Two! Two! Reviews in One Post! Happy Monday!

 I wanted to get back to give a proper review of One Perfect Lie by  Lisa Scottoline.  I listened to this while running, shopping at Aldi, and doing dishes.  It was an audiobook that kept me doing chores so I could listen longer, so a real win, win for the cleanliness of my cozy abode! 

The book had unexpected but earned twists and I really enjoyed how the story concluded.  I was completely wrong about where it ended up.  There are multiple POV characters in addition to Chris Brennen.  This is a suspenseful thriller,  but it isn't a graphic psychological thriller, so I would recommend this book as one to read if you are new to thrillers or if you like TV shows like 911 on the Fox Network.  

3.5 stars for this book- it's got some good twists!

And now for something completely different.  This is a romance, so there will be a happy ending, it's just how are we going to get there? Well, this time it's going to be through a reality TV show.  Yes, this book is like an alternative Bachelorette.  In this book, unlike the show, for once the Bachelorette isn't a size 2. Bea is a successful plus-size fashion blogger whose scathing critique of the fictional show "Main Squeeze" goes viral and she winds up being the next main squeeze. 

I used to watch the Bachelor franchise but gave it up a few years ago when I realized it was always going to be a parade of thin young women and men who were on the show more often than not to up their social media profiles so they could translate that into endorsement deals. This fiction version of the show will ring true to watchers of the actual show, and also gives the show true romance. 

I borrowed this book from my library's Libby App because I need distractions while I train for the marathon.  This book was a good distraction! A must listen if you are part of #BachelorNation 

3.5 stars for this book as well! 

Tomorrow we head back to the DMV for Youngest Child's second attempt at passing the road test.  Please send good vibes!

#TheSundayPost The Weekend Before Father's Day-

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday

A reminder that you have six days until father's day if that is something you need to plan for, now's the time to do it!  Don't tell my husband but we, and by we, I mean me, bought him a hammock for the backyard. I am hoping Middle Child will put it together for me. 

Here in my neck of the woods, it was hot and rain-free until Saturday afternoon when it poured.  I think we got about 2-3 inches of rain in half an hour.  This should help my garden and our weed-filled yard. 

I had a rough long 6-mile training run on Saturday. This was completely due to the hot humid weather.  I am so glad I have my small backyard pool it gave me a focus and a finish line.  Finish run, dunk head in pool! 

I was very glad I had an engaging audiobook on my run, I needed the distraction as the miles slowly rolled by.  I will be posting a review of it tomorrow. 

On Tuesday me and Youngest Child will be heading back to the DMV to see if the second time around she'll be passed by the instructor and get her license.  This time we are planning to arrive at the office an hour and a 1/2 before they open to get as close to the door as possible.  Hopefully, she can take her road test while she is fresh and the instructors are fresh as well.   This time we are bringing chairs, snacks, water, and headphones. 

Wednesday I have my annual exam at the dermatologist.  As far as I can tell that should go well aside from having a medical professional look at all my skin--awkward. 

I currently have a Kindle Unlimited subscription and it includes digital Food Network Magazine.  I am planning to look through it for a new recipe or two to try out over the upcoming week. 

I'm also reading Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibert, and The New Husband by D. J. Palmer.  I'll be reviewing them this week and may throw in another book--depending on how things go! 

How are things with you?  How's it going? 

Sharing Sheltering Spirits - A Lola Blog Tour!

 

Sheltering Spirits (A Mallory McGrath Mystery #1)
by Lori Allison
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 6 October 2020

Blurb:
Orphaned at a young age, all Mallory McGrath wants is a place to call home, the companionship of friends who have become her family and to keep her Basset Hound, Elmer, from wrecking everything she owns.

A simple life.

And things are going her way until a sudden encounter with the bumper of a car driven by the intriguing new coroner in town leaves her with a head injury that unlocks a strange new talent.

Now Mallory is dealing with ghostly roommates, a dead body on her property and finding herself under suspicion of murdering the town’s matriarch. Not to mention the angry poltergeist trashing her attic!

To save all she holds dear, Mallory must catch a killer who has her in his sights … and to make sure her supply of peanut butter doesn’t run out.

