Friday Linkups - The Lake House

It's Friday linkup time!  I'm linking up with the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer, Book Beginnings of Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, and the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

This Week's Book Blogger Hop Question
How far in advance do you read the books you have scheduled for review?

My Answer:
Not nearly as far in advance as I'd like!  My goal is to be at least 2 weeks ahead but now I'm lucky if I'm a full week ahead.  I haven't even started the book I'm scheduled to review on Thursday!

Do you ever read a book by a new to you author and think "That was fantastic!  I need to read everything this author has written!" and then proceed to never read them again?  Well that's me with Kate Morton.  In the pre-blogging days I read The Forgotten Garden and absolutely fell in love with it,. I was thrilled when I saw that she had written several other books and I knew I was absolutely going to read those.  But they're pretty long and heavy on atmosphere so I didn't want to jump into the next one at once so I put off a little bit.  Well fast forward four years later and I'm not finally picking up another book by her!  When I saw the blurb for The Lake House which involves and abandoned house I knew I just wouldn't be able to resist it and I'm super excited to finally be getting back to Kate Morton's world!

The Beginning:
Cornwall, August 1933
The rain was heavy now and the hem of her dress was splattered with mud.  She'd have to hide it afterwards; no one could know that she'd been out.

My Thoughts:
This sounds like very unpleasant weather to be out in.  I'm definitely wondering where she was and what she was doing - especially since she has to hide the fact that she'd been out.

The 56:
Sadie cursed into the reciever as the phone line went dead and dug around in her pockets for more change.  She redialed but the call went straight to Donald's voice mail.

My Thoughts:
For starters who uses a pay phone anymore?  I didn't really know you could still find them.  And why did the line go dead?  Did she run out of time or did Donald hang up on her?  I'm thinking the latter since it's going to voice mail.

So what do you think?  Keep reading?  Are there any authors you've been neglecting that you really mean to read?

Bel of the Brawl - Cozy Mystery Review

Bel of the Brawl (Belfast McGrath Mystery #2) by Maggie McConnon

Rating:  Good
Source:  Publisher

Description:  Bel McGrath loves her work as a wedding chef. But with her latest event set to take place at Shamrock Manor, she just can't seem to catch a break. The Casey wedding has left her with ten thousand greenbacks in the hole, a missing staff member, and a dead groom. Now, in between Guinness beers and pub brawls, Bel must find a way to crack the case--even though what she should be cracking are eggs into the batter of the wedding cake. A good Irish girl's work is never done. . .
What begins as local town fodder for an episode of "Wedding Gone Wild" is turning into "Gangsters with Guns." With the Casey family spiraling out of control, and billable McGrath hours being lost by the minute, Bel is definitely in too deep. With all these shenanigans, she barely has time to obsess over her new boyfriend and her own unsolved mystery from years ago! Time is running out on getting the next couple down the aisle before the so-called luck of the Irish takes a deadly turn... Bel of the Brawl will keep Maggie McConnon's fans, new and old, guessing.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I love old mysteries and I can't resist a place called Shamrock Manor.  Plus the new mystery sounds all kinds of crazy!

My Impression:  This is my first visit with the whirlwind that is the McGrath family but it definitely won't be my last!  I love a wedding in a mystery because there's so many things that can go wrong and pretty much all of them happened in Bel of the Brawl!  Really I'm not sure much can be worse than a dead groom but there were plenty of other mishaps that developed as the book went along.  Throw in Bel's more than a little whacky family and hilarity ensues though I definitely had some sympathy for Bel with a plethora of siblings, a mother with rather set in stone opinions, and a father who just loves to discount things she has a LOT on her plate.  And all that's without even thinking about the drama the finding of evidence from a decade old missing persons case has unearthed.  I enjoyed how multi-layered the mystery was with the current murder, figuring out just what is going on with the families involved, all the details involving the missing staff member, and the old mystery and all the emotional ramifications Bel has from that.

