‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas by David Rosenfelt- #AudiobookReview – #AnimalCozyMysteries

An Andy Carpenter Novel Book 28

in Animal Cozy Mysteries

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is at the Tara Foundation’s annual Christmas party. The dog rescue organization has always been his true calling, and this is one holiday tradition he can get behind because every dog that’s come through the rescue—and their families—are invited to celebrate.

This year’s party is no exception. But before the stockings can be hung by the chimney with care, homicide detectives ruin the evening. Derek Moore, one of the foundation’s best foster volunteers, is arrested for murder.

Andy discovers Derek—whose real name is Bobby—is in the witness protection program after giving evidence against his former gang. The police believe Bobby murdered a member. But Bobby swears to Andy he didn’t do this. He’s built a new life, a new business, has two new dogs after being a double foster-failure.

There isn’t much Andy likes about this case, but he likes Bobby. If he’s innocent, Andy wants to help. Before Andy can settle down for his long winter’s nap, he has a client’s name to clear, a murderer to catch, and two new dogs to look after: a golden and a Dalmatian. Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, will have to adjust to not being the only golden at the house while Andy gets to the bottom of this one…

My Review:

Once a year the Tara Foundation throws a Christmas party for the people and their adopted rescue dogs. Andy Carpenter is NOT a fan of eggnog and is relieved when Pete Stanton, homicide detective (and an old buddy of his), calls him outside. The problem is that he warns him one of his party guests is about to be arrested. Surely they can’t be talking about Derek, a foster failure for having decided to keep the two dogs he was fostering.

Andy, though supposedly retired and avoiding working as an attorney, ends up believing Derek’s (Bobby’s) story, and agrees to represent him. Andy’s cases are never simple and neither is this one. The investigation will become complex and uncover some ugly issues from mobsters and drugs to murder.

Andy has an unusual crew that includes his wife Laurie (an ex-cop) and her K-9 team, as well as Marcus, and a guy he calls on for quiet IT work. (Laurie loves Christmas and starts the season by Halloween (which Andy tries to avoid as much as possible—especially the music), so this novel won’t be including a lot of Christmas detail.)

And then there are the dogs, Tara, for whom the rescue foundation is named, Andy’s pug Hunter, and Sebastian, who does little besides warm a bed. While Tara may have featured more prominently in previous installments, not so much in this one. Still, I love the stories of the doggos that this time includes Bobby’s two foster failures, Sasha and Jake. I always remember with a chuckle the times I went to the breeder’s house when we were waiting for Frosty to be released, and the hubby would answer the door to a cacophony of barking and dogs scrambling to see who was there. He would merely sigh—“We have dogs.”

As always, I enjoy the courtroom scenes with Andy doing his best to alienate everyone including the judge with his legal wrangling of appropriate precedent. While he worries about how strong he’s made his case, he always keeps his eye on proving a plausible alternative to his own client.

Along the way is the signature Andy Carpenter sense of humor, the wise-cracking, snarky observation of events, and his interpretation delivered beautifully as only Grover Gardner can do. He has sold this character many times over and the author’s love of dogs shines through every time. You gotta love them.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley and the publisher. These are my honest thoughts. This series is an easy go-to. My only problem is that they are too short.

Book Details:

Genre: Animal Cozy Mysteries, Animal Fiction, Traditional Detective Mysteries
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0BV8X894N
Listening Length: 6 hrs 33 mins
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Publication Date: October 10, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: David Rosenfelt, a native of Paterson, New Jersey, is a graduate of NYU. He was the former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures before becoming a writer of novels and screenplays. “Open And Shut” was his first novel; “First Degree,” his second novel, was named a best book of 2003 by Publishers Weekly. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife and 35 dogs.

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The Narrator:

Grover Gardner’s narration career spans twenty-five years and over 550 audiobook titles. AudioFile Magazine has called him one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and features him in their annual “Golden Voices” update. Publishers Weekly named him Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2005. His recordings have garnered 18 “Golden Earphones” awards from AudioFile and an Audie Award from the Audio Publishers’ Association.
http://grovergardner.blogspot.com/

The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

An Alex Delaware Novel

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis confront a baffling, vicious double homicide that leads them to long-buried secrets worth killing for in the riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense” (Los Angeles Times).

LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis sees it all the time: Reinvention’s a way of life in a city fueled by fantasy. But try as you might to erase the person you once were, there are those who will never forget the past . . . and who can still find you.

