#NetGalleyreviewer – Page 8 – Rosepoint Publishing

Zephyr Trails by Nicki Ehrlich #BookReview #HistoricalFiction

Book Blurb:

The fine line between friends and enemies blurs as Ellis Cady sets out to reach the new frontier of post-Civil War America.
After waiting out winter at the Cady ranch in southern Missouri, hope blooms in the Spring of 1866. Ellis receives news of a mysterious man arriving in St. Louis. Will she find her father alive and well, or finally put his memory to rest?

Grasping at the illusive promise of her father’s whereabouts, Ellis is distracted by the intrepid trick rider, Jimmie, a woman who rides with Levi Jack’s Wild West Exhibition. Then, talk of reinstating a messenger service akin to the Pony Express rekindles a faded dream. Since the war’s devastation, important letters and messages still need to get through a Western landscape governed by Indians and outlaws. When an untimely epidemic threatens, Ellis finds herself back in the saddle, a young woman and her horse on a perilous trail.

My Review:

Zephyr Trails actually continues the story of Ellis Cady of Book 1 who discovers herself left alone with missing and passed family following the end of the Civil War. After the loss of her twin brother, she assumes his identity to more safely travel alone, cutting her hair and wearing male clothing. She is an accomplished horsewoman, so few note the small feminine tells she works hard to disguise.

Ellis is seeking her father, said to have finished out the war in a POW camp, as she pushes west toward remote relatives and her ultimate goal of settling west. As she studies her options and refines her skills, she takes on a number of jobs, working with a Wild West show and signing up for Pony Express rides.

Ellis is torn. She is picking up clues about her father and possibly finding avenues to the west while her aunt and uncle invite her to remain on their ranch in Missouri. I liked her connection to the characters in the Wild West show but obviously the plot could not sustain a storyline with her work in a show that doesn’t further her overriding goal.

I had a bit of a problem with the pace, which seemed to bog down a couple times, stalling while she grapples with her next course of action. The thread with the father becomes difficult, exhibiting PTSD symptoms. She struggles with her own identity, stubbornly independent. There are a couple reoccurring character relationships that appear to savor a connection without her apparent interest. (Maybe next installment?)

Did she find her father and re-establish some semblance of family? Or will she find her way west?

The CE read Ellis River in September, 2022, and loved it. I read Zephyr Trails as a standalone, perhaps would have been better had I started with Ellis River? 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.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Parenting & Relationships, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Bay Feather Books
ISBN-13: ‎979-8985997422
ASIN: B0D6X9DS4M
Print Length: 321 pages
Publication Date: June 24, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Nicki Ehrlich grew up in Southern Illinois before attending college at the University of Denver and later, Idaho State University, where she graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy/English. After living ten “horse-rich” years in Idaho, she moved on to Oregon, and later Washington, where she realized she had unwittingly traveled the Oregon Trail.

While living in the Pacific Northwest, Nicki continued to write fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her debut novel, Ellis River, is the 2023 winner of the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book – fiction. The novel was also a finalist for the Eric Hoffer First Horizons Award, and received an Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize. Nicki has won additional awards for her poetry and creative writing, including the Writer’s Digest Annual Poetry Awards and the Ray Fabrizio Memorial Award. Nicki holds a Certificate in Creative Writing from Monterey Peninsula College and is a member of the Central Coast branch of the California Writers Club. She also holds a Coast Guard Captain’s License and currently lives on California’s inspiring central coast where she is at work on the sequel to Ellis River.

You can find Nicki at: NickiEhrlich.com, Instagram, and Goodreads.

The Broken Truth: A Thriller by Reavis Wortham #BookReview #ContemporaryWesternFiction

Tucker Snow Thrillers

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The endless Texas landscape hides all manner of sins…

Special Agent Tucker Snow knows there’s big money roaming the fields under the wide Texas sky—and the cattle rustlers committing large-scale thefts on remote ranches know it, too. But when a prominent local rancher dies unexpectedly and his property is quietly sold to an unknown buyer, Tucker suspects there’s something more sinister going on in his jurisdiction than the usual steal-and-resell racket. Still raw after the tragic death of his wife and young daughter, the lawman can’t bear the thought of more innocent lives destroyed by people whose greed poisons everything around them.