*********************************************************************************

        This is fun, short cozy!  You can read it during an afternoon sitting by the pool or over a few summer nights.  Mallory is a great MC, she is smart, kind, and not afraid to do some sleuthing! I liked the paranormal aspects of the ghosts they were (for the most part) like Mallory's guardian angels.  Elmer and Luther were wonderful cozy companion characters. LizzyAnne,  Mallory's BFF was pretty over the top, but her heart is clearly in the right place so she started to grow on me. 

I really like the budding romance and I liked how the town funeral home is a feature in this book. This is definitely a cozy to add to your TBR and I'm looking forward to book two!

Links:
- Goodreads
- Bookbub
- Amazon

About the Author:
Lori Allison has had a life-long love affair with books, both as a reader and a writer. Lori is the mother of 3 grown children and has a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of New Mexico. She managed the construction company her family owned for 17 years before retiring to pursue writing full time.

Lori lives in a small town in New Mexico with her husband, Jeffery, and their three dogs.

Author links:
- Website
- Facebook
- Goodreads
- Amazon
- Instagram

#AudioBook Challenge! A Thriller with an Unreliable Narrator for a Humid week in June!

 We have some thunderstormy, cloudy, humidity-filled weather this week, and I was looking for something to listen to as I go about my day.  I saw that this was available via the Libby App from my library system so I borrowed it.  It's on the shorter side, which worked for me. I listen to it at 1.65 speed.  I found the reader to be engaging, his name is George Newbern.  

If you don't like audiobooks, I would still consider picking this one up, it's a good travel book if you have a vacation planned and are going to be sitting in an airport or in a car, or on a train, this will make the time fly. 

This was my first time reading a book by Lisa Scottoline. It turns out she has had over 30 books published so I was really late to learn about this author! 

Great smelling tree on my run!  

* * * * *

I was hoping to have a full review of the book ready today, but yesterday I spent 8 hours in line outside the local department of motor vehicles with Youngest Child.  In the hot sun, standing in line waiting and waiting for her to be able to take her road test. We arrived at the location when it opened and the line was already hundreds deep and blocks long.  No bathroom, no water, and worst of all, no headphones.

Wait, I take that back, the worst of all was after standing in the sun all day, the instructor failed Youngest Child.  I felt terrible and also was so dehydrated I don't think my tear ducts worked anymore. I think the failure was due to nerves, hours, and hours waiting.  When we go back for the second time around, I have high hopes Youngest Child will pass, the irony is, of everyone in our household she's had the most on-the-road experience prior to taking the test. 

It really stinks for her, and yet, it is when we have failures that we have growth.  Additionally, I  know when she gets her license it is going to be that much sweeter. For my part, I think I did an excellent job shutting up and letting her vent and feel her feelings.  I know she didn't want to hear platitudes or examples of how things could be worse. 

Now today, I have my headphones charged and ready to go and listen to more of One Perfect Lie which is a solid thriller so far, the main character is so terrible. I don't know yet if I will be getting another POV or if this entire book will be told from the villain's perspective! 

A Southern Cozy Book To Start the Week- Reading Between The Crimes by Kate Young - #NetGalley

 

This is a cozy that will grab your attention if you like small southern towns, a book that has book themes, and a very punny title! 

 

It has been a few months since we spent time with Lyla, our MC and in that time she has become more confident in her role as a Private Investigator in training.  The Jane Does' book club has grown and the main member has become a very close-knit group.  This month the book club has read and discussed Crooked House by Agatha Christie. This month someone was murdered at Lyla's parent's house.  Similarities between the book and real-life occur and that makes for some very fun reading.  I like the conceit author Kate Young is using in this series that we have the book club reading a book and then we have eerie coincidences between the book being discussed and what is going on in Sweet Mountain, GA. 

 

The main issue I had with book one in this series, On Borrowed Crime, was that Lyla's parents and her ex-boyfriend treated her like she was a teenager instead of a woman in her thirties who knows her own mind. It made me think twice about whether I wanted to read further in this series or just read something else.  As you can see, I decided to give the second book a go, and happily, in this book Lyla's decisions are respected. 

 

The book takes place in the fall around Halloween, but it doesn't have a strong Halloween flavor. It will be out on September 7th, the day after Labor Day, a perfect cozy to kick off the fall season.  Grab a PSL (Pumpkin Spiced Latte) and kick back and enjoy this fun second book in the Jane Doe Book Club Mystery series. 