A pool boy enters a secluded Bel Air property and discovers two bodies floating in the bright blue water: Gio Aggiunta, the playboy heir to an Italian shoe empire, and a gorgeous, even wealthier neighbor named Meagin March. A married neighbor.

An illicit affair stoking rage is a perfect motive. But a “double” in this neighborhood of gated estates isn’t something you see every day. The house is untouched. No forced entry, no forensic evidence. The case has “that feeling,” and when that happens, Milo turns to his friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware.

As Milo and Alex investigate both victims, they discover two troubled pasts. And as they dig deeper, Meagin March’s very identity begins to blur. Who was this glamorous but conflicted woman? Did her past catch up to her? Or did Gio’s family connections create a threat spanning two continents?

Chasing down the answers leads Alex and Milo on an exploration of L.A.’s darkest side as they contend with one of the most shocking cases of their careers and learn that that some secrets are best left buried in the past.

My Review:

Okay, my turn for an Alex Delaware series novel by Jonathan Kellerman (the CE can’t have them all), one of my favorite series and authors. There have been almost forty installments but as numerous as that sounds, each is fresh (could be read as a standalone) and I never get tired of his descriptive writing style.

There are actually two threads in this one, a minor thread about an adopted juvenile whose parents decide they no longer want him. (Knife to the heart!) The major plot involves a double homicide. Alex is a child psychologist but is frequently pulled into an investigation by his homicide detective buddy, Milo Sturgis, as is this one after they discover the death of two persons poolside in the LA area.

Dr. Delaware is exceptionally observant and his training makes him uniquely qualified to get into the scene, postulate how and in what order the crime might have gone down. The lady in question is older and married (not necessarily to the young male found in proximity), extremely rich through her marriage. He is likewise embarrassingly rich, the young son of an Italian shoe empire.

No question there are negative feelings for both victims at the beginning of the book. Spoiled rich kid—mysterious lady, hidden past. Hmmm. So, who was the target? The collateral damage?

Obviously a layered investigation, more so on Alex’s side, that begins with the process of elimination and a lot of hours and manpower spent in mindless scouring of everything from phone calls to birth records.

[Side bar: Of course, Alex has green eyes—surprise!—so does another character along with the explanation that only two percent of the world’s population have them. Them and the CE! (It always frosted me that I never got my mother’s beautiful blue eyes. So what would be the odds that my son would have the CE’s green eyes? Despite my m-i-l declaring it would be impossible—apparently not.)]

As Alex and Milo progress through interviews, the sentiment gradually begins to sway just a tad to neutral and by the end of the book strongly sympathetic to both victims. Gees, can a person ever catch a break?

As always, I enjoy the aesthetics and atmosphere of the LA area and surrounds, and the characters, both main and support are well-developed, engaging, and magnetic. Of course, Alex and Milo spark off each other, the perfect antithesis and their dynamic works. The child custody case might be heartbreaking, but the conclusion is a positive one—a win when you need it. Now, the painting of the Ghost Orchid…

These installments always leave me anticipating the next one, but gotta say, I really enjoyed this one a lot! The CE last read City of the Dead and I The Wedding Guest but this one wins the five stars. Recommended—a don’t miss!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Ghost Suspense, Ghost Mysteries, Murder Thrillers
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ASIN: B0C4JBJBFG
Print Length: 304 pages
Publication Date: February 6, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Jonathan Kellerman was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Los Angeles. He helped work his way through UCLA as an editorial cartoonist, columnist, editor and freelance musician. As a senior, at the age of 22, he won a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award for fiction.

Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the treatment of children. He served internships in clinical psychology and pediatric psychology at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles and was a post-doctoral HEW Fellow in Psychology and Human Development at CHLA.

IN 1975, Jonathan was asked by the hospital to conduct research into the psychological effects of extreme isolation (plastic bubble units) on children with cancer, and to coordinate care for these kids and their families. The success of that venture led to the establishment, in 1977 of the Psychosocial Program, Division of Oncology, the first comprehensive approach to the emotional aspects of pediatric cancer anywhere in the world. Jonathan was asked to be founding director and, along with his team, published extensively in the area of behavioral medicine. Decades later, the program, under the tutelage of one of Jonathan’s former students, continues to break ground.

Jonathan’s first published book was a medical text, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER, 1980. One year later, came a book for parents, HELPING THE FEARFUL CHILD.

