Tracking Game: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

The story begins with a murder.  Someone shot the young husband and torched his van.  Mattie and Cole heard the explosion at the dance so they raced out to see what happened.  As they start sorting through facts, they find that some of the man's time isn't accounted for.  He didnn't go where he said he was going and he was back early.  The more they dig the worse it gets.

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 12th.

They are tracking in the woods above the road he was killed on and they find another dead man.  They also have a run in with a big cat.  The worse part, the cat was chewing on the man. At least he was already dead.  They try to convince her it was a mountain lion, but she knows what one of those sounds like and it wasn't that kind of growl.  The wildlife expert agrees with her.  The footprints are bigger and different shaped.  It's a tiger...

With the sheriff and his deputies, two dogs and their handlers and Cole they go looking for the tiger.  They know it's dangerous.  It's got cliffs the cat could jump from or the hunters could shoot at them.  But they want to save the cat and take the hunters into custody.

Who's going to succeed?

Marisol: Spanish Rose (Charleston Brides #1) by Elva Cobb Martin

Marisol was out in the stables taking care of the horses when he assaulted her.  She wasn't defenseless but she didn't mean to kill him.  She just wanted to stop him.  He came from a moneyed family, she knew what would happen to her.  So she ran...

Wild Heart Books sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published November 12th.

She ends up for sale on the indentured servant' block.  There's a bidding war over her and she ends up on a ship heading out for resale in another land.  Then pirates board them and take the cargo, including the servants.  She's pretty enough she catches the captain's eye.  If things weren't bad enough, she finds she is with child.  Now she has to save them both.

The captain was once a minister but his wife died.  He offers Marisol a job as his son's governess.  She takes it but when she hears he is going to Cartagena, where her aunt lives, she and her son stow away on the ship.  When she's found, he's angry with her but she tells him her aunt can help him find his sister.

He dresses as a priest to escape the ship and accompanies her to her aunt's.  This is where things start getting exciting.  He and Marisol are falling in love.  Marisol finds that the mother of the man she killed wants her son.  She won't give him up, so Grandma steals him.  In the meantime, the captain has found his sister but they've discovered he's not a priest and they are coming after him.  He also finds out Marisol is a murderess and decides he can't love her.

This author keeps you reading and wondering how it will end.  It's a good read.

Death Has Deep Roots: A Second World War Mystery by Michael Gilbert, Martin Edwards (Edited by)

Victoria screams when she finds a dead body.  Then she is accused of murder.  Her first lawyer wants her to plead guilty, so she asks for another.  The new one interviews her.  He knows it looks bad but he believes her.

Poisoned Pen Press and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

She's been through a lot.  Fled her homeland, went to France, got caught by Gestapo there, had a baby while incarcerated, the baby died before it was very old, she managed to get away and now has a job at a hotel.  She'd been asking to see the dead man to inquire if he knew if her lover was still alive.  The other side suggested he was her lover but she denied it.

While the trial is going on, the defense team has a man on the ground checking out facts.  Someone wants him to stop and tries to warn him off.  He's getting closer to something that might help his dad in court when he gets jumped by bad guys.  He gets slashed by a knife but he keeps going.

The real killers and thieves are in plain sight but they lie well and give nothing up.  It's only when they don't appear when called to court that folks become suspicious.

Mr. Gilbert always writes mysteries that are complex and hard to figure out.  The characters are complex and not predictable.  That makes a good mystery.

The Old Success by Martha Grimes

Richard Jury is back again.  He gets called in on a murder by seaside.  It's a woman and two little girls found her.  Trying to talk to the children is difficult.  They are hesitant and the mother butts in.  It doesn't take long to identify the woman but no one knows why she was shot.

Atlantic Monthly Press and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

There are always odd characters and humor strewn around in this series and it makes it fun to read.  This ranged from a cold case years ago ( the retired cop who solved all his cases could not solve his daughter's death but he knew it wasn't suicide) and three current deaths:  the woman by the sea, a woman duster in the church, and a man in his home.

Before the end of the story, they have answers for all the deaths, as strange as they may be.  Policemen don't generally see the nice parts of life.  But they persist in doing their jobs.

I enjoy the Richard Jury mysteries.

