Book Review: Frayed Edges: A Quilting Cozy by Carol Dean Jones

 

                                                                 Kindle Edition
                                                               Published June 25th 2021
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In the twelfth installment, excitement grows as the Tuesday Night Quilters plan an antique quilt show. But things go terribly wrong. Sarah and Sophie again throw themselves into the middle of the investigation, but this time Sarah finds herself in real danger. As always, Sarah and her retirement village cohorts offer fun, mystery, and lots of quilting.

                                                                  MY REVIEW:

Frayed Edges: A Quilting Cozy by Carol Dean Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the 12th book in the series. I have not read the other books but I still knew who the characters were and their part in the series.
If you like quilting or any other crafts/hobbies then you will enjoy this. The friendships and how hey help each other is part of the friendships.
This is a cozy mystery and I was able to read this in 1 sitting.
The friends decide to hold a quilt show but when something happens then there is a mystery to solve and they will solve it if it is the last thing that they do.
Thank you to C&T Publishing along with Edelweiss for the ARC to review

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About Carol Dean Jones

I'm Carol Dean Jones, a retired geriatric social worker born in Kentucky and currently living in the West Virginia foothills. During my many years working with men and women facing the issues of aging, I learned a great deal about growing old. Sarah Miller was born out of my desire to share what I have learned. Sarah is the main character in my Quilting Cozy series and a woman of a certain age who has faced the loss of her husband, her young grandson, and the home where she raised her family. Yet, Sarah is a survivor.

The story begins in Cunningham Village, a retirement community, and follows Sarah as she finds ways to make a successful adjustment to this new way of life. From taking classes at the community center, making lasting friendships, and even exploring the possibility of a romantic connection, Sarah remains steadfastly determined to continue to be a vital, active woman engaged in life.
I love hearing from my readers and potential readers. Just leave a message on my website at http://www.caroldeanjones.com or send me an email at QuiltingCozy@gmail.com

Book Review: Dead In The Dark by Stephen Booth

 

                                                           Kindle Edition, 400 pages
                                              Published July 13th 2017 by Sphere
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How do you prove a murder without a body?

Ten years ago, Reece Bower was accused of killing his wife, a crime he always denied. Extensive police searches near his home in Bakewell found no trace of Annette Bower's remains, and the case against him collapsed.

But now memories of the original investigation have been resurrected for Detective Inspector Ben Cooper - because Reece Bower himself has disappeared, and his new wife wants answers.

Cooper can't call on the Major Crime Unit and DS Diane Fry for help unless he can prove a murder took place - impossible without a body. As his search moves into the caves and abandoned mines in the isolated depths of Lathkilldale, the question is: who would want revenge for the death of Annette Bower?




                                                            MY REVIEW:

Dead in the Dark by Stephen Booth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

10 years ago, Reece Bower's wife disappeared and he was accused of killing her. Police searched and never found anything. Now Reece has disappeared and his new wife wants to know what happened to him.
Ben Cooper and Diane Fry are detectives on the case and they won't stop until they solve it.
This is the 17thbook of the series and even though I didn't read any of the others in this series, I felt that I learned enough about them to read it as a standalone.
Thank you to Edelweiss for the book to review.

Stephen Booth

Born in Burnley, The United Kingdom

Website
http://www.stephen-booth.com/

Twitter
stephenbooth

Genre
Mystery & Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Crime

URL
https://www.goodreads.com/stephenbooth


Stephen Booth is the author of 18 novels in the Cooper & Fry series, all set around England's Peak District, and a standalone novel DROWNED LIVES, published in August 2019.

The Cooper & Fry series has won awards on both sides of the Atlantic, and Detective Constable Cooper has been a finalist for the Sherlock Award for Best Detective created by a British author. The Crime Writers’ Association presented Stephen with the Dagger in the Library Award for “the author whose books have given readers most pleasure.”

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Book Review: For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Published December 11th 2018 by MIRA

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On their first date back in law school, Natalie and Will Clarke bonded over drinks, dinner and whether they could get away with murder. Now married, they’ll put the latter to the test when an unchecked danger in their community places their son in jeopardy. Working as a criminal defense attorney, Nat refuses to rely on the broken legal system to keep her family safe. She knows that if you want justice…you have to get it yourself.

Shocked to discover Nat’s taken matters into her own hands, Will has no choice but to dirty his, also. His family is in way too deep to back down now. He’s just not sure he recognizes the woman he married. Nat’s always been fiercely protective, but never this ruthless or calculating. With the police poking holes in their airtight plan, what will be the first to fall apart: their scandalous secret—or their marriage?

