April 23, 2020
The Mountain Lion at Crab Lake Book Review
The third book in the Crab Lake Tales series, The Mountain Lion at Crab Lake will teach you the importance of not judging someone by their appearance, and of embracing those things that make us unique.
About The Mountain Lion at Crab Lake
There is a newcomer at Crab Lake this winter, big and fierce and intimidating. He is a mountain lion, and none of the creatures of Crab Lake – nor Jeannie – have ever met an animal like this, and they’ve never been so nervous. Where did he come from? Why is he here? Is he dangerous? Some of the animals think so, but Jeannie is brave, and wants to welcome Mr. Mountain Lion to the lake even though his large paws, long white teeth and bright yellow eyes are a little scary.
The third book in the Crab Lake Tales series, The Mountain Lion at Crab Lake will teach you the importance of not judging someone by their appearance, and of embracing those things that make us unique. Discover who Mr. Mountain Lion really is and revisit Jeannie s enchanting world in The Mountain Lion at Crab Lake!
Our Thoughts
In this third book, we return to the beautiful surroundings of Crab Lake and their wonderful animal inhabitants. We once again meet up with the adorable and funny animals that call this place home. They are each unique in their own way, with quite the personalities (my personal favourites being Pudgey and Belknap Beaver) that will make you smile.
In this book, they turn to Jeannie for help when a mountain lion appears in their home! They have never seen a mountain lion before and are understandbly quite afraid. Mountain lions are large, with great big teeth and a reputation for eating other animals. The animal friends are scared and afraid that this particular one has come to their area to do harm but how do they find this out without upsetting and hurting the mountain lion’s feelings? Jeannie is determined to help the animals find a solution and protect all members of Crab Lake – new and old.
This was a beautiful story that helps children (and some adults too) understand why we should not judge others based on their outwards appearance. It is so important to not judge others based on what others think is true but instead get to know that person. In this case, everyone believed that this mountain lion is fierce, mean and only wants to eat every animal insight. What they learn though is a story that will touch your heart. It is so important for young children to learn that everyone has a story that has gotten them to where they are. Each story is unique and has shaped us into the person we are. It is so important to stop and learn the story of those around us – this makes us a stronger community and better people. This is a beautiful story with an important message delivered to children in a funny and engaging manner.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
About the Author
For David Mulford and his wife, Jeannie, Christmas would not be complete without their visits to the beautiful Wisconsin waters of Crab Lake. These magical journeys provide the inspiration for David’s whimsical tales. In addition to writing, David has a PhD from Oxford University, serves as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, and has enjoyed a long and notable career in international finance and diplomacy. For the last twenty-seven years, David’s Christmas gift to Jeannie, no matter where they are in the world, has been a story of Christmas at Crab Lake. This is the first such tale. When not traveling, David and Jeannie reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 21, 2020
Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate
In a hilltop Italian village, women chocolatiers work the improbable magic of love and chocolate.
About Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate
After tragedy strikes, brokenhearted Gretchen takes a holiday in a hilltop Italian village to seek peace and solitude. Through chance, she meets Bettina, an elderly woman estranged from her legacy as a chocolatier. Gretchen soon finds herself wrapped in the aromas of chocolate and caramel and butter and wine, as villagers past and present, question all aspects of love that send her on a journey of self-discovery and healing. But will Gretchen truly be able to leave the past behind and open her heart again to life and love, or will she be content to drown her sorrows in chocolate?
My Thoughts
Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate is a story full of loss, suffering, but also hope, love and second chances.
Our novel begins with Gretchen, who has suffered a pain that no parent ever should – the loss of her son. The death of her son has destroyed her marriage, her employment and her mental health. She spends her days in a fog without a sense of purpose or goal. She takes a trip to a small hilltop village in Italy – a remote village full of beauty and a small population. She is not quite sure what she is looking for, but this is just the trip that she needs.
It is here where we uncover a village full of history, promise and hope centred around a story of chocolate. In this small town, Gretchen meets an older woman, Bettina, who owns a bread bakery and is set to lose everything after her son ran away. Something tugs at Gretchen’s heart and she finds herself connecting with this woman and this small town in ways she hasn’t since she lost her son. We begin to dive into the story of this small village and how Bettina found herself where she was (she didn’t always sell bread!). Not only does this help Gretchen, but we find the bakery and the story begins to heal the hearts, mental well being and relationships of others in the small village. We learn about the people in the village, how they have survived over the years through great hardships, war and discrimination.