Working alongside his brother, Harley, Tucker uncovers a dark ring of organized crime that goes well beyond cattle rustling—a breed of deception and greed that has turned into a silent killer and will take down anyone who crosses its path. The question is whether Tuck and Harley will be able to shut it down before it finds the people they love the most…

His Review:

Ah the wild West and cattle rustling, memories of my childhood. Rustlers tracking across the prairies, sleeping under the open stars and collecting $10 to $20 a head on the animals delivered to a railhead. But that thieving life still plagues the country today with rustlers bagging up to $1,000 per head for these animals.

Tucker Snow is a special ranger for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assn. He shows up at most stock sales and verifies the shipping tickets with the stock actually brought to market. Trying to catch cattle thieves is a full time and very dangerous job. With a horse trailer full of 10 or 12 head of animals the payoff is over $10,000. Many of these animals may have no brands or other identifying marks and the ownership is declared by possession.

Tucker’s brother Harley often assists him tracking lost shipments. He has a quick wit and even quicker temper. Together they team up to reduce the amount of thefts. The drivers of the getaway trailers are often very skilled. They also utilize decoy vehicles and intervention teams to separate Harley and Tucker from their goals. The banter between them is hilarious as they continue to track the bandits.

Revis has woven this story into a very believable narrative. State and Federal authorities often assist in capturing the thieves. Large-scale profits attract high-level, cold-blooded thieves. Consortiums grow and the biggest thieves get the richest. Can Tucker and Harley thwart these thieves? Enjoy! 5 stars – CE Williams

I read Hard Country last year and really enjoyed the writing style of the author. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are my own.

Book Details:

Genre: Contemporary Western Fiction, Organized Crime
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1728256739
ASIN: B0CMC3J2QY
Print Length: 375 pages
Publication Date: August 20, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: As a boy, award-winning writer, Reavis Z. Wortham hunted and fished the river bottoms near Chicota, Texas, the inspiration for the fictional setting for The Rock Hole and The Red River Mystery Series. He was born in Paris, Texas, but lived in Dallas. “We grew up in the city and went to school there, but every Friday evening my parents put us in the car and made the 120-mile drive to Chicota, where we truly lived at my grandparents’ place in the country until Sunday evening, when we came back to the city. Our real home was that little scratch farm in Lamar County.”

Author Reavis Z. Wortham’s first novel, The Rock Hole, is described by Kirkus Reviews as “an unpretentious gem written to the hilt and harrowing in its unpredictability.” Kirkus also listed it as one of the “Top 12 Mysteries of 2011.”

[Truncated]

Reavis also penned Doreen’s 24 HR Eat Gas Now Café. More than 2,500 newspaper and magazine articles bear the byline of this award-winning Texas writer. The Rock Hole was a finalist in the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Award presented by the Independent Book Publishers Association, is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Writers’ League of Texas, International Association of Crime Writers (North American Branch), and International Thriller Writers.

He lives with his wife, Shana, in northeast Texas.

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Reading or Listening with Covid #BookReviews #TuesdayBookBlog

As mentioned last Sunday, day nine of the Covid infection, it was thought I might have lost several pounds. My son brought out his scale and discovered I had—ten pounds. He kept saying it looked like that, but was both a surprise and rather shocking to see him right. Loss of ten pounds in nine days? I knew I was getting weaker, but didn’t imagine. In the meantime, the CE lost…maybe eight? (He wasn’t sure.) And our son has now tested positive for it as well.

However, it’s been a long time since I could just lay around and read (or listen—when my eyes wouldn’t cooperate), and I’ve definitely chalked up a number of books. Both of the following were great reads and the first, The Blind Devotion of Imogene: The Misadventures of Imogene Taylor by David Putnam was an absolute hoot. The second, On Wahoo Reef, a Blacktip Island Novel, is the second in the series by Tim W Jackson. I read Blacktip Island back in October 2016 and loved it—unique plot, quirky well-developed characters.

