Hemlock Hall by Alexandria Cameron

 

Sisters Desdemona and Lenora are invited to Hemlock Hall for a ball. There is mystery and resentment among the townsfolk surrounding Hemlock Hall. During the recent plague that claimed many lives the town looked to Hemlock Hall for help. Unfortunately one brave girl disappeared for her efforts to reach that family! Now all of the sudden everything is to be put aside and they are supposed to consider themselves fortunate to be invited to a ball? To sweeten the invitation they are promised that one family will be bestowed with the Hemlock's favor during the ball. Who will be the lucky family? Desdemona is hoping that it is her sister Lenora. They are in desperate need for help. Soon to be forced out of their home by a greedy landlord Desdemona sees this chance as one to help them out of their troubles. A new widow Desdemona doesn't think of herself as a candidate. Will the townsfolk find happiness and relief from the Hemlocks? Lenora doesn't think so. She doesn't have a good feeling about this. What about the new stranger that has come into town? He too offers advice to not attend the ball. But Desdemona is strangely drawn to Hemlock Hall. Will her stubbornness be the end of the sisters?  What will happen when past lives meet up with those of the present? 

Such an exciting read! I love the characters! I love the setting as well. The story keeps you guessing and keeps the reader turning the pages. The author builds an exciting fantasy world with hero's and villains alike. There is love, death, violence, betrayal and redemption. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat hoping the final outcome will have all of the characters we love surviving and celebrating a "Happily Ever After" ending. Highly recommend!

**I received a copy of Hemlock Hall from the author. All opinions in this review are my own, I was not required to give a review.**n.

A Whim and a Prayer by Julie Lessman

 

Mitch and Charity's adopted daughter Winnie is more like Charity than Charity's own children. Bent on having her own way Winnie constantly butts heads with Charity. While Winnie is grateful for all that her parents have done for her, she feels constricted by her mother's rules. 

Winnie's best friend Beckett has always had Winnie's back from the time Winnie was dropped off at the orphanage. Winnie has always felt the sting of abandonment. Her one constant in life is Beckett. Winnie will do anything in order to preserve her and Beckett's friendship. Even chasing other men in order to avoid the strong attraction between her and Beckett after a steamy kiss in their performance of a play. Winnie is bent on living her life "spontaneously," but her friends see her living it on a whim. Can Winnie's family show her the love that passes all understanding and finally reach a heart that has been hurt? 

Author Julie Lessman always knows how to make her characters have such wonderful spiritual "ah ha" moments. Winnie is no exception. From not wanting anything to do with a God who she feels rejected her, Winnie learns that He has been with her every step of her life. I love Beckett! He is patient, kind and loving to Winnie even in her zaniest moments. The O'Connor family has expanded so much that it is hard to keep track of all of them, but we do get a peek at some. And let's not forget what Julie Lessman is known for...those steamy kisses! They are not lacking in this book! A Whim and a Prayer keeps the reader turning the pages and praying for the perfect ending that we know is always the outcome of the author's characters. As always, I highly recommend you read this book!

Silent Storm by Christina Rost

 

Book 3 in the H&G Mystery series did not disappoint! This time around Henry decides it is time for him to go into the field. Following leads for family treasure finds Henry in small town Oklahoma. Opting for deception, Henry finds that he regrets that decision almost immediately. Paisley, the town sweetheart, has turned Henry's world upside down! In Henry's own words,

"Fake dates, phony names, grumpy cowboys, and buried treasure. Oklahoma had turned out to be more interesting than he'd planned." 

Will Henry's and Paisley's hearts come through unscathed or will this be one storm neither will be able to recover from?

Holy Moly! Author Christina Rost knows how to get your heart pounding! Romance, treasure hunting, tornadoes, oh my! I absolutely loved Henry and Paisley! I loved the setting of Oklahoma in the springtime! So far I think book 3 is my favorite. Even though I found myself thinking, OH HENRY! Don't do that! Or, TELL HER HENRY! I just loved Henry. His character is endearing and he truly is a romantic. Together Henry and Paisley just work and I was rooting for them the whole time I was reading. I highly recommend!