I found myself ready to cry at times and at other times sharing in the joys of the characters. Life is never perfect, it is a bumpy road full of questions around why do we suffer, why do we lose some people so early and how can people be so cruel. This novel captures life as it is – the raw pain of loss, cruel wars, loss of freedom, discrimination based on gender but also shows the beauty of life – love, hope and people coming together to fight for what is right. I loved every moment of this beautiful novel, I did not want to put it down as I wanted to see how the story evolved and I couldn’t help but fall in love with our characters. Our characters are beautiful inside and out, their thoughts, feelings and journey is something that we can all relate to. This is a fantastic read – perfect for book lovers.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Jess Wells is the author of five novels and five books of short stories, the recipient of a San Francisco Arts Commission Grant for Literature, a four-time finalist for the national Lambda Literary Award, and a member of the Saints & Sinners Literary Hall of Fame. Her work has appeared in more than three dozen literary journals and anthologies, has been reprinted in England and translated into Italian. She blogs regularly at jesswells.com.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 20, 2020
Killer Deadline Book Review
Folks in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, claim that where Nikki Bryant goes, trouble is not far behind. Her refusal to back down from a challenge has made Nikki Bryant a top investigative journalist. With the clues in her father’s cold case hot again, Nikki intends to chase down the story of her life until she catches his killer—no matter what it takes.
About Killer Deadline
Folks in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, claim that where Nikki Bryant goes, trouble is not far behind. Her refusal to back down from a challenge has made Nikki Bryant a top investigative journalist.
When an online friend nudges her to join him in a pact to reconnect with their first loves, Nikki and her boxer dog Elmo leave the bright lights of Las Vegas for the charming town of Pine Grove. There, she must face the biggest challenges in her career and life—the first love she had left behind and her father’s unsolved murder.
But before she has time to unpack her car, Nikki stumbles upon the dead body of local news anchor, Ashleigh Addison, her childhood rival. Could Ashleigh’s death be connected to an explosive news story that she had teased about airing live? Did that explosive story have anything to do with the murder of Nikki’s father?
With the clues in her father’s cold case hot again, Nikki intends to chase down the story of her life until she catches his killer—no matter what it takes.
My Thoughts
I love the way that Lauren Carr writes and she does not disappoint, this book is a huge treat! I loved our strong, independent characters, the plot that was true to her style of writing and full of twists – the novel is fantastic from start to finish.
Nikki is incredible – brave, confident and strong. She is not afraid to say how she feels and go after what she wants (except for maybe that lost love of hers). She lost her Father many years ago and the murder had gone unsolved, something that she intends to change once she gets a tip from a frenemy (who she also later discovers dead!). This sets her off on a very dangerous path of lies and betrayal and a discovery in the death of her Father, while reuniting her with a lost love, her hometown and those who she thought loved her family.
There is an excellent blend of mystery and suspense with comic relief and romance throughout novel. Lauren has a great way of balancing this without taking away from the story. We have well developed characters, that you can’t help but feel a connection to. I loved Nikki’s character but also her connections to her hometown, her family and her lost love. We learn about so much history in this small town and how this ends up being connected to several murders. I loved the way the story unfolds, it kept me on my toes and constantly guessing on who actually committed the murder of her Father so many years ago. I definitely did not see the end coming!
Killer Deadline is a fantastic read from start to finish – you will love the plot and characters. A definite must read.
You can pre-order a copy of this book on Amazon.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Chris Matheson Cold Case, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty-five titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Killer Deadline marks Lauren’s first venture into mystery’s purely cozy sub-genre with a female protagonist.
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.
A popular speaker, Lauren is also the owner of Acorn Book Service, the umbrella under which falls iRead Book Tours. She lives with her husband and two spoiled rotten German Shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 14, 2020
A Child Lost Book Review
A spiritualist, an insane asylum, a lost little girl .
About A Child Lost
When Clive, anxious to distract a depressed Henrietta, begs Sergeant Frank Davis for a case, he is assigned to investigating a seemingly boring affair: a spiritualist woman operating in an abandoned schoolhouse on the edge of town who is suspected of robbing people of their valuables. What begins as an open and shut case becomes more complicated, however, when Henrietta―much to Clive’s dismay―begins to believe the spiritualist’s strange ramblings.
Meanwhile, Elsie begs Clive and Henrietta to help her and the object of her budding love, Gunther, locate the whereabouts of one Liesel Klinkhammer, the German woman Gunther has traveled to America to find and the mother of the little girl, Anna, whom he has brought along with him. The search leads them to Dunning Asylum, where they discover some terrible truths about Liesel. When the child, Anna, is herself mistakenly admitted to the asylum after an epileptic fit, Clive and Henrietta return to Dunning to retrieve her. This time, however, Henrietta begins to suspect that something darker may be happening. When Clive doesn’t believe her, she decides to take matters into her own hands . . . with horrifying results.
My Thoughts
A Child Lost is an excellent novel from start to finish, I couldn’t stop reading – I had to know what was going to happen and how our mystery would unfold.
