Review: Last Wool and Testament

Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 Star Review.

Kath Rutledge is coming back to the small town she grew up in in Blue Plum, Tennessee for her grandmother’s funeral. But before she gets to the funeral she is stopped by the local cop for speeding. When she explains to him why she was in such a hurry he makes the remark that she is “Crazy Ivy’s “ grand-daughter. Kath doesn’t like the fact that he referred to her grandmother as crazy. After the funeral she goes to her grandmother’s house to start clearing out her house, but her key doesn’t work and she soon learns that her grandmother didn’t own her house anymore. She moves in to a cottage that she soon learns was where the former tenant died. Deputy Dolt , who stopped Kath on her way to her grandmother’s funeral is the one that informs her of this, however, he claims that Ivy was the one that killed the tenant.

Kath is determined to prove her grandmother’s innocence, which means delving into the death of the man who just happened to have died in the same cottage where Kath is now living and is mourned over by the ghost.

This was a fun little cozy to read. This is also the first book in the Haunted Yarn Shop series and I do intend on reading the others in it. I found this book to be funny, entertaining, hilarious, fun, and an enjoyable read. The author did a good job on descriptions and really made you feel like you were in the small hometown where the book is taking place. The characters in this hometown feel book knew everyone and everyone’s business. The author made the town seem picturesque.

The author has created a likeable heroine that has a sense of humor which provides for a refreshing twist from the good, perfect life heroines that we read so much about in other mystery series.


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Review: Night and Day

Night and Day by Iris Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 Stars for Iris Johansen’s newest Eve Duncan novel. First off I’d like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to have the opportunity to read this book and give my honest review.

If you haven’t ever read an Eve Duncan book, I do so highly recommend you read one. Night and Day is the latest in the series. Like all the other books in the series, this is a fast pace, heart pounding, intriguing, entertaining, adventure, and danger. Johansen’s knows how to pull the reader into the story as if they are in the story and can vividly see what is going on and sometimes you feel like you’re actually there participating right beside Eve.

This book is a continuation from the previous two books Shadow Play and Hide Away. It’s a miniseries within a series. With this one being a wonderful conclusion to the miniseries, it did tie up this storyline nicely, HOWEVER, I will say that I don’t believe we will be saying goodbye to Eve; this was like a special event, in which I enjoyed reading.

I love the character of Eve, she has grown on me so much through the other books and I’m glad to say she hasn’t changed. She is one tough little character that I wouldn’t want to make her mad. I would love to hang out with her and her boyfriend Joe. The characters have always been well developed as well as the supporting character’s the crimes have always been intriguing, the story was well written, fast pace, page turning, and one book that you just can’t put down.

The story picks up from Hide Away, where Eve has taken Cara somewhere to hide her, but Joe finds out that someone is after them. Eve takes Cara out of the country to keep her safe from her enemies, but Eve becomes their next target. Cara’s mom, Natalie thinks that Eve has found a legendary treasure and wants to get her hands on it, she likes having power and being able to control everything. One thing I liked about Cara was not only was she stubborn to the core, but she was very mature for her age.

I highly recommend this book as well as the whole series to everyone who enjoys a crime, mystery book.


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Review: The Tea Planter's Daughter

The Tea Planter's Daughter by Janet MacLeod Trotter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Stars. I’d like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book takes place in the early 1900’s, Clarrie and her sister Olive are growing up on their father’s tea plantation. With their mother dead, the two girls are being raised by their father who is still grieving over his wife’s death and drowns himself in alcohol to help him deal with the loss. When the family becomes financially ruined, the girls must leave the only home they have known in India, and travel to a new country, England to live with relatives.

Clarrie, is a very strong willed girl who grows throughout the book. She is strong willed, determine, feisty, stubborn, she protects her family and fights for the underdog, she also quick to judge, makes decision and choices that are either good or come with consequences. No matter how you look at her, her journey is remarkable. She goes from having money to penniless, to a successful business woman, in a time when woman were laughed at, frowned upon, belittled, and where humiliated by men.

