Review: A Bad Day for Romance [Kindle Edition] Sophie Littlefield

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 771 KB
• Print Length: 204 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (Sep 2 2013)
• Sold by: Simon & Schuster Canada, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00A6CL7K4

Book Description

 That’s no cupid, it’s a bridesmaid with a crossbow. Stella Hardesty is a seamstress with a sideline job in vigilante justice in this entertaining ebook in the Edgar-nominated and award-winning Bad Day series.Two days before her best friend gets married, Stella Hardesty has nothing more pressing on her mind than fitting into her fluffy pink bridesmaid gown, mixing her next cocktail, and enjoying a romantic weekend with her sometimes beau, BJ Brodersen. Just as she’s headed to the bridal shower, word comes that BJ and smokin’ hot sheriff Goat Jones have gotten into a dustup over Stella’s affections.

Before Stella can recover from this startling development, more bad news comes along. The minister’s niece, the hard-to-love pageant princess Divinity Flycock, has been arrested for the murder of her fiancé. The bride begs Stella to clear Divinity’s name so that her minister will be able to perform the nuptials. When Stella starts digging into the case, however, she uncovers a world of jealous nightclub singers, firearms dealers, and the ugly underbelly of reality TV. Hot on the trail of the truth, she’s distracted by the arrival of the sheriff, who finally seems ready to make a claim for her affections.

About the Author

 Sophie's first novel, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur, 2009) has been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, Barry, and Crimespree awards, and won the Anthony Award and the RTBookReviews Reviewers Choice Award for Best First Mystery. Her novel AFTERTIME was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Horror award.

My Review


I'm a huge fan of this quirky series by Sophie Littlefield.  I've been  a huge fan of Stella Hardesty since the first book in the series, A Bad Day for Sorry (which was so awesome!).

All those who inhabit Stella's world are back and they still don't have a lick of sense! It's always a rollicking adventure with a dash of mystery thrown in. A great enjoyable light read to while away the hours.  It is released on September 2nd but only as an ebook.

Review: A Cold, White Sun by Vicki Delany

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 535 KB
• Print Length: 300 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (July 31 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00EA1Y6MI

Book Description

It’s the end of March and Trafalgar, British Columbia, is preparing for the last influx of the seasonal skiers. Teachers, parents, and students are preparing to relax at home or head off on vacation. But for high school English teacher Cathy Lindsay, the week of relaxation doesn’t work out as planned. She’s gunned down by a sniper on a hiking trail, her small dog the only witness.

Cathy Lindsay is an unlikely candidate for a murderous ambush: she was a respected teacher, in an apparently solid marriage to an Internet developer, living a quiet life. Sergeant John Winters, with the help of young Constable Molly Smith, digs into the Lindsay marriage and friendships, searching for a motive, but one thought continually niggles at the back of his mind: is it possible this was not a random killing but a case of mistaken identity?

About the Author
 
 Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most varied and prolific crime writers. Her popular Constable Molly Smith series (including In the Shadow of the Glacier and Among the Departed) have been optioned for TV by Brightlight Pictures.

She writes standalone novels of modern gothic suspense such as Burden of Memory and More than Sorrow, as well as a light-hearted historical series, (Gold Digger, Gold Mountain), set in the raucous heyday of the Klondike Gold Rush. She is also the author of a novel for reluctant readers, titled A Winter Kill.

Having taken early retirement from her job as a systems analyst in the high-pressure financial world, Vicki is settling down to the rural life in bucolic, Prince Edward County, Ontario where she rarely wears a watch.

Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com , www.facebook.com/vicki.delany, and twitter: @vickidelany

She blogs about the writing life at One Woman Crime Wave (http://klondikeandtrafalgar.blogspot.com)

Vicki is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, and Capital Crime Writers, and is on the board of Wolfe Island’s Scene of the Crime Mystery Festival. 

