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Acts of Violets by Kate Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I had but two short chapters of my work book to read, so I brought it home and finished it this evening. It was Acts of Violets by Kate Collins, and it’s the 5th in the “Flower Shop” series of cozy mysteries, starring florist Abby Knight.

While attending the Pickle Fest parade, Abby gets into a confrontation with Snuggles the clown. When her boyfriend, Marco, has words with him, and Snuggles later turns up dead, Marco becomes the prime suspect in the clown’s death. Marco asks Abby to do some sleuthing on the sly, reasoning that people tend to open up to her. Abby isn’t sure she’s the woman for the job, but she’ll do anything to clear Marco’s name, including having lunch with odious Greg Morgan, interviewing other clowns, and stooping to a little breaking and entering. Abby’s investigation, however, has drawn the attention of the killer, and now she’s the one who’s in danger.

I typically find myself rolling my eyes at how damned dumb Abby can be in this series, but in this book, Marco was the dumb one. Honestly, what was he thinking?! Eh. Abby was a bit more circumspect this time around, not that it spared her winding up in mortal danger at the end of the book. Mystery authors, please rethink this overdone trope. I mean, how many times can your main character narrowly escape death? I know it’s meant to be exciting, but it actually becomes tedious after about the third book. All that aside, characterizations were good, plot was well-paced and proceeded in an orderly fashion. I could have done without Abby’s airhead of a mother and Marco’s overbearing one.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Snuggles the Clown threatened you?”
♦ Ordinarily, I don’t eat ice cream before lunch, but after being shoved and threatened and stained with mustard, I felt a strong need to soak my irritated nerves in butterfat.
♦ “Never trust a clown. They’ll toss you into a burning building without giving it a second thought.”
♦ At the front door we were swarmed by small, whimpering bodies with oozing orifices and sticky fingers, making my ovaries shrink up in fear.
♦ I loved it when men thought they’d come up with an original idea.
♦ A remorseful, bad-tempered, raving stilt walker. Was there any worse kind?
♦ “I think your mother would understand that finding a killer to save your backside is a little more important than her lasagna.” // “You don’t know my mother.”
♦ “Do me a favor. Hold the pillow over my face and end my misery.”
♦ You did it, you clever, multitalented cat woman!
♦ “You hung in there, even when there was nothing left to hang on to.”

Good enough to earn four stars.

Rise Like a Goddess by April Canavan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


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It was Thursday night (I think!) when I finished reading Rise Like a Goddess, which is the prequel to author April Canavan’s “Surprise Goddess” series of paranormal lite (I guess). The main character is Evangeline Lewis.

After getting fired on her 25th birthday, Eva is at loose ends. That is, until she gets a mysterious delivery consisting of a deed and a key to a house in Surprise, AZ. With few options available, Eva packs up and moves to Surprise. It seems the fates don’t want her there; she gets three flat tires on the way. When Evangeline finally arrives, she goes to the business that sent her the key, where she meets three honest-to-goodness gods. They tell her that she is also a goddess, and that she may be the key to finding out why so many gods and goddesses have been disappearing of late.

I would have enjoyed this more if there was a point to it other than setting up the rest of the series. There was a romantic interest introduced. Characterizations fell flat, but to be fair, this was a short novella. Not much in the way of a plot.

Favorite lines: Her phone was pre-dialed to 911 just in case she was stuck in an episode of Supernatural and he was a demon in a meat suit.

Lackluster, not even deserving of three stars. Two-star rating

A Little Taste of Murder by Carolyn L. Dean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Finished an ebook last night. It was A Little Taste of Murder by Carolyn L Dean, and it’s the first in the “Brightwater Bay” cozy series. The main character is widowed Claire.

Claire wants to visit the San Juan islands over the holidays before she needs to return home to AZ and get a job. There’s nothing for her back home except a too-empty apartment. On her way to catch the ferry, however, her car breaks down and leaves her stranded in Brightwater Bay with her dog, Roscoe. Fortunately, the sheriff gives her a ride into town and introduces Claire to Daisy, who has some cottages to rent. What was meant to be an overnight stay until her car is fixed becomes a longer stay when a man is murdered on the doorstep of Claire’s cottage. Now the detective in charge is telling her to stay in town, and Claire’s funds are running low. New friends step up to help. Molly introduces Claire to her aunt, who just so happens to need some help in the local bakery. Soon Claire is feeling more at home here than she ever did in AZ, and handsome Scott is one more reason she may wish to stick around longer.

