Source: NetGalley

#BookReview Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall @AuthorCodiHall @SourcebooksCasa #NickandNoelsChristmasPlaylist #CodiHall

#BookReview Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall @AuthorCodiHall @SourcebooksCasa #NickandNoelsChristmasPlaylist #CodiHall Title: Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist

Author: Codi Hall

Series: Mistletoe Romance #1

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Oct. 5, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8/10

Nick Winter is just out of the military, and his Christmas homecoming is not going as planned. What was supposed to be a memorable holiday with his long-time girlfriend goes sour when he learns she cheated on him while he was stationed overseas. At least Nick can rely on his usual shift at the family Christmas tree farm with his best friend, Noel Carter, and her endless supply of Christmas tunes to lift his spirits. A night of fun together is just what he needs to forget about his ex.

But then they kiss. And it feels…so right.

If Noel can turn Nick’s Blue Christmas merry and bright, this might be the last Christmas Nick spends with a broken heart. This year, they’ll be Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree as a couple―as long as Nick’s ex doesn’t go standing under any mistletoe.


Review:

Comical, uplifting, and delightfully heartwarming!

Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist is a sweet, charming, friends-to-more RomCom about the supportive and hardworking Noel who suddenly finds it harder and harder to keep her attraction for her longtime friend in check, and the sexy, hesitant Nick who may not be as heartbroken about his recent breakup as he thought, and who may actually want to be more than just someone to hang out with for his best friend, Noel.

The prose is warm and light. The characters are thoughtful, fun-loving, and endearing. And the plot is an engaging tale of friendship, family, community, tender moments, self-discovery, merry preparations, a touch of romance, and a soundtrack of some of the most unforgettable Christmas songs of all time.

Overall, Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist is an amusing, entertaining, festive tale by Hall that is an adorable mix of sweet romance, family drama, and a whole lot of holiday cheer.

 

This book is available now. 

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with a copy in an exchange for an honest review.

 

About Codi Hall

Codi Hall has been writing for eight years under the pen name, Codi Gary. In the spring of 2020, Codi signed with Audible for three original audio books about a trio of siblings finding love in their little mountain town during Christmas time. A California native living in Idaho, she fell in love with big skies, amazing people, and brisk winters. When she isn't writing, you can find her watching movies with her family, making silly Tik Toks, taking gorgeous photos, and snuggling up with a good book and one of her many furbabies!

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview Friends Like Us by Sarah Mackenzie @readforeverpub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever2021 #SarahMackenzie #CranberryCove

#BookReview Friends Like Us by Sarah Mackenzie @readforeverpub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever2021 #SarahMackenzie #CranberryCove Title: Friends Like Us

Author: Sarah Mackenzie

Series: Cranberry Cove #2

Published by: Forever on Jan. 26, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 9/10

Fans of Jill Shalvis, Susan Mallery, and Robyn Carr will love this charming, relatable, laugh-out-loud women’s fiction read about letting go of the past, taking a chance on love, and embracing life under the summer sun.

Bree Rhodes and Jill Kelly have been best friends since kindergarten. When Bree survives a cancer scare, the knitting shop assistant takes it as a sign to step out of her comfort zone . . . or at least take a few tentative tiptoes. But in no time she’s in over her head with a hot architect, a new puppy and a shot at buying her dream inn. And the harder she tries to stay afloat in her new normal, the harder it is to hold onto her friendship with Jill who seems to be ebbing away.

While her best friend is living her best life, art boutique owner, Jill, is simply trying to live. Still struggling after a freak motorcycle accident took the life of her husband, Jill doesn’t know how to start over — or if she even wants to. Life isn’t easy as a young widow, especially when she’s hiding a painful secret. But when she learns that the fairytale Maine cottage she’d once dreamed of buying with her husband is on the market, she has to decide whether she’s ready to let go of the past and to write a new chapter. But the only way to do really heal is by revealing to Bree a truth that will either destroy their friendship forever or bring them closer together.


Review:

Tender, hopeful, and cosy!

