Another Fun Cozy from Stella Bixby! Magical Mane Series Book 5!

I enjoyed this book as much as I like this cover, which is to say, a whole lot!  Since book one, I've been all-in to watch Ellie's journey from a wandering yogi to the owner of a magical farm and occupational therapy business.

In this installment, we learn more about Ellie's mysterious family and a huge expectation that awaits her.  She may be taking on a very important role in the magical world she is just now learning to navigate. I'm so excited to see what happens next.

The central mystery in this book is a good one, I was kept guessing right up until the reveal.  I liked the introduction of a witch that can communicate with animals. I would like her to come and chat with my dog! 

 My favorite scene in the book is not part of the mystery at all, it's a scene between Jake and Ellie. I don't want to spoil it, suffice it to say I love that theme of found family that winds through this series. 

I also like Xander and I hope my trust that at the end of the day he will actually be good for Ellie despite what others say, is not misplaced!

Overall, as I have said each time I read a book in this series, if you like a magical cozy, read this series! It's fun and I like that it takes place in Iowa--not a typical cozy town location!

4.25 stars. 

*****

Also today it was 88 degrees!  I'm over it! Come on Fall!  It's the last month of marathon training and I'm at the point where I'm tired of running especially in this ding-dong heat!  

 

Upcoming Cozy Mystery Release #DeathontheShelf #NetGalley

 This series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series.  I really enjoy the story arc of Carrie Singleton as she makes a life for herself in the town of Clover Ridge.  This entry in the series focuses on a murder at a wedding and weddings is a central theme in the book. It was enjoyable reading to hear Carrie's inner monologue as she questions whether she might be ready to consider such a next step with her boyfriend Dylan. 

Unlike previous books, there isn't as much of Uncle Bosco and Aunt Harriet, which makes sense as this book focuses on Carrie's best friend Angela (the bride) and her family.  It's fun to see how Carrie and  Police Chief John Mather work together. I wasn't too keen on the danger Carrie puts herself in as the book hit its climax, but the tension kept me up late into the night because I needed to know what happened next. 

Once again, our library ghost, Evelyn seems shady and secretive with her requests for help from Carrie.  A ghost of mystery.  I like that Carrie continues to remain suspicious about Evelyn and her motives. I wonder how the library expansion will affect ​Evelyn?  

Overall this was a solid entry in this Haunted Library series.  I'm looking forward to Carrie's next adventures! 

4 Stars!

#DeathontheShelf #NetGalley 

I rec'd an ARC of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  You can add this book to your TBR list on GoodReads here: Death on the Shelf by Allison Brook

It's Been Too Long! #TheSundayPost #MidSeptember!

 

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

Hi Everyone! Long time no post!  I'm so happy to be writing this week!  I'm very glad we are on the cusp of fall. This summer for me was hot, long, and tiring.  I used to love summer but these last few have been, ah, less than ideal.  So onward to the beauty and crisp temperatures of fall. 

It is now less than a month until the Chicago Marathon!  As I have said before, I have been raising funds for Imerman Angels, a wonderful group that provides peer support to anyone diagnosed with cancer.  Now we are getting so close to the marathon!  Eeek!  This is the part where I start getting nervous about the big day! 

Have you watched any good shows lately?  I cannot rate Only Murders in The Building on Hulu high enough.  It's a true delight! If you enjoy murder mysteries, true crime podcasts, or cozy mysteries. You've got to watch this show! 

This week I'll be reviewing the following books: 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are having a wonderful September so far!

Happy Friday! My Review is Featured on Books of My Heart!

 

I am excited to share that my review of the latest installment in Books of My Heart's annual Read-Along is up!  Check it out here!

The book really started slow for me, but by the end...Wow!  So much is happening! 

This week my gig as oldest child's ride back and forth to college resumed, so I'm adjusting my schedule to a few driving days each week.  He's a senior so this will be my last year of driving him around!  He doesn't have a driver's license and has no interest in driving. Maybe that will change in the future? Who knows! Once he is done with school, he'll be looking for a job that he can take public transportation to and from, luckily we live in an area with that option. 

At the moment, I am about halfway through reading an ARC of :

 It's fun to see how Carrie has become the go-to town mystery solver. She is the Jessica Fletcher of Clover Ridge! 

#TheSundayPost TBH, I've think I've had enough humidity for one year.

 

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

On the whole, this was a good week, I read two books and I was able to get my runs in on schedule.  I even got my new running shoes (on clearance!) My footwear for the marathon is decided!

 I also wrote an outline for the youtube meal prep I'm doing on Wednesday night. Today I realized that I need to have gloves so I can keep my hands clean while prepping or the video is going to have too many times where I stop to wash my hands.  

 So I have a pack of gloves I can use. I also decided that I'm going to have one of the meals finished so I can do the prep and then, a moment later, reveal the finished dish! 

This weekend I'm writing a review that will be the highlighted review for Anne's Read-along over at Books Are My Heart   

Next week I'll also be posting a review of a #NetGalley ARC for a cozy series I love! The Haunted Library Mystery series is so fun! 

How was your week?  Did you do anything fun?  Read any good books lately? 

While Justice Sleeps! A thriller by Stacey Abrams

 

A rarity in my bookcase, a hardback version of a book. I received this book from my dad for my birthday. A great choice on his part as it was on my TBR list and my library hold list.  While Justice Sleeps is a thriller about a cover-up that goes all the way to the President.   Our main character is  Avery, a Supreme Court Justice Clerk. Avery is not just book smart, but street smart, she is passionate and she is able to keep working on a problem until she is able to solve it with not just a good outcome, but the best possible outcome.

