The Mountain Monroes–series summary
The Mountain Monroes
A Heartwarming Harlequin Series by Melinda Curtis
Series Summary:
Grandpa Harlan left the Monroe grandchildren out in the cold by stipulating in his will that their parents, in order to inherit, must fire the grandchildren from their current jobs.In addition, the cousins must all agree on the disposition of Second Chance, the mountain town they inherited. Meanwhile, the residents of the remote town, who hold leases for one dollar per year, are held to non-disclosure agreements for one year after Harlan’s death. A shrewd multi-millionaire, he has managed to remain in control even after his death.
I recently had the opportunity to read books 2-4 in the series and couldn’t have been more delighted.
The first book in the series is Kissed by the Country Doc and my review can be read here.
Reviews on books 2-4 will be posted sequentially in individual reviews. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did. They are, indeed, “heartwarming” and clean in terms of language, violence, and sex.
Let It Snow–love, snow, and family
Let It Snow
by Sue Moorcroft
Come along for a peek at a British view of Christmas and snow with side trips to Switzerland where Lily and the Middletones, a motley crew of adults and teens, really experience snow with accumulated depth. They embark on a trip that displays the musical talents of the informal singing group as well as Lily’s work as an exhibition artist at a Swiss Christmas Market in Sue Moorcroft’s Let It Snow.
There are lots of complex relationships to watch develop. The back story is critical as Lily and Zinnia are sisters with two “mums,” Patsie and Roma, a situation that caused them grief from classmates as children and later from other adults. Zinnia’s biological father was an anonymous sperm donor, but Lily discovers as an adult that her conception was the result of a heterosexual affair between her mother and a much older man. Her desire to meet her other family upsets both her mothers and her sister, and she is fearful of how her brothers will respond to meeting her. Lily’s family situation gets tied into the pub she works at part time and her business endeavors in Switzerland. Lily has a romantic entanglement with Isaac, the temporary manager of the pub. Their relationship gets complicated when Isaac’s ex re-enters the picture.
I enjoyed watching the intermingling of lives and surprising conflicts that prove to make the story even more interesting. Moorcroft is a master of enticement with setting and mood. I really wanted to be at that Swiss Christmas Market with expensive cuckoo clocks and chocolates. I had visions of hot chocolate, bratwurst, and fondue (but not all at the same time) transferring to my tastebuds. When Lily stood up for herself, I was proud. When she was in physical or emotional pain, I felt for her. Lots of good outcomes make for a happy conclusion, but this tale is close enough to life that not everyone experiences a fairytale ending.
An added bonus to this story is the inclusion of some excitable kids—it is Christmas, after all. An equally enthusiastic Dalmatian named Doggo accompanies his humans to Switzerland and is quite accommodating to whatever adventures come his way.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Avon Books (U.K.) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult), Women’s Fiction
Publication: September 26, 2019—Avon Books (U.K.)
Memorable Lines:
Feelings don’t always take account of right or logic or justice. They come from inside and sometimes they’re all that matter.
As they reached the car park, fresh flakes of snow began, stinging skin like love bites from the Snow Queen.
‘Pretty,’ Lily breathed, eyes reflecting the thousand lights suspended like stars in the night sky above rows of stalls like little red chalets with snow on the roofs. Each stall glittered with stars and lanterns so the entire market seemed luminous.
No Room for a Pup–Mia doesn’t agree!
No Room for a Pup
by Elizabeth Suneby and Laurel Melk
illustrated by Laurel Melk
Want to read a book guaranteed to put a smile on your face? Read No Room for a Pup by Elizabeth Suneby and Laurel Melk.
Mia lives in a small apartment in a big city and desperately wants a dog. Her mother is certain their apartment is too small for a pet. Mia has a clever idea and teams up with her grandmother and various friends to show her mother that their home is not too small to share with a puppy.
Children will enjoy predicting the direction this scheme will take and may even guess the ending as depicted showing the puppy grown up. Short, with likable characters and appealing illustrations, No Room for a Pup will be a reread request!
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Children’s Fiction
Notes: Age: 4-7
Grade: Preschool-2
Publication: October 1, 2019—Kids Can Press
Fatal Cajun Festival–Louisiana backdrop
Fatal Cajun Festival
by Ellen Byron
If you are charmed or captivated by all things Cajun, from zydeco music to Jambalaya with shrimp and sausage, you will enjoy Ellen Byron’s Fatal Cajun Festival. The Louisiana plantation setting is a great backdrop for a mystery that centers around Tammy Barker, hometown girl who made it big in the music industry. She returns to the small town of Pelican to give back, gloat, or maybe exact revenge at the Cajun Country Live Festival.
