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Two to Tango–clean romance
Two to Tango
by Kathleen Fuller
Join the residents of Maple Falls, Arkansas, for a romance between highly organized librarian Olivia Farnsworth and over scheduled pediatrician Kingston Bedford. It takes quite a while for them to get together because Kingston promises to contact Olivia and then can’t find the time to do it between his busy practice and his volunteer activities. He is filled with guilt, and she has a hard time trusting him.
A group of older women, including Kingston’s domineering mother, decide to play matchmaker. Comedy shows up in the situation when the pair decides to have a pretend relationship to get the ladies to back off. Of course, things don’t go exactly by plan. Others become involved as the matchmaking extends to some older residents. The couple’s contemporaries are excited for them, and the new dance teacher could be a potential match.
This is the fourth book in the Maple Falls Romance Series. Each one focuses on a different couple, but in Two to Tango all of the couples from the various books play a role.
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: Women’s Fiction, Romance
Notes: 1. #4 in the Maple Falls Romance Series. I don’t recommend this as a standalone. There are a lot of characters assembled from previous books. If you are interested in this clean, character-driven series, I suggest you start with the first one.
Publication: July 11, 2023—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
Aunt Bea was right. It was easier to hide behind the familiar and benign than to face the elephant in the room—life was changing, and she didn’t like it. While her life was staying routinely the same, the relationships she’d depended on had altered.
His mother was putting on her best social smile, but he could see she was simmering underneath the ruse. The woman considered punctuality the eleventh commandment.
But his mother’s expectation was clear. Being good wasn’t enough. He had to be the best.
Into the Frying Pan–medical mayhem
Into the Frying Pan
by Sarah Osborne
If my opinion of this book were based on the likability of the characters the plot centers around in Into the Frying Pan, it would get a low rating. Fortunately the main characters, pediatrician Ditie Brown and her detective boyfriend Mason, along with Ditie’s adopted daughter Lucie and Ditie’s close friends Lurleen and Danny, do not like these people either. Sadly they were an odd group of former friends from Ditie’s medical school days.
The tale is full of suspicions and secrets when one of the group is killed during a Civil War reenactment. Ugly motives and complicated relationships emerge. Will Ditie be able to protect herself and her children while interviewing former friends to discover the murderer?
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Ditie Brown Mystery Series but great as a standalone.
Publication: May 28, 2019— Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press)
Memorable Lines:
I hung up not sure what I was feeling. I’d put Phil in a category of lousy human being and now he was trying to ease his way out of that box.
Agatha Christie would have loved this gathering. A small clutch of people with one murderer in the mix.
“You see, I learned the hard way that some people get broken by their past and don’t recover from it—that was Carl. I did everything I could not to be like my mother, but Carl became his father. He ran around, had schemes to get money, and always wanted more than he had. I thought I could love him into being a better man, but you can’t do that for another person. They have to do it for themselves.”
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot–great plot and characters
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot
by Sarah Osborne
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot begins with “Nothing warned me that my world was about to tilt on its axis and never tilt back again,” a sentence full of promise for a good cozy mystery. Author Sarah Osborne manages to pack a lot of background into her opening chapter. We are introduced to the main character, Dr. Ditie Brown, a pediatrician who works in a refugee clinic, her two pets, and her brother Tommy. There are hints of family troubles. Ditie reunites with her old friend Ellie whose emotions bounce all over the place. She asks a huge favor: “Do you think the kids could stay with you for a few days?” Unfortunately someone was gunning for Ellie—literally.
The plot is quite complex with lots of threads that seemingly don’t connect…until they do. Meanwhile, who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? What do Ellie’s children have that is worth killing for? Through all of this we watch Ditie, her friend Lurleen (with an interesting faux French background and accent), Detective Garrett, P.I. Dan, and Garrett’s mother, a retired cop, work diligently to solve the mystery and keep the children, Lucie and Jason, safe.
I see in Lucie a level of responsibility that a former student of mine had. In my student’s case, the mother was an alcoholic and my first grader got herself and her kindergarten brother ready for school and on the bus each day. Therefore, I find realism in Lucie, a fictional child whose mother is erratic; Lucie has to step in and be the “adult” for her brother.
Initially I felt that the two romances in the books happen way too quickly. On the other hand, extreme circumstances can cause extreme emotional reactions. I quickly got over my hesitation with that aspect of the story and enjoyed watching the two couples grow in their relationships as the story progresses.
This book is a winner. I’m looking forward to the next cozy mystery in this series.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #1 in the Ditie Brown Mystery Series
Publication: May 29, 2018—Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press)
Memorable Lines:
It’s not every dog that can smile, but when you find one who does, you know you have a treasure.
He could hide behind the lights, the glitter, so that no one, least of all his sister, ever knew who he really was.
I felt uneasy. The murders felt so neatly solved. It was just the murderers that didn’t quite fit.
education pathways 