Dear Abby - Videos Abby Likes: A Dachshund Who Is Friends With a Lion

Dear Friends,

I have a very interesting video to share with you today.  In this short (3 minute) video you will meet Bonedigger the lion and his best friend, a dachshund named Abby (!).   Bonedigger is friends with several dachshunds, also seen in the video, but Abby is his special buddy.  They play together and even give kisses at one point.

I have met some very big dogs (biggest was a Mastiff) and I always was a little nervous because they were so much taller than me.  I cannot imagine meeting a lion!   I do not think I will make aquaintance with any lions in the near future.



I would love to hear from you in the comments, below.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

Book Review and Giveaway - A Vintage Death (A Keepsake Cove Mystery) by Mary Ellen Hughes

Book Synopsis

As the new music box store owner and resident of Keepsake Cove, a quaint town full of collectible shops on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Callie Reed is eager to get more involved in her community. She volunteers to plan the Fall street decorations and welcome a visiting author who’s come for a special book signing. But the celebratory mood is cut short when the local B&B owner is found dead, killed by a pair of vintage scissors.

Suspicion is cast on the victim’s estranged wife, Dorothy, who owns Keepsake Cove’s vintage sewing shop. Callie is sure Dorothy is innocent, and the visiting author agrees. Together, they begin their own investigation, only to discover that many people in Keepsake Cove have secrets. Secrets that are worth killing to keep quiet.

My Review
Callie Reed owns a music box shop in Keepsake Cove, a quaint town on the coast of Maryland.  She becomes involved in a murder investigation when a body is found with stab marks from a pair of antique scissors.  The scissors came from a vintage sewing shop nearby and the shop owner is under suspicion.  Callie decides to investigate to find out what happened.

A Vintage Death is the second book in the Keepsake Cove Mystery series.  I have not read the first book (although I now want to!) but picked up on the characters and back story within a few chapters.  This book was enjoyable as a standalone read.

I absolutely loved the quaint Keepsake Cove setting with the cute little shops and the description of Callie's small cottage home.  I am a vintage seller and was delighted with the details of vintage items in the shops.  I especially enjoyed reading about the vintage music boxes in Callie's shop.

Callie was helped in her investigation by a new friend, Lyssa, a mystery author who came to town for a book reading and signing event.  I enjoyed their detecting adventures.  I especially liked the mysterious inn that played a part in the story -- complete with secret passageways and rooms!

The mystery had a lot of characters - and potential suspects.  I am an avid mystery reader but did not solve this one before Callie did!   I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot.

I recommend A Vintage Death for cozy readers and especially for anyone who enjoys small town settings and vintage details.   I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
 

Author Bio
Mary Ellen Hughes is the bestselling author of the Pickled and Preserved Mysteries (Penguin), the Craft Corner Mysteries, and the Maggie Olenski Mysteries, along with several short stories. A Fatal Collection is her debut with Midnight Ink. A Wisconsin native, she has lived most of her adult life in Maryland, where she’s set many of her stories. Visit her at www.MaryEllenHughes.com.

Author Links
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MaryEllenHughesauthor
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/mehughes13/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/mehughesauthor
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/402922.Mary_Ellen_Hughes

Purchase Links – Amazon    B&N  Midnight Ink

Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Great Escapes Book Tour. 

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - Murder in Her Stocking (A Granny Reid Mystery) by G. A. McKevett

Book Synopsis

As the Moonlight Magnolia Agency revisits old memories on Christmas Eve, Granny Reid takes the reins back thirty years to the 1980s—back when she went by Stella, everyone’s hair was bigger, and sweaters were colorful disasters. But murder never went out of style . . .

Christmas has arrived in sleepy McGill, Georgia, but holiday cheer can’t keep temperamental Stella Reid from swinging a rolling pin at anyone who crosses her bad side—and this season, there are plenty. First an anonymous grinch vandalizes a celebrated nativity display. Far worse, the scandalous Prissy Carr is found dead in an alley behind a tavern. With police puzzled over the murder, Stella decides to stir the local gossip pot for clues on the culprit’s identity . . .

Turns out Prissy held a prominent spot on the naughty list, and suspects pile up like presents on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, the more progress Stella makes, the more fears she must confront. With a neighbor in peril and the futures of her beloved grandchildren at risk, Stella must somehow set everything straight and bring a cunning criminal to justice before December 25th . . .

