Books Read - January 2019

Ashford, Lindsay Jayne

• The Snow Gypsy *****

Fiction.  Two women born in different countries are brought together due to a linked past.  Rose is looking for her brother who went off to fight in the Spanish Civil War, and Lola who finds a newborn baby at the same moment she finds her mother and twin brother murdered by the Guardia Civil.

Beaton, M.C.

• The Dead Ringer ****

Fiction.  Thirty-second in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series.  Agatha gets involved with another murder, this time involving a group of bell ringers in a nearby town.

Belcamino, Krist

• City of the Dead ***

Fiction.  First in the Gia Santella thriller series.  Gia’s parents and brother were murdered, and now the mob is after her.  She wants to turn to the only person she has left, her godfather, but she’s suddenly unsure if she can trust him or if he is the one responsible for killing her family.

Bradbury, Laura

• My Grape Year *****

Fiction.  First in the Grape memoir series.  Laura travels to France on an exchange program, and she falls in love with the country and the people, not to mention the food and the wine.  She dreams of falling in love and hopes that her time in France will help that dream come true.

Calverley, J.M.

• Lokahi’s Triangle *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Reef Kahili detective series set on the Big Island.  The bizarre death of a doctor brings Reef and his partner, Kalani, a case that hits close to home and involves the art of lomilomi healing and illicit drugs.

Garrett, Danielle

• Cupid in A Bottle ***

Fiction.  First in the Touch of Magic paranormal cozy mystery series.  Anastasia is working on a wedding, but when the groom declares his love for the maid of honor, the bride calls off the wedding.  This might all have resulted from a love potion created by Anastasia’s little sister.

Green, Cass

• In a Cottage in a Wood ****

Fiction.  A young woman sees someone on a bridge late at night and asks if she is okay.  They speak for a moment, and the second woman jumps off the bridge to her death.  The young woman is shocked to find that she has been left a cottage in a wood and finds herself in the middle of a mystery that has far reaching consequences.

Hanna, H.Y.

• Tea with Milk and Murder ****

Fiction.  Second in the Oxford Tea Room mysteries.  Gemma’s best friend has fallen in love with an art dealer, but Gemma is suspicious of him from the beginning, though she can’t tell why.  When he hosts a showing at his gallery and a woman who claims a previous relationship with him falls dead at Gemma’s feet, she wonders if she suspects him because he’s guilty or if it’s because she just doesn’t trust him.

Krentz, Jayne Ann

• Copper Beach ***

Fiction.  First in the Dark Legacy sci-fi thriller.  A woman is hunted for her psi abilities, and she is hired by a man who is willing to serve as her bodyguard, to find a lab book.

Kuhn, Cynthia

• The Semester of Our Discontent ****

Fiction.  First in the Lila MacLean Literary mysteries.  Lila is teaching her first semester at Stonewood College, and she finds the politics of academia disturbing.  When the head of her department insults her work and is then found murdered, she becomes a suspect.

Lackey, Mercedes

• The Fairy Godmother ****

Fiction.  First in the 500 Kingdoms series.  Elena (Cinderella) seeks to hire herself out when her wicked stepmother and stepsisters run away from their creditors leaving her alone.  But the one who hires her is a Godmother, and Elena’s whole life is changed.

• One Good Knight ****

Fiction.  Second in the 500 Kingdoms series.  Princess Andromeda lives a lonely life, for the most part ignored by her mother, Queen Cassiopeia.  But when the queen devises a plan to have Andie killed by a dragon, Andie and her Champion, Gina, and their rag tag army return with a vengeance.

Larsson, Asa

• Sun Storm ***

Fiction.  First in the Rebecka Martinsson mystery series.  Rebecca returns to her hometown and gets involved in a murder mystery.  She has to protect two young girls from their mother and their uncle’s murderer against the church.

Llewellyn, A.J.

• Uhane Hunter ****

Fiction.  First in the Danny Morales P.I. paranormal mystery series.  Danny sees ghosts.  Ghosts of victims, ghosts of murderers, ghosts of dogs, and ghosts of ancestral spirits.

Neal, TW

• Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up in Hawai’i *****

Non-fiction.  A fascinating tale of a young girl growing up with hippie parents on the island of Kaua’i.

Pandian, Gigi

• The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories *****

Fiction.  Short stories in the Jaya Jones mystery series.

• The Elusive Elixir ****

Fiction.  Third in the Accidental Alchemist series.  Zoe travels to Paris to learn more about backward alchemy and to find another gargoyle who was captured in stone.  When she returns home, others are following her and bring nothing but trouble.

