Two Quick Recommendations...

 

 Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson is a coyote shifter; her mate, Adam Hauptman, is the Alpha of the Columbia Basin pack. Between werewolves, Fae, magical artifacts, and her half-brother, Gary, showing up unexpectedly, Mercy has her hands full in this latest urban fantasy novel by Patricia Briggs. I love this series! Mercy and Adam and all the rest are some of my all-time favorite characters. Every book in this series is a magical adventure with suspense, heart, and humor. And this fourteenth novel is no exception. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. And when I finished, I wanted to pick up the first book in this series and read them all again. They're that good.

A Deceptive Composition by Anna Lee Huber

It's October, 1832, and Keira and Sebastian along with Sebastian's father, Lord Gage, are off to Cornwall to investigate a murder among the Roscarrock family--the part of Lord Gage's family that he hasn't seen or talked to in decades. What they find is an intricate web of secrets, smuggling, and lies. And unexpected danger, too. Huber's historical mysteries are always interesting and entertaining. I love this series because of the two main characters, Keira and Sebastian, and their relationship. If you're new to this series, I recommend starting with the first book, The Anatomist's Wife, where Keira and Sebastian first meet. You won't regret it.

Happy Reading!

Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham

 

Luke Edgemont doesn't believe in meet-cutes, romance tropes or Hallmark movie moments. So when he finds himself on the island nation of Skymar in the middle of all three...with a princess, no less! ...he's not sure what to do. Because he's just in Skymar temporarily to help renovate an orphanage and then he's going home to America. And there's no way he could ever be with a princess; he's a flannel-wearing carpenter who's a bit of a grumpy introvert, not the suave Prince Charming type. But the more time he spends with Ellie the more danger he's in of falling hopelessly in love with her. And that's just asking for a broken heart.

My thoughts:  I loved Basham's previous novel, Authentically, Izzy, about Luke's cousin, but I love this book even more. Luke's such a great character. I loved the banter between him and Ellie, and his sweet interactions with the orphans. His texts with his sisters are pretty funny, too. And all their movie references from Rambo to The Princess Bride totally made me laugh. This is a delightfully charming romance with humor, heart, a little faith, some fishing, a Cinderella-like ball, and a very cute happy ending. My kind of romance. 

Happy Reading!

Randomness...

Recent book that I read and enjoyed but didn't review:  The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons.

Latest library haul (these are the books I hope to read this month):

Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Always Remember by Mary Balogh

Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler

The Unquiet Bones by Loreth Anne White

Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton

Love in Disguise by Dana LeCheminant

The Siamese Twin Mystery by Ellery Queen

And After by Sarah Lyons Fleming

Some of my glad moments from June ... little things in life that brought me joy:

• Made six jars of strawberry jam using strawberries from my own garden! (Which taste SO much better than those big flavorless strawberries you find at the grocery store.)
• Saw a Kestrel on my walk one day AND a Double-crested Cormorant sitting near the river sunning itself. (It was a good birding moment.)
• Got my driver's license renewed and it didn't take all day to do it. 
• Learned how to play a fun new game:  Kingdom Builder.  
• Some members of the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square came and sang at my church a few Sundays ago and their voices were so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes.

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

 

How it begins: "They raised the car from the lake on the same day as my father's memorial, two unrelated but equally newsworthy events: Something lost. Something found."

Where it takes place:  The isolated community of Mirror Lake nestled in the mountains of North Carolina.

The main players:  Hazel Sharp and her two brothers, Gage and Caden Holt.

The mystery:  The truth of what really happened when Hazel's mother ran off and left them all those years ago.

My thoughts:  Finally! A thriller that doesn't disappoint. (It's the third one I've read so far this summer and the only one I actually liked.) It's full of family secrets, quiet threats, mounting suspicions, and taut suspense. I enjoyed how Hazel unravels the truth of things bit by bit. It's so good; and it reads fast. This is the kind of thriller I was hoping for this summer. And it definitely makes me think I need to check out some of Miranda's other books. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

A movie worth watching...

Young Woman and the Sea 

It's the story of Trudy Ederle who was the first woman to swim the English Channel at a time when the idea of women participating in any kind of sport was not only frowned upon but thought improper and unsafe. Good thing Trudy Ederle didn't listen to any of the naysayers. Talk about an excellent movie! I highly recommend it. It's based on the book by Glenn Stout...which I now want to read. 

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. 

This week's theme is: MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS RELEASING DURING THE SECOND HALF OF 2024. 

Here's my list:

The Burning by Linda Castillo (Jul. 9th)

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca (Aug. 13th)

(While I don't love this cover, I am excited for this book.)

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie Rendon (Aug. 27th)

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig (Sep. 3rd)

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop (Sep. 17th)

All I Want is You by Falon Ballard (Sep. 24th)

Murder at King's Crossing by Andrea Penrose (Sep. 24th)

Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima (Oct. 8th)

An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka (Oct. 15th)

Summit's Edge by Sara Driscoll (Nov. 26th)

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (Dec. 24th)

I look forward to seeing everyone else's TTT list this week, because I'm sure there are many more books coming out later this year that I've missed and should've put on this list.

Happy Reading!

 

The Wintringham Mystery by Anthony Berkeley

 

The story:  Having run through his small inheritance, demobbed army officer Stephen Munro is forced to take a job as a footman at Wintringham Hall, the country estate of Lady Susan Carey. It's a bit of a lark, though Stephen quickly discovers he's not really footman material. When Lady Susan decides to throw a party things get even more awkward for Stephen when his old schoolmate, Freddie Venables, shows up as one of the guests along with Stephen's old flame, Pauline Manwaring and her new fiancè, a man Stephen immediately dislikes. Then one of the female guests disappears during a silly parlor game one night and Stephen adds amateur detective to his list of duties. 

My thoughts:  I thoroughly enjoyed this British Library Crime Classic. Stephen has a take-life-with-a-grin attitude that I found endearing. His encounters as a footman, especially with the uptight and strict butler, Martin, and with Freddie and Pauline were very funny. And the mystery of Cecily's disappearance kept everyone in the house guessing. Was it a prank? Or something more nefarious? I liked Pauline's spunk and her back-and-forth banter with Stephen as they investigated things together. There are some fun twists and turns along the way and the obligatory red herrings, too. There's even a bit of romance. All in all, this is a delightfully charming mystery. 5 stars.

Happy Reading!

The other Anthony Berkeley mystery I've read:  The Poisoned Chocolates Case.