The Blind Devotion of Imogene

Book Blurb:

In 1973, Imogene Taylor is seventy-five years old, on parole for murder, and works at a store that sells dented canned goods. Twelve years earlier, she went to prison for killing her love-of-her-life-husband, Wayne. She called it an accident. The judge and jury called it murder. Imogene’s parole agent is constantly on her case, looking to send her back to prison.

During her time in prison, Imogene had to vent her angst at someone and sent the sitting Presidents (during the ten years in prison) threatening letters bringing her to the attention of the Secret Service. She does extensive research and writes a novel, Peekaboo POTUS, about the assassination of a US President. She sends the book “over the transom” to one publisher. The publisher, after being unable to contact Imogene, comes looking for her.

The Cigar, an organized crime gangster, walks into Dentco, where Imogene works, and extorts the store for protection money. Pay up or get firebombed. The entire strip center is under this threat.

At the same time, Imogene’s neighbor dies of natural causes and leaves a hoarder’s mess to his daughter, Suzanne. Imogene helps Suz clear out a pyramid of boxes filled with junk in the garage. At the bottom of the pile, they find a box with a dead woman who has been hidden for many years.

Imogene must dodge an overzealous parole agent while dealing with a dead woman in the neighbor’s garage. She’s on parole for murder, so she can’t report it to the police. No one would believe her. Imogene and Suz think the woman in the box is Suz’s long-estranged mother. Rather than reveal Suz’s father as the probable killer, Imogene convinces Suz to bury her mom under the avocado tree in the backyard. Until Thelma, Suz’s mother, appears after reading the obituary.

It’s a race to uncover the real killer as Imogene dodges gangsters, family members, and a publisher on her quest to find the truth.

My Thoughts:

Oh my God. This whacked-out book…it’s a first for me.

A 75-year-old protagonist recently released from prison for killing her husband? (It was an accident!)

Imogene is out on parole working at Dentco. Yes, it sells dented goods, is situated in a less fortunate area of the city, and she has to stay on the good side of her parole officer for one more year—she needs this job! Something the parole officer is working very hard to keep from happening.

Imogene is one of those people who seem to attract mayhem. Trouble finds her no matter how innocent she is. Part of the problem stems from the time she spent in prison penning threatening letters to POTUS, eventually writing a book she called Peekaboo POTUS. It gets their attention and a coveted place on the “crazy” list.

Separate is the introduction to “The Cigar”, a local street thug bent on providing “protection” to those already struggling shop owners in the grimy strip center. Imogene has several friends, her next-door neighbor for one, and Ange, her erstwhile philosophical bunkmate in prison who still intrudes often into Imogene’s ear.

This thing may go over the top more than once, but it provides some hilarious scenes, quirky characters, outrageous dialogue, unexpected twists, and relief from laying in bed with the flu. 5 stars

Book Details:

Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0CYHQ3N5M
Listening Length: 282 pages
Publication Date: July 9, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s): The Blind Devotion of Imogene [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble

The Author: Visit Davidputnambooks.com and also check out “David Putnam”‘s Bruno Johnson series.

D.W. Putnam is a pen name for David Putnam.

On Wahoo Reef: A Blacktip Island Novel

Book Blurb:

Northern Exposure meets Margaritaville in this comic Caribbean romp.

Wally Breight’s a miserable-in-his-job P.R. executive who dreams of escaping to happily-ever-after in the Caribbean. When he stumbles across a run-down scuba diving operation for sale on Blacktip Island, he snaps it up and settles into paradise. But paradise has other ideas. His dive boat’s a lemon. His business partner proves the age of piracy isn’t dead. Scuba guests are scarce. And a free-spirited dive mistress might party him into an early grave. If Wally can’t get a handle on paradise, pronto, he’ll be leaving Blacktip Island faster than a coconut in a hurricane.

My Thoughts:

It’s those thirties when many men take stock of their lives, bored, and don’t like what they see. But Wally Breight has given up his career, home in the US, and security to snap up a diving business on this Blacktip Island.

Typical of the author, he plunges his main character into hot water immediately when reality of the floundering business hits home. It’s not like even the boat is sea worthy, but he does manage to find two employees that skip soon as they’re paid for greener waters. The man is pathetically naïve and what money he brings to the business begins to sift through his fingers like…(um) water.

