Book Review - Falling Into Us by Denise Hunter

 

My Review

After Gabby Donaldson's mother passes, Gabby travels to North Carolina to fulfill her mother Alice's last wish:  to take a letter to Alice's estranged mother.  Gabby meets a local journalist, Mason Morrison, and he agrees to help her find her grandmother - and also chronicle the story in a series of human interest articles.  Gabby is dealing with grief and being alone, but she feels included by Mason, a widower with a young daughter, and his family.  She begins to feel at home in this small North Carolina town - but her trust issues are an obstacle.

I wanted to read Falling Into Us because I love Denise Hunter's books.  They are so cozy and comforting, and always full of characters that I really care about.

This novel was no exception!  Gabby and Mason are both vulnerable and dealing with grief - Gabby from her mother's passing, and Mason from the tragic death of his wife.  Their connection is nearly immediate and real.  Add in Mason's sweet 12 year old daughter and his warm, lively family ... and eventually Gabby's grandmother too.

Falling Into Us is a wonderful autumnal read, set in a small town in Fall, with scenes at the Morrison family farm, including hayride tours of the farm and their harvest festival.  The story takes place between October and Thanksgiving.  This is a perfect read to curl up with on a cool weekend.  It's sweet, heartwarming, and just meant to be a Hallmark movie!

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book.  

Book Review - Resonance by Michael S. Tobin and Daniel S. Chertoff

My Review

Resonance is a historical novel told in two timelines.  In 1971, Sophie Haddad, an American, is living and working at Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris.  When she is asked to go through old documents in the basement, she discovers several diaries that become her obsession.  In 1922, Anna Grinberg arrives in Paris where she hones her craft as a sculptor.  Her diaries go through 1940, with the Nazi threat ever-present in Paris.

I wanted to read Resonance because I love historical fiction.  I enjoy books set in Paris, and the Shakespeare and Company setting was appealing.

This is an interesting book.  It starts as Sophie's story, as she seeks healing from her sad early years, and a sense of direction.  Then there is a long section told in diary format, chronicling Anna's life over the span of 1922 - 1940. The book concludes with Sophie making sense of what to do next with the discovery of the diaries.

It took me a little bit to immerse myself in the world of this book.  The storytelling is formal and stylized.  Sophie and Anna's smallest encounters have very high dramatic stakes, so we don't see a lot of quiet, everyday life.  For instance, Sophie meets different people in a park and has very deep conversations with them right away. 

That said, I found both their lives interesting and especially found the impact of Anna's story on Sophie to be compelling.  I found the epigraph for Part I of Sophie's story to be absolutely perfect:  "The past is never dead. It's not even past" (William Faulkner). 

Anna's story is a winding one - including encounters with Ernest Hemingway, and living in the orbit of Gertrude Stein.  That glimpse of 1920's Paris was fascinating.

I also liked Anna's insights on her journaling process:

"Here is a truth:  I write after thirty-one days of silence to force myself to understand why I do not want to write.  That is a lie.  I know why.  If I write, it is real.  If I do not, memories fade like mist, and pain dulls" (p. 126).

Resonance is a sensitively told novel that meanders through history and through big thoughts and themes (love, art, personal vision) in a serious way.  It is both historical fiction and a distinctly voiced literary novel.

Book Synopsis

PARIS, 1971

In the basement of Shakespeare and Company, Sophie Hadad—a restless Wellesley student from Charleston, West Virginia, motherless and adrift—uncovers a forgotten valise. Inside lies the diary of Anna Grinberg, a Jewish sculptor born in Warsaw in 1900, orphaned when her father is murdered in a pogrom and her mother is claimed by the Spanish flu.

PARIS, 1922

Anna arrives in the city with nothing but her will to create. Her diary is fierce, intimate, and unsparing—alive with the pulse of Les Années Folles, when Montparnasse cafés throb with painters, sculptors, and expatriate writers reinventing art and language. She fights to carve a place among Pascin, Bourdelle, and Frenkel; finds allies in Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier; and collides—dangerously—with Ernest Hemingway. Even in those incandescent years, she senses the gathering shadow over Europe and writes as if time itself were fragile.