The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans by JoAnna Carl

Lee and her husband have purchased a house not far from them.  Her husband, Joe, plans to fix it up and resell.  There's another buyer trying to outbid them but the sellers are sticking with Joe's offer.  When Lee takes the plumber down to the basement to check on the pipes, she sees some rags in the crossbeams overhead.  Her husband had cleaned that room, so she asks the plumber to get it down.  He drops it and a gun goes off.  It almost hit Lee!

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

They are both amazed to find a gun in the rags.  It's a gun that has been missing for a long time.

The next surprise was a dead body in the cupboards of the garage.  It's the other buyer and he's been murdered.  To add insult to injury, they suspect Joe as a suspect.  After all, they had words about the sale of the house in a public place.  Lee is ready to do her own snooping.  She knows Joe didn't do it.

They finally figure it out after many questions, but the killer is coming after them now...

Novice Dragoneer by E.E. Knight

Ileth is fourteen and when she met a Dragoneer and her dragon she developed her own goal of becoming one, too.  When she gets old enough to apply as a novice, she runs away but she gets there too late.  She's sent to the back door but the guard won't let her in there either.  So she spends a week on the stoop, getting water from the river below and eating what she can find.  As the first batch of applicants is let go, someone comes to let her in.  He shows her where to go for sleep, where to eat, and where to work.

Ace and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

Her job is processing fish.  She has a mean bully as a boss and nothing she does pleases him.  When he gets her alone, he tries to rape her but she knows how to defend herself from that.  As her troubles with him multiply, she challenges him to a duel.  There are rules for duels.  She follows them but he attempts to kill her after the match has been stopped so he's fired.  She still has to watch for him in case he sneaks back in.

She learns to dance for the dragons and enjoys it.  Then they assign her to an old dragon to dance for him, stay with him, and try to get him to eat.  He tells her tales of days past and does eat a bit.  He even saves her from the man who wants to kill her but he's not long for this world and she mourns him. 

Next she gets assigned to riding dragons.  She got on one when she met the Dragoneer so she knows that much.  Then the dragon takes her for a short ride.  The next time she comes in they assign her to another dragon.  She fearfully discovers she's on a dragon delivering mail and she gets to see a lot of country. 

She seems to get in trouble all along the way but she's learning and getting better everyday.  If you like fantasy, you'll like this story.  There will be more in this series.

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

When a new customer is announced, Charlotte is glad.  She needs a new client.  But when the woman learns that Sherlock is bedridden, she changes her mind.  She even suggests there is no Sherlock.  That's true but Charlotte will not admit it, so the potential client walks.

Berkley sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now.

This series is fun to read.  Charlotte has a mind like Holmes.  Mrs. Watson helps her on her cases.

Mrs. Watson knows the woman wanting their help and she intercedes.  Charlotte admits there is no Sherlock and when she finds out what the woman wants back, she guesses why.  She's right.

This is a mix of romance, danger and mystery that goes down well.  It seem Charlotte and her gentleman are getting closer.  Moriarty is still a danger.  This is no simple theft and there are lots of guards.  Reading this book will hold your attention.

This is another satisfying tale from Ms. Thomas.

Dead Blow: A Horseshoer Mystery by Lisa Preston

Rainy has a new client.  She's a widow whose husband died in a tractor accident.  But the more she learns about him, the more she wonders if it was an accident.  He had a lot of girlfriends.  Was his wife jealous?

Arcade Crimewise and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

While Rainy is is shoeing her horses, she learns of a mean bull in the near field is warned to be careful around him.  What adds to the mystery is when the farm dog drags a glove up around them and they discover there is a hand in it...

While the cops are happy to let the tractor accident stand, Rainy finds a bullet in the tractor tire that may be why he had the accident.  She also wonders why the dead woman they found was so far from where search and rescue was sent out.  She does her own checking, angering some people.  When she gets to close to the truth, she's in danger herself.

This is a mixed up mystery with lots of characters involved.  I had no idea who the killer was.  The final showdown is exciting and dangerous.  This was a good read.

Voyage of the Frostheart by Jamie Littler

Ash's parents went out as Pathfinders do to get supplies but they never returned.  The village he lives in has put him in foster care.  He loves to sing and that makes the villagers nervous.  They've heard of song weavers being taken over by the monsters under the snow who like to eat humans.  They try to keep him quiet, but it doesn't work.  Singing the lullaby his family taught him makes him feel better.  When the last family returns him to the head man, it looks like he might be exiled.  Instead, a Yeti that allowed to join their village says he'll take him in.