In 1985, Jonathan’s first novel, WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS, was published to enormous critical and commercial success and became a New York Times bestseller. BOUGH was also produced as a t.v. movie and won the Edgar Allan Poe and Anthony Boucher Awards for Best First Novel. Since then, Jonathan has published a best-selling crime novel every year, and occasionally, two a year. In addition, he has written and illustrated two books for children and a nonfiction volume on childhood violence, SAVAGE SPAWN (1999.) Though no longer active as a psychotherapist, he is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

Jonathan is married to bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman and they have four children. [Goodreads]

#TuesdayBookBlog

The Constant Soldier by William Ryan – #BookReview – Historical World War II Fiction

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Paul Brandt, a soldier in the German army, returns wounded and ashamed from the bloody chaos of the Eastern Front to find his village changed and in the dark shadow of an SS rest hut—a luxurious retreat for officers recuperating from their injuries and for those who manage the nearby concentration camps of Auschwitz. The hut is run with the help of a small group of female prisoners from the camps who, against all odds, have survived the war so far. When, by chance, Brandt glimpses one of these prisoners, he realizes he must find a way to access the hut. For inside is the woman to whom his fate has been tied since their arrest five years earlier, and now he must do all he can to protect her.

As the Russian offensive moves closer and partisans press from the surrounding woodlands, the days of this rest hut and its SS inhabitants are numbered. And while hope for Brandt and the female prisoners grows tantalizingly close, the danger is greater than ever. In a forest to the east, a young female Soviet tank driver awaits her orders to advance . . .

His Review:

Brant is a soldier wounded badly at the Russian front and has been given a discharge from the German army. He is considered a hero by many because of the arm that was lost and terrible burns received in battle. Although discharged, he is responsible for a rest facility for Germans back from the front. Officers mostly, who are in desperate need of rest and relaxation.

Before the war, Brandt attended university in Vienna. At 25, with the war starting, he no longer wishes to continue at the university and is swept up in the expansion of the German army. Assigned to the facility he is running are a number of women who are charged with cleaning the linens and preparing foods and other domestic chores required to keep the soldiers on leave comfortable. Among the women is one who he was romantically involved with before the war.

The town where the facility is located is near his father’s old family farm in Ukraine. The local mayor of the town has taken it as one of his responsibilities to help run the retreat as well. He is overweight and vicious in his treatment of the women and anyone else that he can push around. He reports to the camp commandant and makes everyone’s life miserable.

The constant threat of the Red Army pushing through the area is a constant concern. Brandt and the others feel there will be no mercy shown by the Russians toward them. The people from the surrounding area are frantically trying to head west towards the approaching American army to avoid being captured by the Russians. The situation has become desperate.

William Ryan has spun a very believable story of the frantic situation lived by the people in Eastern Europe nearing the end of WW II. The struggle for the basics of life and just to be alive is continuous and unremitting. The mental images and development of the characters in this book is illuminating, revealing, and gripping. Putting myself in their shoes made my appreciation of the tragedy of war and their survival more personal. 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. These are my own thoughts. The novel is highly recommended.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical World War II Fiction, 20^th Century Historical Romance
Publisher: Arcade
ISBN-10: ‎ 1956763783
ASIN: B0BTZWD21K
Publication date: ‎ November 7, 2023
Date First Available: ‎ January 1, 1970
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: William Ryan’s first novel in the Captain Korolev series, The Holy Thief, was shortlisted for a Crime Writer’s Association’s New Blood Dagger, a Barry Award, The Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award and The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. The second in the series, The Bloody Meadow, was shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and the third, The Twelfth Department, was also shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year as well as the CWA’s Historical Fiction Dagger and was a Guardian Crime Novel of the Year..

The Constant Soldier, William’s fourth novel was described as “subtle, suspenseful and superb” by The Daily Mail and shortlisted for the HWA’s Gold Crown and the CWA’s Steel Dagger. A House of Ghosts, (as W.C. Ryan),was published in October 2018 and was described as “an intelligent, absorbing, exquisitely spooky mystery” by The Irish Times. The Winter Guest, published in January 2022, was called an “impeccably researched and utterly intriguing historical mystery that lays bare the societal fractures caused in Ireland’s fight for freedom” by the Irish Independent.

Visit http://www.william-ryan.com for more information.

Enjoy Your Sunday

The Women by Kristin Hannah – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.

From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels—at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.
“Women can be heroes, too.”

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.

