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Sweet Comfort

Comfort and Joy, #1

by

Kimberly Fish

 

The story teased me in with the promise of chocolate, but I stayed for the relationships.

 

Sweet Comfort is the first book in author Kimberly Fish’s spin-off series, Comfort and Joy, and I can’t think of a more descriptive or appropriate moniker for the series. While I was initially attracted to the book because of the promise of gourmet chocolate, it was the characters’ relationships that pulled me deep into the story. This is one of the best buildups of the community of characters for a series that I think I’ve ever encountered.

After retiring from a career in banking, Gloria Bachman sets her sights (and her future) on opening a gourmet chocolate shop on her hometown’s busy main drag, and despite naysayers, it looks like her dream is coming together. Disgraced CEO Mason Lassiter comes to Comfort to lick his wounds and recharge. But when his plans take a turn, he discovers his new neighbor, Gloria, may have answers he needs – if they can come to trust each other enough to collaborate. 

The main character Gloria Bachman is a woman of a certain age and well-regarded in her adopted hometown of Comfort, Texas. She’s suffered some hard knocks in her life and career, but she’s a survivor. To her chagrin, perhaps, her younger women friends have seemed to have placed her on a pedestal, and she certainly doesn’t view herself in that light. They hold her in high esteem and aspire to emulate her take-charge and take-no-prisoners demeanor that got her to where she ended up: a bank president. I liked seeing her opening this new chapter in her life and trying something entirely different with her friend and business partner, Kali. Then it was also good to see an older woman exhibiting realistic attitudes toward a possible romantic partner and relationship. 

Besides the second chance storyline, there is the chocolate business to drool over. And while I enjoyed every virtual morsel, I also liked all the details about renovating the old building slated to house the new shop. I appreciate all the research the author must have done before putting pen to paper. There is even a mention of the traffic snafu caused by the crane that was needed for some of the work! True to life. And there was still so much more that had me turning pages: the mysterious death of the estranged wife of the successful Dallas businessman, the murder of a local contractor, and of course, learning everyone in Comfort’s business. As always, it was fun to have a fictional story set in the very real town of Comfort, Texas. 

The author’s writing style is easy to read yet compelling. I was immediately drawn into Gloria Bachman’s life and soon felt like I knew her and her many friends and acquaintances. The dialogue sparkled, with some real laugh-out-loud moments and situations that were puredee entertainment. 

Although this is the first book in this series, there are hints that certain characters or couples have backstories featured in the author’s previous works. However, I didn’t need to have read those to become immediately invested in this current tale. The bonus is that there is backstory gold just waiting to be discovered. 

I recommend SWEET COMFORT to readers who enjoy women’s fiction, later-in-life and second-chance romances, cozy mysteries, chocolate themes, stories set in Texas, especially the Hill Country, and fans of the author’s previous novels. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

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Mild Mannered Men:

The Rain Will Wash Away the Blood

by

Walter Horsting

 

Creative tale of pre-Y2K intrigue.

 

Mild Mannered Men by Walter Horsting is a creative tale of pre-Y2K vintage intrigue set mostly in the San Francisco Bay area and featuring a skilled computer/media technician, an intrepid industrial reporter, drug smugglers, and the law enforcement officials on their trail. It was fun watching the seemingly unrelated storylines flirt with one another and finally converge.

John Nord is a skilled media technician who is helping set up an international video teleconference for one of his most lucrative customers when his business proposal presentation disk is accidentally swapped with his client's. Unbeknownst to John, however, the client is an ex-KGB freelancer working with a cartel and China's technology leader who'll do whatever it takes to get his property back, leaving no potential witnesses.

The story unfolds from multiple points of view, and while I had little trouble keeping the different voices straight, the narrative, at times, was choppy, which interfered with the flow of the story. However, I loved the near misses of the main characters sprinkled throughout and seeing the unfolding of a scene from a parallel perspective. 

The characters are all unique and interesting individuals that I grew to appreciate and root for. The west coast settings, especially the in-town descriptions of places, were fun. The book is compact, so the complex plot and disparate storylines quickly began to coalesce with twists enhancing their journey. The story has excellent bones, but there are still a lot of superfluous details and excess characters that unnecessarily complicate matters, and spelling or word use errors that another editorial pass would tighten up. However, overall, this is a novel well worth reading and easy to enjoy. 

I recommend MILD MANNERED MEN to readers of spy or crime fiction, action/adventure, or mystery. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

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The Witch's Apprentice and Other Stories

by

Ekta R. Garg

 

Clever and entertaining stories that lean slightly to the left and right of classic fairy tales.

