A Matter of Trust by Lis Wiehl

Mia's husband has recently passed away. Before he died he was keeping secrets from Mia. After his death Mia is left with more bills than she can handle. Having quit work to raise her children, Mia is now going back to work as an attorney for the district attorney's office.

When she is on the phone with a co-worker and friend the unthinkable happens. Mia hears a gunshot and then her friend barely breathing. Mia leaves her son Gabe on the line to listen if Colleen says anything as Mia rushes to her house. Colleen slowly dies as Gabe is listening.

Mia's current case that she is investigating is a group of high school bullies who's threats and torment has led to a student committing suicide. When the DA asks Mia to investigate Colleen's murder she is reluctant to give up the bullying case and also reluctant to spend more time away from her kids. Mia doesn't know what else to do though in order to pay all of the bills that are coming in so she agrees to team up with Charlie from the local law enforcement office. Charlie has been married 3 times and gets on Mia's nerves but he is a good police officer even if he is a bit high-handed.

Mia and Charlie make a good team and are soon hot on the killer's trail. Mixed in with their investigation is Mia's home life that sometimes seems to be falling apart. Her son is 14 and trying to fit in to high school and her 4 year old daughter Brooke has been having screaming episodes in the middle of the night. Sometimes Mia barely feels like she is keeping her head above water. And then there is her father who seems to have had a change in his life. From being absent when Mia was a child he is now wanting to be there for her and his grandchildren. Claiming to have a changed life in Christ, Mia has a hard time trusting him from his past track record and she definitely doesn't know how she feels about his new interest in church.

I really enjoyed A MATTER OF TRUST. The mystery kept my attention along with all of Mia and Charlie's interactions together. There is a potential for a couple of romantic relationships in future novels. I believe this is the first book in the Mia Quinn Mystery series. There were a couple of times that I felt that I was missing part of the story. I felt like I was coming into the middle of something that the author thought I should already know. In my opinion it detracted a little bit from the story but I was able to catch up with what was going on eventually. Other than that, this was a solid mystery and I definitely will plan on reading the next book in the series. I reviewed The Triple Threat series by this author last year and really enjoyed those. If you like mysteries I definitely recommend A MATTER OF TRUST and The Triple Threat series.

I received my ecopy to review from Booksneeze.

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

Finley is on her way to Ireland as part on an exchange student program. She is following her brother’s footsteps after his death.  Since Will was killed Finley has found herself in a downward spiral. She feels that God is no longer listening to her. Since reading Will’s journal and seeing how much he saw God while in Ireland, Finley believes that if she just follows in his footsteps that maybe God will meet her there also. 

Beckett Rush is a hot young actor heading to his home in Ireland to film his latest vampire movie. When Finley, being bumped up to first class, sits next to him on their trip to Ireland he assumes that she too will be one of the many girls that swoon over him. He is in for a huge surprise. Finley is uninterested in his notoriety. 

Finley’s host family runs a Bed & Breakfast. Finley is less than enthused when she finds that Beckett is staying there for the duration of the filming of his movie. Since Finley is without a car it puts a crimp in her following Will’s journal. Beckett offers to drive her around in return for her being his assistant. She helps him run lines. He finds her honesty refreshing.

One of Finley’s first assignments when she starts school is to adopt a grandmother from the local nursing home. She is assigned Mrs. Sweeney, a cantankerous woman who is dying. Finley tries to get out of the assignment or to get reassigned to someone else, but her teacher is not going for it. What Finley doesn’t count on is learning to love the woman and helping her find forgiveness in her last days.

With the mounting pressure of school, an audition at a conservatory, her mounting feelings for Beckett, and being unable to come up with an ending for her musical piece, Finley starts to spiral downhill. Will she meet God in this place or will she lose Him and herself in the process?

From the moment I picked up the book I had a hard time putting it down. Jenny B. Jones has a way of writing that captures the reader from the very beginning of the book until the last page is turned. I connected with the characters and empathized with both of them. Without being overly preachy Jenny B. Jones was able to show her characters struggle with faith and ultimate victory. 

Pies & Prejudice by Heather Vogel Frederick

This time around the Mother-Daughter Book Club explore Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It is the perfect time for them to do this with Emma and her family living in England(right in the middle of Jane Austen country) for a year. Emma and her mom are able to participate in the book club via the internet.

Cassidy, still the perpetual tomboy has a full plate. She plays hockey for a Division I girls league, She starts a club for little girls called "Chicks with Sticks" to train them how to become ice hockey players, and then as a favor to Mrs. Bergson(who was able to get her time on the ice for Chicks with Sticks) she agrees to practice ice dancing with Tristan(whose family have house-swapped with Emma's family). Sparks fly between Tristan and Cassidy from the time they meet.

Megan loves fashion. She notices everyone's fashion faux pas and so decides that she will start a blog that she entitles Fashionista Jane going along with the theme of Jane Austen. The blog ultimately gets the girls into trouble, but it is fun and snarky!