My Review:

This one has got to be the author’s best and I’ve read many of them. Absolutely gripping from the beginning, the hook is there and no way can you put the book down.

While neither my hubby nor I were “boots on the ground” in ‘Nam, my hubby chose the Navy rather than be drafted into the Army as he would have landed into the middle of the jungle over there very quickly. The draft was an unwelcome interruption to our university plans and landed him instead in a support location close by where I was later allowed to join him. We met many nurses. And, yes, the reception when we finally got back home April of ’70 was unkind (to say the least).

OMG, the memories this brought back! We were there when the Pueblo was captured, when Bob Hope entertained the troops, and the Stars and Stripes gave little indication of the turmoil back home. The change in our country when we returned was shocking.

So this novel, immersive from a woman’s point of view, the nurses who saw and saved the casualties (that they could), both reminded me of the military I witnessed and informed as well in graphic descriptions the trauma both men and women were experiencing.

The main character, twenty-year-old Frances (Frankie) McGrath, has seen her affluent family send her brother to war, earning his place in her father’s study, the “Wall of Heroes.”

She decides she must go as well, serve with her newly minted nurse’s degree and license but is wisely refused in the Navy and Air Force. No problem with the Army who promptly delivers her with little training into the thick of it where she discovers it was not the Army she signed up for. Horrific casualties; sights, smells, sounds never-ending.

Hannah paints an accurate picture of the desperate understaffed situation, the shocking living conditions, the lack of adequate equipment, and the appalling weather.

Her hooch is shared by Ethel and Barb who become close-knit friends and allies throughout the remainder of the narrative. Together, in country, they handle the artillery fire, heat, casualties, and sexism.

“…We age in dog years over here, Frank…”

The nurses work through exhaustion, deplorable conditions, save those they can and when not actively in the OR, share their nursing skills in villages. They work tirelessly, doing what they can, and learn to cope through whatever means possible.

Exposed to the same Agent Orange the men are will have catastrophic effects on the women as well.

After two tours, her welcome home didn’t happen. She was met with derision, a nation sharply divided, a shocking atmosphere. Even her own family appeared to be ashamed of her service. Assimilation did not go well. She is left with severe PTSD and told by the VA that there were no women in ‘Nam.

“Some women had worn love beads in the sixties; others had worn dog tags.”

The characters felt real, the scenes so graphic you could smell them, choke from the clouds of napalm, smell the blood. I heard those songs of protest again. So powerful. Try as I might, could not stop the tears.

The horrible loss.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and St. Martin’s Press through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts. I really enjoyed the last Hannah book I read, The Great Alone, but this powerful book will go to the top of my favorites list for the year.

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Women’s Domestic Life Fiction
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
ASIN: B0C1X97LW7
Print Length: 480 pages
Publication Date: February 6, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels. Her newest novel, The Women, about the nurses who served in the Vietnam war, will be released on February 6, 2024.

The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore’s bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.

In 2018, The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.

In 2015, The Nightingale became an international blockbuster and was Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People’s Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week.

The Nightingale is currently in pre-production at Tri Star. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke.

A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.

©V Williams

#TuesdayBookBlog

A Beautiful Ferocity by Jean Grainger – #BookReview – Women’s Historical Fiction

in Historical Irish Fiction

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret – Book 2

Book Blurb

In A Beautiful Ferocity, the second instalment of the Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret Series, we’re taken on a thrilling ride through the Roaring Twenties as Ireland fights for her freedom. Peter Cullen leads his troupe of eclectic performers through the troubled country, in a daring new direction, entertaining audiences who’ve had enough of the old ways. When their cabaret is threatened, the performers must fight to keep their dream alive, treading the dangerous line between propriety and entertainment.

When outside forces intervene, and put not just their livelihoods in danger, but their lives, loyalty, friendship and even the bonds of love are tested to the edge of endurance.

Book Review

Yes! The continued saga of the characters that comprise Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret Series, the troupe lead by Peter Cullen! The performers hit the road in the roaring twenties through Ireland with an eye on England and, hopefully, the US.

The performers have settled into a rollicking show that includes the first members, Peter, Nick, May, Enzo, and Celine. May has bankrolled the “fit up” in partnership with Peter so they could keep their own money and not have to seek venues. They added chorus girls.

May is great at the administration, control of supplies, costumes, and equipment while Peter orchestrates the program to keep each performance fresh. May is still madly in love with Peter—Nick with Celine. Nick has held a secret that he’s managed to hide until the troupe faces a financial crisis.