I love the characters! They are strange and unpredictable, the circumstances outrageous, the decisions…stupid less than well considered. What’s with this guy?

It’s pure escapism. Fun, simple, fast read, descriptions of the island almost have you packing for tropical climes (I said almost). Looking for something different, light-hearted, and twisty fun? Those who enjoy action, adventure, root for the underdog type tales, this is for you. 4.5 stars

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense Action Fiction, Crime Action & Adventure, Mystery Action Fiction
Publisher: Devonshire House Press
ASIN: B0CW1HM6H6
Print Length: 249 pages
Publication Date: May 17, 2024
Source: Author
Title: On Wahoo Reef [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble

The Author: Tim W. Jackson started kindergarten in Indonesia, graduated high school in Egypt and was educated everywhere in between. His first taste of scuba diving came at the age of six when he sneaked breaths off his dad’s double-hose regulator in the deep end of the pool. Later, as a former journalist armed with a newly-minted master’s degree in creative writing, he discovered he was qualified to be a bartender, a waiter or a PhD student. Instead he chose Secret Option D: run off to the Cayman Islands to work as a scuba instructor and boat captain by day and write fiction at night. Two decades later, he still wishes that was half as interesting as it sounds. Or even a quarter . . .

Jackson is the award-winning author of the comic Caribbean novels Blacktip Island and The Secret of Rosalita Flats, as well as The Blacktip Times humor blog. His “Tales from Blacktip Island” short stories have been published in literary journals worldwide. He is currently concocting his next Blacktip Island novel and still enjoys scuba diving with his dad’s old double-hose reg.

If you’d like to stalk Tim online, visit his website (www.timwjackson.com), the Blacktip Times (www.blacktipisland.com) or follow him on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/timwjacksonauthor/) and Twitter (@timwjax).

Reading or Listening with Covid #BookReviews #SundayBlogShare

After managing to avoid any Covid infection or the many mutations of the original pandemic, I managed to catch what might be the KP3-1-1 variant. Who knows? Reading the symptoms, they all sound the same and I can verify it has kept me in bed for just over eight days with fever, chills, massive headache, body aches, abdominal pains, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and debilitating fatigue. I haven’t had a flu since…the early 90s.

Unfortunately, the CE came down with it the following Thursday, and thankful our son was staying with us to help, appears to be coming down with it now as well. Definitely, the hard way to lose those extra pounds I’d been working on and researching the calories I should be consuming to lose one pound per week at my age, at this point should have lost well over that. I don’t advise this method of weight loss.

Of course, I’ve never been one to just lay there miserable so I started in earnest trying to catch up on some reading and listening, and between long stretches of fevered slumber, either read until I got sleepy again or listened into catatonia.

I had to eventually DNF the following two books. Both sounded good, one an audiobook and the other from NetGalley. Absolutely loved the cover of The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.

It’s about motorcycles?? YES, please!

Plus, it an [Amazon] Editors’ pick of the Best Books of the Year So Far 2024.

How can it miss?

I think I gave up at about 25%. Was it the narrator? No, think it was more the monotonous page after page of petty dialogue. How could I not love this book? I’ll provide the blurb—and let you make the decision.

The flu?

Or just not for me and you loved it.

Book Blurb:

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

Book Details:

Genre: Friendship Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0CH3QR9WX
Listening Length: 15 hrs 20 mins
Narrator: Helen Simonson, Fiona Hardingham
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Source: Local Library
Title Link(s): The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK

As with The Hazelbourne Ladies, I gave No Forgetting Providence: Obsessed Intentions (Book 2) just about 23% before I gave up. I was reading this one and must admit it put me right back to sleep every time I picked it up. The problem was the rereading to remember where I’d left off and finally decided I’d reread enough already.

Book Blurb:

World-famous archaeologist and confident cruise-ship captain Dr. Steven (DR) Ray arrives back in Wall Lake, Michigan, confident the assassination attempt on him and his passengers was a rogue event. Along with his girlfriend, he sets about healing and charting course toward a new future. Then she breaks their engagement the morning after he proposes. Now, he’s again navigating the murky waters of love.

