Queen of Hearts (Heels, Rhymes & Nursery Crimes Vol. 21) By Natalina Reis

 

Queen of Hearts by Natalina Reis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think every woman would know someone that she'd like to send to the Queen of Hearts!! This book was a little different than I expected, but I was not disappointed!! I have not read any other books in this series but I believe this little stand alone served it's purpose...to get me to read the other books! :)

Mimi Mioyo (I love how that name rolls off the tongue) is fed up over the way that men can get by treating...or mistreating, women. Thus, she becomes the Queen of Hearts. Any man who can beat her at a game of Stolen Hearts has an opportunity with her that other men are clamoring for. The thing is, would they be if they knew what *really* happens behind the Queen's doors?

Jac is a new guy in town who claims to be Mimi's new dealer. Mimi isn't sure she can trust anyone else but Jac does something to earn her trust...but will it ever be a complete trust? He is a man after all!

I love how this story intertwines so many facets of things that, unfortunately, happen today. While this is a work of fictional fantasy, I know that some will wish some of these events to come true in their own lives. There are some deep topics covered in this book but all in all, I found it to be a very enjoyable read on a stormy afternoon. I look forward to reading other books in this series!

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The Lie That Binds by Amy Argent

 

The Lie That Binds by Amy Argent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

High school years are tough! Everyone is jockeying for position whether it be with the nerds, jocks, preppies, stoners, etc. Imagine all that stress and being dealt a huge health blow right before your freshman year. Nathan's life is crumbling but no one knows except his family and his teachers.

Holly and her dad just moved to the area. Holly's dad is the new chief of police. No pressure for a new kid, eh? So many challenging things going through Holly's head until she confronts this bully Nathan one day. The next few hours will have her questioning that confrontation.

I really enjoyed this book and wanted to give it 5 stars. However, being the mother of two teenagers, the language and the pretty descriptive "adult" scenes left me challenged. I know that this happens in reality but I would not encourage my children to read this book. The characters are loveable and understandable. Some of them I loved more than others, some of them I grew to love more as I read and learned more about them. The nicknames for the various characters did become a little bit difficult to keep up with at times, especially when interchanging the real names with the nick names. I found "GothGirl" and Ivan to be my favorite characters and I love to read a spin-off about them!!

Overall, an enjoyable book. It encompasses many difficult topics and I believe they are all represented very fairly. This book kept my attention and I read it in 2 sittings (only because my Kindle died and I had to recharge it!).

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Distant Memories (Nurse Morgan Series Book 2) by Kate MacInnis

 

Distant Memories: A Nurse Morgan Series: Book Two by Kate MacInnis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nurse Morgan is back again, only this time has some arm candy in the new hot doctor working at her hospital. She's finally got her new friends in her home to play by her rules and they have mutual understandings for each other and their personal space. Life is going well until Esmeralda shows up. I picture her looking like Elvira and she's all over Dr. Caleb. Morgan isn't going to stand for that and she's doing everything she can to stand up to Esmeralda. Things at the hospital take some weird turns too.
This is a super fun book that was hard to put down! I can't wait for more of Nurse Morgan!

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The Prospect of Death (An Alyssa Chalmers Cozy Mystery) by Carmen Radtke

 

The Prospect of Death by Carmen Radtke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a great, cozy little historical murder mystery romance novel to spend my Saturday enjoying! Alyssa and several of her friends have travelled from Australia to Canada in the hopes of finding husbands. They depart from the boat and start learning their way around Run's End when the hotel owner is found murdered. Alyssa would much rather be a sleuth than to be married and she's running around trying to solve this murder. Meanwhile, the other girls are marrying off and making a life for themselves. Will Alyssa find her happily ever after or will she remain a sleuth?

I enjoyed this book very much. The characters were very loveable, the writing fairly plain (although there are a couple of scenes that I felt might have been abandoned), and there was a great balance of mystery and romance. I was not aware that this was the second book in this series so this can definitely be read as stand-alone but I'm going to go back and read the first book!

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Isabella Bride of Ohio: American Mail Order Bride by Debra Parmley

 

Isabella Bride of Ohio: American Mail-Order Brides Series by Debra Parmley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Isabella has recently arrived in Massachusetts by way of Sweden. She finds work in a textile mill, which burns to the ground shortly after she starts working there. Not sure where she will go or what she will do next, Isabella and a group of her friends start looking at ads for mail-order brides. Isabella starts writing with a man named Donald Jenks and it's soon decided that she will meet up with him. Having already faced a lot of tragedy in her life and hearing her grandmother's warning about how bad things happen in 3's, Isabella is a little apprehensive about this trip to Ohio to meet her likely future husband. He sounds great on paper...has the perfect house, a great job, good life goals...everything a girl who had nothing could desire. Will this be her picture perfect marriage?