This is the fifth book in the installment and we are introduced to Henrietta and Clive just after a miscarriage. Henrietta is very much still hurting and understandably can’t quite seem to shake off her feelings. She has lost her drive and her husband is worried about her. He wants to distract her with a new case, thinking that this will help her to re-focus and heal. To his surprise, his wife had already taken on her own case!
This book has two intriguing cases at the same time – the story of a young girl abandoned overseas, with her caregiver coming to the USA to help find the girl’s Mother and the second a mysterious psychic that has been accused of stealing precious items from unsuspecting victims. We are taken down a dark path – in the first case we see first hand the awful treatment of women, children and men claimed to be “mentally unwell”. We learn of mistreatment, misdiagnosis, death and terrible living conditions (not to mention the stigma). The second is a psychic with an ability to hit so close to home with her predictions that she leaves even the stubborn Clive second guessing himself. The team must work together in order to solve both mysteries – especially when lives are on the line.
Although this is the fifth book, the author does an amazing job with the characters and plot so you don’t feel lost (that being said I am going to look in to ordering the first four books!). I really enjoyed the characters, Henrietta is a strong, determined young woman. I could feel her pain throughout the novel but she kept pushing forward. Her husband was a bit overbearing at times but done so out of worry. He could have saved himself some grief by being open and honest with her!
The book is fast paced but not overwhelming. The author does an amazing job of unraveling the plot that leaves you hooked and craving for more. I was left guessing and to be honest I never saw the twists coming (especially the end). This is a perfect novel for young adults and adults who love a little bit of everything.
You can pre-order A Child Lost on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there. Coincidentally, her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.
Connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 13, 2020
Bury Him: A Memoir of the Vietnam War
In this frank, engaging memoir, Captain Chamberlain chronicles the missions, personal courage and sacrifice of the Marines he was privileged to command.
About Bury Him: A Memoir of the Vietnam War
In this frank, engaging memoir, Captain Chamberlain chronicles the missions, personal courage and sacrifice of the Marines he was privileged to command; painfully recalls the unspeakable order he and his Marines were forced to obey; and the cover-up which followed. Nearly four decades later, Captain Chamberlain makes right what was wrong; brings closure to the family of a fallen and abandoned warrior; and attempts to put to rest the guilt which plagued his military career and life. Unlike most books on the Viet Nam War, this book is written at a tactical level by a Marine Company Commander who was there.
My Thoughts
Bury Him is a journey through the struggles, pains and missions through the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of Captain Chamberlain.
As a Canadian, we do not learn about the Vietnam War in school so most of what I knew about this war was from reading online and media. Reading through this book, it gave me time to look up events and some of the history during this time period to get a better understanding of what is told to us in this autiobiography.
While all conflict is full of pain and suffering, my heart goes out to Captain Chamberlain and those who served during this time period. They were young men who were asked to serve their country, they did so without argument and faced horrors, found themselves caught up in politics and faced hate from their own countrymen (which we were exposed to several times through the story). I can’t even begin to be able to understand or relate on how this has impacted their lives, but this book gives us some insight into this.
Captain Chamberlain gives us a good history of how he found himself serving as a Marine. I really enjoyed learning about the training and the build up to the war. He has a quiet, determined personality with a sense of responsibility and strong morals that shines throughout his book. He cares for others and is determined to do what is right. He is determined to protect those who have been assigned to him and does everything he can to ensure their safety and well being. He is strict with his men but it all has a greater purpose, to ensure the safety of each Marine so that they could go home. He is strict but fair – he stretches the rules to ensure that each of his men are taken care of.
The chapters flow together well and the background that he gives us serves to help us understand that moment when he was given the orders to bury a fellow Marine instead of bringing the body home. It is this moment and orders that is the centre of his book and the investigations that lead from it. This event leads to a great deal of anxiety, anger and desire to make things right for that Marine’s family members.
This is an incredible autobiography, it is honest, raw and gives us a deeper look at the lives of those who served during the Vietnam War. We gain first hand knowledge of their struggles, pains, losses and how this impacted each of them differently. Captain Chamberlain is a man of honour and responsibility. We see this through his actions during the war and the dedication he had ensuring closure for the family of an abandoned Marine. This is a well written book and I wish him all the best, thank you for your service and the work you have done after.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound.
Rating: 4.5/5
About the Author
Doug Chamberlain, the grandson of homesteaders in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska, grew up with the “country values” instilled in him in the rural environment of a very small community. Even though there were only 10 students in his high school graduating class, several of his classmates pursued careers, public service, and military service that took them to various locations around the world. His rural values and the foundational reinforcement of those values at the University of Wyoming and John Brown University proved to be tested in their entirety when he became a Marine Infantry Officer in the Viet Nam War. His life changing experiences in that war proved to haunt him during his search to solve a mystery that spanned 50 years…and Bury Him details the sordid facts and the horrible truth that had eluded him.
Connect with him on his website and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.