Book Review: "Key Lime Murder" by Joann Fluke

Book Description:

It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the Tri-County fair, she's also judging the baking contest; acting as a magician's assistant for her business partner's husband; trying to coax Moishe, her previously rapacious feline, to end his hunger strike, an...  more »d performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters.

With so much on her plate, it's no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway only moments before the fair closes for the night. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping -- only to discover Willa Sunquist, a student teacher and fellow bake contestant judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why?

Now Hannah needs to crank up the heat, hoping that Willa's killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens, she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last...

Book Review:

This is the 9th in the Hannah Swensen series.  I started reading this series when it seemed I needed something to tide me over in between my "Stephanie Plum" addiction. =)  This series is a good series to do that with.  It is a good series - I can go a few months in between reading thise, but I still enjoy them a lot.

Just like the Stephanie Plum series, Hannah likes two men.  She goes back and forth on who she likes, but hasn't made a decision.  To some, that is a turn off.  I am used it it after 19 Stephanie Plum books. 

This book takes place in the summer time during fair season, so there are a lot of yummy recipes in this book. 

As usual I could not figure out 'who dun it.'  It was a book that was hard to put down becauses I wasn't sure what would happen next.

If you like mysteries (not gory) - give these a try.

Happy Reading!!!

Book Review: "Three Sisters" by Susan Mallery

Book Description:

After Andi Gordon is jilted at the altar, she makes the most impetuous decision of her life -- buying one of the famed Three Sisters Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island. Now the proud-ish owner of the ugly duckling of the trio, she plans to open her own pediatric office on the first floor, just as soon as her hunky contractor completes the wo...  more »rk. Andi's new future may be coming together, but the truth is she's just as badly in need of a major renovation as her house.

When Deanna Phillips confronts her husband about a suspected affair, she opens up a Pandora's box of unhappiness. And he claims that she is the problem. The terrible thing is, he's right. In her quest to be the perfect woman, she's lost herself, and she's in danger of losing her entire family if things don't change.

Next door, artist Boston King thought she and her college sweetheart would be married forever. Their passion for one another has always seemed indestructible. But after tragedy tears them apart, she's not so sure. Now it's time for them to move forward, with or without one another.

Thrown together by fate and geography, and bound by the strongest of friendships, these three women will discover what they're really made of: laughter, tears, love and all.

My thoughts:

This is the second book in the "Blackberry Island" series.  Although it is part of a series, it could very well be a stand alone book.  The characters from the first book "Barefoot Season" were not mentioned until at least 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through. 

As with almost all of Susan Mallery's books, I LOVED it!!!  The three characters in the book were so different, but as you got to know them, they were really alike.  At times the book was depressing with the issues but I still kept going as I knew I would continue to like it and I did.

Boston - I was rooting for her healing...

Deanna - I was rooting for her marriage and her personal healing...

Andi - I was rooting for her to start her business and her 'hunky' contractor. 

I can't wait for this series to continue.

I have said it more than once - if you haven't tried Susan Mallery - you need to - LOVE LOVE LOVE her writing...

Happy Reading!!

Book Review: "When Lightning Strikes" by Brenda Novak

Book Description:

Welcome to Whiskey Creek -- Heart of the Gold Country!  — Simon O'Neal's causing trouble again.  — And it's up to Gail DeMarco to stop him.  — Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek, California, to make a name  for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm has accumulated a roster  of A-list clients, including the bigge...  more »st box office hit of all -- sexy and unpredictable Simon O'Neal. But Simon, who's just been through a turbulent divorce, is so busy self-destructing he won't listen to anything she says. She drops him from her list -- and he retaliates by taking the rest of her clients with him.

Desperate to save her company, Gail has to humble herself by making a deal with Simon. The one thing he wants is custody  of his son, but that's going to require a whole new image.  He needs to marry some squeaky-clean girl who'll drag him  off to some small, obscure place like Whiskey Creek....

Gail's the only one he can trust. She agrees to become his wife -- reluctantly. But she isn't reluctant because he's too hard to like.  It's because he's too hard not to love! 

My thoughts:

This is the first in a series based in Whiskey Creek.  This is also the first I have read by this author.  Or it has been awhile since I don't remember reading anything by her.

This book probably could be considered the typical romance book.  You knew what was going to happen in the end, but you read it anyway.  I enjoyed the book anyway.  I loved the writing.  I did keep wanting to keep reading just to see what would happen next.  Sometimes I was right - others I was not.

I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Happy Reading!!