Viking Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

The Yeti lives right outside the village.  He begins training Ash in the art of defense.  He also tries to teach him patience and to slow down his singing.  But when another pathfinder ship is coming with thee snow monsters after them, Ash sings to the monsters and calms them down.  The pathfinder makes its way in with no casualties.  He expects the people of the village to be proud of him.  Instead they exile  him.

He and the Yeti have two weeks to decide where to go.  He decides to see if the captain of the pathfinder will take him with them.  She says yes, but when he goes in his little tent, he finds the Yeti waiting.

The Yeti has him working out again but he doesn't encourage his singing.  One man on the ship does.  Now Ash isn't sure which adult to follow.

More monsters show up, their ship gets wrecked, and the village they took refuge in is planning on sacrificing them.  Can Ash save them?

This is a very exciting read with a lot of action.  I enjoyed it.  So should young adults.

The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White

This is the first one in this series that I read.  Melanie sees and hears and smells ghosts.  She helps those she can and some of them help her.  She has OCD and does most things with a ruler so they are exact, or she'll rearrange everything on a shelf or in a drawer.

Berkley Books sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published October 22nd.

She has small twins that her cousin takes care of while she's busy during the day.  She also has her husband's sixteen year old daughter as part of her family.  The house they inherited and are rehabbing is full of ghosts going all the way back to the Civil War.

Jack and Melanie have a lot going on.  They are hosting an event at their house and Melanie is working on decorations.  Jack is writing a book and it's going well but then his agent leaves and he gets a young one who hasn't read anything of his and wants to change the kind of book it is.  They also have someone who wants the house they live in (he believes there is treasure there somewhere).  He's the one messing with Jack's agents.

There are mysteries everywhere, they have to sort out a code, match bricks, and finally determine where the last "treasure" is hidden.  There's a fight at the cemetery that has ghosts involved.

It's a good read but I didn't like the ending.  I'm sure the next book will sort that out but I still didn't like it.

Island of Last Resorts by Mary Ellis

The entire PI team is going to take a week off and go on a retreat together.  They have a home on the beach they can use.  (The owner is away.)  Then Nate has a surprise for them.  They are going to a private island at the invite of the owner.  He wants them to participate in a murder game.  They think it sounds like fun.  Everyone heads out except Kate.  Her significant other has to cover for his sister who was mugged.  He can't walk away from the family restaurant.  So she arranges to show up late.

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on November 5th.

The others are excited to get to the island and hear about the murder mystery.  It gets even more interesting when they find he wants to know who killed his wife.  He has the people involved in the case there on the island.  Soon the suspects begin dying.  They know the murderer is there, but who is it?

This is an intense read where you anticipate the next death and know you can't stop it.

They finally get a  message to Kate and she's trying to find a way to access the island.  If they try by boat they are shot at.  The cops are no help.  She finally calls the owner's nephew and he stops to pick her up on the way to the island.  They have no idea what kind of mess they are walking into...

This one will keep you reading and wondering who will survive the week.  Don't stay on a private island unless you own it.

Kevin the Unicorn: It's Not All Rainbows by Jessika von Innerebner

Kevin's day starts out awful.  He's  fallen out of bed and is on the floor.  It just gets worse from then on.  He's used to rainbows and sparkles every were.  There's not one of them in sight...

Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 22nd.

He acts all happy and nice until he just can't handle it anymore.  When he yells he's not having a good day, several unicorns admit they are not either.  Once they share their troubles, it's not so bad.  Some days aren't the best, but that's OK.  The rainbows will come back.

The Wand that Rocks the Cradle: Magical Stories of Family by Oren Litwin

This is an anthology of tales that are full of magic.  A dead teacher for the first grade class?  A coffee shop that relaxes you too much?  Or how about a reality tv show about witches?

BooksGoSocial and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now.

The stories contained are:

“Bellwethers Know Best,” by Marion Deeds
“Legacy,” by Joanna Michal Hoyt
“Coffee Break,” by W.O. Hemsath
“She That Was So Proud and Wild,” by Misha Burnett
“Dead in First Grade,” by P.L. Sundeson
“The Dragon Detector,” by Elana Gomel
“The Lake Cottage, by Michelle F Goddard
“To Find a Peach,” by Frank Saverio

I think my favorite is "The Lake Cottage".  There's something living in the lake but it's his friend.  And that's a good thing.