As always, there are little charms of wit, wisdom, and good old Irish sense of humor peppered through the well paced narrative.

“She might have a title, but she ain’t no lady.”

“…poor old Cecily was so ugly, even the tide wouldn’t take her out.”

Tension builds with the couple’s relationships and builds in the conclusion to a move that smacks of deceit and deception demanding the reader know what will happen with the characters and hoping it will follow a plot path that leads to happy ever after.

It’s obvious, however, the author may have other ideas as she abruptly ends the installment with a cliff hanger. I thought Book 1, For All the World, kicked off the series with a great hook. I’m loving this new series, a darker and immersive departure from the family dramas we’ve to love and I’m looking forward to installment three. Heartily recommended!

Book Description

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CDZR54XD
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 27, 2023
Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
Source: Author
Genre: Historical Irish Fiction, Historical British & Irish Literature, Women’s Historical Fiction
Title Link: A Beautiful Ferocity [Amazon US]
Amazon UK

The Author: JEAN GRAINGER – USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SELECTED BY BOOKBUB READERS IN TOP 19 OF HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS.
WINNER OF THE 2016 AUTHOR’S CIRCLE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF EXCELLENCE

Hello and thanks for taking time out to check out my page. If you’re wondering what you’re getting with my books then think of the late great Maeve Binchy but sometimes with a historical twist. I was born in Cork, Ireland in 1971 and I come from a large family of storytellers, so much so that we had to have ‘The Talking Spoon’, only the person holding the spoon could talk!

I have worked as a history lecturer at University, a teacher of English, History and Drama in secondary school, a playwright, and a tour guide of my beloved Ireland. I am married to the lovely Diarmuid and we have four children. We live in a 200 year old stone cottage in Mid-Cork with my family and the world’s smallest dogs, called Scrappy and Scoobi..

My experiences leading groups, mainly from the United States, led me to write my first novel, ‘The Tour’. My observances of the often funny, sometimes sad but always interesting events on tours fascinated me. People really did confide the most extraordinary things, the safety of strangers I suppose. It’s a fictional story set on a tour bus but many of the characters are based on people I met over the years.

[truncated—please see her full bio on her Amazon author page]

Many of the people who have reviewed my books have said that you get to know the characters and really become attached to them, that’s wonderful for me to hear because that’s how I feel about them too. I grew up on Maeve Binchy and Deirdre Purcell and I aspired to being like them. If you buy one of my books I’m very grateful and I really hope you enjoy it. If you do, or even if you don’t, please take the time to post a review. Writing is a source of constant contentment to me and I am so fortunate to have the time and the inclination to do it, but to read a review written by a reader really does make my day.

Have a great weekend!

For All The World by Jean Grainger – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret – Book 1

Book Blurb:

Dublin, Ireland and Valencia, Spain 1917.

Peter Cullen has no money and no prospects, but he has talent and the will to succeed. All he needs now is luck.

May Gallagher is determined to make her own way in life, even if it means defying her parents’ plans for her.

Nick Gerrity is ready to turn his back on his past and start anew, but his secrets might just catch up with him.

And Aida Gonzales, destitute and alone, discovers an unexpected lifeline in the midst of the carnage of World War I.

Together, as the war to end all wars wipes out an entire generation, these four young people will take a chance to break free of society’s shackles and forge a new future of glamour, glitter, and greasepaint.

My Review:

One thing you know you will get from a Jean Grainger book is disparate characters. But even for Ms Grainger, this is quite the departure from her Irish family dramas which have been captivating and compulsive.

These charismatic characters begin in late WWI with the story of Peter—coveting a role in the theater and grabbing the first one available—but that’s a female role–he’ll dress up. It’s a transgression and embarrassment to his volatile father that results in his ejection from the family. No big loss—his Dublin neighborhood is one of poverty and misery.

Well, fine! He’ll enlist in the military!

Next we are introduced to Nick who is one of several sons in a well-to-do family with an unfortunate stutter. He discovers, however, that with his education he can speak in a foreign language or sing a ballad sweet enough to cause tears without the stutter. But his family? Nope.

Fine! He’ll sneak off and enlist in the military!

Peter is easy going, happy go lucky and doesn’t worry about Nick’s stutter when they discover each other in the trenches of France. Then begins the introduction of additional characters from widely different parts of the world including Enzo—an Italian from London, talented Ramon from Spain and later his dance partner Aida, and Two Soups, a Scotsman and comedian.

