A Charming Crime by Tonya Kappes

A Charming Crime by Tonya Kappes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was my first Goodreads win and I’m happy to say that, overall, I enjoyed this book.  This is first in the Magical Cures series featuring June Heal, a novice spiritualist.

As the book opens, June is carrying on her mother’s business of selling herbal remedies.  Through her best friend, Oscar Park, she learns of Whispering Falls -- a place full of interesting people.   She is invited to open a shop there for her cures and learns that she will basically be re-opening her Mother’s shop.  Turns out, in her early childhood, June lived with her mother and father in Whispering Falls, a town populated by Spiritualists and with a lengthy and convoluted set of rules on who can run a shop and who can live there.

I will admit that I had gaps in reading this book due to the holidays, but I felt like the characters were introduced at a rapid pace and I had a hard time keeping track of them.  Personally, I didn’t get a really good feel for the people in the town or even the main characters.  At times, the telling of the story felt rushed.  However, as I became more immersed in the book again, I was drawn into the story; the ending was climatic and had a twist.  So, a decent little mystery.

My biggest pet peeves with this book had to do with the formatting and the lack of editing.  The formatting was double spaced throughout, which was a bit distracting to me.  And, while the grammar was fine, the editing left a little to be desired.  There are numerous instances of the wrong words being used.  The words weren’t mis-spelled, they were simply the wrong words.  For the most part, I could figure out the word and move on.  The worst offender was "Freight and share agony pierced my soul.”  I’m pretty sure it was meant to be “Fright and sheer agony pierced my soul,” but it took me a bit to figure out the sheer part.  I will note that this could have been a pre-publication copy and the errors may not be in the final cut.  

One other thing that drove me a little nuts was June’s obsession with Ding Dongs.  I finally got past that, but there was one scene where she fed some to her cat and chocolate is toxic in cats.  As a cat owner, that totally distracted me from the main story, but fortunately it was only the one time.

Other than the pet peeves mentioned above, I thought this was a good mystery with a very interesting premise.  I do plan on reading future books in this series and would recommend it to those who enjoy a bit of the mystical in their mysteries.


View all my reviews

Year in Review ... 2012

Tomorrow we'll welcome 2013.  This has made me a bit reflective.  It's been quite a year for me, both good and bad.

The good -- I accepted what has turned out to be a good job opportunity.  I attended not one, but two, very good professional conferences, one in Austin, one in Anaheim (which made me a bit nostalgic for the days I lived in central CA).  I got to make one more trip make to tiny town in Illinois, and stay one last time in my father's childhood home, before we sold it.  I'm still a little sad about that and will miss my summer visit there, but it was totally the right thing to do.  Christmas in Louisiana was particularly good this year (especially the food), even if the weather was bit dreary and rainy. 

I'm cooking more, which I'm finding I enjoy.  For a variety of reasons, I've been experimenting with dairy free cooking, which has led to some vegan cooking, and vegetarian cooking and I've found I like it.  I've gotten a couple of cookbooks and found some blogs and have made some changes that have turned out very positive.  I'm trying to blog my adventures in cooking and I'm trying to ramp up my food photography as well, though not always with my anticipated results.

The bad -- well, on some levels, the job hits both lists.  Wonderful opportunity and every day I know why I took it.  However, the organization, not so good.  It could be worse and I'm super grateful I have a job, especially in today's economy, but unfortunately, it's not a job I want to keep till I retire.  And, while I'm getting used to my new town, it isn't where I want to live forever either.  Sometimes you just connect with a city and sometimes you don't.  I've been blessed.  In all of my moves, this is only the second time I haven't really connected with a city.  So, I guess that's a positive of sorts.

The other huge negative is my apartment, which is fixable.  I had only two days to find a place to live (I will never not take a house hunting trip again).  I actually like the apartment itself, however, it's the poorest built place I've ever lived and the noise from above is just something I'm not going to be able to handle long term.  I don't really blame my neighbors -- they are young and they have a puppy and well, the apartment building is not well built.  I hear every bump and thump and they make a lot of bumps and thumps; it's more than just walking - it's not uncommon for the ceiling to shake due to one of their bumps or thumps.  So, I've been looking and have just about decided on a place.  I have a couple of things to ask the property management company and am not sure it will work out.  But, I have seen a few places that would work.  The thought of moving again makes my teeth itch, but the lure of quietness is too much.  Oh, and a solid surface for working out and doing yoga.

