I am having a hard time reviewing this book. Usually when I finish a book I can jump right into a review. Especially since it is so fresh in my mind. I’m not saying it was a bad book. It was just a book I liked reading.

The storyline was very interesting. Young college graduate realizes her books publishing parents are struggling and have fallen prey to someone with a hidden agenda. In the process she learns a deep hidden family secret that changes everything she has ever thought about her family.

There is more of a family drama piece with no romance/romance-com. It fell flat. The main character was interesting but it took way too long for the AHA moment to occur and then bam end of book.

Would I suggest this book? Yes, but with care. Just understand it’s slow moving for the first 60/70% of the book. It’s definitely not my favorite by Viola Shipman.

A close friend has suggested Abby Jimenez books to me many times. I went in to this book blind with only the knowledge that it had a dementia story line. She warned I may not be ready for it but if I was, I would love this book. I will own this book one day and read it many times. It will look like my first Gone With the Wind book. Pages falling out and more tape than original binding glue. I have never connected with a book like I did this one.

Every emotion flowed through me while reading. It was the book I need right at this moment. I was a caregiver to my dad who had dementia and Alzheimer’s. Yes, they are two separate cruel diseases. I didn’t know that until it happened to my family. My dad was diagnosed with them the last 7 months of his life but he had it longer than we realized. He probably had beginning stages before my mom passed in 2020. They are cruel and unforgiving diseases. Your parent really does fade right before your eyes.

I understood what every character was feeling. The isolation you experience and feel when you are a primary caregiver. It’s so real. Your life becomes theirs. The heartbreak you experience daily as you see them decline. The anger and cruelty they can inflict because they are scared and don’t understand what is going on. The sundowning that worsens every day and goes on longer each night. It’s scary for you but imagine being trapped in that body and not understanding what is happening to you.

It was the hardest thing I have ever experienced but I wouldn’t change a thing. I was lucky to have a good network of support. My husband who watched me break down daily sometimes and continued to love and support me. A brother who did whatever he could whenever he could. A hired caregiver who became a family friend that sat with him two nights a week so I would sleep more than two hours at a time. Friends who checked me and were just there. Family and friends who understood the change in me. Caregiving is hard. It changes you. It becomes you. Asking for help is hard!

Thank you Abby for the perfect healing book. Thank you to my friends and family for being there for me like Xavier was there for Samantha.

❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

Secrets, secrets, and more secrets

I love every visit to the Ho-Lee Noodle House in Cleveland, OH. Lana is one of those characters that I think and wonder what is she up to now? Vivien Chien has created a wonderful series filled with excitement, laughs, and love.

The Chow Maniac is the eleventh and newest in the series. We get to learn some Asian history with this installment. The Eight Immortals knew the secrets of life and worked to rid evil. It was very interesting to learn about the different talismans and reminded me of how much I enjoyed learning about the Ming Dynasty when I was in school.

Lana Lee has been “hired” as a helper for a local PI agency to help work a case on a secret Asian society of which members are dying and suspicions are starting to arise. The case hits close to home when her beloved grandma’s boyfriend is determined to be a part of the secret society and has many secrets in his past.
Can Lana work the case without alerting her family of the secrets she has been entrusted with and stay alive? Read the book to find out.

You can jump into this series with any book and be ok. Each is a standalone but there are storylines that do build with each book.

April Wrap Up🌷🐣☔️

12 books total, 0 DNF, 16 new books bought,  20 books donated, 0 non-fiction book read

L  Library

KO  Kindle Owned

O  Physical Owned

EL  E-library (Libby/Overdrive/Hoopla)

AB  Audiobook 

KU  Kindle Unlimited 

NG NetGalley

ARC Advanced Reader Copy 

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksofinstagram #kentuckybooklover #readers #readersofinstagram #monthlywrapup #thelibraryisopen #kindlegirlie #readwhatyouown

Murder with Cherry Tarts is book four of the Daisy’s Tea Garden #cozymysteryseries by Karen Rose Smith. It was the book I chose to read for week seven of our #cozymystery #bookbingo which was read a tea themed cozy mystery.

Don’t let the cute tea treat named books fool you that this is a fluffy series. In book four we have the continued story of an unplanned pregnancy, rushed wedding planning, homelessness of a parent and child, adoption growth pains of creating a relationship with a birth parent, love after loss, and old family hurts.

