Book Review - The Sweetheart Fix by Miranda Liasson

My Review

Juliet Montgomery works as a couples counselor in Blossom Glen, Indiana. She is excited about her work, but clients are put off by her own personal track record - which includes three (or two point five, according to Juliet!) messy public break ups.  When Juliet goes to appeal a parking ticket, she gets pulled in to help settle a dispute over a tree.  This all happens at Mayor Jack Monroe's office.  He offers Juliet a part-time job settling conflicts for the Mayor's office.  Juliet and Jack are as different as night and day, but sparks fly every time they are together.

I wanted to read this novel because I love small town settings, and this sounded like a cozy, enjoyable read.  I had not read Miranda Liasson before (my mistake -- now I have to catch up with her books!).  This is the second book in the Blossom Glen series but it reads as a standalone.  I have not read the first book and had no problem jumping in and enjoying this book.

Juliet is a great book protagonist - smart, sassy, and good hearted. She wants so much to overcome her past romantic foibles in the town's eyes.  Jack is an appealing book boyfriend, and the book comes alive every time they are in a scene together.

This was such an fun book. It is well written, with lively characters and a charming small town that is almost another character in the book.  I can easily see this novel as a Hallmark movie.  It would be perfect!

I recommend The Sweetheart Fix for fans of women's fiction, small town romance, and comforting, upbeat books -- perfect for a weekend read!

Book Synopsis

Juliet Montgomery absolutely loves her small town of Blossom Glen, Indiana, and everyone loves her. Except for the fact that she’s a couples counselor who suffered a very public breakup that no one can forget. And now her boss asks her to take a step back…which is exactly when the town’s good-lookin’ and unusually gruff mayor offers her an unexpected job.

Jack Monroe absolutely loves being the mayor of his small town. Except when he actually has to talk to people. Can’t he just fix the community problems in peace? Like right now, he’s mediating the silliest dispute two neighbors could possibly have. When the town sweetheart steps up and solves everyone’s problems in five minutes flat, Jack realizes what this town really needs…is a therapist.

Juliet is able to soothe anyone–other than the surly mayor, it seems. But there’s a reason they say opposites attract, because all of their verbal sparring leads to some serious attraction. Only, just like with fireworks, the view might appear beautiful–but she’s already had one public explosion that’s nearly ruined everything…how can she risk her heart again?

Each book in the Blossom Glen series is STANDALONE:
* The Sweetheart Deal
* The Sweetheart Fix

Author Bio

Miranda Liasson is a RWA Golden Heart winner and an Amazon bestselling author whose heartwarming and humorous small-town romances have won accolades such as the National Readers’ Choice Award and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and have been Harlequin Junkie and Night Owl Reviews Top Picks. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and three kids in a charming old neighborhood which is the inspiration for many of the homes in her books. mirandaliasson.com

Book Review - The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen

My Review

The Sisters of Sea View is the story of four sisters.  In 1819, the sisters find themselves in difficult financial straits after their father unexpectedly passed away. They settle with their mother, who also has weakened health, in their seaside residence and start to take in boarders.  Their lives are changed in the process.  There is Sarah, who organizes everything, and who is drawn to a handsome widower who is a single father. Emily is the creative sister.  Viola has a scar that makes her self conscious but finds some new perspective as she takes on a job reading to a wounded veteran.  And the youngest, Georgiana, is always looking for fun and an adventure.

I wanted to read this novel because the storyline sounded unique and appealing.  I had not read Julie Klassen before, although I love historical fiction and had heard very good things about her books.

This was a delightful read!  At first it seemed like the Sea View guest house would be a refuge for older invalids.  When it turned out to be a place that people of all ages (including handsome male guests!) visited, it became more interesting.

The story is beautifully told.  I love the way the author paints pictures with her words.  The descriptions are so vivid that I could visualize Sea View, the sisters, and their guests as I read.

The dialogue is charming and natural and has a Jane Austen quality.  (Huge compliment!)

I thoroughly enjoyed The Sisters of Sea View and recommend it highly to other fans of historical fiction. This is the first book in a series, and I will be looking forward to future reads On Devonshire Shores.

Book Synopsis

Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . .

When their father’s death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family.