I liked the story. Claire was a resilient character. All characters were portrayed well, even the less than savory ones. I appreciated that Claire wasn’t doing any overt investigating. When she recalled something or overheard information, she dutifully passed it along.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Best thing about being an adult is being able to eat dessert first.”
♦ “I took a no-fruitcake vow years ago.”

Charming and seasonal...four stars.

Hot Chicken by May Archer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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I spent a nice, quiet, relaxing New Year’s Day reading Hot Chicken by May Archer. It was a novella set in the same verse as her “Sunday Brothers” series.

While helping out at a local fundraiser, Hawk Sunday happens upon a ridiculous ceramic rooster that his friend Teagan claims has some mystical energy surrounding it. Hawk takes the rooster home, and that night he and his boyfriend, Jack, clear the air between them with several rounds of meow-chicka-bow-wow. Convinced now that the rooster brings good luck, Hawk bestows it on his brother, Knox, who’s been experiencing tension with his boyfriend, Gage. From there, the rooster gets passed among the flock of Sunday brothers, leading to revelations and renewals.

It was delightful to revisit familiar couples from the original series and see where they are in life now. Lots of spice in this one, along with Archer’s trademark banter and humor. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Favorite lines:
♦ My man hated to hear of a creature in need, whether it was a fellow human, a pregnant cat, or apparently poultry-shaped crockery.
♦ Apparently, empaths and magical, cursed roosters weren’t the hard limit I’d thought they were.
♦ “He died as he lived, thoroughly fucked.”
♦ “Is the fourth anniversary the Sex Chicken Anniversary?”
♦ “The coming bovine uprising is no laughing matter.”

Loads of fun! Five stars!

Death at the Mistletoe Market: A Cozy Christmas Murder Mystery (Christmas Cozy Mysteries by Rebecca Brody

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


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Finished an ebook: Death at the Mistletoe Market by Rebecca Brody. Not sure why that was the title; the market was called the Pinewood Hollow Christmas Market. Eh.

Emma Hartley is a local crafter, knitting scarves, mittens, etc and selling them at the local Christmas market. She loves everything about the market, from her fellow vendors to the seasonal music and the cheerful customers. Emma’s tranquility is broken when Gerald, the manager of the market, announces that he is considering selling it to an outside company known for snapping up small, local markets and turning them into cookie cutter markets that lose their local flair. When Gerald is found murdered in the market’s storage shed, one of the vendors who had argued with him is arrested for the crime. Emma is certain Frank is innocent, and she begins to question others with ties to the market to see if anyone else had a motive. She is aided by her BFF, Lily, and Mark, a man Emma thought was a new vendor only to learn he’s a PI who was hired by the woman who still owns a 20% share in the market. When Emma’s prying leads to her being threatened, everyone warns her to back off. Emma, however, won’t rest until she clears Frank’s name and finds out who really killed Gerald.

Characterizations were okay. The story started out decent and kept it up until late, when it seemed the author lost the plot. Towards the end, when Emma and a few others were checking out the storage shed where Gerald was killed, she got a text from one of the suspects, asking her to meet at the market office in half an hour. Emma agreed (letting the others know) and drove there. But, if they were at the storage shed, they were already at the market! Oof. Finally, the last chapter kept blathering about so-and-so going to prison for the crime, but the person named REPEATEDLY in that last chapter, was not the killer! I wanted to contact the author and ask if she forgot who the killer was.


Favorite lines: Sometimes you had to take risks.

Started out as a four-star, dropped to three, but after that ending, I can’t justify scoring this higher than a two.

Grinch Kisses by D.J. Jamison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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It was juuuuust after midnight when I finished reading Grinch Kisses by DJ Jamison. It’s the first book in the multi-author holiday series of male/male romance called “Christmas Falls”. The main characters are Griff “Grinch” Calloway and Logan Reid.