Friends Like Us is a beautifully written, uplifting tale set in the small-town of Cranberry Cove that takes us into the lives of Bree Rhodes, a young woman who after recently having a cancer scare decides to create an anti-bucket list to help her step out of her mundane life and take some chances, and Jill Kelly, a young widow still struggling with the loss of her husband and the all-consuming grief that is preventing her from moving on.

The prose is light and witty. The characters are sweet, attentive, and sympathetic. And the plot is a delightful, heartfelt mix of friendship, family, introspection, support, forgiveness, love, loss, drama, community, new beginnings, and the power of friendship.

Overall, Friends Like Us is a funny, absorbing, compassionate tale by Mackenzie with an abundance of irresistible characters and a storyline I couldn’t get enough of. I really enjoyed the first novel in the Cranberry Cove series, Forever Friends, but I absolutely adored this one.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Forever & Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Mackenzie

Sarah Mackenzie lives and writes in New England.

#BookReview #BlogTour The Spark by Jules Wake @Juleswake @0neMoreChapter_ @rararesources #TheSpark #JulesWake

#BookReview #BlogTour The Spark by Jules Wake @Juleswake @0neMoreChapter_ @rararesources #TheSpark #JulesWake

#BookReview #BlogTour The Spark by Jules Wake @Juleswake @0neMoreChapter_ @rararesources #TheSpark #JulesWake Title: The Spark

Author: Jules Wake

Published by: HarperCollins UK on Dec. 11, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: HarperCollins UK, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Jess is falling for Sam.

Sam is falling for Jess.

But it seems life will do whatever it takes to make them fall apart.

When Jess and Sam lock eyes at a party, a spark ignites. The spark. But love at first sight isn’t like the movies, especially when Sam’s ex, Victoria, is determined to make their honeymoon period a living hell.

Is love at first sight enough?


Review:

Heart-tugging, sweet, and sincere!

The Spark is an uplifting, engaging tale that takes us to into the lives of Jess and Sam, two people who after feeling an immediate connection when they first meet struggle to navigate all the highs and lows of a relationship plagued by disappointed parents, strained friendships, jeopardized careers and an extremely scorned ex.

The writing is warm and light. The characters are patient, supportive, and compassionate. And the plot is a delightful mix of life, love, family, friendship, chemistry, attraction, heartfelt moments, self-discovery, taking chances, and moving on.

Overall, The Spark is another captivating, tender, satisfying tale by Wake that’s perfect for fans of contemporary romance novels that are brimming with heartache and hope.

 

This book is available now. 

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

 

 

About Jules Wake

Jules Wake announced at the age of ten that she planned to be a writer. Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and worked on many luxury brands and not so luxury brands. This proved fabulous training for writing novels as it provided her with the opportunity to hone her writing and creative skills penning copy on a vast range of subjects from pig farming and watches, sunglasses and skincare through to beer and stationery.
She writes best-selling warm-hearted contemporary fiction for One More Chapter as Jules Wake and under her pen name Julie Caplin, she writes the Romantic Escapes series.
Between them, the two Js have written twelve novels, Notting Hill in the Snow being the latest.

 

Thank you to Jules Wake, HarperCollins UK, and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a copy in an exchange for an honest review.

 

#BookReview Follow Me Darkly by Helen Hardt @HelenHardt @entangledpub #HelenHardt #FollowMe

#BookReview Follow Me Darkly by Helen Hardt @HelenHardt @entangledpub #HelenHardt #FollowMe Title: Follow Me Darkly

Author: Helen Hardt

Series: Follow Me #1

Published by: Entangled Publishing on Sep. 29, 2020

Genres: Erotica, Contemporary Romance

Pages: 400

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Entangled Publishing, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8.5/10

I’ve always been a control freak. But he makes me crave submission…

Working for a hotel heiress and social media influencer may not be my dream job, but at least it allows me time to do what I really love—take photographs. Pretty good for a wholesome farm girl from Kansas trying to make it in Boston. Life may not be easy working for a diva, but at least I know what to expect.

Until blue-collar billionaire Braden Black strides into the office. He’s beyond handsome and sexy, but also domineering with a definite hard edge. I’m not sure why he’s interested in me, but within a few weeks, he’s showing me a world I never knew existed.