Jess also has a lot going on in her life. She is feeling stressed about not having a career goal in mind when all of the other girls seem to know what they would like to do with their lives. She thinks that she would love to do something with music, she has the opportunity to nurse a wounded fox back to health and as always Emma's brother Darcy can always make her heart pound. Will Darcy ever notice her, or will he always see her as just one of his sister's friends?

The girls put together a business of baking pies and other treats in an effort to raise money to bring Emma home for a visit during spring break. They name their business "Pies and Prejudice" and it becomes quite successful. Of course not everything is all roses in the story. The girls have a new nemesis and new struggles throughout the year. It is fun to see how relationships develop and how supportive they are of each other. This is turning out to be one of my favorite series!

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod-Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

Vlad is in the eighth grade. Vlad is fodder for the bullies. Vlad is half human and half vampire. His mother was human and his father was a vampire.

Vlad's parents have both died. He lives with "Aunt Nelly" who isn't his real Aunt, but was his mother's best friend. Nelly is trying to give Vlad a "normal" life. She is a nurse so she is able to bring him blood from work. She hides the blood in different forms so that Vlad can live like other teenagers. She will place it in a cup and call it "tea". She puts capsules of blood in his sandwiches so that he can remain nourished throughout the day. Vlad has never tasted blood straight from the source...well with one exception. When he was 8 he bit his best friend Henry. Henry is the only human besides Nelly that knows that Vlad is a vampire.

When one of the teachers at school is missing and feared dead scary things start to happen for Vlad. First is their new substitute teacher. One of the first things he wants the class to do is write a presentation on a mythical figure. Vlad picks Werewolf out of the hat, but right before his eyes the words transform into the word "VAMPIRE". Other things happen that make Vlad fear that this new substitute may be onto his secret and may even be the reason that the teacher is missing and also may be responsible for the death of his parents.

Through reading his father's old journal Vlad discovers that there is a whole vampire world that he never knew existed. Can he discover who killed his parents and why?

Eighth Grade Bites was entertaining. And I look forward to seeing how Vlad developes as we go with him through the twelfth grade.

Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Abigail was kicked out of middle school for assault. Her parents had two options for her education. Either send her to a private school or home school her. Being busy lawyers homeschooling was not an option for her parents. They enrolled her in St. Catherine's Catholic school.

Abigail feels that her parents do not listen to her, that she doesn't exist. They are both busy with their careers and cannot be bothered by Abigail and her needs. When Abigail was kicked out of her middle school she had tried to tell them the reason but they would not believe her. When they enroll her in Catholic school she decides to take Drama as her elective just to make her parents angry. She also drops the bombshell on them that she is going to "become Catholic" thinking that by doing these things at least she will get some attention from her parents.

Abigail finds that she has a talent for drama. She enjoys acting in the school plays. She is befriended by Chris whose mother becomes Abigail's sponsor for becoming Catholic. Abigail is determined to become Catholic even though she doesn't believe in God or Jesus or forgiveness. This is her effort to get her parents involved in her life.

Throughout Catholic studies, talks with the priest, talks with Chris's mom, Abigail learns what it means to take a leap of faith and to forgive herself and her parents.

This was a quick read. I liked seeing how Abigail was able to get her parents attention and how throughout the book they tried to reach out to their daughter even though they didn't understand her. There are of course lots of references to Catholicism that sometimes become a bit too preachy.

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

Celeste Harris used to not think anything about her weight. But when a girl named Lively starts calling her names and when her aunt enters her into the Miss Husky Peach pageant Celeste decides it is time to do something.

Not wanting to be in the pageant Celeste plans on losing weight so that she will no longer be the type of model that the judges for Miss Husky Peach are looking for.

Losing her best friend to her tormentors only cements Celeste's determination to lose weight even when the chocolate cookies call to her.

Celeste agrees to enter the first round of the Miss Husky Peach contest with plans to sabotage her ability to win. There are things though that she likes about the pageant. She meets some new girls that are also competing that are encouraging to her. She has a stylist that helps her with her make-up and hair style. As she realizes that she isn't all of the names that she has been called she slowly gains confidence in herself.

Being able to overcome the heart-break of losing her best friend and to withstand all of the teasing from her tormentors we are able to see Celeste grow up and gain confidence in herself. There were some humorous parts in the story. I especially loved when it comes out that Lively wears water-bra's in order to enhance her bust! It made for some very humorous incidents. Even though that makes for great poetic justice though, I think Celeste's ultimate triumph is learning to be comfortable with who she is.

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters

What a depressing way to start the new year! Daelyn wants to commit suicide. She has tried a couple of times and failed. This time she is determined. She comes across a website for other people wanting to commit suicide. While deciding what will be the best and final way to end her life she meets Santana who is dying from Hodgkins Disease. Will Daelyn commit suicide or will she find a reason to live? The book kind of leaves that question up for your own interpretation.