Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Review: Mrs. Morris and The Ghost by: Traci Wilton

Title: Mrs. Morris and The Ghost
Author: Traci Wilton
Publisher: Kensington
Series: Salem B&B Mystery #1
Pages: 298
Format: e-book ARC
Source: NetGalley

Description:

Charlene Morris knew Salem, Massachusetts had a spooky reputation. But when she decided to open her B&B there, she expected guests--not ghosts...

A grieving young widow, Charlene needed a new start--so she bought a historic mansion, sight unseen, and drove from Chicago to New England to start turning it into a bed-and-breakfast. On her first night in the house, she awakens to find a handsome man with startling blue eyes in her bedroom. Terror turns to utter disbelief when he politely introduces himself as Jack Strathmore--and explains that he used to live here--when he was alive. 

He firmly believes that someone pushed him down the stairs three years ago, and he won't be able to leave until someone figures out who. If Charlene wants to get her business up and running in time for the Halloween tourist rush, and get this haunting house guest out of the way, she'll have to investigate. Though truth be told, this ghost is starting to grow on her . . .

My Thoughts:

This book follows Charlene whose trying to move after the death of her husband and open the b & b he wanted to open with her.  What she didn't count on in the small Salem town is having a ghost at her b&b. 

Jack Strathmore is a ghost trapped in his house he bought with his wife he hadn't counted on Charlene or the fact that anyone could see him.  He is desperate to find out what happened and who was responsible in the situation.  Could Charlene help him to the other side?  And more importantly would she?

When Jack's wife winds up dead the pressure is on to get to the answer of course some people in town wonder why Charlene is obsessed with an old death?  Is Charlene really her to run a b&b or is she here to stir up old wounds?

I read this as part of a book club and loved it.  The story flowed smoothly and brought you in and had you wanting more.  Learning more about Jack and what happened whose to blame.   At the end I was pleasantly surprised and couldn't have predicted the outcome.  Definitely an author I will check out every time there is a new book!

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Monday, November 11, 2019

Review: The Inn by: James Patterson & Candice Fox

Title: The Inn
Author: James Patterson & Candice Fox
Publisher: Little Brown & Co
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description:

James Patterson's strongest team since the Women's Murder Club are the first responders when their seafront town is targeted by vicious criminals.

The Inn at Gloucester stands alone on the rocky shoreline. Its seclusion suits former Boston police detective Bill Robinson, novice owner and innkeeper. As long as the dozen residents pay their rent, Robinson doesn't ask any questions. Neither does Sheriff Clayton Spears, who lives on the second floor.

Then Mitchell Cline arrives, with a deadly new way of doing business. His crew of local killers break laws, deal drugs, and bring violence to the front door of the Inn. That's when Robinson realizes, with the help of journalist Susan Solie, that leaving the city is no escape from the reality of evil -- or the responsibility for action.

Teaming up with Sheriff Spears and two fearless residents -- Army veteran Nick Jones and groundskeeper Effie Johnson -- Robinson begins a risky defense. The solitary inhabitants of the Inn will have to learn, before time runs out, that their only choice is between standing together -- or dying alone.

My Thoughts:

Bill Robinson once a honorable cop is now a former detective and is running an inn in Gloucester with his wife.  When she winds up dead after a car accident Bill tries to continue what they started but drugs seem to be running rampant.  Bill has a curious mixture of residents at the Inn from a Sherriff Spears to Army Vet Nick Jones  they all offer up something and willing to help get to the bottom of what is going on in town.  They will handle this together or die trying.

This book was such fun to read and really smooth sailing.  It pulled you in and you found yourself generally caring about the people at the inn and what they were going through..  While not typical James Patterson characters they still brought something to the situation and pulled together like a family would.  

I can only hope someday Mr. Patterson will go back to the inn and let us see what they are up to!  I think others will enjoy this book for the thriller it is.
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Sunday, November 10, 2019

Review: The Nightingale by: Kristin Hannah

Title: The NIghtingale
Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 440
Format: Hardcover
Source: NetGalley & Library

Description:

In love we find out who we want to be. In war we find out who we are.

France, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

My Thoughts: 

Vianne and Isabelle have both had different lives which become shockingly difficult with the war in 1939 Vianne has to say goodbye to her husband whose called to war.  Isabelle is sent home from another boarding school she has gotten in trouble with and begs her father to let her stay.  He ends up sending her to her sister as the war progresses.

You get in this book a realness of the war and what people went through, what the underground did to help people and what they go through when they are caught.  This book was so captivating it has taken me a while to digest what these two girls went through how they both handled the war differently.  In the end you end up with a strong appreciation of what these french women went through and how they managed with what they were handed.

Definitely a great book for French fans during that time frame you felt like you were going around with the girls and seeing what they saw and how they dealt with things.
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Saturday, November 9, 2019

Review: Mr. Churchill's Secretary by; Susan Elia MacNeal

Title: Mr. Churchill's Secretary
Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Publisher: Bantam
Series: Maggie Hope Mystery #1
Pages: 328
Format: Paperback
Source: Library

Description:

For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, and Anne Perry, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary captures the drama of an era of unprecedented challenge—and the greatness that rose to meet it.

London, 1940. Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for codebreaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined—and opportunities she will not let pass. In troubled, deadly times, with air-raid sirens sending multitudes underground, access to the War Rooms also exposes Maggie to the machinations of a menacing faction determined to do whatever it takes to change the course of history.

Ensnared in a web of spies, murder, and intrigue, Maggie must work quickly to balance her duty to King and Country with her chances for survival. And when she unravels a mystery that points toward her own family’s hidden secrets, she’ll discover that her quick wits are all that stand between an assassin’s murderous plan and Churchill himself.

In this daring debut, Susan Elia MacNeal blends meticulous research on the era, psychological insight into Winston Churchill, and the creation of a riveting main character,  Maggie Hope, into a spectacularly crafted novel. 

My Thoughts: 

This book follows Maggie Hope whose living in London and looking for a job unfortunately most girls are reduced to minimal work and Maggie is smarter than most of the men around her.  She ends up working for Mr. Churchill and helps decode messages whether they want her help or not.  Someone is out killing girls and people are trying to figure out whose doing the killing and why?

I loved reading about Maggie Hope and what she goes through and how she doesn't let her sex determined what she will do in life.  She fights for what she is passionate about.  Definitely a great period piece, you get a feel for the war and what London was going through in that time period and how the United States was not involved at all with it.  Other than supplying things to London.


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