He’s opened up a side of me I can only face in the dark, and it’s quickly becoming an obsession. How can I give up something this addictive—even if his secrets could ultimately destroy me?


Review:

Edgy, tantalizing, and consuming!

Follow Me Darkly is a provocative, dramatic tale that takes you on a journey into the life of Skye Manning, a sweet, intelligent, spirited photographer who finds herself inadvertently swept off her feet by the sexy, confident, billionaire Braden Black whose enigmatic past and dominant tendencies are hard to resist.

The narration is smooth and enticing. The characters are consumed, intense, and secretive. And the plot is a delightfully salacious tale of desire, temptation, mystique, attraction, chemistry, and sizzling romance.

Overall, Follow Me Darkly is an alluring, sultry, intriguing tale by Hardt that certainly has enough seduction, steam, and spice, to have you counting down the days for the release of Follow Me Under in January 2021 so you can find out where this cliffhanger ending will lead to next.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from the following audible link.

           

 

 

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Angela Melamud for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Helen Hardt

#1 New York Times, #1 USA Today, and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Helen Hardt published her first story in 2008, after studying abroad in France, practicing law for a short time, and spending fifteen years as a stay-at-home mom. She has currently written sixteen novels, five novellas, and two collections of shorter works. Her novel Craving, first in the Steel Brothers Saga, released to critical acclaim in May of 2016 and became a bestseller.

Helen is equally at home wielding her red pen as an editor. She’s a true grammar geek who is constantly annoyed that she can’t spot her own typos. Helen believes there is always something new to learn in this business, so she regularly takes writing classes and attends workshops and conferences.

When she’s not pounding away at her laptop, Helen can be found surfing Facebook with a glass of red wine in one hand and a bowl of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the other. She holds a blackbelt in taekwondo but is a hopeless romantic at heart. She lives in Colorado and is the proud mother of two incredibly handsome and gifted young men.

Photography by Misha Photography.

#BookReview Common Goal by Rachel Reid @akaRachelReid @CarinaPress @HarlequinBooks #CommonGoal #GameChangers #HarlequinPublicityTeam #CarinaPress

#BookReview Common Goal by Rachel Reid @akaRachelReid @CarinaPress @HarlequinBooks #CommonGoal #GameChangers #HarlequinPublicityTeam #CarinaPress Title: Common Goal

Author: Rachel Reid

Series: Game Changers #4

Published by: Carina Press on Sep. 21, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA

Pages: 282

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Carina Press, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8.5/10

New York Admirals goalie Eric never thought his friends-with-benefits arrangement with much-younger Kyle would leave them both wanting more…

Veteran goaltender Eric Bennett has faced down some of the toughest shooters on the ice, but nothing prepared him for his latest challenge—life after hockey. It’s time to make some big changes, starting with finally dating men for the first time.

Graduate student Kyle Swift moved to New York nursing a broken heart. He’d sworn to find someone his own age to crush on (for once). Until he meets a gorgeous, distinguished silver fox hockey player. Despite their intense physical attraction, Kyle has no intention of getting emotionally involved. He’ll teach Eric a few tricks, have some mutually consensual fun, then walk away.

Eric is more than happy to learn anything Kyle brings to the table. And Kyle never expected their friends-with-benefits arrangement to leave him wanting more. Happily-ever-after might be staring them in the face, but it won’t happen if they’re too stubborn to come clean about their feelings.

Everything they both want is within reach… They just have to be brave enough to grab it.


Review:

Spicy, steamy, and romantic!

Common Goal is a passionate, lighthearted, sports romance featuring the playful, outgoing Kyle, who is adamant about keeping things casual but more than happy to help a mature, sexy, hockey player explore his attraction to men, and the sweet, thoughtful Eric, who is ready for something more but definitely not with someone fifteen years his junior.

The writing is sultry and sincere. The characters are insecure, charming, and appealing. And the plot is a tantalizing mix of palpable attraction, unquenchable lust, sizzling chemistry, friendship, temptation, desire, drama, sexy times, and hockey.