While this is the second book in the series this is my first visit with the McGrath family.  For the most part this wasn't a problem as what had happened in the past was easily explained and most of what I needed to know happened on the page.  I did get a little confused early on with all the names regarding the missing persons case -both in the flashbacks and with the present day discussion.  As well it took me a little while to get the names of a few of Bel's siblings straight - especially with a cousin thrown in the mix.

Despite the minor flaws (and there's a distinct possibility that my confusion early on was caused more by copious amounts of cold medicine coupled with a pretty massive head cold than by the book itself) I really enjoyed this mystery.  It was fun, quirky and really cute and I'm curious about what will happen next with the McGrath family.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes definitely!  I'll be on the lookout for more from this author and am looking forward to going back and reading the first in this seriesl.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  If you enjoy cozy mysteries this is a really fun series.

Home at Last - Contemporary Romance Review

Home at Last (Sanctuary Island) by Lily Everett

Rating: Very Good
Source: Publisher

Description:  Marcus Beckett left Sanctuary Island after his mother's funeral, and he hasn't been back since. Until now. Needing a change from the high-risk, high-stakes life of a bodyguard, Marcus makes a solitary life for himself running the neighborhood bar in his hometown. His only mistake? Seducing and then dumping the town's sweetheart, Quinn Harper. Marcus knows he did the right thing—a good girl like Quinn has no business with a broken man like him. But now no one will come to his bar, and he's watching his last chance at a peaceful life go up in smoke. So when Quinn proposes a fake four-week courtship, he can't refuse...even though he knows it's a bad idea.
It's a romantic charade that will buy Quinn time to distract her mother and father from their own martial problems—and will help Marcus welcome back some paying customers besides. But what begins as an engagement of convenience slowly transforms into a deeper connection, one that heals both of their hearts...and ignites the simmering passion between them. Could it be that pretending to be together is just what Quinn and Marcus needed to give their real love a second chance?

Genre: Romance - Contemporary

Why I Picked This Book: I read the first Sanctuary Island book and really liked it and then read the book right before this one (Coming Home) and loved it!  I really enjoyed the relationship between Marcus and Quinn in the last book so I was really looking forward to them getting their own story.

My Impression:  *Happy sigh* I expected to enjoy this one.  I had really enjoyed getting to know Quinn and Marcus is the previous book.  They had great chemistry and serious baggage and brought out the best in each other even though they didn't really realize it.  I wasn't expecting all the feels and alll the sweetness that this story contained.  Plus, there's a fake relationship!!  I love a fake relationship!  And with all good fake relationships the reasoning makes some sense, benefits both characters and is totally a cover for the fact that this really isn't such a fake couple after all.
I loved getting to know Marcus better.  In the previous book there were slight hints as to his past and while it took awhile to get the full story I enjoyed the peeks behind his reserve - especially his friendship with. It's Patty.
Quinn's parents play a big role in the story and and the plot is very much focused on their marriage.  I normally worry when a character gets too wrapped up in their parents' lives as it can feel a bit childlike.  However, in this case the concern made a lot of since.  As well I didn't feel like Quinn's reaction was too off the mark.  My parents got divorced when I was an adult and there is a certain feeling of being adrift - and I was a whole lot more settled than Quinn was.  I also really enjoyed that the book really shows the challenges of a long term marriage and how it can be as difficult or more difficult than a relationship that is just starting out.
This was a really wonderful contemporary romance that focuses on a number of different relationships with all the complications and wonder.  I truly enjoued this visit to Sanctuary Island and loved getting to know Quinn and Marcus.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Absolutely!  I really think this might be the last Sanctuary Island boo but luckily there are still a few earlier ones I haven't read yet.  And of course I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book from Lily Everett

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Definitely!  This was an absolutely wonderful read - especially if you like contemporary romance like RaeAnne Thayne and Emily March.  While not necessary I think this book will be more enjoyable if you read Coming Home first.

The Fives!

Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish seems to be on a well deserved hiatus so today I'm doing The Fives!  This is a post that I found that I had done way back in February of 2014 that I had seen Trish over at Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity and Lisa over at Lit and Life do.  I thought it was really fun then and it turned out to be really fun to do again!