"To Find a Peach" is about an endangered kingdom and that one touched me, too.  "The Dragon Detector" is sad but it'll stick with me for a while.

Which one is your favorite? 

One Snowy Morning by Kevin Tseng, Dana Wulfekotte (Illustrated by)

The animals wander out in the morning and find a snowman but they don't know what he is.  They see a pile of snow with weird things on him...

Dial Books and Edelweiss shared a copy of this book with me (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

They think the top hat is a tall rowboat; the carrot nose is a rare dragon’s tooth; and the mittens are fish puppets.  They gather up his accessories and head back home with them.  They are very inventive with what they've taken.  The tall rowboat makes a perfect table; the rare dragon’s tooth makes a delicious soup; and the fish puppets make amazing hats! 

They have a party and invite everyone.  Then they decide to return what they have left.  It's worth the price on this book to see how they decorated it.  It made me smile.  Young readers will love it! 

The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote

This book is filled with tales of the Native Americans of the Northwest.  There are mixed-genres here.  A poem here, a play there, and thoughts and stories in between.  I have Indian relatives that could add their stories about the past...

Counterpoint Press sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published October 22nd.

The stories will make you think about the past.  White men did not treat the Indians very well.  The Indians fought for their rights and many died.  The stories in this book share some of that history.

The story that resounded with me was Beading Lesson.  The woman wants to teach everyone to bead but not everyone wants to do that.  It's probably becoming a lost art.  I crochet but not many young people do any more.  I buy beaded goods when I find them, they are lovely work.

You learn about the fishing wars and other parts of history.  Reading this will stick with you for a while.

The House of Brides by Jane Cockram

Miranda has been a rising star but when she offers an unusual solution to a problem on her blog, she gets shot down.  The human favor she'd been courting turns against her.  She goes home to recover and begin again where no one knows her.  Her father calls in a favor and finds her job.

Harper sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published October 22nd.

When she sees a letter to her dead mother, she takes it to read it.  It's from the family home and a young teenage girl (her cousin) is writing asking for help.  She decides to go see what kind of help the girl needs instead of going to the new job.  She has to lie to her father to get enough money to buy an airline ticket to her destination.  Needless to say, he's angry when he finds out what she's done.   But more importantly, he tells her staying in the house isn't safe for her and to be careful.

When she arrives the person answering the door assumes she's the new nanny.  That's OK, she gives them another last name and takes the job.

What she finds is a real mess.  The girl who wrote the letter is the oldest.  The middle child is a boy and the youngest is another girl but this one is in a wheelchair.  It seems Mom was in a car accident and injured herself and the child but no one wants to talk about it.

Her uncle invites his sister over to tell her how to care for the children.  These are relatives she's never met.  She finds herself growing fond of the children but she doesn't trust the adults.  This is a very dysfunctional family with dark family secrets.

Will Miranda survive or become another victim?

The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld

Naomi is still searching for her lost sister.  She managed to get away from the predator who took her and her little sister but she couldn't take her with her.  She told her she'd be back.  She can help other people find their missing children.  It's heartbreaking not to be able to find her sister...

Harper sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can get a copy now.

This story is sad.  It's about homeless girls and boys and what they have to do to eat and clothe themselves.  It's not nice things.  When Naomi wanders among the street people, she meets young Celia.  She's 12 and she's just the age that a predator has been stealing from the streets.  He abuses them and kills them.  Celia has already been abused by her stepfather so she's very cautious.

Naomi works with her favorite detective, who tells her to talk to the FBI.  She finds out who the suspected predators were in her case.  When she visits the adoption home they were in, they send her to visit an old woman.  That woman tells her her name and her sister's name.  She's getting closer.

Celia lives in a world of butterflies.  She escapes to them when bad things happen.  Naomi takes her to a butterfly museum and she's entranced.  They return home and each go their own way.

Then Celia goes missing.  She talked about a house that scared her, but Naomi doesn't know where it is.  She finds a map in her book at the library.  Will she be in time?

Despite the look at an ugly part of life nowadays, the ending is uplifting.  There's hope for a new beginning.  This not an easy book to read but it was worth it.