Overall, Common Goal is a fervent, tender, seductive treat by Reid that is another wonderful addition to what is ultimately turning out to be an absolutely fantastic Game Changers series.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

 

Thank you to Carina Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachel Reid

Rachel Reid is the pen name of Rachelle Goguen. She chose it because it is much easier to say, spell and remember than Rachelle Goguen!

Rachel writes cute, romantic smut, mostly about hockey players.

Rachelle co-hosts a comic book podcast called Living Between Wednesdays.

Rachel/Rachelle lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has always lived there, and it's looking like she probably always will. She has two boring degrees and two interesting kids.

#BookReview Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker @Wendy_Walker @StMartinsPress #DontLookForMe #WendyWalker

#BookReview Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker @Wendy_Walker @StMartinsPress #DontLookForMe #WendyWalker Title: Don't Look for Me

Author: Wendy Walker

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Sep. 15, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: St. Martin's Press, NetGalley

Book Rating: 10/10

In Wendy Walker’s thrilling novel Don’t Look for Me, the greatest risk isn’t running away. It’s running out of time.

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life.

She doesn’t want to be found.

Or at least, that’s the story.

The car abandoned miles from home.

The note found at a nearby hotel.

The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together.

They called it a “walk away.”

It happens all the time.

Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over.

But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?


Review:

Chilling, menacing, and incredibly riveting!

Don’t Look for Me is a character-driven, thrill ride that takes you to Hastings, Connecticut and into the lives of Molly Clarke, a mother consumed with grief who ran out of gas two weeks ago and has yet to be been seen from again, and her twenty-one-year-old daughter Nicole, who after receiving what seems to be a viable tip decides to investigate and search for her missing mother herself.

The writing is complex and taut. The characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are raw, distressed, and consumed. And the plot told from dual perspectives and using a back-and-forth style ratchets up the tension and suspense as it quickly unravels into an eerie tale of familial drama, obsession, kidnapping, desperation, guilt, tragedy, violence, murder, and the messy, complex bonds that exist between family members.

Overall, Don’t Look for Me is a without a doubt a masterfully plotted, clever, twisty page-turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very first page and ultimately leaves you surprised, shocked, and thoroughly entertained.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Wendy Walker

Wendy Walker is the author of psychological suspense. Her novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages and have topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad. They have been featured on The Today Show, The Reese Witherspoon Book Club, and The Book of the Month Club and have been optioned for television and film.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell @KnopfCA @PenguinRandomCA #HamnetandJudith

#BookReview Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell @KnopfCA @PenguinRandomCA #HamnetandJudith Title: Hamnet & Judith

Author: Maggie O'Farrell

Published by: Knopf Canada on Jul. 21, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Penguin Random House Canada, NetGalley

Book Rating: 9/10

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A PLAGUE THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

England, 1580. A young Latin tutor–penniless, bullied by a violent father–falls in love with an eccentric young woman: a wild creature who walks her family’s estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer. Agnes understands plants and potions better than she does people, but once she settles on the Henley Street in Stratford she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband. His gifts as a writer are just beginning to awaken when their beloved twins, Hamnet and Judith, are afflicted with the bubonic plague, and, devastatingly, one of them succumbs to the illness.

A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time, Hamnet & Judith is mesmerizing and seductive, an impossible-to-put-down novel from one of our most gifted writers.


Review:

Rich, immersive, and evocative!

Hamnet & Judith is a vivid, compelling, powerful interpretation that sweeps you away to Stratford-upon-Avon in the late 1500s and into the life of the Shakespeare family, from the courtship and marriage of William and Agnes to the devastating loss of their young son Hamlet at the tender age of eleven.

The prose is eloquent and emotive. The characters are well-drawn, endearing, and authentic. And the plot is an absorbing tale of life, loss, love, grief, family, aspirations, heartache, and motherhood.