5 Books I've Recently Added to My TBR List

1.  Dragonslayer by Emilie Richards - I love Richards' books though I don't read them enough and Kathryn over at Book Date gave this one high marks.

2.  At Fairfield Orchard by Emma Cane - The cover is so pretty I couldn't resist!

3.  The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters - I read this one years ago but I've been wanting to revisit Elizabeth Peters' books.

4.  Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh - I love Balogh but haven't read enough and Lark over at Bookwyrm's Hoard rhas really enjoyed this series.

5.  The Magic Bedknob by Mary Norton - This is the first in the Bedknobs and Broomsticks series.  I saw the movie ages and ages ago but I'm really wanting to read the book!

5 Books I'm Planning to Read in the Near Future

1.  Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - I love Steinbeck and have read most of his books but somehow I've never gotten the book he's most known for.

2.  Scandal in Skibberdeen by Sheila Connolly - Sheila Connolly is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors and I really enjoyed the first book in this series set in Ireland.  I'm really excited about the second book.

3.  Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christe - I'm making my way through Christie's Poirot books and this is the next one.  It's one of my favorites.

4.  Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming - It's been awhile since I read the 3rd James Bond book, Moonraker, so it's time to go back and pick up #4!

5.  Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts - I just reread the first in this trilogy and really enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to rereading the second which was my favorite!

5 Books I Own but Still Haven't Read

1.  Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn - I'm almost scared to read this one.  I loved the Bridgerton series so much that I'm afraid this one won't live up to my expectations.

2.  A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch - I've been wanting to start this Charles Lennox series for years and don't even remember when I bought this book but I'm determined to get to it this year.

3.  Untraceable by Laura Griffin - I've loved the most recent two in this series and am really looking forward to retracing my steps with book one of the series.

4.  Headhunters on My Doorstep: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story by J. Maarten Troost - The title itself is amazing.  I'm super excited about it!

5. An Expert in Murder by Nicole Upson - The detective in this book is mystery writer Josephine Tey.  I've been reading her books for years so I'm looking forward to reading a book that focuses on her.

5 Books from a Series I Need to Continue

1.  Cress by Marissa Meyer - I read the first two books in the Lunar Chronicles and absolutely loved them.  I need to finish the series.

2.  God of the Hive by Laurie R. King - I've been reading this series about Mary Russell and her husband, a very retired Sherlock Holmes, since college and have always really loved it.  Somehow I've gotten seriously behind and desperately need to catch up.  Part of me wants to go back and start at the beginning since it's been so long since I read the early books but that's probably not going to happen so I've kind of locked up.

3.  Lockwood and Co: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud - I read The Screaming Staircase last year and really enjoyed it.  There were some hints dropped in that book about this one and I've been looking forward to reading them ever since.

4.  Peril in Paperback by Kate Carlisle - This is a super solid cozy mystery series all about a book restorer named Brooklyn.  The mysteries are always great and the descriptions of books are absolutely amazing.

5.  Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts - I absolutely loved the first book in this trilogy and swore I'd read the 2nd book as soon as it came out which was June of 2016.  Now my goal is to get to it before June of 2017!

5 Soon to Be Released Books I'm Looking Forward to Reading

1. Last Chance Matinee by Mariah Stewart - I love Mariah Stewart and I love series that focus on sisters so this first book in a series about sisters written by Mariah Stewart sounds amazing!

2. Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen - This book about a woman who comes home to find her boyfriend not just gone but erased sounds pretty page turning!

3.  Bad Housekeeping by Maia Chance - Maia Chance's cozies always make me giggle and this one involving an inn sounds like the beginning of a series I'll love!

4.  The Girl with the Make Believe Husband by Julia Quinn - It's by Julia Quinn.  The title could be "this is the most boring book ever" and I'd still probably be excited about it!

5.  Our Sweet Basil Kitchen by Cade and Carrian Chesney - I love the Sweet Basil blog so I'm super excited for this new cookbook!