 

Fairytales. We all grew up listening to them told over and over, in all forms of artistic media: storytelling, plays, dance, and film. In Ekta R. Garg's reimaginings, she takes these well-known, familiar gems and gives us, in the words of Paul Harvey, "the rest of the story." 

The Witch's Apprentice and Other Stories is a small compilation of tales created in response to the author's question of "why" a character acted the way they did in the famous story or "why" a situation arose in the first place. For instance, remember when, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's house falls on and kills the Wicked Witch of the East? Garg answers the question of why the witch was in the roadway where the house landed. What follows is a fun and completely reasonable explanation with an unexpected twist that ties the popular L. Frank Baum novel to another familiar but unrelated tale. Garg works similar magic on the fairy tales of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, The Emperor's New Clothes, Goldilocks, Sleeping Beauty, and the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill." The results are imaginative, surprising, and spun gold. 

I recommend THE WITCH'S APPRENTICE AND OTHER STORIES to readers who enjoy fairytale reimaginings. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy through WOW! Women On Writing Book Tours.

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The Archaic Thesaurus

by

Nina Spinello

 

Lovely little collection of now little-used words.

 

The Archaic Thesaurus by Nina Spinello is a delightful collection of words that have fallen out of favor for inclusion in contemporary discourse. It was a pleasure to browse the nominated entries, read their definitions, their use in a brief phrase, and examine three selected synonyms for each. I particularly enjoyed reading the words and their synonyms used in sentences, and was surprised by how substituting one for another would change the tone, feel, or emotional impact of the result. While many of the selections may no longer be heard in everyday conversation, some regularly appear in literature and are used for a singular effect. So, while they are synonyms and seemingly interchangeable, the selection of one over another still changes the perception of the sentence in which it is used. 

I read an advance readers copy rather than a finalized copy of the book, so I assume subsequent editing will address the few issues with duplicated entries and proffered synonyms that obviously belonged to archaic words that were inadvertently skipped. In truth, my biggest complaint would be that the book left me wanting more of the same. 

I recommend THE ARCHAIC THESAURUS to wordsmiths and language lovers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy through RABT Book Tours and PR.

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The End Game

by

Michael Scotty Clifton

 

Exhilarating and emotion-filled! An exultant underdog story and satisfying sports romance.

 

The End Game by Michael Scott Clifton is a warm and wonderful new sports romance and passionate high school basketball underdog story. Great characters with realistic lives and a gripping basketball plot set in football-mad Texas made for a riveting page-turner of a novel. 

Chris Cooper is a young high school basketball coach seeking a fresh start after his life in Arkansas implodes. He comes to the East Texas town of Mayfield to helm a struggling program that hasn’t had a winning season in decades. However, he soon discovers the biggest stumbling block to his future success is the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Rocco Rawlings. As in many Texas towns, high school football is king and all other sports are redheaded stepchildren. The brightest spot in his life is his new landlady, single-mom Jennie Sloan, with whom he clicks from their first meeting. 

The storytelling is gripping. Just when there’s a glimmer of hope for Chris, some surprising obstacle appears. However, new people in his life step up to help him face each challenge as if placed there deliberately for that reason. It was emotional watching Chris come to terms with his past and finally share what he’d gone through as he and Jennie opened their hearts, minds, and lives to each other. It was wonderful to see how he applied the life lessons he’d learned from his father to his own players. 

The author does a fantastic job choreographing the action on the court and conveying it to the reader. The play is exciting and fast-paced and, of course, critical at times; I could feel my heart racing. The Mayfield Mustangs are engaging underdogs, and I was compelled to root for them every step of their journey, just as I did for Chris and Jennie in theirs. 

I recommend THE END GAME to readers of sports romances and sports fiction, especially those partial to basketball or who have enjoyed movies such as Hoosiers, Friday Night Lights, or The Mighty Ducks. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns.

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Ride a Dark Trail

Bounty of Shadows, #1

by

Winter Austin

 

Intrigue and menace abound in the foothills of the Payette National Forest.

 

Ride a Dark Trail is the first book in author Winter Austin’s thrilling new series, Bounty of Shadows, and features an emotionally scarred former Army helicopter pilot recuperating from injuries sustained in a crash. Dorothy “Dot” Ybarra returned home to her mother’s Idaho ranch after her service in Afghanistan to fly for the forest service, but an accident during a forest fire crashed her helicopter and put her in the hospital for several weeks. Still not cleared to fly and return to work, Dot keeps busy helping her mother run the hunting and guiding business she operates out of her former sheep farm. Her days were pretty much the same until a young woman, bruised and bleeding, stumbles out of the forest and onto the ranch, claiming her ex had taken their six-year-old daughter as a hostage and was on the run, not only from law enforcement, but from some truly dangerous people also on his trail. 

I loved Dot Ybarra! She’s a strong woman carrying a load of baggage and bad luck, but no matter what gets thrown her way, she always pushes forward. She’s a female accustomed to commanding in male-dominated fields and maintains her status and control without coming across as unnaturally macho, unlike many other characters with similar backstories who are often portrayed as such. She acts authentically and sounds genuine. 

T.J. Roman is a capable and talented bounty hunter whose past with Dot means more to him than he lets himself believe. I loved watching them reconnect. Coincidentally, Sloane Cross, T.J.’s business partner, is Dot’s best friend from high school, and these relationships create the perfect opportunity for the three to join forces to find out who is after Ashley Cooper and her young daughter. 

The plot is well-paced, suspenseful, and fraught with mystery, as several key pieces of the puzzle remain hidden until much later in the story. Sloane and T.J. also have other cases they’re working on that slowly begin to crossover into what’s going on with the Coopers. Keeping things real is Dot’s mother, Angela, who is naturally anxious for her daughter’s safety, both physical and emotional. 

The Idaho setting is rural and wild, with the action extending into the Payette National Forest. The author also incorporates local Basque culture and language, through Dot’s family, into the story, adding an informative and unique touch. 

I highly recommend RIDE A DARK TRAIL to readers of thrillers, action and adventure stories, mysteries, and romantic suspense. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

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Reaper

Task Force Raven Thriller, #1

by

Sam Stone

 

Non-stop action, excitement, and complex, coordinated operations made for riveting reading!

 

Reaper is the first novel in author Sam Stone’s gripping new political thriller series, Task Force Raven, and its exciting and complex, coordinated operations made for riveting reading. With its multidimensional characters and storyline scenarios that dovetail current events, I didn’t want to put this book down! 

Jake Baylor, with familial ties to Texas’s Sam Houston, leads the state’s innovative mobile response team known as Task Force Raven, the name an homage to the name given to his illustrious relation by the Cherokee. The task force responds when an horrific attack is made on a McAllen area Border Patrol station, the ensuing chaos and horror only a diversion to launch an even more insidious plot to do damage on American soil. Jake has a personal connection to the attack, as his longtime best friend, Clint McNamara, was on-site when it occurred. You could clearly sense the emotional toll that the events have on the characters. 

The story unfolds from multiple points of view, giving readers a front row seat to the motives, planning, and preparations behind the action for both the good guys and the bad. Those who enjoy the technical aspects of military-style operations will definitely be rewarded with interesting detail, without overwhelming those readers who do not. The author provides a nice glossary of terms, acronyms, and jargon at the beginning of the book that I found helpful when characters were “talking the talk” and enhancing the feel of the story’s authenticity. 

The action hits the ground running, and the suspense never lets up as Jake and his RAVEN team race to stop the multi-pronged attack by the bad guys led by ISIS adherent, Abu Waleed Hassan, or REAPER. With several plans in motion, the action moves around the state, from the Rio Grande Valley to the Hill Country to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, highlighting some iconic local settings. As a local, I enjoyed the scenes featuring these familiar locations, and I think others from the various areas will as well. 

I recommend REAPER to readers of political and military thrillers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

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Murder Pays a Call

Keri Armstrong Mystery, #1

by

Nancy J. Cohen

 

Fun page-turner kicks off this new cozy mystery series.

 

Murder Pays a Call is the first book in veteran author Nancy J. Cohen’s new Keri Armstrong Mystery series and proves itself to be a fun, page-turner of a debut. Keri Armstrong is devastated when she finds her friend, mentor, and biggest concierge client, Fiona Sullivan, murdered at her home. But when the police decide Fiona was the victim of a random home burglary, Keri’s not convinced. Too many rumors immediately began to circulate that Fiona had made plenty of enemies, and one of them had taken their ire to this next level. When law enforcement dusts its hands of the tragedy, Keri becomes determined to get the truth behind her friend’s death and the vicious gossip. With its engaging main character and intriguing variety of secondary ones, this light new cozy is sure to please the author’s legion of fans and cozy mystery readers new to her work. 

Keri Armstrong is the delightful young protagonist, and I really enjoyed getting to know her and the other characters in her world. The little town of Sunny Groves, Florida, also seemed a charming setting as the calendar entered November and approached the holiday season, albeit with an undercurrent of unrest, secrets, and jealousy lurking under the surface. The victim, Fiona Sullivan, is a nice older woman dedicated to good works, but after her shocking murder, detractors started to come out of the woodwork, opening up the list of possible suspects to a broader range. Keri investigates because the police settle on “random robbery gone wrong” as the cause of death, but with the alarming revelations of Fiona’s critics, she thinks they’re mistaken and is compelled to see justice done for her friend. I liked the concept of Keri’s concierge service, but I was approaching exhaustion with the number of small tasks she performed for her clients and her ability to keep everyone and everything straight. I need a Keri. This novel provided a very pleasant evening of feet-up, kicked-back cozy mystery entertainment. 

I recommend MURDER PAYS A CALL to cozy mystery readers, especially fans of the author’s previous work. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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The Wine Jelly Murder

Luscious Delights Mystery, #5

by

Meg Benjamin

 

A hurry-up wedding rushes Roxy and Nate into the midst of another murder.

 

The Wine Jelly Murder is the fifth book in author Meg Benjamin’s clever, cozy, and culinary-themed Luscious Delights Mystery series, and this time, a hurry-up wedding catering job puts Roxy and Nate at the scene of a murder once again. When the obnoxious father of the bride is found murdered after an engagement party and Madge Robicheaux’s friend, wedding planner extraordinaire Thalia Rosenberg, becomes the prime suspect in his death, Madge begs Roxy to work her investigative magic to find out who all had it in for Emerson Pollack and get her friend off the hook. 

Roxy and Nate are a fun couple, slowly moving closer to a real commitment, and both are working their tails off to build their respective businesses. The upcoming holidays are critical to their success as catering opportunities abound and the demand for Roxy’s gourmet jams and jellies for gifting booms. I enjoyed how they consciously tried to spend additional time together, even if it meant working evening events or completing unplanned tasks to move the arrangements for Uncle Mike’s and Madge’s wedding to each other along to do so. 

As is usual for this series, there is a lot of discussion of delicious food and Roxy’s processes for inventing jams and jellies, all worked into the story between wedding preparations, catering events, community dinners, and amateur sleuthing. Roxy’s involvement garners results, though, with twists and turns along the way to keep readers guessing. I enjoyed the appearances of recurring characters and the variety of new ones, especially the awful father of the bride and his daughter, Jennifer. Although this is the fifth book in the series, each one can be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel. 

I recommend THE WINE JELLY MURDER to cozy mystery readers, especially those who are fans of culinary-themed stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

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Tangerine Marmalade Murder

Luscious Delights Mystery, #3

by

Meg Benjamin

 

A solid mystery when Roxy's forgotten past intrudes into her present.

 

Tangerine Marmalade Murder is the third book in author Meg Benjamin's wonderful culinary-themed cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights, and a welcome return to the people and town of Shavano, Colorado. The well-developed and engaging characters really have come to life in this series, and each new book is like reuniting with old friends. While it is very comfortable and fun to catch up with everyone, this visit is fraught with mystery, murder, and a few bumps on the road to romance. 

Roxy Constantine is a great character, a level-headed and interesting young woman who experienced some sadness in her early life when her mother left her and her father behind to go her own way and the subsequent loss of her father when she was a teen. Thankfully, her Uncle Mike stepped in and gave her the home and love she deserved. When her mother's driver's license is found among the possessions of a stranger found murdered in a car on the side of their farm's road, Roxy must confront her feelings about the woman who gave her life but never knew and find out how this stranger did. Although she's pretty chill about her mom not being in her life at the start, I could understand her curiosity when faced with learning more about that side of her family after that time. In addition to this, Roxy and Nate are struggling as they try to navigate working together and having a personal relationship. 

The story begins with the discovery of the victim's body but backtracks in time to establish context. Readers only get a single scene with the victim alive, so while she doesn't have much time to make an impression, she effectively comes across as unpleasant and sly. The twist in the story may explain her sly demeanor when she shows up on Roxy's doorstep, though. The investigation into the murder is well done, and I was on board from the start, even while agonizing with Roxy over Nate's grumpiness. As always, the discussion of jams, flavors, and jam-making, as well as the dishes prepared for the catered events, were tempting and crave-inducing. I was surprised by the resolution of the story, though I'd had my suspicions. 

Although the third book in the series, readers new to Luscious Delights shouldn't have any trouble reading and enjoying this one independently. I recommend TANGERINE MARMALADE MURDER to cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy culinary-themed stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.