I love reading mail-order bride books!! They are some of my favorites. In a way, I liken it to a more modern trend of internet-brides....one of which I am! I met my husband online and we dated for a short time in real life before marrying. I went through similar emotions that Isabella experienced, only in a more modern time frame for sure.

There were a couple of unexpected twists in this book but ones that made the story much more relatable and realistic. The characters were very well developed and likeable (well, most of them were...). I understand that this book is part of a 50 book series. I'll have to read some of the others in this series!

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The Know-It-All Pencil (Invisible Magic Wand Series Book 5) by Lois Wickstrom

 

The Know-It-All Pencil by Lois Wickstrom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's Caspian's "unbirthday" and today his grandfather has gifted him with a pencil. At first he's confused and then he sees the paper. The pencil writes the word "apple" on the paper. He takes it to the breakfast table where grandfather says he's going to have a star quality day. Caspian is on his way to school when he sees a walker out of place. He returns it to the rightful owner and is given something in exchange for his kind act. This goes on for awhile with various people until Caspian finally learns the meaning behind the star.

The illustrations are so bright and vibrant!!! I love that about a great children's book. The story is very well done as well and brings up several talking points after the book has finished. I have enjoyed this book series so far!

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Jake the Growling Dog Shares His Trail (Jake the Growling Dog Book 3) by Samantha Shannon

 

Jake the Growling Dog Shares His Trail by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jake loves his morning walks on the trail with Neet. One day they come across some new markings in the dirt and they become concerned. Who's on their trail? Soon, they have friends to come over and they all end up making a new friend. Their new friend is a little different but they hardly notice because they are having so much fun!

This book focuses on acceptance of differences. There are a few activities in the back of the book to help the reader with how to deal with situations like these. The illustrations are fabulous and this is an excellent book for the young and not-so-young!

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Jake the Growling Dog(Jake the Growling Dog Book 1) by Samantha Shannon

 

Jake the Growling Dog by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jake is a misunderstood dog. He growls all the time so everyone thinks that he's angry or mean. He's not though! He's just thankful for all that he has!

This is a super cute, very short read that focuses on thankfulness. It includes some ways that readers can be thankful and show that to others. It also contains an activity to help children remain thankful.

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Jake the Growling Dog Goes to Doggy Daycare (Jake the Growling Dog Book 2) by Samantha Shannon

 

Jake the Growling Dog Goes to Doggy Daycare by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jake is having to go to doggy daycare and he's a bit scared. He's never been away from his family before. With the help and support of his friend, Neet, Jake is able to overcome his fears and enjoy spending a couple of days making new friends and trying out new experiences.

This book focuses on the value of friendship, how to overcome fears and stress, and about loyalty. The illustrations in this book are very well done! The end of the book has some tips on how to deal with fearful/stressful situations. This book would be great for any child (or even adult!) that is going through or about to go through a difficult time.

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Distant Heart Sounds (Nurse Morgan Series Book 1) by Kate MacInnis

 

Distant Heart Sounds by Kate MacInnis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Morgan is an experienced ER nurse, having over 20 years under her belt. Within the past three months, she's had surgery to repair a brain aneurysm and things just haven't been the same since. It starts out with a feeling, a tingling sensation, then progresses to much more. Is there someone in her house? She grabs the baseball bat and makes sure she's alone...but is she really??
Trauma has a way of changing things in a person. Morgan's been through a lot and her friend and co-worker Dr. Savannah thinks she's come back to work too soon. The ER bustles with trauma and one day it smacks Morgan in the face when she realizes she is talking to someone who is dead! She can hear them, feel them, and sometimes see them. Is she going crazy?
Then Dr. Carter starts working at the hospital with her. Oh, he's quite the hunk and all the girls are drooling over him. He sees things too. Maybe this isn't as weird as it sounds....

This was a fun book to read! I am a former nurse who had to retire due to trauma. I've been in "haunted" hospital rooms so I could identify with some of the things that Morgan experienced. I'm still not fully certain that this isn't all in my head but maybe one day we'll know more! A very enjoyable book that had me longing to go back to the bedside!! I look forward to reading more books in this series.

