Erica Bloom comes home to Otter Lake (on vacation) and hopes to start a relationship with Grady, the local sheriff. She instead gets mixed up in the investigation of a murder case that involves her cousins, Tweety and Kit Kat. Her mother owns a retreat house and is currently holding a Silence of the Soul retreat that has her not speaking for the entire retreat, even to her daughter. Erica runs around with Freddie Ng who is a spoiled, rich friend that is now in the security business. I tried very hard to like this book but I found that with the characters being so outlandish and childish, it was hard to do. Erica would not give Grady and the police department any information that was collected and I found that to be ridiculous. I really didn’t feel like the plot was very fast-moving or interesting. It seemed to drag on with the same little silly arguments and crazy situations. I struggled to get to the end and was rewarded with the possibility of a relationship for Erica and Grady. I really don’t think that I could recommend it because I didn’t enjoy it.

Pumpkin Picking with Murder by Auralee Wallace will be published August 30, 2016 by St. Martin’s Press. The egalley of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

IRS Special Agent, Tara Holloway, makes another appearance in Diane Kelly’s newest addition to the Tara Holloway series. Her boyfriend, Nick, is also an agent in the Dallas IRS office.  He and other members of the group are always ready to take part in every scheme that Tara cooks up.  In this delightful book, Tara goes undercover to find a “catfish” who is scamming women through online dating services.  She also tangles with a radio talk show host who is cheating the IRS out of hundred of thousands of dollars.
This book is hilarious! I never thought that I would like a character who is an IRS agent!  The dialogue is witty, the plot is superb!  Great, likable characters and good ole Texas humor, what fun!  I recommend this book to all readers who love to have fun, cozy mystery lovers and those who like a really entertaining story.

Death, Taxes, and a Satin Garter by Diane Kelly will be available August 2, 2016 , from St. Martin’s Press .  An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Kevin Vandeveer has decided to return to his hometown and civilian life after twelve years in the United States Marine Corps.  His sister, Megan, has brought a house in dire need of repair for Kevin to “flip” while he lives there.  Kevin and his friends have sworn off women.  Kevin has had such a disastrous string of relationships with crazy women, he is sure that he will not succumb to any, that is until he meets his cute, blonde neighbor, Holly Greenwood.  Holly is a wedding planner who works for a small company and has a crazy, domineering boss, Nicole.  Everyone loves Holly and that just makes matters worse!  Holly has a loving grandmother in a nearby nursing home.  She can’t imagine that life could become more complicated until she sees her new neighbor Kevin.  The rest of the story is sweet, funny, romantic and lots of fun.  I would definitely recommend this book to all lovers of realistic, contemporary romance.  The plot is interesting and moves quickly.  The dialogue is witty and the characters are developed and endearing.  I really enjoyed this book and looked forward to each chapter!  Author Denise Grover Swank has written a wonderful, new book that is sweet and makes you want to take another chance with romance!

Only You by Denise Grover Swank will be available August, 2016 from Forever Publishers.  An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Agatha Raisin is the owner of a highly successful private investigation business in the Cotswalds district of England. Agatha is smart, feisty and single. She has been married before, in fact she lives next door to her ex-husband, James. Agatha has a reputation for always being after any single man in the village and in this book, a newly retired detective named Gerald has come to town. Agatha is immediately drawn to Gerald with his handsome face, the problem is that she is not sure that Gerald feels the same way. Agatha is asked to investigate the murder of a wealthy local named Lord Bellington. This story is funny, lively and has all the ends and outs of Agatha’s man problems and her newest conquests. You’ll also be treated to a variety of lively characters including Agatha’s friend, Sir Charles Fraith, who loves to show up unannounced at Agatha’s doorstep. You will love the story, full of colorful dialogue and all the wonderful characters that follow Agatha in every book. Pushing Up Daisies is a must for anyone who loves a great mystery, especially full of  beautiful Cotwalds’ autumn and beastly murders!
Pushing Up Daisies is number 27 in the Agatha Raisin series. I have been a long-time fan of M.C. (Marion Chesney) Beaton. I am happy to say that I have read all 27 books in the series and loved every one. I think that M.C. Beaton is one of the most talented and prolific British authors of the cozy mystery genre. Her dialogue is saucy, her characters are hilarious and you’ve got to love Agatha in spite of her tough exterior. M.C. Beaton has also written a wonderful series about a tall, redheaded policeman in Scotland named Hamish McBeth. (There are 32 books in this series and I have absolutely loved all of them. ) If you are a cozy mystery lover, you must read the Agatha Raisin series. It is absolutely a winner!