Local artist, Maggie Crozat, who also helps out at her family’s B&B, is caught up in deciphering the motives of Tammy and her entourage and in clearing her friend Gaynell of suspicion. There is a tangle of relationships which won’t be resolved until the end. Meanwhile, Maggie and her fiancé Bo Durand, a detective, try to keep the peace and everyone alive in Pelican. Maggie’s family has a booth at the festival selling Maggie’s artwork and as many pralines as she can make. There is also a brief side story about a mysterious Carina who may have been involved with Maggie’s now deceased Grand-père. This is an all round fun cozy mystery with lots of Louisiana flavor and interesting characters.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #4 in the Cajun Country Mystery Series, but works as a standalone as the author includes a list of characters with notes about them.
2. Recipes are included at the end of the book.
Publication: September 10, 2019—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
“You used refined oil, didn’t you?” Nanette flashed a devilish grin. “Chère, that oil’s so refined it could be a debutante.”
“Remember his favorite saying…” “In Louisiana, we only follow the rules we like,” the couple said simultaneously.
Bo once told her that humiliation was the main motivation behind most murders.
The Dog Who Lost His Bark–pet therapy works both ways
The Dog Who Lost His Bark
by Eoin Colder
illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Oz is a sweet puppy traumatized by a bad experience with a mean family. He ends up in a dog shelter where Patrick discovers and adopts him. Patrick comes from a musical family, and music emerges as the key to socializing Oz who has remarkable pitch when he whines. He starts with “Ode to Joy,” but expands his repertoire quickly. After Patrick’s breakthrough with Oz, he decides he needs to teach him to bark.
In the background of the puppy drama, we can tell, as can Patrick, that something is wrong with his father who is supposedly in Australia playing with his band. Patrick decides that if he gets rid of Oz, his father, who is allergic to dogs, will return to be a part of the family again. Oz goes back to the pound, but Patrick is no happier and Oz is very sad. Patrick learns that his mother and father are separating, but that his dog loves him and will always be his best friend.
The Dog Who Lost His Bark is a sweet story, especially for dog lovers. It could be helpful for children whose family structure is in transition, providing opportunities for discussions of the feelings the various characters have. I would encourage parents to read this book to their child or for a child to read it independently. Sharing with a group is probably not the best choice. The issues could be a trigger for sensitive children and problematic depending on the family situations of the children in a group.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Candlewick Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Children’s Fiction
Notes: This chapter book is intended for children:
Ages: 7-10
Grades: 2-5
Publication: September 10, 2019—Candlewick Press
Memorable Lines:
This boy seemed kind right now, but that was people’s CLEVER TRICK, to be happy until it was time to be ANGRY. Dog was not going to fall for that one again.
“…teach your dog to bark. Because when a dog barks at something, that dog isn’t so afraid of that thing anymore.”
“You have a friend, Patrick. You have the best friend a boy could ever have. And he loves you even when it looks like you don’t love him anymore.”
What They Meant for Evil: How a Lost Girl of Sudan Found Healing, Peace, and Purpose in the Midst of Suffering
What They Meant for Evil: How a Lost Girl of Sudan Found Healing, Peace, and Purpose in the Midst of Suffering
by Rebecca Deng with Ginger Kolbaba
We hear reports on the news of massacres of innocents in various countries around the globe and stories of displaced men, women, and children who become refugees and try to survive in crowded refugee camps. Those stories are usually sound bites, quickly discarded for the next big story. Rebecca Deng, a survivor of the horrific Bor Massacre of 1991 in Sudan, gives us the perspective of a six year old girl in What They Meant for Evil. We see her confusion as she flees with family walking through the wilds. She becomes an orphan as those she loves most are killed and grows up in a refugee camp. The UN provides a small amount of maize, without seasoning, to sustain the population. The bathroom is an open area on the other side of a dry riverbed with nothing to provide privacy. I had always imagined a refugee camp as a temporary facility, but Rebecca lived in Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya for eight years before she benefited from a special program that relocated her to the U.S. and placed her with an adoptive family. Many of her Sudanese relatives remained in the camp long after that.
In the latter part of the book, we learn of Rebecca’s life as an adult and her spiritual growth as she comes to terms with her identity and the trauma of her past. She uses her education, her experiences, and her faith in God to help other refugees recover as she sees God’s plan unfold to bring good out of what others intended for evil.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Faith Words for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Christian, Memoir, Nonfiction
Publication: September 8, 2020—Faith Words
Memorable Lines:
That was what the war did to the tens of thousands of innocent children who lost everything—it took their childhood, their innocence, their families, their homes, even their lives.
