Angels are Kids and Furkids

Come Homicide or High Water

by Denise Swanson

A nice relaxing end of her maternity leave, that's all Skye wants before going back to her job as school psychologist who also helps her police hubby at times with his cases too.  Life has a whole different plan though when she is called back early for helping her intern with some difficult cases.  Then her life is full swing when a parent is so mad about some results concerning her daughter that she is suing the school's acting principal and later is found murdered in her own backyard.  Plus her husband asks for her help with a missing elderly woman suffering from dementia.  Now Skye is dealing with finding the right nanny for their twins before going back to work full time, helping find a missing woman who may be in danger because of her mental state, trying to figure out who murdered the parent, and how to keep everyone in her life happy with her own personal decisions in life.  Is Skye in over her head though with investigating a sensitive murder that she is so entangled in the lives of the suspects for?  After all she works with most of the suspects.  Who really killed the parent?  Why are so many of the staff she works with acting so oddly?  What kind of secrets are really happening in people's lives that she had no idea about?  Is she putting her new family in danger digging into the murder or the missing person?

This may have been the next in a series, but it was a great stand alone book.  There were a few points that made me wonder if there was more to something I read, but then it was touched on enough to make me go, oh okay got it.  Nothing to make me want to stop reading and start the series just to understand.  I think some things would make more sense on the character level if I went back and read the other books though, but nothing that was pertinent to understanding the plot in this book.  I loved the characters in this book!  I could see myself being friends with Skye and her family.  They are just all around great characters.  I love how she is taking to motherhood of twins and keeping life together while living in an RV while their new house is being built.  She is a strong woman to keep her life in order while doing that.  This plot had me guessing until the very end.  I was so surprised about multiple things that happened and just found myself staring at the book.  This was a book that made me laugh out loud at multiple parts.  I enjoyed the mystery, the secrets, the characters, and the writing style of the author.

5 out of 5 Stars!

2 out of 5 Stars

Sugar Cookie Murder

by Joanne Fluke

Hannah is just going to host a little Christmas potluck to test out some recipes to see which ones should make it to the Christmas cookbook.  Easy right?  Her night ends up being consumed by little things along with the food tasting for pretty much the whole town.  You know...chit chat trying to get to know people like her Mother's new boyfriend (who she really doesn't like or trust) and a friend's ex husband's new flashy Vegas wife whose fur coat is worth more than a car...keeping an eye on her very pregnant sister who is devouring Christmas chocolates like they are a lifeline...keeping people calm and comfy during a blizzard that has them all stranded until the weather clears some...and just a tiny murder mystery of the new Vegas wife.  Hannah quickly enlists her sisters and even her Mother into helping her snoop around to figure out who, in her cozy town, could murder.  Why murder the flashy Vegas wife and why did they have to use her Mother's antique cake knife worth mega money?  As she digs she discovers all is not as it seems.  Is she stranded with a cold blooded murderer?  Will there be more blood shed?  

I absolutely loved this book!  I devoured it like a real sugar cookie.  I was hooked from chapter one.  I have not read any of the other books in the series, but that luckily didn't matter.  I was able to read this book without any issues of feeling like I needed to read the ones before it.  I quickly fell in love with Hannah and her sisters.  If I could bring a character to life to have as a friend I would pick Hannah.  She is funny, serious when needed, an amazingly talented baker, smart, relentless, and really a great sleuth.  All the characters in this book really were great and so much fun to watch develop and become who they were meant to be.  I loved how the plot was quick to move, but kept me guessing the whole way too.  I never saw the conclusion coming.  I love how no one bats an eye at Hannah asking things about them or their lives or there whereabouts at the party, they just answer and keep on eating and enjoying the party.  Hannah's love life is one of the things that I'd love to keep reading the series for.  I'd love to see how things go for her and who she really decides to be with in the grand scheme of things.  I loved the mystery, I loved the characters, and I finished the book in 2 days.  This is an absolute must read for any mystery lover.  It was a great way to get into the Christmas feeling too seeing it took place near Christmas and in a snowstorm.  

5 out of 5 Stars!

 15 Minutes of Flame

by Christin Brecher

Stella, a candle maker in a small town, seems to have stumbled upon an amazing find.  She has found an old and perfectly spooky house to host the Girl Scout haunted fun night at and at that house she stumbles upon an amazing, old time candle maker sign.  She quickly calls the owner of the home and he says if she takes it down it is all hers.  She makes quick work of taking it down off the old stone fireplace wall, but she soon gets way more than she bargained for when she finds a skeleton behind the wall.  It looks very old, so it is quickly given to archaeologists to investigate.  Soon her small town is a hustle and bustle of new people....some archaeologists, a movie maker, and all kinds of mysteries secrets from all.  Soon they are led to another old skeleton and a deeply hidden family secret.  While trying to sort out the secret and find a promised treasure hidden by these historical skeletons they may not all make it out alive.  What secrets can be found from hundreds of years ago?  Who wants secrets to stay hidden?  What actions may be taken to keep secrets hidden?  Can Stella figure it all out while also having her own problems of a boyfriend that is acting oddly and a window being broken out of her apartment and now needing a new home for a bit?