I happen to really enjoy this series because it reads like a family drama you would watch weekly. The flow of the stories is fantastic. I also enjoy that it is Amish adjacent.

I listened to the audiobook as that is the only version my library has and while the narrator is great I miss not getting the extras at the end like the recipes. The food mentioned always sounds so delectable.

The tea pot pictured is one of my very favorites my mama got me as a housewarming present almost 19 years ago. It’s almost too delicate for me. 🤣

I had heard of Ruth Reichl mentioned many times watching food shows but did not know much of her written work. When this book first published last year I remember snagging it off the library shelf and utterly disappointed that it did not interest me. Fast forward to last week and I feel in love with the book immediately. It goes to show that you should give certain books a second chance as you might fall in love the second time around.

The Paris Novel is set in the 1980s first in NYC then Paris. After the death of her mother, Stella finds herself a little adrift until her mother’s lawyer states her mother left her with a plane ticket to Paris. Stella is unsure but uses the encouragement from her boss and takes a leap of faith. One that broadens her horizons and allows love to find a way in.

I have no desire to physically visit Paris but I do love to read about the bookshops and restaurants. The much younger me would have jumped at the chance to live in a bookshop. I would have made a great Tumbleweed. The food descriptions will make your mouth water. What an amazing gift to look at many different ingredients and come up with a new recipe.

This book will draw you in slowly but engulf you with all your senses.

I think I have found a new series to possible binge. I was worried it might be too heavy of a political cozy but it wasn’t. Just enough intrigue to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Olivia aka Ollie is an assistant chef at The White House and is vying for a chance to become the executive chef as her mentor retires. While attending to an errand for the retiree she runs into some trouble or maybe the trouble runs into her. As she finds herself embedded into a political mystery she is also trying to impress the powers to be that she can handle the executive chef position. Will she survive? Turn the pages to find out.

Ollie is a little dynamo that can wield a gun as well as she can a spatula. Her romance with Tom seems like it could be fireworks of good and bad. I can’t wait to see how the series develops.

Yummy recipes are included in the book.

Let me start this review with this warning: you will want to throw this book across the room many, many times.

Beth has spent her life being the older sister who feels like she has to protect and take care of her younger brother Rick. This has followed them long into adulthood. She gave up her culinary dreams to put him through medical school. Her love life is nonexistent after a divorce from a man that she really wasn’t compatible with. Her friends are mainly the people she works with until one fateful day while volunteering at a local food bank and she meets Jana.

Jana is a single mom who is working towards nursing school. She lives with her widowed brother and his three kids. Pretty soon everyone’s lives are entangled and happy until Beth spies Rick in a comprising position.

Rick is the reason you will want to throw the book. I can’t say much because it will take away from your reading but AARGH! Rick is an A$$! I have read characters who make me mad but this guy infuriated me. I actually yelled him while reading.

This is the perfect book to start your beach/summer reading experience.

A wonderful story about second chances in life, love, and family. We all need a second chance at one time or another. Are you willing to give second chances? I like to think I do but I know I’m not as gracious with my feelings as Hope and Amos.

Hope needed to get her three boys out of Lancaster, PA so she bought a home sight unseen in Shipshewana, IN. The home was not as expected but she turned the other cheek and made the best of the situation. Her middle son was not as willing and quickly returned to his bad habits.

Amos, the local operator of the famous flea market, took a chance on hiring both Hope and her troubled son. As the days go on Amos finds himself with feelings towards Hope.

Can Amos save Hope’s son and find a new love or will he have to choose?

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Indiana Amish Market series. Shipshewana is a favorite vacation destination for me so I love being able to picture the places as I read them. Definitely visit JoJo’s pretzels if you find yourself in Shipshe.

Monica is back in action sleuthing the town after having baby Teddy.

The book opens with Monica’s brother, Jeff, marrying Lauren. Towards the end of the reception a woman is found deceased in the porta potty. Who is the woman and how did she die? Monica finds clues as she navigates new motherhood.

I enjoyed the mystery but it wasn’t as attention grabbing as the books before in the series. I’m sure it is just me as I usually view the character in a much different light when they start becoming new mothers. In my mind I would think they would be less likely to put themselves in danger.

I will continue the series if more are written. A cranberry bread recipe is included in the book.