 

4.50 stars I recommend this cozy and am looking forward to the next book in this series. It's really picking up steam!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! All the opinions are mine!

#TheSundayPost A Little This, A Little That

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday

This past week has been a busy week! Lots of driving youngest child and oldest child to their summer jobs. Youngest child is getting her license on Tuesday, if she passes the driving test.  Fingers crossed. I will say it has been nice to spend one on one time with her in the car, albeit very stressful for me as the passenger! 

I've finished week one of my Marathon Training and today I learned that I need to figure out a better  pre-run light breakfast because today my energy was sapped too early. Also it was H*O*T. I was really happy to enjoy a post run swim in my little pool. Should you have any interest you can check my fundraising page for Imerman Angels here. 

My garden is growing well (knock on wood) I am implementing less watering than I did last year because in The Beginner's Guide to Growing Great Vegetables the author talks about if you water your plants too much they can grow shallow roots, but if you water a little sparingly, then they will grow deep roots. So that's the plan!

I have also been doing a good job with working on my cozy mystery by participating in Jami Attenberg's #1000wordsofsummer each day and I am participating in a virtual writing group via Gilda's Club so I do not have my book reviews planned out very well at all for the upcoming week. 

I will be sharing my thoughts on this book that I picked up from Net Galley:

What have you been up to? How was your week? 

Some Historical Romance To Kick Off The Weekend!

 If you follow my blog, you've likely noticed that I don't read much historical romance.  At the same time, if you follow my blog, you know I really enjoy Alyssa Cole's writing.  So it was only a matter of time before I started reading her historical romance.  This book takes place during the Civil War, and is the story of Elle Burns who is a former slave and is now a spy for the Loyalty League. Yes, this is fiction, but there were people who were freed people who went back into slavery to spy for the Union.  The bravery is astounding.

Here is a bit about the book from the back cover:

"Elle Burns is a former slave with a passion for justice and an eidetic memory. Trading in her life of freedom in Massachusetts, she returns to the indignity of slavery in the South--to spy for the Union Army. 

Malcolm McCall is a detective for Pinkerton's Secret Service. Subterfuge is his calling, but he's facing his deadliest mission yet--risking his life to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia." 

The stakes in this forbidden romance are so high, every time they are in the same room, they are at risk of being exposed as spies, then you add in their unavoidable attraction to each other- dangerous passion!  In addition to the spying and the fear of being caught, what kept me reading long past my bedtime was wanting to know how Alyssa Cole was going to give this couple a happy ending.  Interracial marriages were not even legal during far too much of our American History.

Speaking of history, Alyssa Cole includes a selected biography of resources she used when writing this book.  One of the books, A Secret Society History of the Civil War by Mark A. Lause, has piqued my interest and is now on my library hold list. 

5 Stars for An Extraordinary Union! 

How Do You Stop A Determined Assassin?

If you enjoy watching thrillers,  if you enjoy stories set with the backdrop of the white house, if you have seen the movie Air Force One; you'll likely find Carol Leonnig's book Zero Fail a compelling and fascinating read.

How do you keep a President safe?  Especially in this 21st century where there are drones, and Havana Syndrome, and 3-D printers able to print plastic guns. This book examines the decades-long struggle of the secret service to protect the President of the United States, their families, and candidates for office.  The push and pull of trying to protect a highly visible person, one who wants and needs to interact with the citizens of the United States as well as travel the world spending time with foreign leaders and dignitaries, is a real sticky wicket. 

I listened to the audio version of this book while I was out running over the last week or so. It was very interesting to learn about failures on the part of the Secret Service that may have played a part in the shooting of JFK, a near-miss with George HW Bush as well as the shooting of Ronald Regan.  In each case, one small slip, one lack of imagination, or too much deference to the person being protected lead to disaster.  And on the other hand, we will never know how many times people or organizations were stopped by one small thing going right. Lack of funding and resources has plagued the Secret Service--with many of those who were part of Presidential details working an untenable amount of hours on a regular basis. 

It came as no surprise to me to learn that often thanks to booze or men not being able to keep their pants on -(be that the President or secret service personnel)  Presidents have been thisclose to being assassinated or compromised by a foreign agent.  And also there is the usual BS you find in any office situation where people are trying to climb the corporate ladder.  I'd been busy with raising kids and I have to say that I completely missed the sex scandal the Secret Service was embroiled in during President Obama's second term--there was a real frat-boy culture. 

