Review: Burden of Poof (Bonnie & Clyde Mysteries #1) by Julie Anne Lindsey

About the Book

An amateur sleuth named Bonnie and her kitty companion Clyde, with names like those, what could possibly go wrong?

Life hasn't sparkled too brightly for Bonnie Balfour over the past few years, but a heart-breaking divorce has brought her back to her small rural hometown of Bliss, Georgia, and things are starting to shape up.

The proud new owner of Bless Her Heart—a second chance dress shop and boutique on the town square—Bonnie thinks thirty-eight might not be too late for a fresh start in life after all.

Until a grouchy old widow turns up dead in a pile of donations meant for Bonnie’s shop, and the town’s new detective pins her to the top of his suspect list!

To save her shop, dream and reputation, Bonnie must coordinate clues and stitch together the truth about her innocence, but the unreasonably handsome detective and prying eyes of the local gossip mill are fast fraying her nerves.

When a series of anonymous attacks begin to hem her in, Bonnie fears the real killer is fixing to make her his next victim. Can this amateur sleuth measure up?

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

I've been wanting to read this for a while now, and I'm so happy I finally did! It has everything I love in a good cozy mystery: a cute and charming small town, wonderful and quirky characters, an adorable pet, and an intriguing mystery.

Bonnie was such a fun heroine to read about. She and Clyde were quite the pair! I enjoyed her friendship with Cami, and I loved seeing how great her relationship with her parents was. I really liked all the banter between her and Detective Wright. There were some serious sparks and great chemistry there. I'm excited to see where that leads in the future.

I thought the mystery was good. There were a lot of suspects, and I didn't figure it out until right before the big reveal.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries and small towns. I'm eager for the next one!

FOUR STARS

Review: Bound by Mystery (Beach Bound Books and Beans Mysteries #3) by Christy Barritt

About the Book

Talitha Robinson is well on her way to completing renovations for her new bookstore, Beach Bound Books and Beans, in Lantern Beach, North Carolina. But when she hosts a friendly meet-and-greet with bookstore owners from nearby islands, the progress she’s making comes to a deadly end.

Someone is backstabbed—literally—right under Tali’s nose. To make matters worse, Tali’s fingerprints are all over the murder weapon and a neighbor claims to have seen Tali commit the crime.

Mac MacArthur knows Tali isn’t the type to hurt anyone, but it doesn’t take a former police chief to figure out things don’t look good for her. The two work together to read between the lines and decipher the truth before Tali gets locked away for crimes she didn’t commit.

As more evidence stacks up, it becomes clear that someone wants to take Tali out of the story. For good.

Amazon / Goodreads

(Available in Kindle Unlimited at time of posting.)

MY THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed this third installment of the series. It's my favorite so far.

Tali finds herself in the middle of another mystery when her houseguest is murdered. She's found in the middle of Tali's store with a knife in her back. With every piece of evidence pointing to her, Tali is the prime suspect. Tali didn't kill her, so what's going on? Is someone setting her up? And if so, why? With some help from Mac and Serena, Tali sets out to clear her name.

I was glued to the pages of this fast-paced mystery. It's a quick read that kept me guessing. I thought it wrapped up a little too quickly, but other than that, this was another fun mystery from Christy Barritt. I can't wait for the next book in this series. I'm loving these characters. Plus, I can never get enough Lantern Beach.

FOUR STARS

Book Beginnings + Friday 56: Courting Misfortune (The Joplin Chronicles #1) by Regina Jennings

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two. I'm also linking up with Carrie at Reading is My Superpower for First Line Friday.

This week I'm featuring Courting Misfortune (The Joplin Chronicles #1) by Regina Jennings. 

About the Book

Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job. When she's assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she's sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri, despite having extended family in the area. Will their meddling expose her mission and keep Lila Seaton from being recovered?

When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children's home. He'll do what he can to stop it, but he also wants to stop the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently seems to be putting her in harm's way.

Calista doesn't need the handsome pastor interfering with her investigation, and she can't let her disguise slip. Her job and the life of a young lady depend on keeping Matthew in the dark.

Book Beginnings / First Line Friday

1898

Chicago

"You want me to work for Jinxy Seaton?" Calista York dropped her handbag onto her desk and reached up to remove her hatpin from her heavy swirl of brown curls. "The last I heard, we had scruples against helping criminal gangsters who corrupt Chicago with their nefarious - "

Friday 56

"It's hard for me to say this, and it's going to be even harder for you to hear, Matthew, but I can't tell you what I'm doing. You have to trust me."

What have you been reading lately?

Review: Range (The Metcalfes #3) by Ronie Kendig

About the Book

He's back and he's out for blood

Fed up with living in the shadow of his brothers, Range Metcalfe struck out to carve a name for himself—one written in the blood of many a terrorist. Now, he’s targeting the notorious Madam of Kandahar, who has trafficked children and women. Finally given the green light, he captures her and quickly finds himself entrenched up in a deadly encounter that forces him into the Afghan wilderness—with the madam.