                                                     MY REVIEW:

For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Natalie and Will met in law school and on their first date they had wondered if they could get away with murder.
Now years later being married they do just that when there is a threat to their community. Nat is a criminal defense attorney and knows how broken the legal system is ad doesn't want to put her son through it all. So Nat does what she thinks she should and calls Will to help her.
Will is not sure he knows the woman he is married to and now the police are asking questions. Will the questions bring about their secret or ruin their marriage that already seems to be in trouble.
Being a parent I can see how much you want to protect your kids. Nat being a lawyer made some really good points about the children being victims and having to go to court and stand in front of the jury and the accused and pour out all their emotions. I can't even imagine putting a child through that.
In the end what did they learn? and what secrets is Will keeping?
This book was so good and I don't know why it took me so long to get to it.
Thanks for the ARC from Edelweiss.

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Margot Hunt

Born

in Syracuse, The United States

Website

http://www.margothunt.com

Genre

Thriller, Contemporary

Margot Hunt is the pseudonym of a bestselling writer of twelve previous novels. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is her first psychological thriller.

Learn more about Margot and her forthcoming books at
margothunt.com.

Book Review: The Captain and the Queen by Phillip Vega

                                                                       Kindle Edition, 251 pages

                                                 Published September 10th 2018 by thewordverve inc.

                                                                              Buy from Amazon 

When the “thunderbolt” of love really happens and there is no denying its heat, its intensity. When life events threaten to pull loved ones apart. When the world is a smaller place than you imagine. When true love never dies.

This is the story of the “captain” and the “queen,” a coming-of-age romance set on Long Island. The passions of a daughter of a Greek tycoon and a Hispanic boy from a middle-class family are tested against all odds as they become more than just friends. The question is: how long can it possibly last?

                                                                      MY REVIEW:

The Captain & the Queen by Phillip Vega

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This takes place in the 80's where there are no computers or cell phones.
Mateo and Callie are seniors in high school, at a private school. She is a new student who catches Mateo's eye as soon as he sees her. She is Greek and he is hispanic. Her dad is a Greek tycoon and Mateo has a dad being unemployed. His family loves Callie but she is afraid to tell her dad as he expects her to marry and have kids once she is 21. It's young love and getting caught up in their lives and romance, young love.
This was so well written and I read it in 1 day. I could not put it down. And the ending was perfect!
Thank you to Edelweiss for the ARC to review.

Phillip Vega

Born

in New York, The United States

Website

https://www.phillipvega.com

Twitter

AuthorPhilVega

Genre

Contemporary, Fiction, Romance

Phillip Vega has always been a storyteller, but he’d never put pen to paper until a few years ago. Suddenly, he had a publishing contract, and in the midst of the vortex of marketing, analytics, refining, and continuing to write, he discovered what he defines as his true calling, his passion. He is now fully and happily immersed in the whirlwind that is the publishing industry, even as he diligently continues his work in software sales.

Phillip is a Long Islander with Hispanic roots, now living Florida, and it is from those memories of summers in Long Island that he crafted his book, Last Exit to Montauk. Now he can’t stop his brain from working through new ideas for future stories.

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Book Review: Nighttown by Timothy Hallinan

Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender has a rule about never taking a job that pays too well—in the criminal underworld, if someone is offering you more money than a job is worth, someone is going to end up dead. But he’s bending his rule this one time because he and his girlfriend, Ronnie, are in desperate need of cash so they can hire a top-notch kidnapper to snatch Ronnie’s two-year-old son back from her evil ex. The whole thing is pretty complicated, and has Junior on edge.

The parameters of his too-well-paying job do nothing to calm his nerves. A nameless woman in an orange wig has offered Junior fifty grand—twenty-five up front—to break into the abandoned house of a recently deceased 97-year-old recluse, Daisy Horton, and steal a doll from the woman’s collection. Junior knows no doll is worth $50k, so he figures there must be something hidden inside the doll that can get him in a heap of trouble. It takes Junior less time than he would have hoped to realize he’s not the only person looking for the doll. When an old friend ends up murdered, Junior decides he will stop at nothing to figure out who the woman in the orange wig is, and why she wants the doll so bad she’s leaving a trail of bodies in her wake


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                              MY REVIEW:

Nighttown by Timothy Hallinan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is supposed to be a book about a burglar. I guess to me a burglar would go around and case out places and steal from the wealthy. But this character gets hired by someone to steal something that was in a house of someone who had passed away. Ok but Junior Bender spends more time having coffee and pie and dialogue with everyone he knows that I found this story very slow and boring. I wanted to quit reading at 50% but I said no, let's finish the book. at 88% I REALLY wanted to DNF but I figured I got this far that I might as well figure out. Myabe it's because it is the 7th book of this series and I hadn't read the other books.
I received this from Edelweiss for review.

Timothy Hallinan

Born

in Los Angeles, The United States

Website

http://www.timothyhallinan.com

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers

Influences

Raymond Chandler, Anthony Trollope, Moses and many others

I'm a thriller and mystery novelist with 22 published books in three series, all with major imprints. I divides my time between Los Angeles and Southeast Asia, primarily Thailand, where I've lived off and on for more than twenty years. As of now, My primary home is in Santa Monica, California.