More crowds meant less food for everybody. And less food meant more violence. Crime seemed to be everywhere. People began bullying other people, stealing their food, and beating and raping them. These things were unheard of for my people before coming here. My language doesn’t even have a word for rape.
…I had learned that God doesn’t always keep us from experiencing trauma, but his unseen presence is with us, strengthening us.
But there’s another aspect of forgiveness that we too often forget or neglect, and that is forgiving ourselves. If we want true forgiveness, we must forgive ourselves for the ways in which we have failed ourselves. We do more damage to ourselves when we believe the lies others have said about us and the lies the enemy whispers into our minds—the lies that tell us we are no good, we are worthless, we can never experience true freedom or true love.
Low country Boomerang–investigative reporter murdered
Lowcountry Boomerang
by Susan M. Boyer
Due to a sleep deficit causing me to repeatedly nod off and a several day reading gap, I chose to skim the first third of Lowcountry Boomerang by Susan M. Boyer again before I plunged back in where I left off. I absolutely enjoyed the second reading as much as the first, maybe more, since I was not concentrating on staying awake. I highlighted multiple passages that defined the characters, their backgrounds, and their relationships because there were so many and the web was so complex. I had only read two of the books in the series previously, and I found I needed to really focus to keep up.
Liz and her husband, Nate, are private investigators in South Carolina with family ties to law enforcement agents and a helpful guardian spirit giving them an inside edge. In this cozy mystery, they are tasked with proving the innocence of a “down home,” folksy TV star who has just returned to his roots. There is lots of good investigating, albeit much of it illegal, set in tourist friendly Charleston. Southern dialogue will transport “y’all” to the land of sweet tea, Geechie fries (french fried grits sticks), heat with humidity, and ferries. There are a lot of possible suspects, but the ending is a complete surprise to the dynamic duo of investigators as well as the reader.
I would like to extend my thanks to Edelweiss and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #8 in the Liz Talbot Mystery Series and probably best read as part of the series, but could be enjoyed as a standalone
Publication: September 3, 2019—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
Regardless of who paid for my time, I always viewed the victim as my ultimate client.
“However, in this particular case, budget is not a concern. If you need to book llamas to Machu Picchu, Mr. Baker’s retainer will cover it.”
“How’s Calista?” “Madder than a feral cat being baptized.”
Where Have I Been? U.S.A. Bound!
Over the last few months, I have been implementing a huge change in my life. For the last six years, my husband and I have been living in México most of each year. We initially moved to Ajijic, Jalisco, where the climate is close to ideal. Unfortunately, it was like living in Little America, rather than México, with so many expatriates from Canada and the United States. After two years, we took the plunge and moved to the mountains of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. We spent four years there in a quiet, rural, gated community, learned a little Spanish, and enjoyed the culture and the kind people we encountered.
Ajijic, Jalisco, México–our “yard” was a tropical garden
Our house in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México
We are now in a different season of our lives. A four day trip with two dogs in tow, twice a year, has become increasingly difficult physically and more stressful. If you are following the news, you know that the trek is also fraught with dangers from cartel activity and random acts of violence. Mexican drivers are generally untrained and adhere to their own set of rules. My husband and I are both licensed to drive ALL vehicles in Mexico including semi-tractor trailers, merely because we paid a fee. A bribe was not involved. On our last trip north, we witnessed the aftermath of several different accidents involving multiple trucks. It was sadly clear that some drivers would not be retuning to their families—ever. Road hazards include often unmarked and unexpected speed bumps called topes on the highway, drivers converting a two-way, two-lane road into a three and a half lane road according to custom, and small herds grazing unfettered. Due to these dangers, as well as the increased potential for criminal activities, the general recommendation is to not drive at night.
So now, we anticipate winters in Farmington, New Mexico, and summers in Chama, New Mexico. To travel between houses we have a two and one-half hour drive rather than four days. We can enjoy either house whenever we choose, dependent only on snow conditions. We are already getting involved in local activities that in México we would not have participated in due to language limitations. Great shopping is available seven minutes away rather than one hour. We feel free to drive to restaurants and civic events at night.
Farmington, NM
Chama, New Mexico
Chama in the summer
We enjoyed our time in México and the everyday challenges of living in a different culture and communicating in a different language. We will miss friends we made in Ajijic and Pátzcuaro. It was not easy to arrange the movement of some possessions and decide what to leave behind. We also wanted to return with some mementos of México to decorate our new home.