Viola Summers wears a veil to cover her scar. When forced to choose between helping in her family’s new guest house and earning money to hire a maid to do her share, she chooses the latter. She reluctantly agrees to read to some of Sidmouth’s many invalids, preferring the company of a few elders with failing eyesight to the fashionable guests staying in their home. But when her first client turns out to be a wounded officer in his thirties, Viola soon wishes she had chosen differently. Her new situation exposes her scars–both visible and those hidden deep within–and her cloistered heart will never be the same.

Join the Summers sisters on the Devonshire coast, where they discover the power of friendship, loyalty, love, and new beginnings.

Author Bio

Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. Her books have sold over a million copies, and she is a three-time recipient of the Christy Award for Historical Romance. The Secret of Pembrooke Park was honored with the Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie has also won the Midwest Book Award and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award and has been a finalist in the RITA and Carol Awards. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Book Review and Giveaway - Death on a Deadline (A Homefront News Mystery) by Joyce St. Anthony

My Review

Death on a Deadline is the second book in the Homefront News Mystery series.  Irene Ingram is working as editor of her small town newspaper during World War II.  There is a town fair and war bond drive, and a B-list actor who shows up for the bond drive ends up murdered.  Irene works to solve the mystery.

I wanted to read this mystery because I read the first book in this series and absolutely loved it.  I enjoyed the WWII home front setting of both books, and found the little 1940's details charming and fascinating.  

Irene is a talented amateur detective, with strong observational skills from her work as a journalist.  I enjoyed seeing her mystery solving process.

I also like her family and friends, and the small town of Progress (which is practically another character in the book!).

I recommended Death on a Deadline and this series to a friend just before I started this review, and I will continue recommending this series -- especially to anyone who enjoys historical mysteries and a 1940's home front setting.

Book Synopsis 

Editor-in-chief Irene Ingram pencils in her newest mystery in Joyce St. Anthony’s second captivating Homefront News mystery, perfect for fans of Anne Perry and Rhys Bowen.

As World War II rages in Europe and the Pacific, the small town of Progress is doing its part for the soldiers in the field with a war bond drive at the annual county fair. Town gossip Ava Dempsey rumors that Clark Gable will be among the participating stars. Instead of Gable, the headliner is Freddie Harrison, a B-movie star. When Freddie turns up dead in the dunk tank, Irene Ingram, editor-in-chief of The Progress Herald, starts chasing the real headline.

There are plenty of suspects and little evidence. Ava’s sister Angel, who was married to the dead actor, is the most obvious. The couple had argued about his affair with the young starlet Belinda Fox, and Angel was the last person to see Freddie alive.

Irene discovers there’s more than one person who might have wanted Freddie dead. As Irene draws on her well-honed reporter’s instincts to find the killer—nothing is what it seems in Progress, and now her own deadline could be right around the corner.

 

Author Bio

Joyce St. Anthony was a police secretary for ten years and more than once envisioned the demise of certain co-workers, but settled on writing as a way to keep herself out of jail. In addition to the Homefront News Mysteries, she is the author of the Brewing Trouble Mysteries and the upcoming Cider House Mysteries written under her own name, Joyce Tremel. She lives in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania with her husband.

Author Links – http://www.joycetremel.com     https://www.facebook.com/JoyceTremel      https://twitter.com/JoyceTremel

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Penguin Random House –

 

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Book Review - Beneath His Silence by Hannah Linder

My Review

Ella Pemberton travels to Wyckhorn Manor and presents herself as a governess so she can be part of the household and find out what happened to her beloved sister, who was married to Henry, Lord Sedgewick before she died mysteriously.

I wanted to read this novel because the setting and gothic overtones intrigued me.  This was a wonderfully gothic book with a manor that becomes almost a character in the story:

"Ella tugged the ribbons loose until the bonnet shifted to her back. She wasn’t certain what she had hoped to find, or what measure of comfort she might have gained from the mere sight of Wyckhorn Manor. But whatever she had longed for, she was rewarded with nothing. The sight only emptied her. Far in the distance , high upon the cliffside, the manor faced the open sea. It was tall and lofty, a likeness of Lord Sedgewick himself. A strange and rugged beauty, a pinnacle of power— yet dark and forlorn, as if death had made a home in both the house and the man"  (eBook location 325)

Ella becomes attached immediately to Peter, Lord Sedgewick's young son.  She finds herself suspicious of Henry (Lord Sedgewick) but also drawn to him. 