Below the Moon by Alexis Marie Chute

Ella has cancer and she has lost her words.  She can make noises but no one can understand her.  She has pain.  Sometimes it makes her weak, but she's strong in her own way.  Her mother wants them to find the star.  She thinks it will cure her.

The author and Spark Press sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now.

To access the star, they have gone to another world.  She's with her mother, Tessa, her grandpa Archie, and her magical boyfriend.  On this world they find her father.  He has changed into one of the different creatures on this world.  Her mother brought along her boyfriend and now she's not sure who loves the most.  

The star might cure Ella but it's evil, too.  It's influencing the world they are on and not in a good way.

The different people on this planet fight.  One group will try to take over another.  The people are a variety of aliens.  The story is very busy with war plots and the humans trying to stay alive.  You won't be bored.

The leaders pushing for war are killed.  Things should settle down a bit.   Ella finds out she's not all human, which could be a good thing.

The last paragraph lets you know there will be more to the story later.  This is a very interesting series.

Blind Search by Paula Munier

A little boy likes to go for walks in the woods.  He's not supposed to go alone but he sneaks out one day.  He doesn't follow the  path, he goes where the bird noises are or where it smells good.  He hears hunters so he puts trees between him and them.  Then he meets a pretty lady he knows.  They visit a bit and then she tells him to run...

Minotaur books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this bok for review (thank you).  It will be published November 5th.

When Mercy and Elvis, her service dog from the war, go in the woods to find him, they find the lady's dead body first.  She's worried about Henry, she can tell he was there.  Is he dead, too?

 Troy, the game warden, shows up with his dog.  They find him hiding in a hunter's hut under the butcher table.  He can't tell then what he saw because he's autistic.  But he saw something so he's in danger.

The game warden is looking for night poachers, stopping bear slaughters during the day, and asking Mercy to go on a date with him.

Mercy is dealing with rich man who owns the forest and working to try to find the killer.  The local cop arrests the man the woman was dating because she was breaking up with him.  He likes the easy answer even if it's wrong.

Mercy finds that her death is related to her birth and several people were involved.  This is a complex mystery that includes the very rich as well as the poor.  It's a sad tale because the woman who died was killed by greed.  This is another "follow the money" tale.

The Light Over London by Julia Kelly

Cara is working for an antique dealer and learning a lot about how to identify them.  When she finds an old diary, he lets her take it home to read.  He doesn't plan on selling it so he gives her permission to return it to the family if she can locate them.

Gallery Books sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can get a copy now.

She's reading about a woman during WW II and she thinks she might learn more about her grandmother this way.  Grandma doesn't want to talk about those days.

Louise's diary shows how she was all swept up by Paul in a young romance.  She even marries him when he comes home on leave.  Then she hears of his death and wonders why no one told her, she was his wife.  She finds out he was already married.  She goes to visit his first wife and finds she's not the only one fooled.  He's married others. 

Then Cara looks through other papers she found of Grandmother's and finds her secret...

Times of war heighten emotions.  You never know how long you will live, so you take your joy where you can find it.  Paul was a bigamist and that's not common but other consequences were.

This is a good historical read.  Louise and Paul would never had made it in marriage.  He wanted her home, having babies.  She wanted to work.  They fought about it before he left.  Now she's free to live her life as she chooses.  So was Cara's Grandmother.

Alien Superstar (Book #1) by Lin Oliver, Henry Winkler

He's thirteen so the squad will be coming to remove his sensory enhancer.  That will make him no more than a robot and he wants to keep all his senses and his creativity.  When they come to get him, he runs home to escape.

Amulet Books sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now.

He rushes home, gets in the spaceship he and his grandmother created and heads out.  They haven't had a chance to test the machine but it's better than being caught and altered.  It works.  He heads to earth.  They've been watching old films about earth and he transition can himself into earthling with a complete focus on doing so.

He lands in Hollywood and everyone assumes he's dressed as an alien.  He lets them think that.  Then he and his friend, Frankenstein go for a reading in a movie that stars an alien.  He gets the part, but the star isn't happy.  He's drawing attention and the star doesn't want to share.  Buddy, the alien, doesn't get all the nuances of the English language, so he says things they take as jokes, and he asks so many questions that he drives the director nuts.  Then he becomes a star...

Buddy's adjustment to earth is funny.  When he finds earth food doesn't nourish him (it just gives him gas), he gets desperate and he asks Cassidy, a girl he interacts with on the show, to help find him food he can eat.  When they test his space food and then apply that to earth food you'll be amazed at what he can eat.

