Candy Slain Murder -- A Cozy Review- Deep in the Series

I read Candy Slain Murder because it was picked as our book club read for December.  As you can tell by the title and the cover, this is a Christmas-themed cozy mystery. As you know from reading my blog, I really enjoy seasonal-themed cozy mysteries.  This book delivers on the Christmas vibes.  There is tree lighting, shopping, as well as cocoa sipping, and a Christmas surprise. 

The book also has a lot, and I mean a lot of day-to-day at the cafe scenes and this became boring reading for me. This might be in part because I plopped into a series on book eight, maybe if I was invested in the series I'd have enjoyed the daily specials at the cafe more. 

The mystery in this series is decent and the story has a nice Hallmark-ish ending.  I noticed that on Amazon this book got some very poor reviews because some readers were mad the book included some people who were Muslim and especially because one character dealt with some prejudice as a result of being Muslim. I felt that those reviews were unfair.  

What I didn't enjoy in the book was the over-the-top "country" dialect, especially the way the Mayor in this book spoke, it seemed absurd. 

The Mayor of the town

Overall, I didn't connect with our sleuth Robbie, so this isn't a series I'll be reading, but it is a popular series so if you are looking for a cozy series set in a cafe in Southern Indiana, and you like food talk with your mystery, this may very well be one for you! 

3 Stars for Candy Slain Murder 

Reading Challenges- Do You Participate? I'm Joining The Coyer Challenge Again!

 To review, I did a great job participating in the Winter and Spring Seasons of COYER and then as the Summer went along I really fell off with posting my books read, but I did really enjoy being part of the challenge, so I am definitely in for 2022! 

This should help me to get some of the many, many books in my Kindle app and Apple Books app read! Hopefully! 

What do you think?  Would you like to maybe join in?  Here is the link to know more about how the challenge works: It's Happening Again! COYER Season!

Some of the books I'm planning to read:

The Accidental Alchemist 

Blacktop Wasteland

Christmas Key: There's Always A Catch

And of course, there will be many more books I hope to read! 

#TheSundayPost Welcome to 2022!

The Sunday Post is a blog news 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 your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

On Tuesday of this past week, we finally got our first measurable snow of this winter, the kind of snow that sticks and is great for snowballs and snow people building. Since it was just about 0 celsius, and since we had our windows crack to allow for some air circulation due to youngest child isolating with Covid, I could hear our neighbor's kiddos playing outside during the snowfall, it was lovely. I also went for a run in the snow, because why not, right?

I do like to be optimistic and not worry about jinxing things, but I've gotta say I am reluctant to say anything about 2022 being a great year or the year of me! Ha!  The few years have taught me that maybe I don't want to claim any year as mine! 

In any case, I will be making goals and sharing books and working on selling Tastefully Simple, and just doing my best to enjoy life. I hope you are making plans to enjoy life this year as well. 

This week I'm kicking off the New Year with reviews of:

And also a book I've seen on a bunch of book blogs, Fated Blades.

So How about About You? Did you make any resolutions?

 

Come Along for the Read-Along: The Night Huntress Series by Jeaniene Frost!

In the way it always seems to go, it feels like just a few weeks ago I joined Anne at Books of My Heart's 2021 Real Along for the Psy Changeling series by Nalini Singh.  Now here we are and this roller coaster of a year is just about over,  and I am ready to journey into a new world with Anne, Berls, Sophia, Stephanie, Kai, Kimberley, and maybe you?  Come join us, it will be fun! 

Prizes, chats, and posts all year long as we delve into this well-known contemporary fantasy series.  I do enjoy vampire stories! 

You can read more about the series and join us via Anne's page here: Join the 2022 Read Along!

I am starting the series off with the audiobook of Halfway to the Grave.  I did read or listen to this book at some point in the last 10 years, so I remember some of the plot. I don't remember why I didn't continue in the series, probably life just got in the way and before I knew it I was reading some other books. 

I'm a couple chapters into the story and thus far, I enjoy the narrator. 

What do you think? Have you read this series? Are you up to joining the Read-Along? 

I Was Thrilled To Get This ARC from Net Galley. I love a good Charlie Donlea Tale!

 When this popped up as an ARC available via Net Galley, I could not have clicked the request button any faster than I did.  A couple years ago I got a copy of Some Choose Darkness via the Kensington's Between the Chapters Facebook group. I enjoyed Charlie Donlea's writing style and since then I have looked forward to each of his releases! 

Avery Mason, our protagonist is whip-smart and has a real can-do spirit.  I like how we get to see her vulnerabilities and the way she deals with her insecurities. Twenty Years Later incorporates September 11, 2001, in a unique and surprising way.  As is the case with any thriller, I am hesitant to be anything but vague about the plot as there are clues everywhere! 

In this book, as I was reading I developed a crazy theory, and then shortly after I developed my crazy theory, Avery had a crazy theory.  Yes, indeed, Avery and I were on the same page.  I find in Charlie Donlea's writings he often writes so that the reader can be one step ahead of the protagonist and the action unfolds. I love it!  I feel like I am part of the action and that is a big part of why I enjoy his books each and every time.

4 Stars to Twenty Years Later! 

Need A Distraction From the News of The Day? This Series Delivers!

 Blue aliens, women kidnapped in their sleep, and a frozen planet.  If you read romance, you probably already know what I'm talking about. 

