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Friday, January 8, 2021

In Which I Embrace the Bath Lifestyle and #JaneinStPete #NetGalley- A Mystery/Romance!

Did you know today, January 8th, is #NationalBubbleBathDay?  If not, now you know!  

 

Sometime during November, I decided to take a bath every now and again. Once I had taken a bath or two, I realized  I needed a nice fuzzy robe, a quality bubble bath, a wrap for my hair, and a bath pillow.  Shortly thereafter, I made my Christmas list and asked for everything I needed to embrace the bath lifestyle. 

When Christmas day arrived, my wonderful family gave me a robe, a Bath and Body Works bubble bath, and a wrap for my hair.  I said to the Hubs, "Now I just need a bath pillow."  The Hubs then said, "Oh no, Honey, that won't do, I'm going to make you one right now."  Armed with duct tape and the can-do spirit, he recycled packing materials to make me a bath pillow for home and --in his words--a travel pillow I could take with me on trips.  "What Trips?" I asked and then we dissolved into a fit of laughter. 

Happy #NationalBubbleBathDay!  Knock off work early!  Go lock yourself in the bathroom and escape for a while! Embrace Escapism!

And speaking of traveling without going anywhere, below is my latest book review, a nice escape to St. Petersburg, FL. 


Jane in St. Pete (A Jane in St. Pete Mystery Book 1)Jane in St. Pete by Cynthia Harrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recently, I was able to download a copy of Jane in St. Pete by Cynthia Harrison to read and review. The main character of the book, Jane, is a recently widowed fifty-five-year-old who has left Detriot and moved to a gated condo community in St. Pete, Florida. The book opens with Jane attending a coffee hour at her community center. We get a real sense of Jane right off the bat, based on her internal monologue and we get introduced to people around her via the coffee hour small talk. I thought this was a clever way to start off the book and give us a sense of who's who. Like me, Jane has given up dying her hair, a detail I really liked! Unlike me, she is quickly involved in a murder investigation.

I thought it was very clever of Cynthia Harrison to use Jane's background as an art history teacher as a reason for her to assist in the investigation. In addition to the murder, there may also be mobsters looking for someone in the community! Plus Jane has unresolved issues with the sudden death of her husband, issues with her adult daughter, and then there is the handsome detective. All of these situations are navigated and come to a very satisfying conclusion.

When the book was nearly half over, the narration moves from Jane to another character, I will say that threw me off as I was reading. The second point of view is used off and on for a few chapters and then we finish the book in Jane's head.

This is the sort of book that is a nice beach read, or to have on hand if you are a train commuter for work, or if you like to have a book to read during a lunch break or medical appointment. The book has a fairly small cast of characters to keep track of and most of the action occurs in just a few places, so it is easy to pick back up if you are reading it here and there.

#JaneinStPete #NetGalley

View all my reviews

1 comment:

Sophia Rose said...

Fun bath gifts and sounds like you are in for much relaxation.

A sunny mystery spot sounds great for books right now.