Author Bio
G.A. McKevett is the author of the acclaimed Savannah Reid mystery series. Also writing under the name Sonja Massie, she has authored over 60 books ranging from cozy mysteries to historical romances, to nonfiction works on the history of Ireland. Her earthy humor and fast-paced plots delight her fans, while critics applaud her offbeat characterizations and incisive observations on human nature. Irish by ancestry, she has lived in Toronto, Ireland, and Los Angeles, but now resides in New York. 

Author Links
Website: www.SonjaMassie.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GAMcKevett
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gwendolynnarden.mckevett
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2xQwQKz

Purchase Links
Amazon  B&N  Kobo Google Play   Book Depository

Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Book Review - On Magnolia Lane by Denise Hunter

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Convenient Groom (now a beloved Hallmark Original movie) comes the final book in Hunter’s Blue Ridge Romance series.

Pastor Jack McReady has secretly carried a torch for Daisy for two long years. She’s a member of his congregation, after all, and she’ll never see him as more than a trusted counselor. Jack’s best friend Noah has taken every opportunity to encourage his lovesick friend, but when Noah catches wind that Daisy has joined an online dating site, he takes matters into his own hands and orchestrates a meet-cute of the most unconventional kind.

Owner of the local flower shop, Daisy Pendleton is content with her small-town life, but she’d sure like someone to share it with. After several disastrous first dates, she’s about to give up—and then she finds a seemingly wonderful man online. Daisy gets to know TJ through a series of messages but finds herself spending more time with Pastor Jack outside of the church at the same time. What she doesn’t know is that her online prospect and Jack are one and the same.

Just as Daisy’s love life starts to look promising, a mysterious woman appears in town. Daisy is faced with a revelation about her family that turns her world upside down, and she looks to both TJ and Jack for help.

Jack must find a way to reveal himself as her online suitor without breaking her heart and losing her trust. As Daisy faces Jack’s betrayal, she’ll have to learn to extend grace to herself, her family, and the man she’s grown to love.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

 

My Review

On Magnolia Lane is the story of Daisy Pendleton and Pastor Jack McReady.  They live in the same small town - Blue Ridge, Georgia.  Jack has had a crush on Daisy, a parishoner at his church, for a couple of years.  His friends set up a dating app for him and sign him up.   Daisy is already on the app and they end up connecting -- although Daisy doesn't know it is Jack she is talking to.  In the meantime, Daisy and Jack get to be better friends in real life and sparks fly.

 

If there was ever a novel that should be made into a Hallmark movie, it is this one!   On Magnolia Lane is such a sweet, in many ways old fashioned love story.  The small town setting (based on a real town in North Georgia - I've been there!) is charming.  I love the glimpse of southern small town life from this book.

 

Daisy and Jack are both such likeable, kind, somewhat insecure people.  I really was pulling for things to work out with them.   There is a secondary storyline involving Daisy's family and a long ago family secret that comes to light.  It was also very interesting, and I enjoyed the family scenes in this novel as well.

 

This book is part of Denise Hunter's Blue Ridge Romance series.  Although I think readers will enjoy the entire series, this novel does work as a standalone. 

 

I recommend On Magnolia Lane to fans of small town fiction, clean love stories, and Christian fiction.  It is a really enjoyable read.

 

About Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 30 novels, including “The Convenient Groom” and “A December Bride” which have been made into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 club and won awards such as The Holt Medallion Award, The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories. Her readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of falling in love and the promise of a happily-ever-after sigh as they savor the final pages of her books.

In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking good coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband raised three boys and are currently enjoying an empty nest.

 

Connect with Denise

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

I received a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours.

Dear Abby - Videos Abby Likes: Dachshund Mother and Puppies

Dear Friends,

I hope you had a good Halloween!   Mine was quiet, which is nice. 

I have a dachshund video to share with you today.  It's a little longer (about 6 minutes) but especially fun and I think you will enjoy it.  It is an Animal Planet video about a dachshund mother named Tina.  Tina is a wiener racing champion who has a litter of puppies.  The puppies include Rollo and Pickle.  You get to see them grow in the video.

I especially like seeing the young puppies try on hot dog costumes ... and I am very grateful that no one has ever put me into one of these costumes!

Please do not blame me if this video makes you want a dachshund puppy!  (Of course, I am a big fan of dachshund rescue, and there are some wonderful young dachshunds available in rescue groups.)



I would love to hear from you in the comments, below.  Have a great weekend!

Love,
Abby xoxoxo