Reviews from the Children's Section - Mandy

One of my favorite genres and one that is the easiest for me to push aside is middle grade fiction. This year to make sure I get a little more children's and young adult fiction I thought I would designate the first Monday of every month Middle Grade Monday.  Some of the books I'll be picking are old childhood favorites, some are classics that I missed for whatever reason, and some will be newer releases that I just couldn't resist!

This month's book is a book published in 1971 but I didn't hear about it until after I joined Goodreads in 2011.  Not sure how I missed it!

Mandy by Julie Edwards

Mandy is by Julie Edwards better known as Julie Andrews (yes - THAT Julie Andrews.  Mary Poppins wrote a children's book!).  It's the story of a little girl named Mandy growing up in an orphanage.  She's never known who her family is and desperately wants a place to call her own.  When a trip over the wall leads to the discovery of an old abandoned cottage she thinks she's found her place.  But everything isn't quite as simple as it seems nor as perfect.

I can't tell you how much I wanted to love this book- I mean it's a children's book by MARY POPPINS!  How could I not love it?  Except I kind of didn't.  I loved the idea of the abandoned cottage and this little girl with no true place of her own making it hers.  I understood why she wanted to keep it a secret.  I loved the descriptions of her time at the cottage and all the animals she saw there.  I also really enjoyed the development later in the book surrounding the cottage.  But I struggled with Mandy in other situations.  There's a lot of lying and lying to everyone - even to people who truly care about her.  While I'm not a huge fan of regular lying in a children's book I think it would be pretty clear to the youngest of readers that the lying was not the way to go.  Mandy spends a good chunk of the book so stressed and anxious that I found myself stressed and anxious.  At one point I realized I was holding my breath a little like I was reading a thriller.  Not exactly the magical adventure I was looking for!  I also got a little frustrated with Mandy in the latter half of the book for being so discontented.  There were a few times I just wanted to tell her to stop complaining and be happy that all these people love her.

While this book wasn't quite as wonderful for me as an adult I suspect it would really speak to children - especially those in a little bit of upheaval.  That need to have some control over your environment is so clear on the page and Mandy does a fantastic job of voicing her uncertainty, her jealousy, and just the frustration of not being able to be in charge of her own destiny just because she's a child.  While she does lie a lot the book very clearly shows the consequences - not just getting caught but the stress and how it hurts those around you which I think would be more effective than a heavily moral story.  And there's a happy ending that I think would satisfy all readers.

While I didn't fall head over heels in love with this book and it isn't landing on my Keeper Shelf I am glad I read it.  It was well written and hooked me even when I didn't care for what was happening on the page.  I have heard that Edwards has several other books and I'm curious about them. While I think I would have rated this Really Good or even Loved it as a child as an adult I'm rating it: Good

This Week in Reading - March 5

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

What I Got:

Nothing!  I got nothing!  I did start to go run and request some stuff once I realized my shelf was empty for the week but I restrained myself!  I'm hoping that I'll continue to make progress on reading down my review books.

Currently:

Reading:  Bel of the Brawl by Maggie McConnon and I just started The Lake House by Kate Morton

Listening:  I finished Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty earlier this week and tomorrow I'm going to start Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming.

Watching:  I'm super excited that my guilty pleasure is back on!  I love Catfish on MTV and was almost giddy when it started back up this week.  We also finished up this season of Top Chef.  I was happy with who one but I did kind of want it to go the other way.  

Off the Blog:

Tonight (Saturday) we're going to go see the play Miss Nelson is Missing which is based off one of my favorite books as a child.  I'm super excited - far more than the Tornado though I think he'll enjoy it.  After that I think we'll be taking it easy for the rest of the weekend.  We all seem to be coming down with some kind of bug which I'm not real happy about.  Typically we don't get sick very often but the last little bit we've been struggling.  Does anyone else's teeth hurt when they're really congested?  My dentist says it's normal but the rest of my family looks at me like I'm a weirdo when I complain about it.

