Category: iread

Meet Alexa Owl. She’s returned home to Pittsburgh after a divorce to start a new life and a new business, The Owl’s Nest Couturier Shoppe. Much to her surprise, she’s getting more than she ever bargained for.

About Back to the Burgh and Beyond

Meet Alexa Owl. She’s returned home to Pittsburgh after a divorce to start a new life and a new business, The Owl’s Nest Couturier Shoppe. Much to her surprise, she’s getting more than she ever bargained for: Detective Bobby Starr, and he’s no ordinary sleuth. Bobby is an angel who’s returned to Earth in hopes of earning his way into the Guardian Angel Squad. He’s been sent by none other than Saint Pete to acquire Alexa’s help to solve three cold case murders he left behind. Except, here’s the catch: he’s only been allotted four days to solve the first case! How in heaven’s name is she supposed to do that? Alexa is a professional seamstress—not a detective. Bobby insists the only way to solve the first case is to return to 1953, and Alexa’s not in love with that idea at all!

My Thoughts

I could not put this wonderful novel down! It made me laugh, it made me curious and I fell in love with the characters (they were just irresistible and Bobby just made you shake your head).

In this novel, Alexa Owl (love her name) is returning to her home town after a pretty pleasant divorce. She has started up her business, The Owl’s Nest Couturier Shoppe, in a beautiful older part of town (with a mix of old and new clients). What she doesn’t expect? A bunch of visitors from the building’s past! A beautiful but haunting cat that has long since passed away but whose spirit remains, an older woman whose family used to run a business in the building and the ghost that this story centres around – Detective Bobby Starr. Bobby Starr was not the world’s greatest detective (but he had a great heart most of the time) and had left three cold case murders unsolved. He is tasked with solving one of them in this novel and needs Alexa’s help to do so.

This is where the novel becomes hard to put down – Alexa travels to the past to help Bobby solve the murders. As Alexa spends time in the past solving the crimes, a copy of her continues to be in the present as she travels between the past and present. Alexa does an amazing job solving the murders, as she puts the pieces together and even saves an innocent man from being charged.

I loved the unique plot, it was well written and I loved the way the story developed. It was exciting and kept you on the edge of your seat, and while they were solving murders, Alexa and Bobby’s characters added some comic relief to the story throughout. This was an excellent read from start to finish, and one that I have already re-read.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

For twenty-six years C.S. McDonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance. Classically trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, and many others, she became a professional dancer and choreographer. During that time, she choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards. In 2011 she retired from her dance career to write. Under her real name, Cindy McDonald, she writes murder-suspense and romantic suspense novels. In 2014 she added the pen name, C.S. McDonald, to write children’s books for her grandchildren. In 2016 she added the Fiona Quinn Mysteries to that expansion. She decided to write the cozy mystery series that everyone, including teens and tweens, can read and enjoy. Presently, the Fiona Quinn Mysteries nine books with a tenth slated for 2021. The books are also available on audio, narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg. Cindy’s newest venture is The Owl’s Nest Mysteries. Once again, she has set her cozy mystery in Pittsburgh. The female protagonist, Alexa Owl, is much different from Fiona Quinn. The Owl’s Next Mysteries has a little grit, a little time travel, a little romance, and a whole lot of cozy! Ms. McDonald resides on her Thoroughbred farm known as Fly by Night Stables near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Bill, and her poorly behaved Cocker Spaniel, Allister.

You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Set in New England at the time of the American Bicentennial, The Way to Remember is the poignant story of a displaced young woman struggling to figure out who she is within the context of her hometown and the carefully masked dysfunction of her family.

About The Way to Remember

Set in New England at the time of the American Bicentennial, The Way to Remember is the poignant story of a displaced young woman struggling to figure out who she is within the context of her hometown and the carefully masked dysfunction of her family.

“Everything can be fixed by writing a check.” Words to live by for Robin Fortune’s wealthy father, until he can’t buy her way back into college after she’s expelled for dealing pot. Now he chooses not to speak to her anymore, but that’s just one of the out-of-whack situations Robin’s facing. At nineteen, she feels rudderless, working in a diner by day and sleeping with a buddy from high school by night – all so strange for her because she was always the one with the plan. While her college friends plotted how to ensnare husbands, she plotted a novel, which she scratched out into a series of spiral-bound notebooks she hides in the closet. But now, there’s nothing. No vision, no future, no point. In fact, the only thing she feels she has to look forward to is that her favorite author, Maryana Capture, is paying a visit to the local Thousand Words bookstore. Robin surmises that if she can convince Maryana to help her get her novel published, she’ll finally get herself back on track. Except that life never takes a straight path in this intensely satisfying coming-of-age novel.

My Thoughts

Robin, who has led a very privileged life, is very much like any other young woman (and man) in their early adult years. She craves freedom, and not the type of freedom that sees her friends moving from their family home into marriage but the type of freedom that sees her on her own, independent and self-reliant. One bad decision (or multiple bad decisions but only caught once), sees her expelled from college despite her Father attempting to use his own influence and wealth to see her remain there.

She returns to her hometown a bit battered but fighting. I loved how she refuses to return to the family home (although she still has a bit of her Father’s help) and instead decides to work as a waitress to support herself. She does this while dreaming of one day being a successful author as she continues to work on her very first novel. What follows is a whirlwind of events and people entering her life – some of whom are helpful, some of whom take advantage of her youth and trusting nature and a slew of life lessons for Robin (and those around her).

I loved watching Robin develop during this story. She is very much your typical young adult who is incredibly trusting and kind. She makes rash decisions and puts her trust in her others, who do not always have her best interests at heart. It was the ultimate betrayal by someone she respected, that really helped Robin open her eyes to the world around her and force her to take a stand. Robin learns so much about life, judging others, relationships and independence in this novel.

The Way to Remember was an excellent novel from start to finish. I loved the tone, the way it was written and the well developed characters. You will love reading this novel cuddled up under the covers with a hot cup of coffee this fall.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Martha Reynolds was raised in Rhode Island, spent a year of college in Switzerland, and is always planning a return visit. She completed an accomplished career as a fraud investigator and decided it was time to do something she really liked.

She now writes full-time and has set a personal goal of releasing a book a year until she dies. Her writing has appeared in Magnificat magazine and her very short poem was read by journalist Connie Schultz during NPR’s Tell Me More poetry challenge.

Her novel VILLA DEL SOL won the 2018 Book Award in Literary Fiction by the Independent Publishers of New England.

You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.