Month: May 2020

The Crow’s Call (Amish Greenhouse Mystery #1) by Wanda Brunstetter

/ kentuckybooklover / Leave a comment

crow

Pages: 320

Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc./Shiloh Run Press

Published: March 1, 2020

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review:

This was a hard but therapeutic read for me since I just recently lost my mom. The Crow’s Call centers around a family who lost three members in one night to a tragic accident. I could not fathom as I am having a hard time with just one.

It is very different from Brunstetter’s usual romantic fiction in that we have a mystery that runs throughout and will continue in the second book, The Mockingbird’s Song. Even after a few days of finishing the novel I am still trying to figure the mystery. I like that as it keeps me thinking about the book until the next release.

While reading I saw some of the grieving processes I am experiencing and it made me realize it is ok. Grief is different for all. You grieve on your time and no one else’s.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Barbour Publishing, Inc/Shiloh Run Press, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

NetGalley: Mysterious Events Plague a Greenhouse in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country

When Vernon King, his son, and son-in-law are involved in a terrible accident, three women are left to cope with their deaths, as they become the sole providers of the family they have left. The women’s only income must come from the family greenhouse, but someone seems to be trying to force them out of business.

Amy King has just lost her father and brother, and her mother needs her to help run the family’s greenhouse. It doesn’t seem fair to ask her to leave a job she loves, when there is still a sister and brother to help. But Sylvia is also grieving for her husband while left to raise three children, and Henry, just out of school, is saddled with all the jobs his father and older brother used to do. As Amy assumes her new role, she also asks Jared Riehl to put their courtship on hold. When things become even more stressful at the greenhouse, will Amy crumble under the pressure?

The Englisch Daughter by Cindy and Erin Woodsmall

/ kentuckybooklover / Leave a comment

daughter

Pages: 352

Publisher: Water Brook & Multnomah

Published: April 21, 2020

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

My Review:

The Englisch Daughter was very different from the traditional Amish fiction I am used to reading and I liked that very much. You have a husband and wife who are not timid in showing their feelings towards one another. You have a daughter who is still single much later in life than is traditional for Amish and she follows her own heart and best of all she has her family’s support.

I enjoyed most of all the idea of an Amish rehab for addictions of all natures. I would love to read a story with this idea expanded. It shows that even those with the strongest faiths have demons within them that they fight on a daily basis. All of us do and sometimes it takes additional help to fight them.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, WaterBrook and Multnomah, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

NetGalley:

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER • A marriage is tested in this Old Order Amish novel of longing for renewed love and a path for forgiveness from the best-selling author of Gathering the Threads.

Old Order Amish wife and mother Jemima has put her marriage and family ahead of herself for years. She’s set herself aside. Raising four children, she’s followed all the rules and has been patient in looking forward to her time to chase a dream of her own.

But when she finds out that her life savings for pursuing that dream is gone—and her husband, Roy, has been hiding a child with another woman—her entire world is shattered. Will she be able to listen to God and love Roy’s child? With so much at stake, how can she and Roy fix their relationship before their lives come crashing down?

Proof of Murder (A Beyond the Page Bookstore #4) by Lauren Elliott

/ kentuckybooklover / Leave a comment

proof

Pages: 304

Published: April 28, 2020

Publisher: Kensington

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review:

When I read the first book in the series I wasn’t sure if it would be one I would be excited about. Let me tell you my first impression was wrong. I get super excited when a new book is released. I have enjoyed seeing Addie come into herself as a bookstore owner and learn to love again after the death of her husband.

I have found myself learning new things as I read this series. As crazy as it sounds for a mystery buff like me I have not read any Sherlock Holmes novels or stories. I found it very interesting to learn about the first story in the series was released.

I have found I enjoy reading the books much more than listening to the audiobooks. I listened to a little of the audiobook for this book and the previous. The narrator is good but she doesn’t fit what I think of as Addie.

All the covers in this series are absolutely gorgeous. I could look at them for hours and still find something I missed. They are true works of art.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

NetGalley:

In Lauren Elliott’s fourth USA Today bestselling Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, bookshop owner Addie Greyborne must solve a locked-room murder in a supposedly haunted mansion to recover a priceless Sherlock Holmes original…

The seaside New England town of Greyborne Harbor is home to many grand estates, including the Queen Anne Victorian Addie inherited from her great aunt. Now one of those mansions is holding an estate sale, which is just what the bookshop owner needs to replenish her supply of rare editions–even if the house is rumored to be haunted. Assisting an overwhelmed insurance appraiser with the inventory, Addie discovers an 1887 magazine containing Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, which she estimates to be worth over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

But when Addie later finds the appraiser dead in the estate’s private library, with the door bolted from the inside, and the priceless edition missing, it’s a mystery worthy of the Great Detective himself. She’s certain the death and the robbery are connected–but who, other than a ghost who can walk through walls, could have gotten in to do the deed? It’s up to Addie to find the key to the crime–before she’s the next one cornered by a killer…

Murder in the Storybook Cottage (A Book Retreat Mystery #6) by Ellery Adams

/ kentuckybooklover / 2 Comments

storybook

Pages: 320

Published: April 28, 2020

Publisher: Kensington

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I was scheduled to read and review this book on the release date of April 28, 2020, but unfortunately, my mama passed away three days prior and I was unable to do so. When I was able to read again Ellery Adams was able to bring a sense of comfort and love when needed. Her characters feel like friends every time you open up a book.

Even though a murder or two occurs in the book love shines through in many forms. We have the love of lovers during Valentine’s Day, the love of our fellow man no matter the age, race or gender, and the love of books. I was reminded so much of my mama. She introduced to me at a very young age the love of books and reading. She continued to nurture that love up until her passing. Valentine’s Day was a time for her to shower those she loved with cute cards and treats. Most importantly she taught me to love others by seeing what was inside and not on the outside.

The ending left me happy and eagerly anticipating the next book. I am not going to say anything more as I want you to be as surprised as I.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Kensington, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.