But when the obsession to take down DR proves relentless, love’s the least of his problems. Soon, he and a friend from the cruise are scrambling for their lives as a powerful member of Circle and a hater of the POTUS wants them dead. And Providence-both the boat and his destiny-seems to haunt him as he sails deeper into their ugly plot.

Can DR and his friends survive the Chicago PD and several government agencies with orders to shoot to kill? What about the mercenaries paid to take them down? Find out in Obsessed Intentions Book 2-No Forgetting Providence.

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 and once again, wonder if it was the state of illness or the book was just boring. I just couldn’t get into it. If you enjoy some spirituality in the novels you read, you may very well enjoy.

Book Details:

Genre: Dramas & Plays, Religion & Spirituality
Publisher: Hightower Publications
ASIN: B0D4X5643T
Print Length: 356 pages
Publication Date: March 4, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s): No Forgetting Providence: Obsessed Intentions (Book 2) [Amazon]

Maybe I shouldn’t have been reading or listening at all, but I did subsequently find several books that held my interest through sleeping/waking/coughing bouts. These reviews will be coming as the length of time actually sitting in a chair increases over the next week. So they say everyone’s experience is different: This is Day 9 and I’m finally eating some yogurt and soup. The CE is a few days behind me—we’re both seniors, but… Progress, huh?

Enjoy Your Sunday!

Rosepoint Reviews – July Recap – Six Audiobooks of Twelve Reviewed

Rosepoint Reviews - July Recap

Too hot for much in the way of outdoor activities, but I’ve been working on saving rain water as we are charged for every drop out of the faucet and then the same for sewer services, so I hate watering the garden with water that will also be charged for sewer.

One barrel in the front is enough to water a few potted plants decorating the front yard. Then I got a temporary rain barrel for the back and the first time it filled to capacity in one of our upper Midwest T-storms it went over. One hundred gallons is a LOT of water and quickly overwhelmed the overflow at the top. So I reconfigured the base and siphoned the water out in anticipation of another gully washer. It’s going a long way to watering the veggie and flower bed as well as the potted plants on the deck and the deck plants are looking very happy. We used to have dry periods, not this year though. This year, we’ve not just had rain, we’ve had some serious major storms, and looking ahead, August is promising some douzies. We are still cleaning up a couple trees that came down in the fairy garden.

Update on Punkin the Pom: that little stinker is still a challenge now at almost ten months with us. Looks like progress with housetraining, then we regress. She continues to bond with the CE but must still equate me with the dragon that forced her to have another litter. Now she’ll occasionally initiate a walk, running outside then plopping butt down to have the leash attached. (That doesn’t mean a successful potty walk, however.) I have found a new treat she’ll accept (that’s two!) and she is beginning to spend some “social” time near the CE (play time, however, was apparently something she never had nor a clue how to jump up on a couch).

I managed to bake a successful loaf of bread from my third sourdough starter—long story there that includes an attack by a demon squirrel on the starter left on the deck to slow rising—and the separation of 20 grams I’d saved in the fridge for use later. Turned out, later was the next day, but it turned out wonderful, great texture, light and airy, flavorful. Thrilled but now wonder if I could have siphoned off ten grams to save and ten to use.

So yes, July was a blur with the CE’s attention divided and my spending more time in the kitchen. I’m still thinking of a short break, so much going on, it’s been a struggle and I’m relying on more audiobooks to provide content as evidenced by July stats.

I’m still getting books from NetGalley as well as author requests, but July saw more audiobooks than before from my library (six in July!) or half the books reviewed for a total of twelve. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

July Recap

Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (audiobook)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (audiobook)
Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey
Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda (audiobook)
City Gone Askew by Matt Cost (CE review)
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (audiobook)
Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger
12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington
Middletide by Sarah Crouch (audiobook)
Dark of the Moon by John Sandford (audiobook)
The Road to Roatan by Michael Reisig

Favorite Book of the Month

I actually had two five-star books in July—loved them both—and if I had to choose just one, fail. 12 Coffins was a YA, unusual for me, but more than quirky enough to really keep me glued to the pages. Lilac Ink is by one of my favorite authors and this novel begins a new series—totally captivated by the characters—all so real they came alive on the pages. Thoroughly invested and looking forward to Book 2.