I tweaked a muscle at the gym earlier this week so I took a couple of days off.  I decided I wanted to do a few yoga videos so I tried Yoga with Adriene on Youtube.  I'd been hearing about her for awhile and the recommendations were not wrong - she's amazing!  There's a huge collection of videos and she's really easy to follow even for beginners.  I'm looking forward to trying some more on off days.

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday:  Roanoke Girls and Hearth Stone - Fiction Short Reviews
Tuesday:  Books the Tornado is Loving at Age 7
Wednesday:  Fatality by Firelight - Cozy Mystery Blog Tour Review + Giveaway
Thursday:  One Wild Night - Contemporary Romance Review
Friday:  Friday Linkups - Mandy
Saturday:  Pekoe Most Poison - Cozy Mystery Review + Recipe

What's Coming Up:

Monday: Reviews from the Children's Section - Mandy

Tuesday: The 5s!

Wednesday: Home at Last - Contemporary Romance Review

Thursday: Bel of the Brawl - Cozy Mystery Review

Friday: Linkups with Current Book

Saturday: Sally's Baking Addiction - Cookbook Review

Have a great week and happy reading!

Pekoe Most Poison - Cozy Mystery Review + Recipe

Pekoe Most Poison (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs

Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  When Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning is invited by Doreen Briggs, one of Charleston’s most prominent hostesses, to a “Rat Tea,” she is understandably intrigued. As servers dressed in rodent costumes and wearing white gloves offer elegant finger sandwiches and fine teas, Theo learns these parties date back to early twentieth-century Charleston, where the cream of society would sponsor so-called rat teas to promote city rodent control and better public health.
But this party goes from odd to chaotic when a fire starts at one of the tables and Doreen’s entrepreneur husband suddenly goes into convulsions and drops dead. Has his favorite orange pekoe tea been poisoned? Theo smells a rat.

The distraught Doreen soon engages Theo to pursue a discreet inquiry into who might have murdered her husband. As Theo and her tea sommelier review the guest list for suspects, they soon find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse...

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I really enjoyed a book I had read in her Scrapbooking series as well as one in her Cackleberry Club series.  I had read the first few in this series years ago and really wanted to revisit it.

My Impression:  This was a delightful cozy mystery!  Laura Childs was one of the first cozy mystery writers I discovered when I first started reading cozy mysteries -around 15 years or so ago - and her mystery game has only gotten stronger.  I loved seeing Theo and Drayton getting involved in the investigation and it was super fun to watch the mystery unravel.  It's always fun when it starts out looking like there couldn't possibly any suspects and then things quickly became more complex than they originally seemed.

While a good mystery is always the fundamental thing in a mystery, Childs manages to make the setting of Charleston, South Carolina itself and Theo's tea shop just as enjoyable.  Charleston is a beautiful city with a fascinating and diverse history and I really enjoyed seeing little tidbits of this pop up throughout the book.  As well I really enjoyed seeing the inside of the tea shop and my mouth absolutely watered with all the mentions of Haley's yummy sounding creations.  Luckily there are tons of recipes and tips on tea at the back of the book.  This is a fantastic read for a rainy day - just make sure you have a big steaming cup of tea and a tasty scone.  I recommend the apricot scones from the recipe below!

My copy of Pekoe Most Poison is a review copy and didn't have the recipes but luckily my library has a bunch in this series (which I'm looking forward to reading) and I picked up Steeped in Evil which has a recipe for Apricot Scones that turned out absolutely fantastic!

Apricot Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold butter, diced up

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl, combine flour, sguar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in butter with fork or pastry blender until crumbly.  Stir in cream, then add apricots.  Knead dough 5 or 6 times on a lightly floured surface until dough forms a ball.  Roll dough into a circle about 6 inches thick.  Cut into approximately 16 triangles.  Place scones on greased baking sheet, sprinkle a little extra sugar on top, and bake 16 to 20 minutes.

Now I just wish I had some of that Devonshire cream that Theo always serves with her scones!

I'm linking up with Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads