Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Undertones by Maggie Jaimeson

Really good story about a musician who gets the chance to join a band on the last day she'd given herself to succeed.  Then she meets a man who helps her heal from a very abusive two year relationship.

The book was good but the characters could have been clearer.  One other drawback was I had no idea of how the time was passing and the ending was a bit abrupt.  Still a good book overall and I plan to read about the rest of the band.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Fatal Affair by Marie Force

I really liked this book and can't believe that I missed this series.  It reminded me of the In Death series by J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) in that the main characters were made for each other and the crimes are complex and not easily solved.

I have read several books by this author and enjoyed them all, but they were, for the most part, romances.  This book is full on crime solving with a good love story in the background. The secondary characters add to the success of the book and the political undertones were very topical.

Joe and Samantha met six years ago and spent a wonderful night together.  When her called her the next day and several days thereafter she was not given the messages.  He gave up thinking she was not interested and she just thinks he was not interested.  When Joe's boss and best friend, Senator John O'Connor is murdered, Joe and homicide police Sergeant Sam come together to solve the crime.

This is such a good book and I'm sure I will be enjoying the rest of the series.

I was given this book by NetGalley in return for an honest review.  Thank you NetGalley.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Death Among the Doilies by Mollie Cox Bryan

Great start to a new crafting  cozy mystery series.

Cora is a counselor at an abused women's shelter.  When her childhood best friend shows up at the shelter with her five year old daughter and when Cora's anxiety attacks overwhelm her, Jane and Cora join forces to open a crafting seminar workshop.

As the plans for the first week long workshop draw near, Jane becomes a person of interest in the murder of the town librarian.

The author has mixed in quite a few characters, so the story starts rather slowly.  I like the characters, the location is great, the mystery finally crafted and mysterious, and the cops aren't idiots (always a plus).

Very enjoyable book, I look forward to more in the series.

 Instructions for the craft projects are included in the back of the book.

This book was given to me through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Summer of Love by Katie Fford

I am exhausted.  Why you ask?  Because I stayed up until 3:30 this morning reading Summer of Love.  The book was that entertaining.

Summer of Love is the story of a couple who meet at a party and just click.  They spend the whole evening talking and then she goes home with him. They know that time is short because he is leaving the next day for an extended exploration..  He leaves and nine months later she gives birth to a baby boy she names Rory.

Five years pass and Sian and Rory relocate from London to the country. The first person she meets is Fiona and they become friends.  Fiona has a little party to introduce Sian to a few people. Half way through the meal, in walks Fiona's son, Angus.  Sian knows him as Gus and Rory doesn't know him at all, but Gus is Rory's dad.

This is a great story, made even better by the location.  Yes, the plot line was predictable, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

My First Knitting Book

I knit, in fact I learned to knit about 45 years ago while I was in grade school.  But I stopped knitting for about 30 years and only picked it up again when it seemed like everyone around me was knitting socks. I really love all the new tools, patterns, and techniques and the yarn choices are incredible.

Anyway, why is someone who knows how to knit reading a beginning knitting book?   I am always being asked to teach people to knit and, while it is easy to teach the basics in an hour or so, once they go home they need a book to help them.

My First Knitting Book could definitely be that book.  It's not too big to carry around and it has everything the new knitter needs to know.  The pictures are clear, as are the accompanying instructions.  Not only that, but Hildegarde Deuzo, the author, has included some easy projects.

My favorite project is the egg hats and scarves.  While I freely admit I'm not planning making hats for eggs, those hats would be adorable on my great nieces Barbie dolls.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.