As serendipity will happen, they manage to meet up in the ugly circumstances of the final stages of war and discover each other’s talents. An impromptu opportunity to perform is just the beginning. They later go on to entertain their own troops and later the wounded in military hospitals.

It was Peter’s girlfriend May who encouraged Peter to pursue his theatrical goals. She has designs on Peter that he isn’t quite her equally enamored. There are other possible romantic liaisons brewing which we’ll have to wait and read about in the next installment of the new series which is showing a strong start.

I love it when the author takes off in a new direction with a strong series promise. These characters are engaging and the theatre background immersive. I’m anxious to see where this is going with that teaser Epilogue included at the end.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts. As always, I’m thoroughly intrigued!

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Irish Fiction, Historical British & Irish Literature, Women’s Historical Fiction
ISBN: ‎ 1914958950
ASIN: B0C94MD3H5
Print Length: 284 pages
Publication Date: August 17, 2023
Source: Author
Title Link(s): For All the World [Amazon-US]
Amazon UK

The Author: JEAN GRAINGER – USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SELECTED BY BOOKBUB READERS IN TOP 19 OF HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS.

WINNER OF THE 2016 AUTHOR’S CIRCLE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF EXCELLENCE

[truncated—please see her full bio on her Amazon author page]

Rosepoint recommended

Unwrapped by Lynda McDaniel – #BookReview – Cozy Craft & Hobby Mysteries

An Appalachian Mountain Christmas Mystery

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Laurel Falls, N.C., Christmas 2012: The walnut dresser I bought my son sure brought a load of trouble. Not because one of the drawers kept sticking and the whole thing needed so much refinishing. No, I could handle that, what with being a woodworker most of my life. It was the diary hidden in a secret compartment for almost sixty year that turned everything upside down.

That diary was filled with awful stories of mistreatment and misfortune, stories that twisted up something inside of me. Especially because the teenage girl who wrote them stopped writing mid-sentence. Like someone grabbed her and took her away. Or killed her to keep secret what she’d written.

I just had to find out what happened to her. I knew what a lousy upbringing looked like, but even mine couldn’t compare with what she’d faced. I needed to know she’d made it through, like I had.

I was awful glad Della Kincaid could help. It’d been almost thirty year since she’d moved next door, buying Coburn’s General Store after Daddy drove it into the ground. She’d made a success of it, and hired a good assistant a while back, which meant she had time to join me on the search for the truth.

The timing, though, couldn’t have been worse: Christmastime and I had the boys that year. I was set on making it the best one yet, but with vile threats and truck chases and family feuds raining down on us, it was hard to squeeze in very much ho-ho-ho.

Turned out our investigation took us all through the mountains of North Carolina and up into Virginia to places I never wanted to see again. ~Abit Bradshaw

You’ll enjoy this suspenseful Christmas mystery because who doesn’t hope someone would care if you disappeared?

If you love Louise Penny, Richard Osman, and Fern Michaels, you’re sure to enjoy the Appalachian Mountain Mysteries series.

My Review:

When I discovered the first in the Appalachian Mountain Mysteries, I knew I’d found a new series I’d greedily follow as each new book came out. Welcome to this year’s first Christmas theme book with all your favorite characters from that series!

Immensely empathetic Abit finds the perfect chest of drawers for one of his sons for a Christmas surprise, but as it was an old one, requires cleaning and some refinishing. As some old drawers do, one of them stuck but Abit persevered until he got it opened and discovered the reason it stuck—a hidden diary.

Human curiosity being what it is, Abit can’t help but read it. The problem is that it ends abruptly. After a chilling story of abuse, the unexpected and terse cessation sends off alarm bells in Abit’s head, and obsessed about it, decides he must find the writer, Daisy, and learn of her circumstances. Is she even alive?

Abit doesn’t hesitate to bring in his friends and allies to help him search for Daisy, and, of course, includes Della Kincaid. I love the characters of Della and Abit. Their relationship is borne of respect, inspiration, and a kinship only those folks of a small, tight-knit mountain community in isolated circumstances can foster. Life was hard. They survived together.

“…the way I see it, God is Dog spelled backwards, instead of the other way around.”

The author has a way of building the tension, extending the drama, wringing out the emotions, and proposing various plausible explanations of what could have happened to Daisy. Her family are tight-lipped.