A Killer in the Wings by Benedict Brown

 

Chrissy's friend Marmaduke barges in to Cranley Hall to enlist Chrissy and his Grandfather Lord Edgington's help in solving a murder. It's a good thing too as Lord Edgington is in a funk and going stir crazy. Chrissy and his Grandfather head off to London to the theater. A new play is about ready to open but it seems to be beset by accidents and even murder. Can Christopher and his grandfather solve the case? Better yet, what happens when Lord Edgington demands that Christopher solve the case on his own? Is Chrissy ready for that? 

This one took me a while to get through. I don't know if I was distracted by other things going on or if I just wasn't into it. I enjoyed the twist at the end where Lord Edgington made Chrissy solve the case on his own. I liked that he is putting more confidence in Christopher. There were a lot of characters so it did feel like I was lost sometimes in trying to figure out who was who. Was the killer a surprise? For me it was! I thought for sure it was a couple of other people! Not my favorite Lord Edgington book, but good nonetheless and I'll be reading the next book in the series before too long!

Caturday Crime by Amanda Flower

 

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Unfortunately this book should have gone through a more rigorous editing process. It felt like I was reading a rough draft of a manuscript. Most of the time I hate mentioning this sort of thing, but proofreading errors were so prevalent through the whole book that they were hard to miss. And yes, it detracted from the story. I would be reading along and then words would be left out and I'd stumble and would be brought out of the story. And that is all I'm going to say about that.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed it very much. I liked the characters. The main character, Kinley, was likable and eventually matured and developed a stronger backbone. There were several characters that I thought could be the "bad guy" or that I wished were the bad guy! Was I surprised at who the bad guy turned out to be? Not a bit! That didn't make me enjoy the story any less though. I was excited to get to the end to see how everything resolved. I loved the interaction the main character had with all of the cats, especially Marmalade. The cat sanctuary was based on the author's cat rescue efforts and the proceeds of the sale of her book goes to maintaining care for the cats. I love that objective and was happy to contribute to that. This is book one of a series that I hope will continue to benefit her cat rescue operation.

The Dead Man(Jack Davis Thriller's #2) by Joel Goldman

 

I don't want to say this was predictable, because it wasn't, but I did know who the killer was from pretty much the beginning. The story was fast-paced and I really liked the main character Jack. Although his tics do hinder his work and kind of detract from the story they added a bit of humor as well. This quote had me laugh out loud:

"I had one advantage over Kent and Dolan and Walter Enoch's killer. Shaking made it easier to look both ways and see who was coming at me."

To make up for his disability(Movement disorder), Jack had a smart mouth. That was entertaining for sure. I liked Lucy's character as well. She was almost as good as Jack! The thriller part wasn't too tense, which was ok. I did enjoy the storyline and the way it moved along. It didn't seem to get bogged down. 

This is the first book I've read in the Jack Davis Thriller books and I might go back and get the other two when I have finished my goal of getting through the majority of my TBR pile. I just added them to my list! This was a solid read and if you like mild thrillers then I don't think you will be disappointed in this one.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

 

I've been watching clips of the Netflix show by the same name. It looked interesting so I bought the book before I watched the whole movie. I absolutely loved it! Now I can't wait to see the movie!

I loved the characters. Even the octopus was quite a character. I laughed, I cried and I thoroughly enjoyed it! There is some language in it that may offend some, but that is the only thing that I would caution on reading it. There were times I wanted to smack Cameron upside the head and tell him to grow up, but he grew throughout the story. Tova was a treat! Like I said, I've seen clips of the Netflix movie and Sally Fields' portrayal of Tova seems spot-on! So while I was reading I had her in my mind. This is definitely a 5 star rating for me!