Gone For Good by Joanna Schaffhausen - 5 Stars

 

A really good novel starring Detective Annalisa Vega.  This is a cold case where The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women then disappeared.  This is a great mystery.  It pulled me in from the first couple of pages.  The novel was suspenseful, I thought I knew who it was a couple of times only to be proven wrong.  If you want a book to pick up and read through in the first sitting this book is for you.  I loved the suspenseful twists and turns to this book.  I’ve never read Joanna Schaffhausen, but I’ll be looking for her next book!

 I received this book through NetGalley.com in the kindle format a review was not required.  The opinions are my own and freely given.

 Description from NetGalley.com:

Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.

The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.

Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.

Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it rights and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew—how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.

 

Spirit In Time by Julie Howard - 5 Stars

 

I’m always attracted to books that mention time travel.  This book has that with some very interesting twists on it, as well as romance, history, mystery and ending I sure didn’t see coming.  I absolutely loved the book!  I couldn’t put it down.  This book involves a ghost-blogger who is thrown back into 1872 looking for her boyfriend Mason Chandler.  The description below is from NetGalley.com and tells the highlights very well.  You better not have things to do when you pick this book up you’ll be putting it off to see where this book goes!  I love time travel.

 

I received this book from NetGalley.com at no charge in the kindle format.  I wasn’t required to review the book, but I enjoy doing that for a great book.  The words and opinions above are my own freely given.  #SpiritInTime #NetGalley #JulieHoward

 

Description

Time travel isn't real. It can't be real. But ghost-blogger Jillian Winchester discovers otherwise when an enigmatic spirit conveys her to 1872 to do his bidding. Jillian finds herself employed as a maid in Sacramento, in an elegant mansion with a famous painting.
The artwork reveals another mystery: Why does the man within look exactly like her boyfriend, Mason Chandler?
Morality and sin live side by side, not only in the picture, but also within her. As her transgressions escalate, she races the clock to find the man in the painting, and hunt down a spirit with a disconcerting gift.
But will time be her friend or foe?

 

The Shell Collector by Nancy Naigle – 5 Stars

 

I’ve not read anything by Nancy Naigle but I sure would do so again.  I heartily enjoyed this book.  I loved the character Maeve, the older woman who makes friends with Amanda and her two children.  Amanda moved to a small home on the beach near where she married her husband.  He’s been gone two years, he died while on duty as a Marine.    

Seashells keep popping up all over town on the beach after the water goes out and they have writing in them.  All types of messages that give the finder a great piece of advice or tells them what they need to hear at the time they find them.

Maeve spends her time ever day walking the seashore collecting shells, Amanda and her kids start looking for shells with her.  Amanda had thought she would start a business at home, but found out due to her dog living there it wouldn’t be approved.  A big disappointment.  So she decides in the fall she is going to teach, so she’ll be at home when her kids are home.

This book is full of love, loss and believe it or not second chances.  It’s a great read.  If you ever had a friendship or connection with an older woman, you will love reading about the friendship between Amanda and Maeve.  The book pulls at your heartstrings!

 

I received this book through NetGalley.com at no charge in the kindle format.  I was not required to write a review, I like doing them for good books and this one was great!  The thoughts and opinions above are my own freely given.

 

Description from NetGalley.com:

“A beautiful story full of love, loss, and second chances.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

A touching novel of a friendship that crosses generations, and learning how even the smallest gifts can change a life for good, from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

Two years after her husband’s death, Amanda Whittier has two children to raise alone, an abandoned dream of starting a business, and a fixer-upper cottage by the sea. She has no room in her life for anything else and little interest in moving on after losing the man she loved. 

Paul Grant is a relative newcomer to the area, and his work with former military dogs needing rehabilitation has been good for the town. Though he loved once before, he’s convinced he’s not suited for romance and is determined to find meaning—alone—through his work and role in the community. 

Widowed Maeve Lindsay was born and raised on Whelk’s Island. Spirited, kind, and a little mischievous, she pours her life into the town. But she carries a secret that shapes her every move. 

Together, these three souls find encouragement in the most mysterious places and discover a love that’s bigger than their pain, healing their wounded hearts in ways none of them could have hoped for or expected.