Her novels can be read as standalone but hopefully you’ve been following this delightful series and know these characters like family—have thrilled over their triumphs. This short narrative introduces a sweet Christmas-themed mystery entry to the series and will leave you with that Hallmark feeling as well.

I particularly loved Murder Ballad Blues and my last in the series Deep in the Forest. This is a lovely quick read that I can recommend will help to kick off the season for you.

I received a review copy of this book from the author who in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Cozy Craft & Hobby Mysteries, Mystery Series, Christian Suspense
Publisher: Lynda McDaniel books
ISBN: ‎ B0CC7FLMYG
ASIN: B0CC43CPGF
Print Length: 193 pages
Publication Date: July 16, 2023
Source: Author

Title Link(s): Unwrapped [Amazon]

Lynda McDaniel - author — Lynda McDaniel – author

The Author: I love writing page-turners—both fiction and nonfiction. And I love helping others to do the same, living into their dreams of writing books. I believe my success comes down to a respect for my readers and clients. I know I’m easily bored, so I work hard to engage and inspire my readers.

After all, we’re all busy these days, and I want to deliver value–whether that’s a gripping mystery filled with memorable characters or books on writing that give you the tools to write your own fiction and nonfiction. Both make me happy.

I got my start as a writer in the most unlikely place—a town of 200 people in the mountains of North Carolina. But living there changed my life in so many positive ways. Decades later, I realized that everything I value today, I was introduced to there. My Appalachian Mountain Mysteries–“A Life for a Life,” “The Roads to Damascus,” “Welcome the Little Children,” “Murder Ballad Blues,” “Deep in the Forest,” “Up the Creek,” and “Unwrapped”–pay homage to the people of Appalachia who taught me so much. And to Mollie the Wonder Dog, who plays a role every book starting with “The Roads to Damascus” (aka Millie in that book)..

To keep up to date with Abit, Della, and the gang (and receive a free novelette, “Waiting for You,” that pulls back the curtain on Abit’s and Della’s lives before they met in Laurel Falls), head over to http://www.LyndaMcDanielBooks.com. No spam, no pestering, just the free novelette and timely offers/updates.

Over the years, I’ve written more than 1,200 articles for major magazines, hundreds of newsletters and blogs. I’m proudest of the 21 books I’ve written. My nonfiction books include my Write Faster Series. “Words at Work,” which I wrote straight from my heart, a much-needed response to all the questions and concerns people have about writing today. (It won top honors from the National Best Books Awards.) “How Not to Sound Stupid When You Write” and “How to Write Stories that Sell” complete the series.

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but I’ve lived all over this country—from the Midwest to the Deep South to Appalachia to the Mid-Atlantic to the Pacific Northwest. Whew! I finally settled by the sea in Eureka, California, a place that reflects the values I learned while living in the mountains of North Carolina, all those years ago.

Authors to books to reviewers

The Last Ranger by Peter Heller – #BookReview – #Action&Adventure

in Action & Adventure

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The best-selling author of The River returns with a vibrant, lyrical novel about an enforcement ranger in Yellowstone National Park who likes wolves better than most people. When a clandestine range war threatens his closest friend, he must shake off his own losses and act swiftly to discover the truth and stay alive.

Officer Ren Hopper is an enforcement ranger with the National Park Service, tasked with duties both mundane and thrilling: Breaking up fights at campgrounds, saving clueless tourists from moose attacks, and attempting to broker an uneasy peace between the wealthy vacationers who tromp through the park with cameras, and the residents of hardscrabble Cooke City who want to carve out a meaningful living.

When Ren, hiking through the backcountry on his day off, encounters a tall man with a dog and a gun chasing a small black bear up a hill, his hackles are raised. But what begins as an investigation into the background of a local poacher soon opens into something far murkier: A shattered windshield, a series of red ribbons tied to traps, the discovery of a frightening conspiracy, and a story of heroism gone awry.

Populated by a cast of extraordinary characters—famous scientists, tattooed bartenders, wildlife guides in slick Airstreams—and bursting with unexpected humor and grace, Peter Heller masterfully unveils a portrait of the American west where our very human impulses—for greed, love, family, and community—play out amidst the stunning beauty of the natural world.

His Review:

The re-introduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 caused some real conflict and conversation here in the United States. Many ranchers and wildlife enthusiasts thought that wild wolves would ruin the balance of wildlife in the park. Nothing could have been further from the truth or more dramatic.