Favorites for July – 12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington

Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger

My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—I refuse to give up on this page—I will bring it up to date, but at this point, it will probably be Fall. The Goodreads Challenge is still six books behind schedule at 80 of 150. I must be having too much fun somewhere!

Welcome as always to my new subscribers and thank you so much to those of you who continue to monitor, read, and comment on my posts. I appreciate all of you.

Happy Thursday!

Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Murder by Month Mystery Book 3

Book Blurb:

Independence Day comes with fireworks, a budding romance, and hometown murder in this sharp and witty mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.

When Fourth of July weekend coincides with Wenonga Days—the annual celebration of a locally famous Ojibwe leader—the town of Battle Lake double-dips on the tourist trade. This year the hullabaloo hasn’t even started and there’s already a story for reporter Mira James.

The Chief Wenonga statue has disappeared, leaving behind drops of human blood and a big question for Mira: How and why would anyone steal a twenty-three-foot monument? Things go from curious to worse when a local man is kidnapped. And from worse to downright gruesome when a corpse is found in the lakeside cabin of a horticultural hottie Mira’s been crushing on from afar.

Mira has no choice but to trail a statue thief, find a missing person, and clear an earthy dreamboat’s name from a murder charge. Not to mention risk her own life to unmask a cold-blooded killer.

My Review:

Yes, it’s Book 3 of the series, and no, I haven’t read the first or second, but see there are quite a number of them, changing slightly from Mystery (number) to Romcom Mystery (number). This one caught my eye because of the saying; it’s one very familiar in our area as well and the timing was perfect—I read it over the July 4^th long weekend.

“Farm mythology declared that if the corn was knee high by the Fourth of July, it’d be a bumper crop.”

Mira as a reporter for a weekly newspaper in the tiny town of Battle Lake is rather a scatterbrain and I don’t remember exactly how she got the position as she is also supposed to be the local librarian. In a town that size, I suspect they don’t necessarily have to be there all the time as Mira seems free to go about her investigation with little problem.

The focus this installment is the theft of the Chief Wenonga statue, some 23’ of him, leaving behind a base with obvious blood drops. I like the atmospheric location of the little town in Minnesota, apparently an actual lake town, and wonder how they feel about the way they are portrayed in the series.

I thought it was an interesting storyline, although I wondered about the July weather sounding more like Florida than Minnesota, and the quirky characters made for some snappy, snarky dialogue. It wasn’t so much the mystery as the writing style, phrases, colloquial words I hadn’t seen or heard in a long, long time that gave me a chuckle and kept me turning pages.

On the whole, a rather simplistic cozy with a side focus on gardening and animals (dog and cat) rather than food and recipes and very light on the romcom side of cozy. Thank you!

I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and found it to be a fast, easy read. Yes, it bends toward silly but I see these are rereleases of books published much earlier with the month theme. Okay, then I’ll have to check out August Moon—whenever it’s released—and give this one 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

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.

Rosepoint Rating: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Heist Thrillers, Mystery Romance, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ASIN: B0CQMJM931
Print Length: 220 pages
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Jess Lourey writes about secrets.

She’s the Amazon Charts bestselling, Edgar-nominated, ITW Thriller, Anthony, and Minnesota Book Award-winning author of young adult, magical realism, crime fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. She’s a retired professor of writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and a TEDx presenter (check out her TEDx Talk to discover the surprising inspiration behind MAY DAY, her first published novel).

She lives in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man are those goobers a lot of work). Drop by jessicalourey.com to find out more.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog Keera Duggan Book 2

Keera Duggan Book 2

Book Blurb:

A master manipulator accused of murder. An attorney sworn to defend her. Keera Duggan returns in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court—she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.

Five years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she was: a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.

As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears that this time she’s telling nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.

My Review:

The second in the series, the first Her Deadly Game read by the CE in October 2022, was my turn and I had no problem reading it as a standalone.

