peaceful Coastal Town...Threatened by a Storm of Secrets

It's 1916 when newspaper woman Anna McDowell learns her estranged father has suffered a

stroke. Deciding it's time to repair

bridges, Anna packs up her precocious adolescent daughter

and heads for her hometown in Sunset Cove, Oregon.

Although much has changed since the turn of the century, some things haven’t. Anna finds the

the staff of her father’s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief role, but

her father insists he wants her at the helm. Anna is quickly pulled into the charming town and

her

new position... but just as quickly learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous


secrets.

With Oregon’s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept along the seacoast and

invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant to get to know her father again over the

summer, but instead she finds herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen

And trying to keep her daughter safe from it all.



My Thoughts: This well-written story takes us to the seashore in Oregon during the prohibition period. Anna returns home to visit her estranged father to make amends for a disagreement that happened years ago. During this visit home, she discovers that something just isn't quite right around town. Using her investigative news reporting skills she intends to find out.


This is a wonderful summertime read! It's always nice to read about the ocean and beaches in the summer, and this one is perfect. It's full of mystery and suspense; it doesn't focus on romance. This is a book about forgiveness, healing relationships and starting over. I enjoyed Melody Carlson's writing and how she developed her characters. It was a very enjoyable read.
  
A group of ghost hunters have returned to the island to search for the ghost of a Prohibition era rum runner. However, when their leader gets murdered, Bea must figure out which of her guests might be a killer in order to clear her friend Kate of the crime.

The story is fun, and the way it wove a mystery from the past into what was happening now was great. The characters are strong, as I expected from the first two books. The humor I’ve enjoyed was still there as well. Unfortunately, the book had some serious editing flaws, including multiple characters getting the location where the body was found wrong. None of these impacted the final outcome, but it did detract from my enjoyment.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2014/10/book-review-legend-of-sleepy-harlow-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.