This book was told mainly from Clarrie, although Olive was involved, her character was one of those typical girls, who needed love, would tear up as if on cue, needed to be taken care of, instead of making it on her own and using her own brain. I did get tired of Olive’s ways, and tearing up at everything. However, Clarrie character was one I did enjoy as she was a much stronger woman. She built a relationship with Wesley, and her father didn’t approve because of who his family was.
The author did provide history, emotions, love, hate, jealousy, grief, hardship, courage, hope and triumphed. There were plenty of twist and turns not only for the pages, but also in the lives of the characters as well. A very good read.


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Review: The Diva Serves High Tea

The Diva Serves High Tea by Krista Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Krista Davis has done it again! She has brought a fun, relaxing, enjoyable, humorous read. Sophie, Natasha, Bernie, Nina, Francie, Mars, Wolfe, Alex, and the whole town of Old Town are all back for another fun filled adventure.

When Sophie receives a late night text from Natasha stating she has an intruder in her house, Sophie races across the street just in time to see a person dressed in black, running down the alley. With Natasha inside knocked out Sophie calls the police, when Natasha comes to, they let her know the ambulance is on it's way and in true Natasha style, she starts ordering Sophie to get her her make-up bag and fix her hair.

The next day, when Sophie is talking to Mars, her ex-husband and Natasha boyfriend she finds out that Mars and Natasha broke up, of course each other says they broke up with the other. Mars doesn't want Natasha to be alone so he calls Natasha mother, Wanda, who is totally the opposite of Natasha. Wanda arrives on the day that Natasha's big antique auction, with her own herbs, oils, and all her new age potions. Natasha's little event takes place at a newly opened business called The Parlor, a cute little tea shop that serves teas, desserts, and a lot of gossip. Robert Johnson, owner of an antique store across the street allows Natasha to store her auction items in his shop is found dead the next day in his house by none other than our Sophie. When Sophie reaches Robert the only words he says is "Rosie". The autopsy listed his death of dying from botulism, the health department shuts down The Parlor, because Robert was seen eating there.

Sophie can't believe that the new tea shop was the cause of Roberts death, and her friends can't believe it either, so they start looking for clues, and wondering who this Rosie person is. When Alex's friend's soon to be ex-wife is found in the alley, again the name Rosie is mention. Sophie knows now that Robert didn't die of botulism poisoning, but was murder. Sophie and her little team of amateur sleuths, set out to find out who killed Robert, and who exactly is Rosie.

This book was so much fun to read. The mystery happened rather quickly in the beginning of the book. The characters are well developed and since getting to know them in previously books they are like visiting with old friends that you haven't seen in a year. The description of the town, and the people that live them, makes you feel like you're apart of the town.

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Review: The Tea Planter's Wife

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 star review. First, I’d like to thank Netgallery for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Tea Planter's Wife is the first of Dinah Jefferies books I have read and it will not be the last. This is set in one of my favorite eras to read, the 1920’s. A young girl, Gwen, who meets her husband, a widower, in England where she lives, marries him, after a whirlwind romance . Her husband, Laurence runs a plantation in Ceylon, which is known for its teas. Gwen lives very comfortably in the house with all the comforts and servants available to see to her every need. Although she soon realizes that her husband seems less interested in her. Her sister-in-law is another story, she doesn’t want Gwen there at all and she has her own agenda, and it does not include the new mistress of the house.

Soon after they are married, her husband mood changes from the man she met and fell in love with to a sometimes he becomes unpredictable, brooding, fitful. Gwen realizes something is wrong, very wrong. She discovers a trunk with an old dress in them it, a grave that seems to belong to a child, and other things that lead her to talk to Laurence about, but he refuses and withdraws from her. When Gwen becomes pregnant, Laurence is over joyed. Gwen soon has her own secret to keep at what the cost will be if someone finds out.

This book follows Gwen through several years, from pregnancy to her husband’s secrets, to the stock market crash, possible ruin, doubts, choices made. This book has just about everything in it, mystery, love, jealousy, secrets, uncertainty, lies, ups, downs, hope, and anything else you can think of. The author describes the scenes with very vivid detail, as though you are standing right there seeing it in living color. With so many twist, this book was a very good, read, that showed so many emotions from happiness to anger, from heartache to love, choice made to laughter. This was an enjoyable read.



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