Ten years as a trafficking victim Kasra Jazani has little left of her soul. No longer able to live with herself, she takes matters into her own hands and coordinates an escape, a massive coup against the man who has kept her and so many others captive. They flee into the night—right into the fierce and capable hands of American operators, who ruin everything and put lives at risk. Livid, she knows death is coming for them, because she also holds a very dangerous, very powerful secret: the name of the man at the top of the trafficking ring. Now that monster wants her—and her American protector—dead.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

Wow! What an intense, heartbreaking and, yet, hope-filled read. It's the best of the series so far. The lightning fast pace and high stakes had me flipping through the pages as fast as possible. Things took numerous surprising turns, so I could never predict what was gonna happen next. I wish it had been a little bit longer, but that just emphasizes how good it was. I can't wait for Brooke's story next!

This series tackles the horrors of human trafficking. They're hard reads at times, but absolutely necessary. I really hope everyone will check these books out. Yes, it's tough to read about the horrific things that happen, but it's so important. This is happening all around the world, every single day, to so many innocent people. I'm so glad this series is bringing more awareness.

FIVE STARS

Can't Wait Wednesday: Between Friends: A City Between Compilation by W.R. Gingell

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights and discusses the books we're excited about that we've yet to read. Generally, they're books that are yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm featuring Between Friends: A City Between Compilation by W.R. Gingell releasing December 5.

About the Book

What happened to the tie frog? What is the best way of disposing of vampiric watermelon? Exactly how do you get rid of goblins in the spare room?

Friends and foes, Between and Behind—all the little pieces and curiosities that make up Pet’s new world—are here to be seen and delighted in, and put on the shelf beside books 1-10.

Featuring Cloudy with a Chance of Dropbears, All the Different Shades of Blue, and every other Short Thing formerly found on the WR(ite) Blog, along with previously unpublished novelettes and three new, never-before-seen short stories, this compilation completes the main City Between series.

What upcoming release are you eagerly awaiting?

Review: Authentically Izzy by Pepper Basham

About the Book (From Amazon)
Dear Reader, My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood—Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You’ll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin—who, really, is more like my sister—signed me up for an online dating community.

The trouble is . . . it worked. I’ve met my book-quoting Mr. Right, and our correspondence has been almost too good to be true. But Brodie lives across an ocean. And just the other day, a perfectly nice author and professor named Eli came into the library where I work and asked me out for a coffee. I feel a rom-com movie with a foreboding disaster nipping at my heels.

But I’ve played it safe for a long time. Maybe it’s time for me to be as brave as my favorite literary heroines. Maybe it’s time to take the adventures from the page to real life. Wish me luck.

Authentically,

Izzy

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

What a delightfully fun novel! I've loved everything I've read by Pepper Basham, but this one takes the cake. It's an epistolary novel, told in the form of emails and text messages, and I loved that! It's such a fun way to tell a story, and it's done perfectly here.

Izzy and Brodie were the perfect bookish duo. They were so relatable. I loved all their quotes and references, especially the Lord of the Rings ones. I enjoyed seeing them open up and share their authentic selves with each other. It was neat seeing them discover new things about themselves along the way, too.

Not gonna lie, Josephine got on my nerves quite a bit. I know she was only trying to be helpful and that she only wanted the very best for Izzy, but, my goodness, her delivery was lacking, to say the least. But I think we all know someone like Josephine, so that was very relatable. I really liked Luke and Penelope, though. I'd love them to get their own stories.

I highly recommend this feel-good, heartfelt, and romantic read. It had me laughing and put a big smile on my face. Even now, thinking about it, I can't stop smiling. It was so, so good!

I received an early copy of this book via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.

FIVE STARS

Book Beginnings + Friday 56: Among the Innocent by Mary Alford

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two. I'm also linking up with Carrie at Reading is My Superpower for First Line Friday.

This week I'm featuring Among the Innocent by Mary Alford. I finally got around to reading this book and I loved it!

About the Book

When Leah Miller's entire Amish family was murdered ten years ago, the person believed responsible took his own life. Since then, Leah left the Amish and joined the police force. Now, after another Amish woman is found murdered with the same MO, it becomes clear that the wrong man may have been blamed for her family's deaths.

As Leah and the new police chief, Dalton Cooper, work long hours struggling to fit the pieces together in order to catch the killer, they can't help but grow closer. When secrets from both of their pasts begin to surface, an unexpected connection between them is revealed. But this is only the beginning. Could it be that the former police chief framed an innocent man to keep the biggest secret of all buried? And what will it mean for Leah--and Dalton--when the full truth comes to light?

USA Today bestselling author Mary Alford keeps you guessing as two determined souls plumb the dark depths of the past in order to forge a brighter future--together.

Book Beginnings / First Line Friday

He drove by the house again. The second time today. All because of her.

Friday 56

He hadn't told his story to another soul besides his former lieutenant, Mark Sorenson. Until now. But he and Leah had a lot in common. They'd both suffered much at the hands of a killer. "I should have told you everything sooner."

What have you been reading lately?