Month: October 2019

Shot Through the Hearth by Kate Carlisle

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery1 Comment

Shot Through the Hearth (A Fixer-Upper Mystery, #7)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Fixer-Upper Mystery #7
Publication Date: 10/31/19
Number of Pages: 304

This was my first book in this series and I am impressed. Of course, I expected to be impressed since I have read all of the books in the author’s Bibliophile Mystery series and have loved each and every one of them. I’ve also watched a few of the movies based on this series and liked them okay, but wasn’t totally impressed. My belief is that the book is always better than the movie – and that was certainly correct this time. I like both Shannon and Mac much better in the book! I liked the lighthearted banter between Shannon and Mac and also between Shannon and her friends.

Shannon and her construction company are undertaking their biggest job yet and it is really exciting for them because they will be doing some types of construction they’ve never done before. Not only will they be refurbishing an old farmhouse, but they’ll also be constructing all the venues for a huge environmental/earth survival conference where all of the latest green building technologies will be featured. This is all at the behest their client Raphael (Rafe) Nash who is a retired tech bazillionaire who is engaged to one of Shannon’s best friends – Marigold.

As the conference begins, Shannon meets some really strange people who are involved in all sorts of planet-saving research and/or projects. Some are true ding-a-lings, some are serious believers, and others are putting their drive and intelligence to good use by developing earth sustaining products. Everybody seems really excited about this first-ever conference – and the chance to win a grant from the newly formed Marigold Foundation.

It isn’t too long into the conference before a body is found. The victim was a real dastard and wasn’t liked by anyone – meaning that there are well over five-hundred suspects. Finding someone who didn’t want him dead would be an easier task. As both the conference and the investigation continue – other strange things happen – and then another body. Who is trying to ruin the conference? Or – is someone also trying to kill Rafe or Marigold?

Mac and Shannon continue to help the Police Chief with the investigation because they want to assure that their friends, Rafe and Marigold, aren’t harmed.

One of my favorite parts has to do with Shannon and the ‘smart’ mice. Also, as I mentioned before, the humor and banter among the main characters are delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and definitely recommend it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

To Tame a Scandalous Lady by Liana De La Rosa

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

To Tame a Scandalous Lady (Once Upon A Scandal, #3)To Tame a Scandalous Lady by Liana De la Rosa

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Once Upon A Scandal #3

Release Date: October 21, 2019

Lady Flora Campbell, the youngest daughter of the Duke of Kilmorow, is visiting with her sister Juliana, the Duchess of Ashwood and drops a bombshell – she wants to take a job as an assistant trainer at the renown horse farm Amstead Gardens and work under the Marquess of Amstead – one of the best trainers in England. Flora’s dream is not to marry and have children, but to run a successful horse farm. She is aware of the risks to not only her reputation, but her families, but for her, the benefit outweighs the risk. So she disguises herself as a man and takes a chance.

3 months later, Christian Andrews, Marquess of Amstead is finally back at Amstead Gardens and ready to dive into training his new stallion, Asad. After a devastating fire that killed his father, Christian learned the extended of his father’s debt. In an effort to raise funds, he is holding a house party to attracted investors, one of whom is a former lover, who wants to rekindle their affair. In an effort to escape her, Christian goes to the stables, hoping to find his trainer Baniti Mubarak and get caught up with the progress of Asad. In the stables he runs into the assistant trainer – William Grant and immediately thinks that he is very “pretty”, but Baniti has nothing but good things to say and once he sees Will with the horses, he knows “he” has a gift.

Flora is immediately attracted but needs to stay focused. They spend a lot of time together and it isn’t long before he discovers her secret and they become lovers. But Flora hasn’t shared all her secrets and when the truth is revealed, Christian is hurt and angry. But Flora will not give up her dream, not even for love.

I didn’t really care for this book, the writing was great, but the story itself didn’t really capture my attention, first, there is A LOT of horse training, in fact most of the book is about horses, which just aren’t my “thing”. I probably could have overlooked that, but I found myself really disliking Flora, I thought she was incredibly selfish and the fact that she acknowledges it at the end didn’t endear her to me, it just make me dislike her all the more. Yes, Christian made some stupid comments and decrees, but for the most part, I felt like he was the victim, but he had to do most of the compromising in the end and Flora basically got to call all the shots and got her way without having to give up anything, even though she was the cause of all the trouble. I read the two previous books in the series and loved them and while I find no fault in the writing, I just didn’t like Flora and the story was just not my cuppa. This is the third book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*