He's finally settling in to life on the set when his space ship starts receiving transmissions.  He misses them.   In the next book you'll learn who sent them.

The Kooky Kinkajou (Nocturnals Early Reader ) by Tracey Hecht

Dawn, Bismark and Tobin are bored until Karina shows up.  She's a bit kooky and sees a "sparkle sprite" that she wants to follow.  They follow her and soon find if they are using their imaginations, they are not bored!

Fabled Films Press sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can grab a copy now.

This is written for grades 2-3 when they can read independently.  In this story you see how full of himself Bismark is.  He's the best and the smartest and she's just kooky.  But when he sees her magic, he changes his tune.  He's the friend with an attitude, but he's fun to have around.

The Tasty Treat (Nocturnals Early Reader) by Tracey Hecht, Josie Yee (Illustrator)

This series is fun.  It introduces you to different animals (some not seen stateside).  This is part of their Grow & Read series written for first graders.  It's very basic and easy to read but it's still an enjoyable read.

Fabled Film Press sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

Dawn, the fox, is on the hunt for her pals.  Bismark the sugar glider comes down out of a tree, and she finds Tobin the pangolin in a bush.  She wants to share a pomelo with them.  She invites them to have a picnic with her and shares the snack with them.  They love the fresh fruit of the pomelo.

They'll get to meet the animals and get introduced to their personalities.  I love this series.

The Outlaw's Heart by Amy Sandas

Evelyn finally found enough guts to leave her husband.  He took joy in beating her and she'd had enough.  As she rides the train west, she never expected to run into train robbers.  They asked her name and she gave them the name of a woman she met on the train.  She was amazed to be kidnapped by the men!

Sourcebooks Casablanca and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 29th.

When she struggles with them, they knock her out.  When she awakens she's in their camp.  She makes eye contact with a man standing against a tree. He brings her water and a blanket and then he tells them they have kidnapped the wrong woman.  She's similar to the other, but she has the wrong color eyes.  They decide to take her back to their base and let their boss decide what to do with her.  The man who befriended her assures her she won't be harmed but she's still a bit scared.

She is to ride with him on the way back because he has the biggest horse.  He's a big man but he gives her room.  He always asks permission before touching.  They stop at at a ranch house so she can bathe and get new clothes.  There are two women there.  The one bringing her clothes sees her lacerated back her husband gave her and finds her some salve.  When Gabe finds out about her back, he's angry.  He's even more gentle with her.

When she reaches camp, the boss of the outfit says she can stay for a while to figure what to do next.  The men are rough around the edges but they sure are nice to her.

She finds herself falling in love with the big Indian.  He's having the same trouble with her..  Then her husband steals her back.  Can Gabe save her?

Shot Through the Hearth by Kate Carlisle

Shannon has been remodeling homes and building new ones since she was a small child working with her dad.  He's retired now and she's taken over the business.  She's on the biggest job she's ever handled and money is no object, so the situation is ideal for her.  Except when the big conference in the new facility is going, someone begins killing people...

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 29th.

She hates that it happened at a site she works at.  The cops already consider her a body magnet and here's another one...

Then someone shoots at the group barbecuing outside in the evening.  They figure out where the shooter was standing but they aren't real sure who he was shooting at.

It gets worse.  They find a man strangled with a plant.  The man with her is crying for his plant but she had just been speaking to the victim earlier in the day.  Who would want to kill a nobody?

It seems that someone at the conference is a psycho.  Will they be able to identify him before more people die?

The Grave Digger by Rebecca Bischoff

Cap Cooper is 12 years old and loves inventing things.  His father asks him to work with him to get money to pay the doctor for his pregnant mother's care.  He's shocked to see that means digging up dead bodies.  Institutes training doctors use the bodies to study anatomy.  They pay for them.  The man his father works with shares the proceeds.  It's an ugly, dangerous job but they need the money.

Amberjack Publishing and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 29th.

Cap hates doing it and when he touches one of the bodies it comes to life!  He wonders if he has special powers and can bring the dead to life. 

He has a crush on a girl in his class and they are slowly building a friendship.  Then she's suddenly one of the dead they dig up.  He manages to wake her and takes her back to the orphanage.  But the next dead victim doesn't awake.

