Vice and Virtue–addictions and mysteries
Vice and Virtue
by Libby Klein
Layla has been keeping her head down for six months in a shabby trailer in Lake Pinecrest Mobile Homes, formerly a tourist resort. Hated by her former police colleagues and hiding her relationship with her rock and roll father, she ekes out a living playing her guitar, usually songs from the 80’s, when she is able to land entertainment gigs from children’s parties to anniversary celebrations. Trouble rears its head when lecherous Chuckles the Clown and Layla are both hired for a child’s birthday party held at the mansion of a wealthy family and attended by a number of mothers who are sloshed. When Chuckles’ body jerks and flops, it is not part of his act. Thus begins an investigation that Layla, who quit the police force in shame, should not be a part of. She does not want to be a part of it…but she was there and she notices things.
There are a lot of interesting characters in Vice and Virtue. Layla doesn’t want to have anything to do with the people around her. That’s how you get hurt. But many of them force themselves on her. There are neighbors in the mobile home park who are really “characters.” They will keep you chuckling. Recognizing she has a drinking problem, Layla attends AA meetings and tries to keep her distance from others, but several ladies there want to be her friends and won’t let her push them away. Nick is a handsome next door neighbor with a great, compassionate dog, Ringo. Nick is almost as secretive as Layla and could successfully compete with her in a tortured background contest. Layla and her former colleagues on the police force agree that she is responsible for the deaths of her team, including a boyfriend, but that investigation was not tied up neatly and she is willing to let it lie. Her absentee father Don shows up on her doorstep, but not to sponge off of her. Quite the opposite, he wants to make up for the years he wasn’t in her life. Can he win her over and get her to accept help? The fame that accompanies him whenever he is recognized is a huge stumbling block for Layla. As a character who was strung out on drugs in the early years of his career, he seems to be in and out of the present and of reality. He is a genuinely nice guy and a very funny character.
I read this book as an Advance Reader Copy, but I liked it so much that, upon finishing it, I immediately went to my library online and checked out the next book in the series. So, watch for my reactions to Gimme Shelter in my next review.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #1 in the Layla Virtue Mystery series
2. Clean
3. I enjoyed Libby Klein’s Poppy McAllister Mysteries, but with 9 in the series, it seems the author decided to try something new and different. The Poppy McAllister series is excellent and fits well in the typical cozy mystery genre. The Layla Virtue Mystery Series has a protagonist that deviates from the typical, but will still please cozy mystery readers and Klein fans.
Publication: April 29, 2025—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
SOME DAYS SEEM LIKE THEY’RE JUST OUT TO GET YOU. SOMETIMES the attack announces itself right out of the chute so you can begin damage control. Buy a couple gallons of ice cream, some chocolate syrup, sign into Netflix, and hunker down for the aftermath.
“There’s no worse feeling in the world than regret. But we don’t live in the past, and we can’t change anything.”
“You know my memory is like Swiss cheese anyway. It’s why I call all the gals things like sugar and doll. It keeps me outta trouble for saying the wrong name.”
Serah and the First Christmas: A Story of Being Seen and Loved
Serah and the First Christmas
by Tama Fortner
illustrated by Silvia Provantini
Serah wants to go with her father to the fields to learn how to be a shepherdess. Despite the ridicule of her brothers, she says she is big enough to care for the sheep. Her father disagrees, but says she can come along to play with the sheep. Soon he gives her charge of a motherless lamb. They form a bond, and Serah decides to stay the night with the little lamb. Serah and the shepherds are surprised when bright lights and angels appear in the sky. A voice declares that the Savior has been born and angels begin to sing. The shepherds and Serah go to Bethlehem where they find the baby and His parents and explain how God led them there.
Serah and the First Christmas is a sweet story, with cute illustrations, that shows how God can use everyone—even the very small. Serah’s story is fictitious, but set in the historical story of the birth of the Messiah whose foretelling Serah has heard over the years.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, Christian
Notes: 1. Would make a great gift during the Christmas season.
2. Recommended for ages 4-8.
3. Serah means “Princess” which is appropriate for her, a daughter of the King.
Publication: September 8, 2026—Zonderkidz
Memorable Lines:
From that moment on, Serah knew what she would do. She would be like that Little One lying in the manger. She would see the small and love the little too.
Their Surprise Reunion–being gentle with her heart
Their Surprise Reunion
by Shelley Shepard Gray
Kayla Harding holds on to her self-respect during the hardest of times—when her husband of three years wants a divorce, when the divorce leaves her financially and emotionally devastated despite her husband’s affair being the cause of the split, and when she is literally hungry because her salary as a part-time clerk at a card shop won’t cover the most basic of expenses. Swallowing her pride she resorts to a food bank at Loaves of Love where clients and volunteers also make bread for the needy.