I don’t know what the future holds for us. Perhaps more community and church involvement, excursions in the Four Corners area to explore ancient Native American cultures, motorcycle trips from our two home bases, time to explore our hobbies and, after life settles down a little for us and for some of the countries we would like to visit, maybe some trips abroad. Argentina has terrific Italian food!
The border
I did a happy dance and a cheer as I crossed the international border and felt the immediate relief of having survived the journey and the elation of being home again. It was an oddly different feeling from returning to the U.S. for a few months as in the past. “Welcome home,” the border seemed to say: home, sweet home.
To my fellow bloggers:
I was more or less (más o menos) without Internet for a month during this transition. Internet was installed for us about a week ago. I have over 600 emails to deal with, and I have only rarely been able to post on my blog. Even my reading has slowed way down. Please forgive my absence, and be patient as I try to establish a new normal at the same time that I review books I have already committed to. I am looking forward to reading your posts and reviews again. I will still occasionally write posts about my experiences in México and my views on education.
As a bellwether for my productivity in the immediate future, I should note that I started writing this post a week ago. Much to my frustration, life has not settled down yet as we still have purchases to make, installations to schedule, and so many decisions to make. I must declare, however, that all of this is easier in my home language, and I am enjoying that change.
The Wall: Rebuilding a culture of LIFE in America—and ending abortion as we know it
The Wall: Rebuilding a culture of LIFE in America—and ending abortion as we know it
by Kirk Walden
If you want to know more about what you can do to help rebuild “a culture of LIFE in America—and ending abortion as we know it,” then read The Wall by Kirk Walden. Written to encourage people to give of their resources—money, time, labor, and more, The Wall is informative, practical, and inspirational. Using the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the long destroyed wall around Jerusalem as a model, Walden shows how we can rebuild the broken culture as a loving people, giving options to those who find themselves in a crisis.
Pregnancy crisis centers can help in so many ways, from showing parents their unborn child using ultrasound to counseling men, encouraging them to step up to be dads. They can provide medical and physical support, abstinence and parenting education, post-abortion recovery counseling, and so much more. To provide all of these services, funds are needed, and all donations are important whether it is a small, but sacrificial donation of ten or twenty dollars or the rich person’s spare $50,000. If we create a culture that values life, abortion clinics will close their doors from lack of clients and profits. Give this book a read if you want to know more about pregnancy crisis centers and what you can do to help.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Nonfiction, Social Issues
Notes: short, inspirational read about providing real choices to those facing the real challenges of an unplanned pregnancy
Publication: August 4, 2013—LifeTrends
Memorable Lines:
Our Wall is going to be strong, and we will stand on that Wall. And we will invite inside our Wall the hurting, the fearful, the desperate and the destitute. We are not going to back down. And we are not going to back up or let up.
It’s a Wall of protection for those facing the cultural temptations and battles of today, and for their children waiting to be born; wanting nothing more than to celebrate their first smiles, their first steps, and their first birthdays. Once we get started, once we take our stand on that Wall, there is no limit to what God can do with each of us.
Tilling the Truth–civic action by the garden squad
Tilling the Truth
by Julia Henry
When I met the Garden Squad in Pruning the Dead, I was charmed by this group of Goosebush denizens who anonymously take on gardening projects and accomplish them at night for the good of the community. In Julia Henry’s sequel Tilling the Truth, the Garden Squad which is led by Lily, a prominent senior citizen in Goosebush, gets involved in solving murders and uncovering shady real estate deals. At the same time, Lily is acting as the executor of a friend’s estate which includes a controversial bird sanctuary.
The main characters do not appeal to me. They seem cliquish and concerned with their own prominence. They love to eat and a lot of the book’s activity centers around food as much as gardening.
Setting is very important in this book, and the author describes the individual locations quite well. Unfortunately, the locations of the houses in relation to each other, to various businesses, and to the town center is not defined adequately, and that is a distraction for me in trying to picture the action.
Although there are many potential suspects, the investigative path is not terribly complex and not very surprising. The action scene that reveals the murderer is well-written and satisfying.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #2 in the Garden Squad Mystery Series
2. There is an addendum of interesting gardening notes.
Publication: August 27, 2019—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
“She is such a miserable woman. Honestly, when she comes into my store the flowers wilt.”
“Braden was born on third base and acts like the world owes him a home run.”
But hosting a fundraiser? That felt like the seventh circle of hell closing in.
education pathways 