Ice Planet Barbarians is the sort of reading you can devour.  It starts like this:

"You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet."

With those opening lines, and because the series is free when you have Kindle Unlimited, I decided to give this series a try, even though blue aliens seemed pretty bonkers. I was wrong.  So far I have read the first two books in the series and found both to be good reads.  Ruby Dixon's ability to write steamy sex scenes is only surpassed by her talent at creating this world and the unique rules that apply to this strange land. 

I don't see a point in going into much detail on this series, I don't want to spoil your fun as you dive into this alien world. I do like to read wintery stories in the winter, so my opinion is that this time of year is perfect for ice planet stories.  As someone who usually reads contemporary romance and contemporary fantasy, this series, I suppose, isn't too much of a leap. Ruby Dixon's characters are engaging, the classic romance tropes are there in this strange new land. 

I highly recommend this series if you enjoy fated mate tropes and lots of babies happening. 

4.5 stars to the first two books in this series!  I'm quite confident you'll enjoy it! 

#TheSundayPost Another Christmas Is In The Books-One We Won't Forget!

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news 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 your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

How was your Christmas? One of the things I enjoyed this holiday season was the podcast Christmas Countdown Show.  The show is a fun escape for people like me who really enjoy Christmas Time. Eric and Danny the hosts talked about their favorite Christmas movies, music, TV shows, foods, and more.   

Our Christmas took a turn when youngest child tested positive for Covid. Early in the week one of her best friends tested positive, and so our daughter tested negative for a few days, but then on Christmas Eve, she got a bad present--a positive Covid test.  Because we knew she had been exposed, she'd been quarantining since Tuesday night in her room. She had a cough but we had all been hoping it was a cold. Thank goodness we were able to quarantine her before she had that positive test.  If we hadn't we might all have Covid now-- and could have exposed other people

And so we facedtime her in the morning for the present opening. We have the windows cracked and she has a designated bathroom and paper plates and plastic wear and lot of water and other fluids. The bummer of it all is that she got her booster shot last Friday and within a couple days she was exposed via someone who caught Covid from someone else who wasn't vaccinated--the booster didn't have time to boost!  The rest of us got our booster shot in November--she didn't because they weren't available to 16-17 year olds.

So far everyone else is Covid free and hopefully the isolation and the booster works and on New Years Eve we can celebrate the end of her isolation together. 

How was your Christmas? I hope you had a nice one!  

 Bowie with his Christmas Even Present! 

Overdue Review of the November Cozy Mystery Club Review and My Oldest Elf!

 This review is overdue, I like to post about each month's book the day before the live stream. This time it's oh about a month late. 

Things I liked about this book:

1. Good food talk with recipes throughout the book.

2. Sleuther actively sleuthing.

3. The protagonist was a single mom with two kids.

4. Some diversity 

What was not so much for me:

1. Our sleuth was just this side of 'too dumb to live'

2. The male love interests were terrible.  Bad choices!

3. During the whole book, Hayley, the main character, keeps correcting the Sheriff who speaks English as a second language it's a very cringey ongoing 'joke'.  It would be so much better in my opinion if it turned out that the Sheriff was in on the joke and was making the errors on purpose to get his sister-in-law riled up, but that's not how it's played.

Overall I give this book 3 stars, I don't know if I will continue this series--there are just so many books on my list already!

And to finish today's post here is a picture of my eldest as an elf for work at our local Park department!

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A Spin-Off from the Rylie Cooper Mystery Series! Mistletoe Malarkey, A Shayla Murphy Mystery

 I very much enjoyed this new book starring Rylie Cooper's best friend Shayla Murphy.  This book takes place in Ireland at Christmastime. Shayla is meeting her boyfriend Seamus's family for the first time. There are a couple of surprises for Shayla before we even get to the murder. In fact, I was far enough in that I was beginning to wonder if there was going to be a murder at all--seeing as there was already a few potential non-murder mysteries happening.  But Stella Bixby was just building up the tension and soon enough a body had dropped, literally.

I believe this book is the start of a new series and I will be waiting for book two with much anticipation!  In Mistletoe Malarkey we are introduced to a small Irish town and Seamus's quirky family, it was fun to spend time with them and I look forward to future adventures.  I like that in this series there can be a nice partnership of sorts with Shayla and Molly the constable.

5 Stars!  If you have Kindle Unlimited make sure to add this to your Kindle!

Cozy Novella Great For Christmas Week Enjoyment! From #NetGalley #TheStarlightMintSurpriseMurder

 

This book zips along and has all the elements that I love in Christmas-themed cozy mysteries.  You have a Christmas Festival that has a cookie contest, you have cocoa and coffee, a B&B a cozy little town--this one is in the mountains, there is snow and there is of course a murder.

I read the book in two sittings, I enjoyed that in this story the protagonist Mel is a retired police officer, this makes her sleuthing and her investigating seem second nature.  She has a new business and she needs it to be successful--a common theme in both Hallmark Christmas movies and Cozy Mysteries.

A big mystery for me was the cookies.  I have never heard of Starlight Mint Suprise cookies, not knowing if Marla White made them up whole cloth or if they were a thing, I did my googles and found that they are a thing.

So Retro!  Check out the recipe- Starlight Mint Suprise Cookies from the blog A License to Quill

Overall 4 stars, I liked Mel alright, the Christmas theme was on point, and some nice red herrings were all part of this fast-paced- mystery!