Sean Copeland volunteers at Loaves of Love where he meets up with Kayla and they recognize each other. They had attended the same small high school. He was a football star, and now he is assistant coach and teacher at Medina. He assumes that, like him, Kayla is at Loaves of Love as a volunteer, and she is too embarrassed to correct him.
Their Surprise Reunion takes the reader through their backgrounds and their current home situations. Sean is a widower with an adorable six year old son and a supportive extended family. Kayla’s boss has perfected meanness in her leadership style with lots of gaslighting and ultimatums. Read this romance to watch the pair struggle through the need to be honest about their pasts and their feelings for each other. Kayla is sweet and kind, and Sean treats her with the respect she has always deserved, but rarely received. The story is touching, and the characters are worthy of a happy ending. Read Their Surprise Reunion to see if the pair gets one.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Notes: 1. #1 in A Matchmaker Knows Best
2. Clean
Publication: April 29, 2025—Harlequin Heartwarming
Memorable Lines:
“Personal problems don’t give folks the right to take out their bad moods on everyone else, though.”
Making someone else’s life easier was a gift that kept on giving.
The Summer of You and Me–honesty in the family
The Summer of You and Me
by Denise Hunter
Maggie is a teacher in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but she and her adorable four year old daughter travel to Seabrook, North Carolina, “a sleepy seaside town poised between the more popular Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach” for the summer. They will be staying in the home of her in-laws who are traveling in Europe. This is a big emotional decision for Maggie whose military husband Ethan passed away five years ago in Pakistan.
The summer is full of positive interactions with Ethan’s brother, Josh, and his sister, Erin. They have all been good friends for a long time. In fact, Josh, two years younger than Maggie, fell in love with her as a young teenager, but she fell hard for Ethan. How could Josh compete with his older brother when he was clearly too young to date Maggie? They became the best of friends, and no one ever knew that Josh loved Maggie. But Josh was always there for Maggie.
One summer evening, Maggie spies Ethan at a carnival, only it couldn’t be Ethan! That evening catapults the pair into a search for the truth that takes some interesting side paths that bring Maggie and Josh together and then apart in an emotional roller coaster ride.
The Summer of You and Me explores the intricacies of family dynamics and how dysfunction in a family affects individuals. Even positive relationships can produce misunderstandings that change how a child views themselves, carrying unhealthy perspectives into adulthood. The characters in this story are interesting and are trying to do their best for everyone else, but things don’t always go the way they were intended. The impact of the fallout can be disastrous. The story holds a lot of surprises and tension as Maggie and Josh try to negotiate their changing relationship and solve the mystery of Ethan’s doppelgänger. I enjoyed the clean romance that combines mystery with relationships and psychology.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Publication: April 22, 2025—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
As Josh entered, Mom greeted him in such a way as to maintain civility while still making him feel unwelcome. It was a special gift.
He didn’t feel like a friend. Friends didn’t make your heart wobble your chest. They didn’t make your knees go noodly or your skin vibrate with life.
God, help me. She winged the ancient plea heavenward. Hopefully He would forgive the ambiguous request. She couldn’t seem to formulate anything more meaningful.
Rosie’s Cowboy Christmas: Saving the Holidays Together
Rosie’s Cowboy Christmas
by Paige Murray
illustrated by Kristen Humphrey
When little cowgirl Oakley wishes for a white Christmas, she doesn’t understand what that might mean. She finds out when she wakes up on Christmas Eve to beautiful snow covering the ground and a power outage. The trucks can’t get through with Christmas trees and Grandma and Grandpa can’t get to the ranch on the icy roads. Oakley, with the help of her parents, learns to improvise and be happy with a Christmas in the barn with the animals and a wood-burning stove. Homemade ornaments decorate a substitute Christmas tree. Christmas is complete when Rosie the Clydesdale sneaks out of the barn to get the grandparents safely to the ranch.
This is a sweet story, with cute illustrations, that shows the importance of family at Christmas.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Childen’s Fiction, Picture Book
Notes: 1. Murray has written 3 books about Rosie the Clydesdale.
2. Recommended for ages 4-8.
Publication: September 15, 2026—Zonderkidz
Memorable Lines:
It was Rosie, heading toward the barn—with Grandma and Grandpa! Oakley hollered, “Now my heart feels like Christmas!”
education pathways 