Half a century later, Sophie bends over Anna’s words and feels them press against her own life. The diary refuses to remain merely historical. It exposes her evasions, unsettles her defiance, and forces a reckoning with identity, inheritance, and the past she has tried to escape.

Resonance unfolds in two distinct voices: Anna’s impassioned diary, lyrical and immediate, and Sophie’s sharp, searching, contemporary narrative. Together they tell a story of art, exile, and Jewish survival—passed not through monuments or archives, but from one woman’s hand to another—across time.

Author Bios

Michael S. Tobin has spent fifty-one years listening to people’s stories and just as long imagining his own. A clinical psychologist and award-winning author, he began writing at twelve with a three-act play on the Warsaw Ghetto—a child’s attempt to understand courage and loss. His memoir won the Silver Prize in the Nonfiction Book Awards, his novel The Veil earned third place in the BookLife Prize, and his essays have been awarded by The Free Press and Letter Review. He writes, he says, “to create characters who live at the edge of beauty and brokenness.” Michael sits on the Advisory Board of The ProHuman Foundation, founded by Daryl Davis.

Daniel S. Chertoff worked in various aspects of the investment industry but retired early to pursue doctoral studies in English literature. He has published academic articles and is an associate editor for an academic journal. Daniel’s first book, Palestine Posts: An Eyewitness Account of the Birth of Israel (Toby Press, 2019), grew out of a series of extraordinary letters written by his father during Israel’s War of Independence. Perhaps most importantly, in the summer of 1972, Daniel was a “tumbleweed” at Shakespeare and Company in Paris — where RESONANCE begins.

Thanks to Subplot and TLC Book Tours for a review copy of this book.

Book Review and Giveaway - A Classic Case of Murder (A Literary Dining Mystery) by Daryl Wood Gerber

My Review

Allie Catt caters literary theme events in Bramblewood, North Carolina, a small town near Asheville.  She is excited to host A Christmas Carol theme event, featuring a rare edition of the book and a holiday menu.  But when a rare book expert attending the event is discovered dead, Allie sets out to solve the mystery.

I wanted to read A Classic Case of Murder because Daryl Wood Gerber is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors.  I have enjoyed the previous books in this series.

This is my favorite book in the Literary Dining Mystery series.  It has several elements I really enjoy:

• Rare books
• A holiday theme
• A Christmas Carol references throughout

This mystery works so well.  There is a small group of people gathered at the Amber Lantern Inn for the event, so Allie has a ready-made list of suspects.  I enjoyed her sleuthing process, starting with making a simple Word document of suspects.  The mystery is well paced, and it was enjoyable to follow Allie's deductive process.

The holiday food references and rare book details added a lot to this book as well, and I think these elements will appeal to cozy mystery readers.  

I recommend A Classic Case of Murder for cozy mystery fans who enjoy holiday themes, small town settings, foodie books, and literary references.

Book Synopsis

Personal chef and caterer Allie Catt combines her love of fiction with her love of food in the scenic North Carolina mountains—but amid her latest themed event, based on Dickens’s beloved classic, A Christmas Carol, a rare-book expert’s goose is cooked…

In the charming town of Bramblewood, not far from Asheville, Allie’s preparing for a special seasonal soiree: a literary-themed dinner party that’s a tribute to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. It’ll take place at the Amber Lantern, the quaint inn recently opened by her best friend’s mother, Noeline—and the holiday spirit has even led a Scroogelike local businessman to lend his prized first edition of the nineteenth-century novella for the event.