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Book Review: The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter

New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter brings back Will Trent and Sara Linton in this superb and timely thriller full of devious twists, disturbing secrets, and shocking surprises you won’t see coming

A mysterious kidnapping

On a hot summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center parking lot. Vanished into thin air, the authorities are desperate to save the doctor. 

A devastating explosion

One month later, the serenity of a sunny Sunday afternoon is shattered by the boom of a ground-shaking blast—followed by another seconds later. One of Atlanta’s busiest and most important neighborhood’s has been bombed—the location of Emory University, two major hospitals, the FBI headquarters, and the CDC.

A diabolical enemy

Medical examiner Sara Linton and her partner Will Trent, an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, rush to the scene—and into the heart of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to destroy thousands of innocent lives. When the assailants abduct Sara, Will goes undercover to save her and prevent a massacre—putting his own life on the line for the woman and the country he loves


                                   MY REVIEW:

The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow! The book starts out with a woman being kidnapped, right in front of her daughter. She is a scientist at the Center of Disease Control.
A month later Medical Examiner Sara and her partner Will hear and feel an explosion and go to check it out as it looks like it as it the University. They come upon a car accident and Sara is abducted in front of Will. Will is devastated and Sara's mom seems to blame him.
Will is an investigator and is working with his team to find out what has happened to Sara.
What we see is a horrible situation and a man who is playing god.
Will feels like he isn't good enough for Sara and she has money. They both seem to want the same thing but really need to talk things through once he finds her.
There is trigger of rape and mention of child abuse.
I received this from Edelweiss and William Morrow for review.

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The Woman Inside by E. G. Scott review

Rebecca didn’t know love was possible until she met Paul, a successful, charismatic, married man with a past as dark as her own. Their pain drew them together with an irresistible magnetism; they sensed that they were each other’s ideal (and perhaps only) match.

But twenty years later, Paul and Rebecca are drowning as the damage and secrets that ignited their love begin to consume their marriage. Paul is cheating on Rebecca, and his affair gets messy fast. His mistress is stalking them with growing audacity when Rebecca discovers Paul’s elaborate plan to build a new life without her. And though Rebecca is spiraling into an opiate addiction, it doesn’t stop her from coming up with a devious plot of her own, and this one could end absolutely everything.

What follows is an unpredictable and stylish game of cat and mouse—a shocking tale of unfaithfulness and unreliability that will keep you racing until the final twist and make you wonder how well you really know your spouse.

My Thoughts:

The Woman Inside by E.G.   Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I must say when I first started this book I was on the fence about it and thought should I even keep reading. The lies, betrayals, cheating and everything that is in a thriller is all there. What was Rebecca thinking? She had an affair with a married man and he left his wife for her. You know this from the beginning so why is she shocked that he would do that to her? Then the woman he is seeing is crazy loco. Her drug addiction makes her not see things right and some of this could have been different for her if she wasn't on them. Paranoia and delusional all makes a recipe for disaster. But the ending had me feeling so bad for the both of them. It just got to me.
I received this from First To Read and Edelweiss for review.

Available January 22 on Amazon https://amzn.to/2VcLMhc

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The Golden Child by Wendy James review

The Golden Child by Wendy James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beth Mahony is a stay-at-home mother of two daughters, Lucy and Charlotte. She's also a blogger, whose alter ego, Lizzie, paints a picture of a busy, happy life. Originally from Australia, Beth and her family have lived in New Jersey for ten years. When an opportunity to relocate to Australia arises, the Mahonys decide to return to their native country. The move comes at the perfect time: Charlotte, the youngest daughter, has been accused of being the ringleader of a clique of girls whose dangerous initiation rites leave a child in hospital.
But then things happen again in Australia that points again to Charlotte. 2 families that get a long and make friendships. 1 of the children is a bully and 1 ends up in the hospital. I would have given this a 4 but the ending kind of sucked for me. Yes there was a twist but really parents? Is this how you deal with your children?
I received this ARC from Edelweiss and Skyhorse Publishing for an honest review.


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Hunting Houses by Franny Britt review

Hunting Houses by Fanny Britt
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Tessa is a thirty-seven-year-old real estate agent living in Montreal. She adores her husband and three young sons, but she’s deeply unhappy and questioning the set of choices that have led to her present life.

After a surprising run-in with Francis, her ex-boyfriend and first love, Tessa arranges to see him. During the three days before their meeting, she goes about her daily life — there’s swimming lessons, science projects, and dirty dishes. As the day of her meeting with Francis draws closer she has to decide if she is willing to disrupt her stable, loving family life for an uncertain future with him.

What can I say? BORING!! by the time I got to the end of the book I could care less about Tess. This book was so slow and so boring I wanted to stop reading. Jumping from one subject to another drove me nuts. I couldn't tell what she was talking about. So she has a good marriage, 3 beautiful sons who are about perfect. A Real Estate career and a husband who adores her. I wanted to shout out to her to grow up and shut the F up.


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