Pushing Up Daisies (Agatha Raisin #27) by M.C. Beaton will be made available September 20, 2016 by the publishers, St. Martin’s Press. The egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Kennedy Sinclair finds her boyfriend of four years with their dance teacher and decides to follow her dream of opening her own pie shop in the beautiful state of Washington. She’s given the opportunity to buy a wonderful shop called “Sweetie’s Pies”, along with keeping the two owners, Paula and Fi as employees. It’s a complicated sale that stems around apple orchards and land. Kennedy needs a certain kind of apple to make her famous HumDinger pies. The problem is that Paula’s son, Luke, needs the same apples to make his famous hard cider. Luke sets out to force Kennedy out of business so that the apples are all his. Luke doesn’t realize that he’ll have to deal with a beautiful shop owner who is smart, sexy and determined! It had a great story, likable characters and plenty of humor. The sweet, steamy story of Luke and Kennedy’s romance was very engaging. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes contemporary romance.
Last Kiss of Summer: A Destiny Bay Novel by Marina Adair will be available August 30, 2016 by Forever Publishers. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Nina Redmond is a librarian in a public library in Birmingham, England. The story begins with Nina getting the news that her branch is one of the citywide branches to close due to money issues. Nina and her roommate and friend, Surinder, have an ongoing discussion about Nina’s “pack-rat” tendencies with books. You see, Nina is a book-lover, a bookworm, a girl simply in love with books! She has amassed so many books in her room that Surinder is afraid that the ceiling will cave in! She decides to go to a remote village in Scotland to see about buying transportation necessary for her next endeavor of employment. She gets her transportation and goes to live in a empty cottage on the property of a farmer named Lennox. I won’t give anymore away of the story because it is simply a rare pleasure to see it unfold. I enjoyed this story for so many reasons; beautifully designed characters, an engrossing plot and rich descriptions of the scenery and locations. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, especially librarians, teachers and anyone who loves books and reading. The story is so engaging; it highlights reading and the love of reading, loss, healing, love and romance! I urge all readers to take a trip to Birmingham, England and Scotland. The ticket is available and waiting for you on September 20th.

The Bookstore On The Corner by Jenny Colgan will be available September 20, 2016 by Harper Collins Publishers. The egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Knox Davis and a group of friends in high school survive a bus crash in the Swiss Alps. Knox  is still friends with this group and they are now living in Washington, D.C. On the streets of D.C., Knox meets a beautiful, tall blonde from Alaska who turns out to be Madison Abbott, the half-sister to one of his friends. (small world?) Madison has just come to D.C. for a new job, to find her half-brother and to find a husband. Most of the story revolves around Knox and Madison’s banter and relationship. I have not read the first book of the series, but I found the characters and plot to be boring and one-dimensional. The biggest snafu in my opinion was the idea that Madison was getting a job at the Library of Congress as a librarian with an advanced degree. I also didn’t care for the meeting of the two for the first time when supposedly all they could think about was sex with each other. (On the street, three minutes after you meet someone? Come on!) The plot had no “build-up”, the character of Madison seemed to be a pushy, self-absorbed sexpot. I really couldn’t find any redeeming features of this book that I could talk about or recommend to anyone.

Wanting It All (#2 in the Naked Men series) by Christi Barth will be available on August 9, 2016 by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House Publishers. The egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

All You Need is Fudge: A Candy-Coated Mystery (#4)by Nancy CoCo

Allie McMurphy is the owner of the historic McMurphy Hotel on Mackinac Island. Allie is also a master fudge and candy maker who enjoys morning walks with her puppy, Mal. The story begins with an early morning walk that leads to the pier where Mal begins to bark toward the water. Allie is shocked to see a person in the water below and she gets drawn into the possible murder case by doing investigations of her own. There are many twists and turns in the story and also a bit of romance with a unpredictable ending. This is the only book that I have read of the series by Nancy CoCo and I was able to get into the history of the characters and their relationships quite easily. I found the plot to be interesting and the descriptions of Mackinac Island to be vivid and inviting. I would recommend this book for those who love cozy mysteries and who would enjoy reading about a beautiful vacation spot in Michigan.

All You Need is Fudge: A Candy-Coated Mystery by Nancy CoCo will be available on July 26, 2016 by Kensington Publishing. An egalley of this book was made available to me by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

A neighborhood of homes that are in dire need of restoring just got a new resident! Honor Brown bought a rundown house that she plans to restore but she doesn’t realize that her new place is smack-dab in the middle of homes all owned by hunky men. Her next door neighbor is Jason Guthrie, a carpenter by trade who has done beautiful restorations to his own home and his newly widowed brother and teenage nephew. Honor also has a best friend, Lexie, who has a secondary love story with Sullivan, one of the neighbors. Jason is immediately drawn to Honor and the main story line is their romance and Honor’s reluctance to accept anyone helping her as well as her trust issues. I enjoyed the story and found the characters to be likable but I really got tired of Honor acting so fragile and emotionally weird. I guess that I couldn’t believe that someone as perfect as Jason would go along with someone who was as “willy-nilly” as Honor. Would or could I ever be friends with Honor? NO! I like women who are strong and independent but willing to accept friendly offers of help (and not being manic about not accepting help). Except for the personality traits that I didn’t care for in Honor, I did enjoy the story and read it to the end. Lori Foster is a talented writer and does a good job of writing a contemporary romance.

Don’t Tempt Me by Lori Foster will be available on July 26, 2016 by the publisher, HQN Books. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.