Overall, Hamnet & Judith is a pensive, alluring, beautifully written story by O’Farrell that does a remarkable job of highlighting her incredible knowledge and research into these renowned historical figures whose personal lives are often unknown, forgotten, or overshadowed by the patriarch’s incredibly profound contribution to the world of drama and literature.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Knopf Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Maggie O'Farrell

Born in Northern Ireland in 1972, MAGGIE O'FARRELL grew up in Wales and Scotland and now lives in London. She has worked as a waitress, chambermaid, bike messenger, teacher, arts administrator, journalist (in Hong Kong and London), and as the deputy literary editor of The Independent on Sunday. She is the author of After You'd Gone (winner of the Betty Trask Award); My Lover's Lover; The Distance Between Us (recipient of a Somerset Maugham Award); The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox; The Hand That First Held Mine; Instructions for a Heatwave (winner of a Costa Book Award); This Must Be the Place; and most recently, I Am, I Am, I Am.

Photograph by Murdo Macleod.

#BookReview The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel @kristinharmel @GalleryBooks @SimonSchusterCA #TheBookofLostNames

#BookReview The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel @kristinharmel @GalleryBooks @SimonSchusterCA #TheBookofLostNames Title: The Book of Lost Names

Author: Kristin Harmel

Published by: Gallery Books on Jul. 21, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada, NetGalley

Book Rating: 9/10

Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, a young woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis in this unforgettable historical novel from the international bestselling author of the “epic and heart-wrenching World War II tale” (Alyson Noel, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Winemaker’s Wife.

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.


Review:

Fascinating, heartwrenching, and exceptionally absorbing!

The Book of Lost Names is an evocative, beautifully written, touching tale set in France during WWII, as well present day, that takes you into the life of Eva Traube, a young Jewish woman who spent the majority of the war, to the detriment of herself and those she loved, using her artistic talents to help save as many lives as possible.

The prose is atmospheric, authentic, and insightful. The characters are vulnerable, brave, and strong. And the plot is a poignant tale of life, loss, love, deception, perseverance, survival, betrayal, sacrifice, courage, selflessness, the unimaginable horrors of war, and the important role of the Resistance in transporting people from the free zone in France to the safety of Switzerland.

Overall, The Book of Lost Names is a thought-provoking, immersive, moving tale by Harmel that does an incredible job of reminding us that millions of lives were lost, numerous aliases were given, but real names and true identities should never be forgotten. 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel is the international bestselling author of THE ROOM ON RUE AMELIE, THE SWEETNESS OF FORGETTING, THE LIFE INTENDED, WHEN WE MEET AGAIN, and several other novels. Her latest, THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE, is coming in August 2019 from Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster. A former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, Kristin has also freelanced for many other publications, including American Baby, Men’s Health, Glamour, Woman’s Day, Travel + Leisure, and more.

Kristin grew up in Peabody, Mass.; Worthington, Ohio; and St. Petersburg, Fla., and she graduated with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida. After spending time living in Paris, she now lives in Orlando, Fla., with her husband and young son.

Photograph by Phil Art Studio, Reims, France.

#BookReview Muzzled (Andy Carpenter #21) by David Rosenfelt @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #Muzzled

#BookReview Muzzled (Andy Carpenter #21) by David Rosenfelt @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #Muzzled Title: Muzzled

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: Andy Carpenter #21

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jul. 7, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Minotaur Books, NetGalley

Book Rating: 9/10

In David Rosenfelt’s newest Andy Carpenter mystery, Muzzled, Andy and his beloved golden retriever, Tara, are back on the case as a favor to a friend.

Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who would rather not practice law. He’d rather spend his time working with the Tara Foundation, his dog rescue organization, and being with his family and his two dogs, Tara and Sebastian. But when a friend asks him for a favor that involves both dogs and his lawyerly expertise, he can’t say no.

Andy’s friend Beth has found a stray that seems to have belonged to a murder victim–in fact, the man and two of his colleagues died in an explosion a few weeks ago. But when the murdered man contacts Beth, asking for his dog back, Andy knows there must be more to the story. The man claims his life is in danger, and that’s why he disappeared. As much as Andy doesn’t want to get involved–anything to avoid a new case–he can’t help but come to the rescue of a man who’d risk everything, even his life, to reunite with his dog.


Review:

Intricate, fresh, and outrageously funny!