I must admit, I got this book in a Halloween Box I ordered.  This is book three in a series, which had me worried, but I was able to follow along just fine.  A few things may have made more sense about comments made by some of the characters had I read the other two books first, but it was nothing that impacted the plot of the book at all.  I came to really enjoy this book and was unable to put it down.....however, I did not start reading the book that way.  I must admit I felt the first bit of the book to be slow, drawn out, and I almost pushed it into my DNF (Did Not Finish) pile.  I went to the ladies of my book club and they quickly reassured me that if I could just stick it out a bit longer I would become hooked and be so glad I didn't abandon it....they were 200% correct!  Once this book got rolling it became the most amazing cozy mystery I have ever read.  I was kept guessing until the very end when I went...ooooohhhhhh, yeah that makes sense.  Will I read more of the series?...Honestly, probably not.  While I did come to love the characters, I don't think I became invested enough to rush to read on in the series or read the first books.  Good read for a Halloween cozy mystery though!

4 out of 5 Stars!

We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart

Cady is just a teenager, a pretty privileged teenager actually, if you as others.  Every summer she goes to the island where her Grandfather lives to enjoy the summer on her family's island and enjoy the carefree summer fun with her Mother's family and Cady's favorite three friends...Mirren and Jonathan who are her cousins and Gat a misfit of a teen that is not really part of the family, but looked at as family by some.  One summer Cady has an accident and has head trauma, she later wakes up on the mainland back at home with her Mother, who tells her that she needs to heal and that they will not be going to the island that summer.  Cady is horrified because that is the only time she has with Mirren, Jonathan, and Gat....especially Gat, who she is starting to fall in love with.  Powerless she skips the island that summer, but decides to write to the other three for the first time ever.  Her emails and letters go unanswered, but she thinks nothing of it, as the island doesn't get great reception or any outsiders to it really.  Finally she talks her Mother into going back to the island the next summer.  She is excited, but quickly sees that no one is treating her the same way and her three musketeer friends are acting even more oddly.  She chalks it up to not seeing anyone for awhile and things start to move forward.  Then Cady starts to remember things, things from her accident, things she would love nothing more to remember more clearly, but at the same time forget again.  Will she finally discover why her family and friends are acting so different towards her and around her?  Is she really just an invalid who can do nothing on her own anymore because of her head injury?  Will she never have the care free life she once had?  Will her love for Gat be given back to her by him?

I honestly cannot give much in the way of details for this book without slipping some spoiler in.  I was hooked on this book from the first pages and found myself staying up into the wee hours of the mornings reading.  At first I was all in with Cady, wanting to know why in the world her own family was so different with her and how come her friends were acting so oddly.  As I read on and things fell into place some, my mind went....wait, I know what is going on.  Then my mind was blown when all was finally revealed!  BLOWN!!!  Like I said, I won't give much, but I will say that this is a MUST read for anyone looking for a Young Adult book that is full of mystery, friendship, family loyalties, and things that you will never have seen coming.  I enjoyed this book very much and think it is a must read for anyone really, young or old.  It was a great story with even better characters who you instantly love or hate or love to hate, whatever the case may be for your opinion.  I found I wanted to just hug Cady at so many points in this book.  She is so young, so confused, and just wants to be loved...by her Mother and by her Gat.  I found myself relating to Cady at points too.  Just a girl with a love, trying to decide what to do about it and if he loves her back.  

5 out of 5 Stars!! 

November Road

by Lou Berney

Kennedy was just assassinated and Mob Boss Carlos knows all the details of the who.  Once one of his men, Guidry, stops to think about a job Carlos asked him to do concerning a car to be taken care of he realizes that he knows too much and may now be in danger from the Mob Boss too.  He decides to act normal and go on a job he is asked to do, even though he knows this is his last job that will more than likely end with him being "taken care of".  While doing the job and acting normal for the Boss, Guidry starts planning his tricky escape into the wind by risking asking some shady characters for help that may or may not have his best interest in mind.  Along the way he runs into Charlotte, a wife who has decided she needs to do what is best for her and her 2 daughters and leave her abusive alcoholic husband and go to the only relative she knows and hopes will help her....in L.A.  Charlotte has some bad luck and Guidry sees it as an opening to sell his story of a traveling man by helping her and having people think they are a family.  Te Mob Boss is looking for a single guy after all.  Will he make it to Vegas to meet the guy he hopes will help him disappear from the Mob Boss's sight?  Will Charlotte make it to L.A. to start her new life?  Will running into a guy like Guidry put Charlotte on the Mob Boss list too and put her and her daughters in danger?  Is there really any outrunning a Mob Boss?

I must say, this was not a book like I usually pick up.  To be honest it was a book that fit into a reading challenge I am doing for my book club, November in the title, so I decided why not.  It was an interesting book and one that I was eager to keep reading.  It was interesting to watch the characters unfold into what they really were.  It was a mystery with a true story hint with the assassination of JFK being in it, but it was also almost a romance story when Charlotte met and started to trust Guidry.  This was by far the best dramas I have read in a long time.  I think it was good to me because I really didn't expect much out of it because it wasn't my "typical" read of murder mystery and yet it drew me in and kept me reading just to see what really happened to the characters.  I won't go into much detail, as it is an easy book to spoil if I say too much, but I do recommend it if you are looking for a dramatic read with a little of everything in it.  I will say though, the ending!!!  Never saw the ending coming at all.  It was a different ending than any ending I have ever read.  

5 out of 5 Stars