All in all, while this has been a somewhat disconnected year for me, I can't say it's been a bad one.  Just one full of learning  about me and what makes me tick.  I'm looking forward to what will come in 2013.

Best wishes to everyone for all good things in the coming year.

I leave you with a picture of kitty enjoying the mild weather:

Book Review: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the fourth book I’ve read by Sarah Addison Allen and it did not disappoint.  I could tell from the description that it was a bit different from her other novels, as magic played less of a role.  It wasn’t as obvious as in other stories, but it was there in the background.

This is a novel of friendship and somewhat of family as well as moving forward with life.  The main character is Willa, but other characters play a prominent role - Paxton, her twin brother Colin, Sebastion, and Willa and Paxton’s grandmothers, Georgie and Agatha.  The house, the Blue Ridge Madam, is also a presence of it’s own in the story.

Willa and Paxton aren’t friends.  They are two different people, each trying to find her spot in life and to move forward.  Paxton is re-doing Willa’s family’s old home, one that hasn’t been in her family for years.  During the renovations, a skeleton is found.  By visiting their grandmothers and digging out old photo albums and a little bit of investigation, Willa and Paxton learn the story of the skeleton and in so doing, they learn about friendship, namely that shared by their grandmothers.   And, they find out they aren’t so different and a friendship of sorts develop.

But, it’s not just about Willa and Paxton.  It’s also about Sebastion and Colin.  It’s about friendships that last a lifetime.  They are all looking for something and in the end, it turns out that what they are looking for might just be right in front of them.

The mystery didn’t take center stage in this story, it was the catalyst for the relationships, both for family and new and old friends.  As with her other books, this one left me wishing for just a bit more.  It’s hard to describe everything.  It isn’t a “deep” book, but it’s a highly enjoyable read.  Definitely recommended.


View all my reviews

Book Review: Invisible by Lorena McCourtney

Invisible by Lorena McCourtney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a free Nook book.  I vacillated between two and three stars, but the mystery was basically good and there  was enough that I liked that I went with three.  This is the first book in the Ivy Malone series and is set in the South -- Alabama if I remember correctly -- which is always a plus for me.  The book starts out with a death, by natural causes and is just kind of sad.  From there we veer into several stories, one of which is the death of Ivy’s friend’s renter, Kendra.

The invisible part comes from Ivy’s observation that Little Old Ladies, whom she refers to as LOLs, are not really noticed by the world at large.  So, she uses this to her advantage.  Sorta.  The LOL part I had to think about every time I read it, because I kept thinking Laugh out Loud from chat speak. (In fairness, I believe this book was written in the early ’90’s before chat).  At any rate, there was some romance for Ivy with two really nice guys and I liked the detective who investigated Kendra’s murder, Dix.  I also liked her neighbor Magnolia.  In fact, I liked most of the characters... except the bad guys, of course.

There were a couple of things I didn’t like.  First, it’s a Christian book.  I have nothing against Christian books, I just wish I’d known up front.  Here, however, it’s almost gratuitous.  With romances, I think there’s a point and maybe there can be with mysteries, but with this book it was almost a side story -- let’s get the good detective to church and make sure we hook him up with a nice, Christian girl.  Othewise, it added nothing to the story other than Ivy goes to church.

The second thing was Ivy’s "Investigating."  In the beginning, while not what I would do, it wasn't reckless, just odd (cemetery stakeouts). I don’t care for detectives that clearly do what they shouldn’t without thinking things through; those who wind up looking like little old meddling ladies and kind of dumb in the process. Granted I didn’t like the detective who took over from Dix, however, Ivy’s investigating just grew tiresome.  At times, it was somewhat funny, but the end was cliche, right out of a detective TV show (think requisite chase scene) and it turns out not quite the end.  I will say that everything did tie up nicely, however, turns out it’s a “to be continued” book.  Alas, I don’t foresee me continuing this series.


View all my reviews