Books Read July 2013

Abbott, Victoria

• The Christie Curse

Fiction.  Jordan Bingham applies for a new job with Vera Van Alst, the town’s most hated person.  She’s given room and board in exchange for tracking down a mysterious play supposedly written by the grand dame of crime herself, Agatha Christie.  With the help of her lovable, though quirky, uncles, she dodges danger in her quest.

Adams, Ellery

• Peach Pies and Alibis

Fiction.  Ella Mae learns more about her mysterious ancestry as she dodges an ex-husband and while dealing with the romantic pangs she feels for the handsome firefighter she’s had a crush on all her life.  Deception and dangerous abound as death visits the lovely town of Havenwood.

Ball, Donna

• At Home on Ladybug Farm 

Fiction.  2nd in the series.  The three women who own Ladybug Farm have taken in Cici’s daughter, Lori, and Noah, the teenager who had been camping out on their property.  Along with Ida Mae, the crusty elderly woman who came with the farm, they seem to form a family, something they desperately need as they see themselves through one catastrophe (and hilarious event) after another.  From sheep with coats on to a barn on fire, they stand together and try to find a way to make it work.

Bevill, C.L.

• Harvest Moon

Fiction.  Emma had been abducted and brutalized by a were while vacationing with her parents.  By the time she escaped from him, her DNA had altered, and so, too, was her future.  Years later, she is the second in command of the powerful Colorado Cat Clan, yet in trying to help another were, she is once more captured and held.  This time by humans.  Can Wheeler find and rescue her in time?  Or will she be hunted to death?

Blackwell, Juliet

• Tarnished and Torn 

Fiction.  Lily and her friends plan to spend a fun day shopping at the Gem Faire, but as usual with Lily, things don’t go exactly as planned, and she suddenly finds herself staring at the corpse of a witch who was pressed to death.  When her estranged father arrives in town, one thing leads to another, and Lily is forced to join forces with Aiden, the most powerful witch in San Francisco, and with Sailor, who has gifts of his own to defeat a demon, if she can.

Bretton, Barbara

• Charmed 

Fiction.  Short story in the Sugar Maple series.  At the last meeting of a knitting workshop, one of the knitters surprises Chloe by revealing to her friends that Chloe is pregnant, something the villagers in Sugar Maple did not previously know.

Childs, Laura

• Sweet Tea Revenge 

Fiction.  14th in the Tea Shop mystery series.  Theodosia returns to solve another murder that happens during Delaine’s wedding.  

Connolly, Sheila

• Dead Letters

Fiction.  Nell, head of the local history society is hired by an elderly wealthy man to look into his family history and see if she can uncover anything untoward that his family was party to.  With the help of a mysterious otherworldly being, Nell is able to fulfill his request and bring about the solution to a long dormant injustice.

Copperman, E.J.

• Old Haunts 

Fiction.  3rd in the paranormal cozy series.  Alison juggles her burgeoning business as the owner and hostess of a guesthouse with a fledgling occupation as a private investigator.  The two special “guests” of her house, both long departed from their bodies, hire her to find people from their pasts.  As she begins having feelings for a new man in her life, her ex-husband, or as she calls him, The Swine, shows up for a reconciliation, disrupting her household and causing her heartache.

Draco, Melusine

• Compass Points The Pagan Writers’ Guide

Non-fiction.  Tips for writing in the Pagan and MB&S markets.

Jaffarian, Sue Ann

• Rockets’ Red Glare

Fiction.  Short story in a series of holiday tales about a woman and her odd relationships with her family members.  Funny, but this one is a bit sad.

Leclaire, Day

• Once Upon A Ghost 

Fiction.  Zach makes his living debunking ghost stories and revealing charlatans, and this case seems to be just another routine job.  That is until he meets Avery, a young woman convinced beyond all doubt that her ancestor still walks the earth.  Will his scientific experiments prove her wrong, and will she lose her faith?  Or can she prove to him that things like faith and love do exist?