The book contains many details about how the court system works, a fair amount of discussion on genetic research, and some new vocabulary words for me. I enjoyed that this book required more attention and taught me about things I didn't already know. It's a challenging ride, which I appreciated! I also appreciated that Avery isn't beat up or attacked physically over and over in the book. She outsmarts not outfights. 

I thought the ending left things open enough that there could be a series staring Avery--if Stacey Abrams has time to write it! 

All in all a quality thriller 4.25 stars from me! 

Week 3,4 and now 5: Thursday #BCSM Post: Notes on taking Lynparza aka Olaparib

 

My mom gave me this mug when we visited a couple of weeks ago. Being agnostic, it didn't hit me on a spiritual level, but I really enjoy the quote from proverbs. I might like the bible more if we chucked everything outside the beatitudes and proverbs. Oh and the part where Jesus tells rich people they suck! 

Exciting news I'm on my second bottle of this drug!  One bottle (ie one month) down 11 to go. Taking this drug as prevention against a possible recurrence has given me a deeper respect for those who are living with metastatic cancer who take this drug until it stops working. It's not easy and there have been about three days each week where I want to just stop taking it. However, I remind myself of that old saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Plus there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer.

Side effectwise, I had too many days of fatigue and nausea and that lead to me not posting for a couple of weeks. This week I am hoping I have turned a corner, the fatigue has been greatly reduced.  The nausea is much less frequent. I tell you what, if I had to pay for this drug out of pocket, boy I don't think I could do it, it's not pleasant to take, it would be hard to justify if the cost was say $100 or more a month. 

Fingers and toes crossed that my tolerance of the drug continues! 

Some October in August! #MrsClausandtheHalloweenHomicide #NetGalley

Having enjoyed Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings, I was excited to request an ARC of the second book in the series from NetGalley.  I know it's only mid-August, but I'm ready to start getting excited for spooky season.  

Liz Ireland does a nice job of expanding the Mrs. Claus Universe I enjoyed learning about snow monsters as part of the newfound Halloween traditions of the town.  I love how April had embraced her sleuthing tendencies and is building lasting relationships in her adopted home. 

Unlike most cozy mysteries, there is no body in the first chapter.  In this story there is a different inciting incident and then you read on with bated breath wondering is someone about to get it?  Who is going to be the victim?  The only thing I would like to see in the book would be to have Nick be a more in-depth character. I feel he is not as fleshed out as his mother, sister, or sister-in-law, or even as much as elfman Jingles.

This seasonal cozy has a great mystery and is chock-full of the Halloween spirit. 4 stars!  Or should I  say 4 🎃🎃🎃🎃!!!

 Definitely add this to your fall reading list! 

 

#TheSundayPost #I'mBack!

 

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

Talk about making plans-ha!  We went on our vacation and I think I read about 5 pages. The husband was not feeling well, vertigo, nausea, headaches--daughter was not feeling well. My medication usually means I'm not up to par...I did most of the driving.  Husband and Daughter felt better when we got past the mountains on the way home. I think it was a case of altitude and maybe mold or other allergies.  It wasn't Covid, so I guess that is something since where we vacationed has a low vaccine rate, and only about 1 in 10 people we saw were wearing masks indoors. While we are all vaccinated, we wore masks when indoors in public places due to the spread of the Delta Variant. 

The house we rented was as nice as the pictures, to be honest, I felt like I did as much cooking and cleaning as if we were home.  My new goal is to vacation at an all-inclusive! The main purpose of this trip was to see my parents so that we were able to do and that's what counts. It had been years! 

We also got to see my brother from Canada and it had been four years since we had gotten to see him. One of our kids stayed home because he couldn't get off work, which was a bummer, he was missed!  My other brother and his family came down with Covid right after we arrived, so we did not see them at all. They are not vaccinated.  

It is a real disappointment to have done everything we can to not catch or spread Covid only to see far too many people choose not to do what they can do to stop the virus from infecting other people. If I had to describe our trip in a phrase, I would call it emotionally taxing. 

Since we got home, I've been noticeably fatigued--stupid medicine.  I hope I will figure out how to manage the fatigue--ie. how to feed myself more energy and how to manage my life so I'm not overpromising and underdelivering.  An example of that is I was going to have a garage sale this week, but by the time we were headed home last Sunday I knew I was not going to pull it off! 

What I can manage to do this week is share my thoughts on these three books--

Thanks for reading my blog.  Typing things out helped me feel better!  How was your week? 

Second Book in a Witchy Cozy! #TwoWickedDesserts #NetGalley

 Two Wicked Desserts is the second book in Lynn Cahoon's Kitchen Witch Mystery series. I would say that this is a paranormal lite cozy.  I think if you are not interested in a cozy that really leans into the magic, you will probably enjoy this series as while there is some magic, the amateur sleuth still solves the murder using traditional questioning and observations.

I like Mia our main character, she is steadfast and remains calm even when bad people are after her.  There is a nice slow romance with Trent, who is a grocery store owner and not in law enforcement, which is nice.  Instead we have a competent sherrif in Mark Baldwin and Mark and Mia have an entertaining bit of bickering throughout the book. 

The food and catering talk in the book is mouth-watering and the pets and Mia's grandma give the story just right amount of magic.  This second book is a nice continuation of the first and I look forward to what happens next!

4.5 Stars for Two Wicked Desserts

***

Now that it is August is it time to start reading books about Autumn? What do you think?  I think anytime after my birthday (which is in August) is a fine time to start dreaming of the fall.