My Review

 Set in the fictional town of Trafalgar, British Columbia (oh, lets just call it Nelson), this is a series that always satisfies.  Author Vicki Delany captures of the essence of the hippie-dippie, green, ski resort town Nelson, BC in this series. That Molly's real name is Moonlight is no surprise to those of us who grew up in the midst of British Columbia's hippie years.

Well written mystery by a consistently good author, Vicki Delany. There is a fascinating story. And with each book in the series, we know the characters better and we are now cheering for them. 






Great read! You should read the whole series as it is very well written. This book could also stand on its own. Loved the ending!  

Review: Last Chance Summer by Hope Ramsay

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 319 KB
• Print Length: 55 pages
• Publisher: Forever Yours (Aug 6 2013)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00BL3P5DW

Book Description

"Last Chance captures the essence of Southern charm and quirkiness. I'm totally captivated!" --- Sherryl Woods, New York Times bestselling author

It wouldn't be summer without the Watermelon Festival, and single mom Amanda Wright is looking forward to a carefree day eating funnel cakes and sipping sweet tea. But with her inquisitive son and elderly grandmother in tow, she's not in the mood for carnival rides or the kissing booth, until she hears a charming, funny voice over the loudspeaker.

Grant Trumbull is the new DJ at the local radio station, and his deep, booming cadence has all the ladies of the church auxillary atwitter. Even without seeing his face, Amanda can't help but wonder if he's the one for her. When she finally comes face to face with the man behind the mic, summer is about to get a whole lot hotter in little Last Chance, South Carolina.

Approx. 10,000 words

About the Author

 Hope Ramsay is an award-winning, bestselling author and two-time Golden Heart finalist.  Her series of heartwarming romances, published by Grand Central Publishing, have won critical acclaim.  Hope is also a member of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood and regularly blogs about storytelling and plotting.  She is married to a good ol’ Georgia boy who resembles every single one of her Southern heroes.  She has two grown children and a couple of demanding lap cats.  She lives in Virginia where, when she’s not writing, she’s knitting or playing on her thirty-five-year-old Martin guitar.


My Review

 Perfect quick summer read by Hope Ramsay. What more can you ask for:  Last Chance and the Watermelon Festival. And of course love is always in the air in Last Chance, South Carolina. Adorable heart warming story that warms up the reader for Hope Ramsay's next book which I'm looking forward to:  Last Chance Knit and Stitch.

Review: Tamarack County: A Novel (Cork O'Connor #13) by William Kent Krueger

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (Aug 20 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451645759
• ISBN-13: 978-1451645750

Book Description

Violence and murder blow into Minnesota’s sleepy Tamarack County as ex-sheriff Cork O’Connor returns in the latest installment of William Kent Krueger’s New York Times bestselling series.As a blizzard swells just days before Christmas, the car belonging to the wife of a retired local judge is discovered abandoned on a rural road in Tamarack County. After days of fruitless effort, the search-and-rescue team has little hope that she’ll be found alive, if at all. Cork O’Connor, former sheriff and now private investigator, is part of that team.

Early on, Cork notices small things about the woman’s disappearance that disturb him. But when the beloved pet dog of a friend is brutally killed and beheaded, he begins to see a startling pattern in these and other recent dark occurrences in the area. After his own son comes close to peril, Cork understands that someone is spinning a deadly web in Tamarack County. At the center is a murder more than twenty years old, for which an innocent man may have been convicted. Cork remembers the case only too well. He was the deputy in charge of the investigation that sent the man to prison.

With the darkest days of the year at hand, the storms of winter continue to isolate Tamarack County. Somewhere behind the blind of all that darkness and drifting snow, a vengeful force is at work. And Cork has only hours to stop it before his family and his friends pay the ultimate price for the sins of others.

With complex plot twists, rich characters, and a vivid setting, Tamarack County is a relentlessly fast-paced novel that will chill, thrill, and shock you


About the Author

 William Kent Krueger is the award-winning author of thirteen novels in the Cork O’Connor mystery series, including Trickster’s Point and Tamarack County. He lives in the Twin Cities with his family. Visit his website at www.WilliamKentKrueger.com.