• Michelangelo’s Ghost ****

Fiction. Fourth in the Jaya Jones mystery series.  Jaya travels to Italy to track down the art studio of a centuries’ old artist at the Parco dei Mostri.  Her brother and his new girlfriend accompany her, and Lane shows up with a big surprise.

• The Ninja’s Illusion ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Jaya Jones mystery series.  Sanjay flies Jaya to Japan to see his new magic show in which the magician he’s working with will be performing a famous illusion.  But when the magician is killed, and the murderer seems to have Sanjay in his sights, Jaya and Tamarind have to help solve the mystery.

Parker, Lehua

• Fractured Beauty ****

Fiction.  Anthology of fractured Beauty and the Beast fairytales.

• One Boy, No Water *****

Fiction.  First in the Niuhi Shark Saga trilogy.  Zader had a mysterious birth, and when Uncle Kahana found him lying on the lava at the beach, he took the baby home and gave him to his sister who raised him as her own son.  Zader is allergic to water, which causes all sorts of problems for him, but he’s a truly talented artist.  Uncle Kahana has not yet told Zader where he came from or who he really is.

Schumann, Katrin

• The Forgotten Hours ***

Fiction.  A woman remembers her best friend as a girl in an idyllic time that ended when the best friend accused the woman’s father of rape.  She doesn’t understand why her friend turned on her family, but the effects of that summer lasted well into her adulthood.

Shaw, Rebecca

• The New Rector ****

Fiction.  First in the Tales from Turnham Malpas series.  Very light mystery about people living in a village going through their lives with the occasional murder.

Books Read - March 2019

Ashmore, Carl

• The Time Hunters ****

Fiction.  First in the Time Hunters adventure series.  Two young children spent the summer with their uncle who turns out to be a time traveler.  They accompany him on his travels back in time to acquire the Golden Fleece, but there are evil men out to stop and capture them.

Cheetham, Ben

• Don’t Look Back ****

Fiction.  A London couple loses one of their twin sons in an accident, and nine months later they enter a contest to win free rent at a Cornish mansion.  They figure the move will help their remaining son and them heal from the loss.  But their idyllic new residence might also be home to others of an undead sort.

Clark, Becky

• Fiction Can Be Murder ***

Fiction.  First in the Mystery Writer’s mysteries.  Charlee is a member of a writing circle, but when her agent is found murdered as copied from her own manuscript, she is the main suspect.

Clifford, V.

• Beyond Cutting ****

Fiction.  First in the Vic Fraser mystery series.  Vic is an anthropologist who earns her living as a hairdresser and part time journalist.  When she is assigned to look into the disappearance of a young gay man, she gets drawn into a mystery that threatens her own life.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• The Hallowed Hunt *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Wild Hunt urban fantasy series set in Seattle.  The agency has taken on two cases, a missing child and a rogue group of Fae activists who are causing mayhem around the city.  Ember is fast approaching her Cruharach ritual, but she is caught up and injured in an attack by the rogue group.

Hanna, H.Y.

• Blood, Sweets and Tears ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  Viktor isn’t the only vampire about, and when jewels are stolen and a man is found dead, Caitlyn finds herself in the clutches of a blood-sucking vampire.

• Bonbons and Broomsticks ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  A mysterious black dog has been haunting the woods, and when two men are killed along the same path, the Black Shuck becomes the scapegoat, but Caitlyn believes the murderer is human, and with Victor’s help she’s out to find the culprit.

• Deadhead and Buried ***

Fiction.  First in the English Cottage Garden mystery series.  Poppy is working a dead end job when she suddenly inherits a cottage with a garden in Oxfordshire.  The kicker in the will stipulates that she must agree to run the family business, a garden center, but Poppy knows nothing about flowers.  When she visits the cottage, she trips over a corpse, leading her on a quest to find the murderer.

• Witch Chocolate Fudge ****

Fiction.  Second in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  When the housekeeper at the big house is killed, Caitlyn is questioned as a suspect.  She can prove her innocence if one of the wicked women in town will tell the truth and admit to seeing Caitlyn on the mountain.  When she refuses, Caitlyn has to try to discover the murderer on her own.

• Witch Summer Night’s Cream ***

Fiction.  Third in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  A professor has arrived in town to prove his theory that Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was based on a true story.  When Caitlyn realizes that her grandmother is using a love potion in her chocolates, she tries to keep that news to herself, but the professor is determined to get his hands on it.