With the voices of carolers ringing in the air and the community theater staging a special performance, it looks like it will be a happy Christmas—until the priceless book disappears and someone murders the expert who authenticated it. And if the police have their way, Allie’s lawyer friend Freddy will be dragged away in chains like Marley’s ghost…

The crime has also cast a shadow over Noeline’s fledgling business, so Allie feels doubly obliged to find the real killer among the gathered guests and local visitors—and put an end to this nightmare. It’s time to investigate them all, every one . . .

Author Bio

Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, Aroma Wellness Mysteries, Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense novels, including the well-received Accidental Murder, The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams trilogy. Daryl has published a standalone Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays, a mystery anthology, and a children’s illustrated rhyming book. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website: https://darylwoodgerber.com

Author Links

WEBSITE: https://darylwoodgerber.com

FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/darylwoodgerber

BOOKBUB: https://bookbub.com/authors/daryl-wood-gerber

YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/woodgerb1

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/darylwoodgerber

GOODREADS: https://goodreads.com/darylwoodgerber

TIKTOK: www.tiktok.com/@daryl_wood_gerber

AMAZON: https://bit.ly/Daryl_Wood_Gerber_page

NEWSLETTER: https://darylwoodgerber.com/contact-media/

Purchase Links 

AMAZON    BARNES AND NOBLE     BOOKSHOP.ORG    KOBO      MYSTERIOUS GALAXY

Giveaway

Book Review and Giveaway - Eggnog & Evidence: A Maine Campground Cozy Mystery by Nikki Weber

My Review

Noelle Cooper is busy hosting a big Christmas in July festival at Babbling Brook Campground in Maine (with the help of her beagle Corny, of course!).  When the festival's event planner, Holly, dies during the tree lighting, Noelle sets out to find out what happened.

I wanted to read Eggnog & Evidence because I have enjoyed previous books in this series.  I like the campground setting, and as a dog lover, of course I love reading about Corny too.

This was a fun addition to the Maine Campground Cozy Mystery series.  The Christmas in July theme was fun, and the festival was an interesting setting for a murder mystery, given all the vendors, personnel, and campers that attended.

I enjoyed following along as Noelle detects, looking carefully at who was there the night of the tree lighting.  I appreciate the maps of the campground and the town at the beginning of the book;  they were fun to see and nice for reading reference.

The mystery aspect was well done.  The killer caught me by surprise!

This is a fast paced, fun read.  I recommend Eggnog & Evidence - and this series - to other cozy mystery readers.

Book Synopsis

Some secrets are like Christmas lights: they get worse the more you try to untangle them.

Noelle Cooper is teaming up with her family to launch a festive new venture: a holiday extravaganza complete with Santa, gallons of eggnog, and a spectacular tree lighting guaranteed to make the season merry and bright.

There’s just one problem: Holly Winterbourne, the abrasive holiday consultant Noelle’s father has hired to help pull it off. Holly insists on holding a practice run at Babbling Brook Campground—in the middle of July—and she rubs everyone the wrong way.

When an incident at the tree lighting turns deadly, the festivities come to a shocking halt. Noelle feels partly responsible for the tragedy, but then the police determine that it was no accident, and Noelle’s guilt turns to suspicion. She sets out to discover who tried to pull the plug on the festival.

Author Bio

Nikki Weber grew up reading in unconventional places: the backseat of a car, the top of the monkey bars on her backyard play set, and the corners of the quietest hallways in her elementary school. She was born and raised in Maine and spent her childhood summers camping with her family and their beagle. She loves dogs, nachos, coffee, and ice cream, and so far, she’s managed to work three of those four things into the books in the Maine Campground Cozy Mystery series. She’s working on her next book right now, so grab a copy of whatever you haven’t read yet and get started!