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The Happily Ever After Bookstore by Bernadette Marie

 

The Happily Ever After Bookstore by Bernadette Marie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bookstores are amongst the happiest places on all the earth! Leona is the owner of the bookstore and she loves interjecting into the lives of others. When Sadie stops in to grab the newest book on the shelf and, quite literally, runs into Charlie who is buying a book for his grandmother, Leona works her magic and brings smiles to many faces.
Fiona is in a new town and stumbles into Leona's bookstore. Fiona has a new book that's about to be available to the public and Leona wants to host a book signing party for her. It's that flyer in the corner that catches Fiona's eye though. She's not sure she ever wants to see her ex-husband Prince again. Then he walks into the store during the book signing...
The pipes are a mess and water is leaking everywhere but here comes Jon to the rescue. He's always wanted to buy this old dilapidated building and fix it up but the codgy old man who owns it won't even consider selling. Then the pipes burst and Leona's bookstore is a total loss. Maybe the old man will change his mind now...

This story features 3 couples with a 4th playing a huge silent role! I was having a hard time believing in this story at first because, well, it just seemed to good to be true. However, the more I read the more I fell in love and by the end of this book, these characters almost felt like family! I have never read this author before but have since added all her books to my TBR pile! I love how she writes a clean novel that is enduring and leaves the reader feeling like they get their HEA after finishing the book!

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Deadly Sommer (Nora Sommer Caribbean Suspense Book 1) by Nicholas Harvey

 

Deadly Sommer by Nicholas Harvey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nora is a native Norweigian who is living on the Grand Cayman Islands. She is a newly inducted Constable with the local police department. This particular area doesn’t see a lot of crime but Nora is chomping at the bit to do “something fun”. Little does she know that her life is about to change!
Entering a house that had a sign that lured Nora and her partner, Nora finds herself in a dangerous mind game with a girl’s life at stake. Can she maneuver through these grueling tasks that this insane kidnapper is demanding, while knowing that he’s livestreaming every step she takes?
This is a new-to-me author but not much longer! There are other stories that give a little bit more of Nora’s back story but I don’t feel like I missed a lot by not reading them prior. The author gives enough background to grasp the gist of her story. I do look forward to going back and reading other books that contain her character to see how she progresses. This book did not disappoint and kept me on the edge of my seat!


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Finding Starlight (Quimby Grove Book 1) by Shannon Nikole

Finding Starlight by Shannon Nikole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is gonna stay with me for awhile! Ellawyn (I love that name!) is suffering at the hands of her abuser. She needs to get away but she’s scared. One day she musters up the courage and finds herself in Quimby Grove. Ella spends her time in the local bookstore, Starlight Books, eating lemon blueberry scones and drinking her vanilla latte. Benji, the elderly bookstore owner, takes a particular liking to her and they strike up a friendship. Things take a turn for Benji and he mentions that his grandson, Beckett, will be arriving soon and he’d like for them to meet up.
Beckett owns an advertising agency but truly misses his home at Starlight Books. He’s ecstatic that his grandfather has called him home for a visit, but at the same time very apprehensive. What could this visit mean for them? Beckett learns the reason and decides he’s going to stay on for awhile and conduct his business affairs remotely. Then he sees her…the girl who stays in Starlight all day long and he has to meet her.
From the moment they meet, Beckett and Ellawyn have explosive fireworks all around. Then the messages start up. The threatening calls, notes left on doors…Ella thought she’d left all that behind. Can she open up her heart to someone else? Is she ready to make the next step in her life?
This book, as I previously mentioned, is going to stick with me for awhile. These characters are very relatable and loveable! I laughed, I cried, I even wanted to throw my book a few times while learning more about the residents of Quimby Grove. Benji completely stole my heart and I really hope the next book in this series is about Max.

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Oliver, A Story of Adoption by Lois Wickstrom

 

Oliver: A Story about Adoption by Lois Wickstrom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oliver is a sweet lil one who has several questions. The biggest one is why he was adopted and what it might have been like to stay with his original family. He gets in trouble with his dad and has some time to reflect on his emotions. There is a lot going on at once in his little mind! Ultimately, Oliver realizes that he is loved and cared for right where he is.

This is a super cute book to read with the littles in your life (or have them read it to you!). The illustrations are good but I would have liked to have seen a little more color. This is a great way to have conversations about the different types of families, as well as how to deal with different emotions one might be feeling.

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