This is a factual story about practices in the late 1800's.  Cap is a boy you feel sorry for until the end when his skills and invention bring someone very important to him back to life.

This is a middle grade read but give it to someone who likes horror stories.  It's eerie, sad in places, and you aren't sure it will be happy ever after, but they've made it this far.  You're sure they'll make it the rest of the way.

The Christmas Dare: A Twilight, Texas Novel by Lori Wilde

She's left at the altar as her fiance leaves the church with his best man.  He's in love, but not with her.  He's gay.  Her mother, the new Mayor of Dallas is mortified.  Kelsey is relieved.  He was a nice guy but they were only friends.  It was her mom that wanted her to marry him.  It was a good match for her political aspirations.  Then her girlfriend convinces her to take a two week vacation to get over it.  She doesn't know where to go so her best friend picks the destination and off they go.

Avon and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 22nd.

Her mother is totally controlling and has a fit because she's gone, but her girlfriend talks her out of going back.  She's astonished when they reach their destination to find her first love there.  He's divorced and has his own business.  Is there still a spark between them?  You bet!

She's still hurt until she finds out why he never contacted her again.  Her mother again.  The longer she's away she begins to see how her mother has been pulling her strings and making her do things the way she wanted them.  Kelsey needs to begin living her own life.  Finding Noah again is a great start...

To the Land of Long Lost Friends: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (20) by Alexander McCall Smith

Precious is back again.  She's still being a detective with her assistant that thinks she's better educated.  She might be better educated but that doesn't give her more wisdom.  And Charlie is still there.  He works part-time for Precious and for her husband.  That makes him a part-time detective and a part-time mechanic.

Pantheon and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 22nd.

One day she thinks she is seeing a ghost.  When the woman sees her she hurries over to reconnect.  She explains the paper used the wrong name for the victim.  Precious is relieved and glad to see her again.  She tells Precious that her daughter is no longer in contact with her and that hurts.  Precious decides to look into it even though she isn't being paid.

In the meantime, Charlie is trying to figure out how he can up with the bride's price so he can get married.  He's in love but he's also poor and her father is rich.

Precious finds out the daughter has two boyfriends.  One is a preacher and he's a fake.  He uses the money and goods he's given for his own enrichment.  This is a real mess to straighten out without it shaming someone.  She finds a common denominator by accident and things get better.

Charlie's fiance introduces him to her cousin, he knows how to make money.  He want Charlie to disable vehicles if those who borrowed money don't pay it back.  Charlie thinks about it but decides not to do it.  When he meets her father he tells him he does not have the bride's price, whatever it may be.  He also tells him about the cousin's job offer and how he wouldn't take it.  That brings unexpected results.

I enjoy these tales.  There are a lot of traditions shown, the story moves slow and easy, and you feel like you are in Africa.  These are fun reads.

A Cruel Deception: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd

Sister Bess Crawford enjoys helping the soldiers recuperate from war injuries.  Some you can't help, and she grieves their deaths, but making the living feel better is a blessing.  Then she gets a message from the matron asking her to come and see her.  Why?  She likes what she's doing...

William Morrow and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 15th.

The matron asks her to quietly track her son down.  He's absent from the conference he was attending and he's not answering his mail.  She's  worried about him.  Bess agrees to look him up and heads out.

It takes her a while to find him and when she does he's addicted to morphine.  His wounds have healed but his mind has not.  A young woman has taken him in and tries to help him but he won't listen to her.  He won't listen to Bess either.  But then someone tries to poison him.  Now she will have to try harder to help him.

She finds out the poison laudanum came from a Captain that visited him.  She braces him and he said he didn't know it was poisoned.  She doesn't trust him.  Then the patient leaves the house and they can't find him.  An American pilot offers to help and finds him in the hospital in a bad part of town.  She talks to the doctor she knows and he sends an ambulance for him and takes him into his home for care.  The patient has been beaten badly.  He didn't recognize his assailant.

The doctor agrees to hypnotize him to find out what war horrors are gripping his mind.  Bess had an idea but now she knows why he's having the trouble he is trying to get past it.  She also has an idea about who might be trying to kill him.  After all, he tried to kill her, too.

Will they be able to identify and find him before he is successful in his deadly attempts?

The Dollmaker by Nina Allan

Andrew makes dolls.  He's been fascinated with them his whole life.  He's a small man, almost a dwarf.  He has relationships but most don't last long.  His dolls and the woman he shares letters with keep him going.

