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Verse and Vengeance (A Magical Bookshop Mystery #4)
Verse and Vengeance (A Magical Bookshop Mystery #4)
Amanda Flower | 2019 | Mystery
5
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Weak Plot but Charming Characters
Violet Waverly is upset to see that PI Joel Redding is back in town, and once again staking out Charming Books, trying to learn about the secret of the bookstore. But when he is killed during the first annual Tour de Cascade Springs bike race, she begins to wonder what else he was up to. Will the investigation lead back to Violet’s secret? Why does the bookstore keep putting copies of Walt Whitman’s poetry in her path?

I really enjoyed the third book in the series earlier this year, so I sat down looking forward to this one. Sadly, the mystery disappointed. While there are some developments, the pacing could have been better. Then, in the rush to wrap things up, a major part of the mystery remains unexplained. I don’t normally read paranormal cozies, but I do enjoy the magical essence of this series. We get some additional mythology here, which I appreciated. Likewise, the series characters continue to grow, as do their relationships. Series fans will still enjoy this book even if the mystery could be stronger.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Nov 21, 2022  
"With its excellent illustrations and well written (and researched) passages, this book should be in every therapist's library and every home library. Basically, just put this book in every library."

Read my book review on my blog for the children's self-help non-fiction book CONNECTED: DISCOVERING YOUR INNER GUIDES: A KID'S GUIDE TO NAVIGATING THEIR EMOTIONS by Seema Desai, and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of the book - two winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/11/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-connected.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Connected is all about teaching kids and their families how to navigate their emotions. It is a practical guide to understanding powerful concepts that alleviate the stress and challenge in tough situations. The book also includes tools and tips to help children become advocates for their mental and emotional well-being in productive ways, as well as thought-provoking questions to encourage young readers to think about how these tools would be uniquely relatable to them. Written to inspire children to become empathetic leaders and creative solution-seekers, Connected is a book that helps them not only understand themselves better, but also those around them.
     
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Dec 15, 2021  
The special guest author today on my blog is Florence Byham Weinberg with a fascinating interview. Learn more about her historical fiction novel BEFORE THE ALAMO: A TEJANA'S STORY, and enter the giveaway to win signed copies of that book and her other historical fiction novel APACE LANCE, FRANCISCAN CROSS.

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/12/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-before.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS FOR BEFORE THE ALAMO**
Emilia Altamirano, half Otomí Indian, half pure Spanish, is born in 1814, the year after the Battle of the Medina River, where her father fought as an officer in the Mexican Royalist Army. She grows up in Bexar de San Antonio unacknowledged by her father, raised by her Otomí Indian mother, and “adopted” as an unofficial ward by José Antonio Navarro, hero of the Texas fight for independence from Mexico. She learns to read, write, and acts as a page for the Ayuntamiento (City Council). She learns nursing during a cholera epidemic and later tends the wounded on both sides during and after the Battle of the Alamo. She survives, but as a Tejana, Spanish-speaking, and a loyal citizen of Mexico, she faces an uncertain future.
     
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Nov 13, 2021  
Check out a fantastic deleted scene from the Christian romantic suspense novel CROSSHAIRS by Patricia Bradley on my blog. Be sure to enter the giveaway to win a vinyl cling sticker, all the books in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series, and a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card.

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/11/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-crosshairs.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
When evil just won't quit, good must prevail.

Investigative Services Branch ranger Ainsley Beaumont wishes the visit to her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, was under better circumstances. When she arrived to investigate the murder of a pregnant teenager, she never imagined that she would become the killer's next target--or that she'd have to work alongside an old flame.

After he almost killed a child, former FBI sniper Lincoln Steele couldn't bring himself to fire a gun, which had deadly consequences for his best friend. Crushed beneath a load of guilt, Linc is working at Melrose Estate as an interpretive ranger. But as danger closes in on Ainsley during her murder investigation, Linc will have to find the courage to protect her.

The only question is, will it be too little, too late?
     
The Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet
Juno Dawson | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Firstly, I need to say how much I loved this.
Secondly, HMRC is a mess! The High Priestess is dead and her successor isn’t who anyone thinks she is, Theo’s powers seem to be dwindling, Leonie’s brother has disappeared and she needs to rescue him from Public enemy #1, and Elle’s marital problems take a rather drastic turn. Oh, and there are rather a lot of Witch-finders - and they are most definitely NOT good news. These men are Incels on steroids.

Everyone gets a say, with even a non-witch Prime Minister and his cronies getting a look in, and we learn about Luke’s backstory.

There’s a lot packed in to this story, but I didn’t feel as though any of it was rushed. Leonie’s trip to a long lost coven was fascinating and a bit traumatic (again, there’s a fair bit of trauma in this!)

But the main character in this (and I’m not going to say who it is!) is the real tour de force.

And the ending!!!!

I WILL be reading the third book, absolutely no question! I will be needing to find out how they will all deal with the small Lucifer problem…