The mysteries of the house make her curious to learn more: a painting of a woman with a cold and distant expression, a bedroom with a presence that seems to move over the bedclothes as she watches.

Beneath His Silence is so well written, rich with period detail and layered characterizations.  It is surprising to me that this is a debut novel!  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other fans of historical fiction, especially for anyone who enjoys a gothic setting with some suspense.  I look forward to future novels by Hannah Linder.

Book Synopsis

Will Seeking Justice Lead to Her Own Demise?
 
A Gothic-Style Regency Romance from a Promising Young Author
 
Second daughter of a baron—and a little on the mischievous side—Ella Pemberton is no governess. But the pretense is a necessity if she ever wishes to get inside of Wyckhorn Manor and attain the truth. Exposing the man who killed her sister is all that matters.
 
Lord Sedgewick knows there’s blood on his hands. Lies have been conceived, then more lies, but the price of truth would be too great. All he has left now is his son—and his hatred. Yet as the charming governess invades his home, his safe cocoon of bitterness begins to tear away.
 
Could Ella, despite the lingering questions of his guilt, fall in love with such a man? Or is she falling prey to him—just as her dead sister?

Author Bio

Hannah Linder resides in the beautiful mountains of central West Virginia. Represented by Books & Such, she writes Regency romantic suspense novels. She is a double 2021 Selah Award winner, a 2022 Selah Award finalist, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Hannah is a Graphic Design Associates Degree graduate who specializes in professional book cover design. She designs for both traditional publishing houses and individual authors, including New York Times, USA Today, and international bestsellers. She is also a local photographer and a self-portrait photographer. When Hannah is not writing, she enjoys playing her instruments--piano, guitar, and ukulele--songwriting, painting still life, walking in the rain, and sitting on the front porch of her 1800s farmhouse.

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Book Review and Giveaway - A Book Club to Die For (A Beloved Bookroom) by Dorothy St. James

My Review

Trudell (Tru) Beckett is invited to speak at a local book club, only to find that the group's star member has been murdered in the kitchen. The book club has been hosted by the mother of Tru's boyfriend, and she is immediately under suspicion.  Tru goes to work to find the killer.

I wanted to read A Book Club to Die For because I have read and enjoyed the other books in this series. They take place at a small South Carolina library that is all digital -- no print edition books at all. As a result, Tru has made a secret book room in the library basement, where patrons can check out print editions of beloved old books.

This was once again a fun read. I like the unconventional library setting and of course the secret book room!  And Dewey, Tru's kitty, is always a fun addition to the book.

Tru does a great job of solving a puzzling murder case, inspired as always by her love of mystery books.  I enjoy Tru as an amateur detective.  I also like the Tru and Jace storyline.

I recommend A Book Club to Die For and the Beloved Bookroom series for fans of cozy mysteries - and especially for anyone who enjoys a library setting.

Book Synopsis

When a member of an exclusive book club is checked out, spunky librarian Trudell Becket must sort fact from fiction to solve the murder. 

The Cypress Arete Society is one of the town’s oldest and most exclusive clubs. When assistant librarian Trudell Becket is invited to speak to the group about the library, its modernization, and her efforts to bring printed books to the reading public, her friend Flossie invites herself along. Flossie has been on the book club’s waiting list for five years, and she’s determined to find out why she’s never received an invitation to join. 

But not long after Tru and Flossie arrive for the meeting, they’re shocked to find the club’s president, Rebecca White, dead in the kitchen. Rebecca was a former TV actress and local celebrity, but was not known for being patient or pleasant. She’d been particularly unkind to the book club’s host for the evening, who also happens to be the mother of Detective Jace Bailey, Tru’s boyfriend. And Rebecca had made it clear that she didn’t think Flossie was book club material. 

With her boyfriend and one of her best friends wrapped up in a murder, Tru has to work fast to figure out who cut Rebecca’s story short before the killer takes another victim out of circulation….

Author Bio

Dorothy St. James is a former Folly Beach beach bum. She now lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with her family, slightly (OK, terribly) needy dogs, and the friendliest cat you’ll ever meet. Author of a dozen novels, Dorothy enjoys writing both cozy mysteries and romance.

Follow Dorothy Online:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorothy.stjames

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dorothywrites

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Website: www.dorothystjames.com

Purchase Links – Amazon – Penguin Random House – B&N – Kobo – IndieBound 

 

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