Other Press and Edelweiss allowed me the opportunity to read this book (thank you).  It will be published October 15th.

The woman he writes to he met through an ad.  He gradually realizes she's in a home.  She seems to be in good health  so he thinks her problems must be in her mind.  That doesn't bother him.  She writes coherently and tells him her secrets.  He finds himself falling in love with her.

This is a fairly long tale filled with the minutia of his every day life.  He makes good and bad decisions (as do we all) and he eventually gets to meet her.  He had to sneak in to find her and they evict him.  She says she's leaving the home and will get in touch with him later.  Will she?  It's a good thing he has his dolls to keep him busy...

Can't Judge a Book By Its Murder by Amy Lillard

Arlo is organizing a big book event in her store.  They are having a class reunion and there is an up and coming author in the group.  He's going to speak and sign books at her store.  When she is called to come to the store earlier than usual because there's a body out in front, she can't imagine who it could be.  What a shock it is to find it's her author!

Poisoned Pen Press and Edelweiss allowed me to rad this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 29th.

They find he has been pushed from the third story of her building.  She never let him up there.  He's also been poisoned.  Chloe, her business pertner served him coffee and they find dregs of the mushrooms left in the cup.  Chloe says she didn't do it but he's back in town and demanding to see his son even if he signed his rights away ten years ago.  Off to jail she goes.  Now Arlo has to find another suspect.

There's his wife, who just had a public shouting match with his mistress.  When Chloe is arrested, the mistress tries to blame it on the wife.  Arlo is still trying to figure out how he got a key to go up there.

She ends up with an old boyfriend back in town.  She already had another one return to be police chief, so there's that little conflict.  She also is told to stay out of the investigation, but he's not finding any more suspects so what can she do?

Wally had secrets and she begins searching them out.  She snoops enough she believes she knows the killer but can she get a confession and save Chloe?

The Mistletoe Matchmaker by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

Cassie trains as a hairdresser so she can travel and still be able to find work.  Herr father and her uncle are both Irish but they won't go home for a visit.  So Cassie decides to go to Ireland and meet her grandparents herself.

Harper Perennial and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 8th.

Cassie gets a feeling of home there.  She also runs into various marital problems between the folks she knows.  A divorced woman lives with her mom.  Then her mom invites her ex-mother-in-law to live with her.  She enjoys her MIL but it's strange that her mother is that close to her.  Her grandmother thinks her grandfather might be having an affair.  She gives advice to other ladies about moving on after divorce or death.  Then she finds out her boyfriend, who wants to sleep with her before she goes, is engaged to another woman.  That ends that. 

Romances live and die. There's competition between the local towns for the best Christmas festival.  That almost becomes a fiasco when the cops show up looking for illegal hooch.  With several underhanded actions, the Spanish booze disappears and there are no charges.

With life, love, and laughter everyone settles down to their new lives.  Grandpa has been going to the hospital for tests and his heart is giving out on him, so he and his wife decide to enjoy each day left doing things they like and enjoying each other's company.

One more special thing happens before the end.  While there is some sadness, you see the personal strengths of the men and women who adjust and keep moving forward.  I enjoyed the humor in the story.

The Last Human by Lee Bacon

The humans are gone.  They developed robots that became smarter and more developed as time went on.  Then one day, the robots rebelled.  Now it's a robot world.

Amulet Books and Edelweiss let me read this this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 8th.

When the robots see a little girl peering at them from the trees, they're taken aback.  They are a team of robots that work together and this is the first time they've seen a human.  They cautiously speak to her and she does the same to them.

As she tells them how the humans have been living underground in a shelter, she also confesses they have some sort of virus and they've run out of antibiotic.   She needs to go to another point on the map to get more.  She asks if they will go with her because she's scared.  They agree knowing the dangers and they set out on the long journey.

It's an exciting journey.  They have other robots and drones after them.  The one she first talked to slides down a cliff face, and she saves him with the help of the other robots.

They eventually get caught and the president plans to make an example of them.  There can be no secrets from the hive.  But it gets turned around on him when they play archived footage of the humans before they were exterminated.  That showed their love, their kindness and the good they did but it was withheld from the hive...

Despite what they did and how they did it, this has a happy ending.  Even robots can show some compassion.