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Shelle Perry (66 KP) rated The House on Crow Mountain in Books

Sep 1, 2021  
The House on Crow Mountain
The House on Crow Mountain
Rebecca Lee Smith | 2021 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mystery Thriller, Cozy Rules
The House on Crow Mountain is probably the most uncozy-like cozy I have ever read. Don’t get me wrong it totally adheres to all the cozy rules; no graphic language, sex, or violence. It also follows the popular cozy tropes; a small town, a broken-hearted woman who returns home to make a new start, clever pets, etc. It is just I consider cozy to be a light afternoon read. More fluff than serious. I mean no disrespect to the books and authors I have read to date, some are among my all-time favorites.

This book from the first sentence to the last pulled me into a hard mystery thriller that just happened to follow cozy rules. It has everything; gripping suspense, a leading lady wracked with grief and guilt, and a possible love interest trying to redeem himself from a tragic mistake, or was it? There are far-reaching family secrets, menacing red herrings, and a sinister plot. There was no guessing whodunnit before the reveal. I really (I mean really) did not like the person, but there were so many other people to not like, to suspect, to think about that it barely registered. I could not put this book down as the story unfolded and the floating, maybe relevant plotlines merged bringing the story to its climax.

I seriously hope for this to be a series as there are characters that I would love to learn more about, but I tell you, I would be okay with this being a one-off. The story as it stands has mostly been told and it is that good.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Oct 16, 2021  
Today on my blog, author Dana Knox Wright stops by with a fascinating author interview. I also spotlight her self-help memoir HOLDING ON LOOSELY: OPENING MY HANDS, LIGHTENING MY LOAD AND SEEING SOMETHING ELSE. There's also a great giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of the book, a goodie basket, and an overnight stay at the Llano Line Shack!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/10/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-holding-on.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Helicopter parents. Control freaks. Perfectionists. Intolerants. Over-consumers. Social media junkies. We all fit in there somewhere. Read one woman’s stories of clinging, turning loose, and becoming free.

We are overly busy helicopter parents, control freaks, perfectionists, intolerants, over-consumers and social media junkies--who worry, fear, laugh less, and always want more. In the midst of it, we wonder what it would feel like to open our hands and turn loose of all of it.

In HOLDING ON LOOSELY: Opening My Hands, Lightening My Load, and Seeing Something Else, author Dana Knox Wright tells stories of one who is hardwired to cling. To her children when they asked for a blessing to go. To someone else’s ideas, when she didn’t trust her own. She held on to prejudice when she would tell you she didn’t. She shut down for days while clinging to fear. She clung to youthfulness as if what would come next couldn’t be her life’s cherry on top.

In a particular season of her life, she recognized her bent to possess, to keep, to hold tightly, and to control was completely contrary to Jesus’ example. This is one woman’s history of holding on and her stories of turning loose--stories of the gentle and firm, humorous and heartbreaking ways God led her to turn loose. It is living minimally from the inside out.
      
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Merissa (13600 KP) rated Uncivil Wars (BBS #2) in Books

Apr 16, 2023  
Uncivil Wars (BBS #2)
Uncivil Wars (BBS #2)
Deborah Dorchak, Wendi Kelly | 2013 | Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
As the synopsis states, this starts about six months after Loyalties finishes. Life has sort of settled down for the Pack but that is all about to change. The catalyst for this is Cole as he decides he doesn't want to be without his wife any longer. He sets a ball rolling that will take you on a wild and emotion-packed story. The Pack continues to grow, with new characters like Selene, Jake and Collette, who have their own story to tell. We learn more about Diego and Olivia, their individual and joint pasts, the decisions they have made, and the consequences that still need to be faced.

Although this book is long - in fact, they all are - you will still be left wanting more. You won't realise just how long you've been reading, every interruption will be met with gritted teeth, and every opportunity to read will be grasped.

The book leads up to a big climax that does, however, have a cliffhanger ending. Now before you think that this is a normal battle, just remember how the books are written. It is intense, real, gritty and dirty. It is exactly how you would imagine to be! It will make your heart pound faster, as your breath catches in your throat. Trust me, by the time it actually finishes, you will be glad for a rest, if only to get your pulse back to normal.

Absolutely fantastic, thrilling and emotional, I really can't recommend this highly enough.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
 
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 30, 2015
  
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Merissa (13600 KP) rated His Lordship's Secret (His Lordship’s Mysteries #1) in Books

Apr 11, 2022 (Updated Jun 26, 2023)  
His Lordship's Secret (His Lordship’s Mysteries #1)
His Lordship's Secret (His Lordship’s Mysteries #1)
Samantha SoRelle | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Mystery, Romance
8
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
HIS LORDSHIP'S SECRET is the first book in the His Lordship's Mysteries and we start off with a bang - quite literally! Alfie is shot and rushes home where his doctor attends him to sew him up. Alfie thinks back to the previous weeks and concludes someone is trying to kill him. But who and why?

What unfolds is a sweet story, full of love and caring amongst the harshness of London's streets in those times. You get a full and rounded description of workhouse conditions, plus what it was like for those not of the upper crust. Along with the bad, you also get the good. The compassion of their peers, the free pie "but don't tell anyone"... It's all here and helps to make this a brilliant, intriguing mystery romance.

The saddest point of all for me was how they had to hide their love due to the consequences if anyone found out. Unfortunately, it's not that far back in the past, and some places still hold the same views. I can't wait for the day when someone reads a story like this and cannot comprehend what it must have been like, simply because it is so widely accepted and normal.

This is the first book by this author I have read and it definitely won't be the last. I love her cadence as she draws you into the story, the lifelike characters, and the situations. Absolutely recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 8, 2022