My Review

William Kent Krueger is one of my go-to authors.  I am always so excited when I know a new book in the Cork O'Connor series or a stand alone is on the way.  And I am always elated when I am granted a review copy.

Once again, I am drawn into Northern Minnesota after just a few pages with Krueger's compelling writing style. Authors that immediately grab your attention are a rarity and Krueger is one of them.

Cork O'Connor's family dynamic is always changing.  In Tamarack County, middle daughter Annie is suddenly home from the convent with a heavily burdened heart.   Meloux is in Thunder Bay visiting his son and Rainy has left town for who knows how long.

There is a dark and menacing force around Tamarack County..first a judge's wife is missing then  Steven finds a murdered dog.  And Steven is under some kind of threat. Cork probes into the past to find the answer to the winter darkness.

There is plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader enthralled.  And I shed a few tears. And from the darkness there was tremendous light at the end. Excellent story with a fulfilling ending. It's available on August 20th.  Don't miss out. And read this entire series if you haven't yet.

Review: The Right Side of Wrong by Reavis Z. Wortham

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (July 2 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1464201463
• ISBN-13: 978-1464201462

Book Description


Burrows ended as 1965 drew to a close with Constable Cody Parker’s frightening precognition of gathering storm clouds for the tight-knit Parker family from Center Springs, Texas. The dreams proved accurate. Cody is ambushed and nearly killed on a lonely country road during an unusually heavy snowfall. With that attack, the locals begin to worry that The Skinner, from The Rock Hole, has returned.

Constable Ned Parker struggles to connect a seemingly unrelated series of murders as his nephew recovers. As the summer of 1966 approaches, rock and roll evolves to reflect the increasing unrest in this country and the people of northeast Texas wonder why their once peaceful community has suddenly become a dangerous place to live.

Ned’s pre-teen grandchildren, Top and Pepper, are underfoot at every turn. The two lawmen, along with the deputy John Washington, cross paths with many colorful characters originally introduced in Wortham’s acclaimed Red River series: cranky old Judge O.C. Rains, the jittery little farmer Isaac Reader, and the Wilson boys Ty Cobb and Jimmy Foxx.

And then there’s the arrival of the mysterious old man named Tom Bell.

 When Cody follows his main suspect across the Rio Grande and into Mexico, Ned understands that to save his nephew, he will have to cross more than a river, he will have to cross over to the Right Side of Wrong.

Humor, suspense, horror, precognition, and Life in the tumultuous 60s are examined with an unflinching eye by the author of the Red River series.

In the spring of 1966, Constable Ned Parker tries to connect a string of seemingly unrelated murders in the small community of Center Springs, Texas. When Cody Parker tracks their main suspect into Mexico, Ned realizes he’ll have to cross over to the Right Side of Wrong to save him.



About the Author


As a boy, award-winning writer, Reavis Z. Wortham hunted and fished the river bottoms near Chicota, Texas, the inspiration for Center Springs.   He is the author of Doreen’s 24 HR Eat Gas Now Café. Humor editor and frequent contributor for Texas Fish and Game Magazine, he writes on everything from fishing to deer hunting. In addition to several other magazines, his work has appeared in American Cowboy and Texas Sporting Journal. A retired educator of 35 years, he and wife Shana live in Frisco, Texas.

My Review

I do love this author and this series.  Another excellent story told by a superlative storyteller, Reavis Wortham.  If you haven't read this series yet published through Poisoned Pen Press then you should.

Wortham portrays northern Texas in the 1960s perfectly.  You feel as if you have been transported in time.  And what a great story!  You are so wrapped up in the writing that you forget its a mystery and a crime story.  Top and Pepper are as precocious as ever.  The story travels a little farther afield this time to the Mexican border where crime and corruption are the rule. And who is this mysterious new neighbour Tom Bell?

The action was never ending in the conclusion of the book.  Great read...don't hesitate to pick it up.