Author Links

Website: https://nikkiweberbooks.com/

Sign Up for Nikki’s Newsletter:  Join the Cozy Book Club! | Nikki Weber

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/nikkiweber

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/nikkiweberbooks

Purchase Links  – Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org – Kobo –

Giveaway

Book Review and Giveaway - The Ghost and the Dead Librarian (A Haunted Bookshop Detective Mystery) by Cleo Coyle

My Review

The Ghost and the Dead Librarian is set in a bookshop in Quindicott, Rhode Island.  Penelope (Pen) lives with her young son and runs a small family bookshop.  She communicates, via thoughts, with 1940's detective Jack Shepard.  When Pen hosts local author Dory McKenna for a book signing, she has no idea what will happen.  Dory is a retired librarian, known as the Dead Librarian because she also writes obituaries.  She has written a book about their hometown that raises the ire of some of the community.  And then she is discovered dead in the bookshop - with her own obituary in her lap.  Pen and Jack set out to solve the mystery.

I wanted to read this mystery because I enjoyed earlier books in the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series.  I have not read the series in a while, but I was able to catch up quickly.

I love older hardboiled mysteries (especially Raymond Chandler) so particularly love the character of Jack.  His voice is absolutely perfect.  I really enjoy the back and forth between Jack and Pen;  it's snappy and so smartly written.

This is a clever, well paced mystery.  I'm excited to be reading this series again and look forward to the next book!   I recommend The Ghost and the Dead Librarian for fans of old detective novels and also readers who enjoy a light paranormal twist.

Book Synopsis

A LIBRARY JOURNAL “MYSTERY PICK OF THE MONTH” In an utterly charming new mystery from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle, a small-town Rhode Island bookshop owner investigates the death of an eccentric librarian with the help of a wisecracking, 1940s gumshoe ghost.

As a young widow, Penelope moved back to her quaint Rhode Island town to give her young son a safer home and her aunt’s dying bookshop new life. Using her late husband’s insurance money, Pen polished the store into a local treasure. But her updates did more than attract new customers. They roused a dead private eye from his big sleep.

With Pen’s affection for hardboiled detective stories, it’s no surprise she’s developed a fondness for the wisecracking yet oddly likeable spirit. Sure, Jack’s cold spots are exasperating, along with his proclivity for putting noir fiction in the cozy section. But murder was Jack’s business in life, and his PI skills come in awfully handy when the body of an eccentric librarian is found amid the bookshop’s aisles.

For years, Dory jokingly called herself “The Dead Librarian” because of her hobby of collecting and writing local obituaries. Now, in death, she’s discovered with her own eerily pre-written obit. Was it a suicide note? Jack and Pen say no and their certainty takes them from a ghost town’s ancient cemetery to a posh Newport mansion. When another body drops, a mysterious stranger makes Pen a shocking offer, one that may change her life—and Jack’s afterlife. But unless Jack can help Pen prove who “checked out” the librarian, a ruthless killer may close the book on her.

“This spin-off of Coyle’s ‘Haunted Bookshop’ series blends cozy mystery, supernatural intrigue, and classic noir influences into a suspenseful small-town murder mystery….Combining humor, literary references, ghostly interventions, and layered community drama, the novel explores how hidden truths from the past continue to haunt the present.” —Library Journal (*Starred Review)

Author Bio

CLEO COYLE is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. Both are New York Times bestselling authors of the long-running Coffeehouse Mysteries, now celebrating more than 20 years in print, and the national bestselling Haunted Bookshop Mysteries. With more than one million books sold, their works have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and Czech; received multiple Best of Year selection honors from reviewers; and have been recommended by Booklist as among the best culinary mysteries for core library mystery collections. Alice and Marc are also bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, Toho, and MGM. They live and work in New York City, where they write independently and together, wrangle their rescue cats, drink a lot of java, and cook like crazy. Connect with Cleo at CleoCoyleBooks.com

 Author Links

Webpage: https://www.cleocoylebooks.com/

Free Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cleocoylerecipes/newsletter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CleoCoyle/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleocoyle_author/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CleoCoyle

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cleocoyle.bsky.social

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cleo-coyle

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51488.Cleo_Coyle

Purchase Links:
Amazon     Barnes & Noble      Kobo    Google Play     Apple    Bookshop.org

Giveaway