Ren is a park ranger who loves living in this part of paradise. He is always surprised when people come to the park and expect to be able to walk up to the animals and pet them. He gained international fame when he rescued a little girl whose parents made the mistake of asking her to go stand by a wild animal. She was ten feet away from certain death when approaching a bison calf in front of a very agitated mother.

Hilly is a bit of a loner who wants to study the effects of the reintroduction of wolves into the park and their natural environment. A group of activists put traps on the trails where the wolves might frequent to help thin the pack. Hilly finds herself caught in one of these traps and left to die in the wilderness. Ren is able to find her and does a fireman’s carry to bring her back to safety. After the death of his first wife, he finds it very difficult to approach another woman for a potential relationship.

C E Williams One of my dream jobs as a boy was to be a ranger in Yellowstone National Park. Peter Heller points out the trials and difficulties of the job. Anyone who aspires to this type of work would do well to read this book. Awesome story and visuals! 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Book Details:

Genre: Action & Adventure Literary Fiction, Crime Action & Adventure, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
Publisher: Knopf
ASIN: B0BL6YQ61Y
Print Length: 302 pages
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Peter Heller is a longtime contributor to NPR, a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and Men’s Journal, and a frequent contributor to Businessweek. He is an award winning adventure writer and the author of four books of literary nonfiction. He lives in Denver. Heller was born and raised in New York. He attended high school in Vermont and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where he became an outdoorsman and whitewater kayaker. He traveled the world as an expedition kayaker, writing about challenging descents in the Pamirs, the Tien Shan mountains, the Caucuses, Central America and Peru.At the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received an MFA in fiction and poetry, he won a Michener fellowship for his epic poem “The Psalms of Malvine.” He has worked as a dishwasher, construction worker, logger, offshore fisherman, kayak instructor, river guide, and world class pizza deliverer. Some of these stories can be found in Set Free in China, Sojourns on the Edge. In the winter of 2002 he joined, on the ground team, the most ambitious whitewater expedition in history as it made its way through the treacherous Tsangpo Gorge in Eastern Tibet. He chronicled what has been called The Last Great Adventure Prize for Outside, and in his book Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River.

The gorge — three times deeper than the Grand Canyon — is sacred to Buddhists, and is the inspiration for James Hilton’s Shangri La. It is so deep there are tigers and leopards in the bottom and raging 25,000 foot peaks at the top, and so remote and difficult to traverse that a mythical waterfall, sought by explorers since Victorian times, was documented for the first time in 1998 by a team from National Geographic.

The book won a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, was number three on Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” of all pop culture, and a Denver Post review ranked it “up there with any adventure writing ever written.”

In December, 2005, on assignment for National Geographic Adventure, he joined the crew of an eco-pirate ship belonging to the radical environmental group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as it sailed to Antarctica to hunt down and disrupt the Japanese whaling fleet.

The ship is all black, sails under a jolly Roger, and two days south of Tasmania the engineers came on deck and welded a big blade called the Can Opener to the bow–a weapon designed to gut the hulls of ships. In The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet’s Largest Mammals, Heller recounts fierce gales, forty foot seas, rammings, near-sinkings, and a committed crew’s clear-eyed willingness to die to save a whale. The book was published by Simon and Schuster’s Free Press in September, 2007.

In the fall of 2007 Heller was invited by the team who made the acclaimed film The Cove to accompany them in a clandestine filming mission into the guarded dolphin-killing cove in Taiji, Japan. Heller paddled into the inlet with four other surfers while a pod of pilot whales was being slaughtered. He was outfitted with a helmet cam, and the terrible footage can be seen in the movie. The Cove went on to win an Academy Award. Heller wrote about the experience for Men’s Journal.

Heller’s most recent memoir, about surfing from California down the coast of Mexico, Kook: What Surfing Taught Me about Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave, was published by The Free Press in 2010. Can a man drop everything in the middle of his life, pick up a surfboard and, apprenticing himself to local masters, learn to ride a big, fast wave in six months? Can he learn to finally love and commit to someone else? Can he care for the oceans, which are in crisis? The answers are in. The book won a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, which called it a “powerful memoir…about love: of a woman, of living, of the sea.” It also won the National Outdoor Book Award for Literature.

Heller’s debut novel, The Dog Stars, is being published by Knopf in August, 2012. It will also be published by Headline Review in Great Britain and Australia, and Actes Sud in France.

Have a Great Sunday