Harper, Karen

• Broken Bonds ****

Fiction.  Third in the Cold Creek mystery trilogy.  Char has returned from the West and is busy trying to get mountain children into school.  She meets Matt when his truck has been pushed off the road, and she saves his life.  But when hers is in danger, Matt must gather everyone around to save hers.

• Forbidden Ground ***

Fiction.  Second in the Cold Creek mystery trilogy.  Kate has come home for Tess’ wedding, but she also wants to dig at the Adena Mason Mound that sits on Grant’s land.  Grant is determined not to give her access because of what he saw there when he was a boy.  When his friends who share the secret start dying and getting hurt, Grant realizes a target is on his head as well.

Hayton, Katherine

• Mrs. Pettigrew Saw a Ghost ***

Fiction.  Emily is recovering from a near-fatal car accident that left her with a brain injury that causes her not to be able to read or write.  Her physical body is in bad shape, but she is determined to find work, which she does at a charity shop.  When she visits a home to collect some goods that belonged to the recently departed wife, the wife’s ghost comes along for the ride and claims to have been murdered.

Hunt, Isabella

• Black Bear’s Due ****

Fiction.  Second in the Northbane Shifters series.  Rett is an Alpha, and when a tired and sick refugee collapses at the gate, he takes her home to heal.  Laia has been searching for her cousin but shows up at Wynfire with an Excris weapon in her pack, and Rett is determined to keep an eye on her.

• Dragon’s Oath *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Northbane Shifters series.  Xander is a man full of many secrets, but he meets his match in Tiana, who reluctantly travels to Winfyre to reunite with Iris.  She knows she can’t stay, she knows that by being there she puts everyone in danger.  But Xander isn’t ready to let her go.

• Ice Bear’s Bid *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Northbane Shifters series.  The Ice Bear, Kallen, saves Iris from a black market auction, but he has no intention of falling for her.  The inevitable happens, and the thing he most fears is losing her.

Ryker’s Security ****

Fiction.  Wolf shifters and werewolves living in Alaska clash, and the members of Ryker’s Security get involved with local issues and in finding their own loves.

• Tiger’s Prey *****

Fiction.  Third in the Northbane Shifters series.  Tristan has been searching for her for five years, but when he runs into Sierra at a bar far from Winfyre, he can’t believe he’s found her.  She has remembered him all these years but is determined to have her revenge on him.

• Wolf’s Wager ***

Fiction.  First in the Northbane Shifters series.  Luke is an Alpha, and when he meets Reagan, he claims her as his own.  Her Riftborn abilities are just starting to bloom, but the SB and others are on her trail.  Luke tries to keep her safe and realizes that her powers might save the whole community.

Keim, Judith

• Fat Fridays ****

Fiction.  A group of women meet every Friday for lunch and to share the news of their lives.  Sukie is a new member, and she quickly becomes close to each of the women as they support each other through good times and bad.

• Sassy Saturdays *****
• Fiction.  Second in the Fat Fridays series.  Sukie is getting ready for her wedding, and Tiffany is getting ready to give birth.  When her husband dies on a trip, she’s left to bring up her baby alone but for the care of the Fat Fridays women.  Lynetta, a new member of the group, has arrived in town with her two teenage sons who can’t keep out of trouble, and Carol Ann is still looking in the wrong places for love.

• Secret Sundays *****

Fiction.  Third in the Fat Fridays Group series.  The ladies continue their supportive relationships as they deal with their problems.

Moral, Tony Lee

• The Haunting of Alice May ***

Fiction.  First in the Ghost Maven paranormal series.  Alice is new in town, and when she meets a ghost boy, she falls in love.  But in trying to save her life, he takes her to a mysterious island, incurring the wrath of the sailors living there.  When they come for her, the whole town is in danger.

Roethle, Sara C.

• Tree of Ages ***

Fiction.  First in the Tree of Ages fantasy series.  Finn woke up one day to find that she was no longer a tree but has been turned into a human woman.  Aed, an elderly conjurer, finds her and takes her under his wing.  Finn wants only to find out how she can return to being a tree, and the duo sets off on a quest to find the Archtree.

Warren, Nancy

• The Vampire Knitting Club ****

Fiction.  First in the Vampire Knitting Club cozy mystery series set in Oxford.  Lucy arrives in Oxford for a visit with her Gran, only to find out that her grandmother died three weeks earlier, having left Lucy the knitting shop and small apartment above it.  A unique knitting group meets at the shop, and when Lucy finds out they’re all vampires, she doesn’t know who to trust.