The Bookshop at Peony Harbor (An Aster Island Novel) by Rosie Summers – 5 Stars

 

Eloise Paisley went through a bad divorce; she was left with a cottage that had been in the family forever.  Just when she thinks she may have to sell it she receives a letter from her Grandmother who has been dead for 20 years with a deed for a bookshop on Main Street that is in such bad shape everyone assumes there is a shed there.  Eloise wants to open the bookshop again so much.  She needs help from her three children.  Will she have to sell the bookshop in order to keep the cottage to stay near her children or will she be able to breathe new life into the decrepit book shop.  Boy if I received a letter from my Grandmother I would be so excited and would wonder as she did where it came from after all those years.  Who sat on it and sent it just as she needed it?  Come read about the Paisley family on Aster Island and their struggle with the Bookshop at Peony Harbor, you’ll be glad you did!  Great book.

 

I received this book in the kindle format from NetGalley.com.  I was not required to write a review if the book is good, I will always write one. This book was great.  The opinions and words above are my own freely given.  #TheBookshopAtPeonyHarbor #NetGalley #RosieSummers

Description from NetGalley.com:

Eloise Paisley needs cash, and she needs it fast. Thanks to an unexpected divorce, Eloise is low on funds, and if she doesn’t figure out a way to make ends meet—soon—she’ll lose the beachfront cottage that’s been in her family for over three generations.

Then one morning, out of the blue, Eloise receives a mysterious letter from her grandmother who has been gone for over twenty years. Inside the envelope is the deed to a rundown bookshop on Main Street—a gift for Eloise. Is she up to the task of breathing life into the almost-derelict building, or will she have to sell the beloved property so she can afford to stay on the island near her children?

Fortunately, Eloise isn’t alone in her decision. She’s got three grown children on her side, though each has problems of their own.

Jack, the eldest, is running his own company. Despite his success, he finds that something in his life is missing. Next is Lilah, a mother of two young children whose husband has been spending unexplained late nights at the office, and she’s determined to find out why. The youngest, Angelica, is a free spirit traveling the world for her career. But when she encounters an old flame at home, is it enough to draw her back?

Come visit the Paisley family on Aster Island and follow their journey as they explore new love and second chances, as they travel far and return home, and as they throw their hearts and souls into making a dream come true.

 

Rose Gardner’s Florist by Bonnie Dee – 4 Stars

I really enjoyed this book.  I was up reading it during the night instead of sleeping.  It really held my interest.  I like reading a story based during a year that is very different from the present.  Reading about the romance between the working-class girl who did manage to open her own florist shop and a man who has grown up with and owns quite a bit, a cultivated chap was an enjoyable read.  Rose doesn’t feel she has a chance with this gentleman, he’s out of her league and at first meeting she isn’t attracted to him at all.  At first meeting he’s tongue tied around her, he finds himself attracted to her and doesn’t know what to do.  The characters are likeable, and well developed.  I wanted to get to keep reading to find out how Rose and Will work out their differences.  Rose finds herself asking Will for help in saving a young woman from her guardian.  She soon finds that Will has a lot more going for him than he seemed at first meeting.  A fairly light book with enough going on that you want to keep reading.  I gave it 4 Stars.

I received this book in the kindle format free from Netgalley.com.  A review was not required.  The words and opinion of the book above are my own freely given.

#RoseGardner’sFlorist #BonnieDee #NetGalley

 

Description as found on NetGalley.com:

Romance blooms between a common flower girl and a cultivated gentleman.

Rose Gardener is a common flower girl from Covent Garden, whose grandest wish has come true in the opening of her own florist shop. Despite years of belittling by an unsupportive family, she is proud of her achievement, yet self-doubt lingers under the surface when she is faced with a chance at romance. Surely the quiet, bookish gentleman who buys posies from her could not possibly be interested in a working-class girl.

Struck by the lovely proprietress of a local florist, Will Carmody finds one pretext after another to purchase flowers so he might exchange pleasantries with her. A shy, awkward fellow dedicated to scholarly pursuits has no business fostering lovelorn dreams about a vivacious young lady with a bright future. Will thinks he has little of interest to offer her.

When a young woman threatened by her guardian unburdens herself to Rose, the florist becomes her ally in solving the predicament. But it will take Will’s steady presence and support to face down a dastardly scoundrel.  During their quest for justice, two wallflowers grow stronger and more confident under the bright sunlight of love.