Griff’s job involves organizing the Christmas festival season each year in Christmas Falls. The small town depends on tourism, which means everyone depends on Griff to keep things running smoothly. He takes his job seriously, so seriously in fact, that friends and neighbors call him Grinch. With all the work he puts into the holiday, Christmas has lost its magical luster, but that all changes when his sister returns home with a gorgeous boyfriend in tow.

Logan was orphaned at an early age and bounced from one foster situation to another. For that reason he doesn’t put down any roots. He’s between seasonal jobs when his friend Jess begs him to accompany her home to Christmas Falls as her boyfriend to spare her the grilling her family will subject her to over her latest failed romance. Logan agrees, figuring he can get some home-cooked meals out of the deal. What he didn’t count on was that he’d end up staying with Jess’ brother, Griff, to spare her parents’ delicate sensibilities. Logan doesn’t mind at first, but the more time he spends with Griff, the more he wants to come clean about the fake boyfriend bit and get to know Griff better.

This was a fun holiday story. Each man has issues to work through. Griff initially returned home to Christmas Falls in hopes of luring his children into spending more time with him there, while Logan doesn’t feel like he deserves a big, happy family like Griff and Jess have. I thought the author spent too much time on their individual angsting, but things worked out in the end.

Favorite lines:
♦ “The next time I see you, there will be cream and bones for everyone.”
♦ “That cat sounds like it’s ready to do murder.”

Fun and seasonal, four stars

Cat Got Your Killer by Sofie Ryan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished reading Cat Got Your Killer in the wee hours this morning. It’s the 12th book in Sofie Ryan’s “Second Chance Cat” series of cat-centric cozy mysteries. The main character is Sarah Grayson, along with her cat, Elvis.

When Sarah goes to the shore to see how her boyfriend, Mac, is progressing on the boat he’s building, she ends up helping to pull a body out of the water. The dead man was involved in another drowning that happened along that same beach fifteen years ago. People who knew the victim were convinced there was no way he would have returned to a place where a friend drowned, and when the police determine he was murdered, Sarah’s friend Glenn is implicated. Soon, the senior citizen PI’s that work out of Sarah’s shop are on the case. Sarah is certain the current murder is tied to the former death. All she needs to do is prove it.

A fun and charming story, as each book in this series has been so far. However, once again my enjoyment was tainted by Rose. I assume the author intended for the feisty senior citizen to provide some comic relief, but I do not find Rose amusing at all. She comes across as smug and condescending, which really just gets my hackles up. Who finds this funny? Moving on. Characterizations were stellar, from familiar people to those we meet in this book. The plot moved at a steady pace without any unnecessary meandering. The narrative was balanced nicely between the investigation, Sarah’s job, and her downtime.

Favorite lines:
♦ “You figured out that Michael Norris was murdered because he didn’t like seagulls?”
♦ “I’m pretty sure nothing is official if we don’t have cake.”
♦ “Avery could sell snow shovels in a heat wave.”
♦ “You did win me over with your lasagna.” // “I thought I won you over with my studly good looks.” // “No, I’m pretty sure it was the lasagna.”

Very good, four stars

Eggnog & Murder: A Christmas Paranormal Cozy Mystery with a Magical Holiday Whodunit with Recipes, a Lie-Detecting Rabbit, and a Small-Town Sleuth by Mila Alderwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished reading my first holiday book of the season last night: Eggnog & Murder by Mila Alderwood. It’s a paranormal cozy, and the main character is Juniper Moss.

Juniper’s life revolves around her beloved bakery and her rabbit familiar, Pip. She is honored to provide the eggnog for Winterberry Falls’ annual winter fest, but when the choir director collapses after taking on sip of her nog, Juniper finds herself under the suspicion of the villagers. To clear her name and salvage her reputation, she begins following clues and leads, with Pip’s help. Sheriff Rowan Hale has faith in her ability to track down the culprit. Juniper’s magic is steady and warm, but she can feel another magic, cold and bitter, overlaying her own. The town and the festival depend on her getting to the bottom of things.

Let me get this out of the way first. There was no murder; the choir director recovered from his malaise. For that reason, the title of the book was at least confusing if not misleading. Beyond that, the story was charming. Juniper is a calm and steady presence in the midst of upheaval in town. I admired her determination to see things through, even when she made some missteps along the way.

Favorite lines:
♦ “They’d panic more over missing pastries.”

Lovely, four stars