 5- stars for Zero Fail from me. This is a very comprehensive look at an incredibly important agency. 

#ABrushWithMurder #NetGalley New Cozy Series Who Likes A Potential Love Triangle?

 Hello and welcome to your summer!  Today I am hyping myself up to start #1000wordsofsummer.  This is it--this time I'm going to finish writing a cozy mystery rough draft.  Even if it ends up printed out and sitting in a drawer, this time I'm going to do it!  No, I won't be able to finish it in the first two weeks of summer, but I am going to finish it by Labor Day.  I am not currently working so I do have the time. I just need to avoid scrolling social media! 

Speaking of writing, today I'm reviewing a new cozy series by Bailee Abbot, called A Brush With Murder. I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley to review. All the opinions are mine. I had a tough time rating this book. Ultimately, I decided on a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for posting purposes. I struggled to like the characters in the book. It wasn't until I was 80 percent through the book that I came to like at least some of the characters. The mystery is good, a nice twist, but clues are laid out from the beginning so, it's earned. I know as a reader I don't like a twist that doesn't have a trail of clues. 

Chloe is our amateur sleuth, and she is trying to save her sister's business and herself after  Fiona, a local reporter who liked to pan local businesses, winds up dead.  Chloe, I grew to like, though I found her ex-boyfriend situation confusing, am I supposed to like Ross or dislike Ross? My instinct was to like him.  Izzie is Chloe's sister, and the proprietor of the new paint shop in town, Paint with A View.  I thought a business that does painting classes is a good business choice for a cozy mystery job.  However, during this book, Izzie the shop owner spends very little time at the shop.  She disappears frequently, is being secretive, and actively refuses to talk to the police officer who is trying to solve the murder. Overall, I had real trouble liking Izzie she came off as very flippant and entitled throughout the book.

Chloe and her family are literally trust fund babies. Her parents live off the funds from the family estate.  This is not something I have experience with, but in the book, there were multiple businesses run by twenty-something women who had financial backing from their families for their businesses. So the main character's situation wasn't completely uncommon for this town. One of these owners was very panicked about her business and worried about being a complete failure after her second chance--which was, to me, a little funny because she was 24 years old. No one is a complete failure at 24, plenty of time to try many more things in life.  

Chloe's dog Max is on the cover, but he isn't the emotional support or sounding board that many a cozy companion provides to their sleuth--he's more of a traditional pet. 

If you enjoy a potential love triangle, this book is definitely for you!  Seasonally, the book takes place during the heat of summer in a lakeside community. 

Most likely, I will pick up the second book in the series to see how Bailee Abbot develops the characters and what new mystery she creates. 

This book will be out on October 12, 2021. Add it to your TBR pile now! 

#TheSundayPost May 30th: Are You Ready For The Summer?

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Yes! Yes, I am!  The weather here is more like early April, but I am ready for my summer!  My pool is open!  Marathon training starts tomorrow! #1000wordsofsummer starts tomorrow! 

This will be my third marathon and I'm running as a charity runner for Imerman Angels there are still spots available to join the team and run the Chicago Marathon for Team Imerman this fall! If I can run a marathon, you can run a marathon! Imerman Angels is a non-profit group that connects cancer patients and caregivers with peer support.  They call the peer's Mentor Angels.  Mentor Angels are that crucial listening ear, a person who knows exactly what you are going through and is on the other side--able to remind you that even if things are really tough now, there will be better days ahead. 

On the same day marathon training begins,  the two-week writing challenge invented by author Jami Attenberg.  As the name implies the challenge is to write 1,000 words every day for two weeks. It might actually be 15 days now that I think about it, I believe the end goal is 15,000 words which is a nice start to any writing endeavor. I am going to go back to writing the cozy mystery novel that has been lingering unfinished and ignored by me for months. I have a few changes I want to make to the outline and then get back to writing.  Or maybe I'll wind up writing something completely new.  Who knows! 

This week I have 3 books I'll be blogging about:

 A #NetGalley pick-up, New Series!

I'm trying to add some non-fiction to my audiobooks listening.  This book is really fascinating! 

I'm also trying to read down my physical TBR pile.  I like to read my books and pass them on so if you want this book when I'm done, comment and let me know! ( will send as media mail) 

So, what's on your agenda to start the summer?