Keera’s father taught her to play chess and play very well. She uses many of those techniques as she takes on Jenna Bernstein, an old childhood friend turned nemesis. Jenna will never tell the truth when a lie will do and at this age doesn’t seem to be able to distinguish between the two. She declares her innocence, however, when her business partner is found murdered. And what do you know? She clearly has motive, means, and apparently opportunity. Or was the latter just more manipulation to play the all too obvious?

“…any kind of SODDI defense–some other dude did it.”

As always with Dugoni’s complex plots, it won’t be easy to get to the bottom of the disturbing premise. Jenna is a deeply unlikable character. Keera comes off as smart, quick-witted, and street-smart savvy. She was taught by the best, her dad, the “Irish Brawler.” I appreciated her character as she turned a jaundiced eye on Jenna, who clearly appeared to be a sociopath. There is the promise of what might be a romantic thread with open-minded Detective Rossi, who appears may be strong support in coming series episodes.

Of course, it is a legal thriller and as always I love those courtroom scenes, the jousting, the timing, and the use of the nuances of the law—so like chess moves—with an eye on plays well down the line.

As the book weaves the way through the mysteries, twists, and revelations, the storyline moves smoothly into the conclusion. Any reader who enjoys legal thrillers will certainly appreciate the Dugoni writing style. It’s gripping, entertaining, and well paced.

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.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thrillers, Murder, Murder Thrillers
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN: 166250022X
ASIN: B0CRWV4125
Print Length: 365 pages
Publication Date: October 22, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 10 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, the Keera Duggan legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including The 7th Canon, Damage Control, the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – Suspense Magazine’s Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award and the critically acclaimed, The World Played Chess; historical novels based on true events: A Killing on the Hill about Seattle during the great depression and Hold Strong, a WWII novel; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Several of his novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and multiple awards for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.

Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than thirty countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Visit his website and follow him on Amazon, Goodreads, twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok and other social media sites.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Reviews – June Recap – Boo to Century July Temps!

The rabbits and deer have won the fairy garden. It’s official. I’ve given up on live plants and planted plastic instead. Animals 1 – farmer 0. It’s a tie on the veggie bed with chicken wire and mesh around my tender plants. They did manage to penetrate to a vigorous bean plant and that plant won’t be going anywhere now. Love the animals, but…

Punkin the Pom is carefully beginning to enjoy her walks.* The CE, having a closer bond, is trusting her more and she’s taking advantage. Otherwise, still accepting few treats, no toys, no offers of companionship, and housetraining is a throw of the dice.

June was a struggle, once again, with the CE’s attention divided and my spending more time in the kitchen. It didn’t help that I decided my next personal challenge was to make a sourdough starter and produce a loaf of sourdough bread. I’m currently on the third try which is not looking good right now at Day 4 of a 6-7 day cycle of starter. Of course, it’s also that time of the year when the gardens and outdoor activities take precedence.

I’m thinking, if not a sabbatical, then a greatly reduced schedule through July and probably August. Most of my reading now includes audiobooks as time for reading has been greatly reduced. Of the twelve books, half were audiobooks!

As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

The Curse of King Midas by Colleen M Story (CE review)
Lockdown by Sara Driscoll
The Cyanide Canary by Robert Dugoni and Joseph Hilldorfer (audiobook)
The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay (audiobook)
The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci (audiobook)
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (audiobook)
Best House on the Block by T R Ragan
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (audiobook)
Prevailing Wind by Thomas Dolby (CE review)
Breach by Holly S Roberts (blog tour)
Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

I really loved The Wild Road Home—it was addictive, kept me reading, and I was thoroughly invested in the well-developed characters. It fell just one-half star short of five, however, and the CE easily gave his book, Prevailing Wind, five stars even with a rather slow start. It’s a toss up, but I’ll have to give the nod to his book.

Favorite for June – Prevailing Wind by Thomas Dolby

My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—well, you know the score. Life is scattered and chaotic right now. The Goodreads Challenge is now six books behind schedule at 68 of 150. I make no promises.

Welcome as always to my new subscribers! My blog hopping time has seriously suffered having apparently landed somewhere underneath getting a review out. I apologize for the slow response to your great posts, but I’m trying. Honest.

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