Muzzled is an absorbing, humorous mystery that transports you to Patterson, N.J. where Alex Vogel, one of three men supposedly killed in a boat explosion is arrested for murder when he reappears to claim his dog from the Tara Foundation causing the happily retired, defense attorney Andy Carpenter to once again come out of retirement to defend someone in need.

The prose is witty and crisp. The characters are multilayered, unique, and amusing. And the plot is a funny yet thrilling tale full of twists, turns, mayhem, corruption, coercion, red herrings, deduction, violence, greed, danger, and murder.

Overall, Muzzled is a clever, quirky, suspenseful mystery that kept me absorbed, entertained and laughing out loud from the very first page. It’s hard to believe that this is the first novel I’ve read by Rosenfelt, but I can guarantee it won’t be my last.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following links.

               

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David Rosenfelt

DAVID ROSENFELT is the Edgar-nominated and Shamus Award-winning author of more than twenty Andy Carpenter novels, including One Dog Night, Collared, and Deck the Hounds; its spinoff series, The K-Team; the Doug Brock thriller series, which starts with Fade to Black; and stand-alone thrillers including Heart of a Killer and On Borrowed Time.

Rosenfelt and his wife live in Maine with an ever-changing pack of rescue dogs. Their epic cross-country move with 25 of these dogs, culminating in the creation of the Tara Foundation, is chronicled in Dogtripping.

Photo by Brandy Allen.

#BookReview All Our Summers by Holly Chamberlin @HollyChamberlin @KensingtonBooks #AllOursummers

#BookReview All Our Summers by Holly Chamberlin @HollyChamberlin @KensingtonBooks #AllOursummers Title: All Our Summers

Author: Holly Chamberlin

on Jun. 30, 2020

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Kensington Books, NetGalley

Book Rating: 7/10

Against the picturesque coastal Maine setting that she evokes so well, bestselling author Holly Chamberlin creates a heartfelt story of family bonds and new beginnings . . .
 
It came as no surprise to anyone in Yorktide when glamorous Carol Ascher fled the little Maine town for New York City. While Carol found success as an interior designer, her younger sister, Bonnie, stayed behind, embracing marriage and motherhood. She even agreed to take in Carol’s teenage daughter during a tumultuous patch. Now both their girls are grown and Bonnie, recently widowed, is anticipating the day she’ll retire to Ferndean House, the nineteenth-century family home on the rocky Maine coast.
 
But forty-five years after leaving Yorktide, Carol suddenly announces that she’s moving back—into Ferndean. Bonnie is indignant. She’s the one who kept the homestead in order and tended to their dying mother. Now Carol expects to simply buy her out? As far as Bonnie is concerned, Ferndean is part of their heritage—not just another of Carol’s improvement projects, to be torn apart and remade according to her whim.
 
The entire Ascher family is in flux, uncovering secrets that upend their relationships. Carol’s longing to be welcomed home is fueled by a painful truth she’s carried for years. It will take an extraordinary
summer—in a remarkable place—to lead these women back to each other, buoyed by the tides of friendship and forgiveness.


Review:

Nostalgic, tender, and optimistic!

All Our Summers is a compelling, heartfelt tale that sweeps you away to Yorktide, Maine and immerses you into the lives of the Ascher family complete with all the heartbreak, secrets, smiles, tears, strength, loyalty, resentments, and compassion that surround them.

The writing is smooth and light. The characters are complex, hurt, and vulnerable. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into an uplifting tale about life, love, loss, family, friendship, parenthood, infidelity, and the complex relationship that exists between sisters.

All Our Summers is a sentimental, warm, touching, family saga by Chamberlin that drags slightly in parts but overall does a lovely job of reminding us of what’s truly important in life.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Kensington Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Holly Chamberlin

Holly Chamberlin was born and raised in New York City. After earning a Master’s degree in English Literature from New York University and working as an editor in the publishing industry for ten years, she moved to Boston, married and became a freelance editor and writer. She and her husband now live in downtown Portland, Maine, in a restored mid-nineteenth-century brick townhouse with Betty, the most athletic, beautiful and intelligent cat in the world.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.