Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising by Ram Munoz Ryan was a bit of a cliffhanger for me but was a beautiful work of writing. The story takes us back to about 1920-1930 in Mexico with a young thirteen year old as our main character. Daughter of a wealthy farmer, Esperanza has it all: friends, family, wealth, beautiful clothes and a boy she wants to marry. When her father takes longer than normal to get home, things go downhill. Fast. Only a few days afterwards, the entire farm gets burned down to the ground. Deciding it best to flee, Esperanza and a few others go to America where they might work and get their feet back on the ground. Now in one of the work farms, Esperanza gets her first taste of America as she starts to live in California and has to WORK for money. Will things turn out well for her and the family? Or will the strikers make things even harder than they were before?

Beef Stolen-Off

The second book of the Clueless Cook Mystery, Beef Stolen-off, brings Jordan McAllister and the gang back to another murder mystery. Expensive cattle have been stolen by the group and nobody know who's selling them legally across borders. Jordan is now the permanent food columnist (with personal ads on the side) and gets the attention of a local cattle ranch owner, Lucas Santana. He invites her to the Cattleman's Ball with a hunky cowboy, Rusty Morales, as her date in hopes of getting a good review. But when Rusty kills over at the party and leaves Jordan dateless for the rest of the night, she doesn't have much longer to figure out who's been stealing the local cattle. Unless she wants to be branded and killed!

Liver Let Die

This book is the newest food mystery that I've been able to get my hands on. Written by Liz Lipperman and part of the Clueless Cook Mystery, Liver Let Die takes place in Ranchero, Texas and follows the story of Jordan McAllister, writer of personal ads and her family at the Empire Apartment. After taking the job of being a food columnist after the recent one got into the hospital with several broken bones, Jordan goes to the high and fancy restaurant with no expense out of her pocket for her first column. Getting served by a cute waiter named J.T. certainly added to the column, that's for sure. But when his dead body shows up underneath the staircase at her apartment complex, Jordan gets pinned as a murder suspect. What else was being served to her besides a slice of chocolate cake with a hot side of murder? The book was very good but sometimes the change in character's point of views had me confused. After I established a sort of ground with one character, the book would change with the other character's point of view without any sort of forewarning. There was plenty of clean humor, hot guys with mysterious reasons and recipes galore!

Death of a Country Fried Redneck

Death of a Country Fried Redneck is about Hayley Powell, a single mother who writes a cooking column called "Island Food & Spirits". Her favorite country singer, Wade Springer, is coming to Bangor for a charity concert in support of the ocean research department. She and her best friend, Liddy, hatch a plan to try and meet the famous super star until she has the opportunity to secretly cook for him. Not to mention  The next day, he hires her as his personal chef after reading the column and tasting her food. But as she's starting working for him (not to mention falling for him as well), things start to take a turn for some finger licking MURDER. One of Wade's roadies winds up dead with a piece of Hayley's famous fried chicken stuffed in his mouth. Will Hayley be able to find the murder before the concerts are done or will she be served crispy?

A Catered Thanksgiving

A Catered Thanksgiving by Isis Crawford is about Bernie and Libby Simmons, two sisters who have been hired to cater for a family that seems to fight more about the inheritance. The Fields seem fine until the head of the family gets his face blown off by the turkey. Not to mention that they already have plenty of fireworks to use in the empty bunker next door. With the dead body in plastic wrap and snow keeping them in with the same house as the murder, can they survive? Or will they be the main course for this thanksgiving? This book wasn't as appetizing as I thought it be. I was hoping that there would be more oomph to the story as it progressed but it seemed more like a poor drama. Everyone else had a beef with somebody else and there were secrets galore. The point of views would skip occasionally and would show the murder's point of view sometimes but didn't give very much satisfaction for me at all.

Yarn to go

Yarn to Go is about a dessert baker taking over her aunt's yarn retreat. After living with her aunt for so long and with her death being too sudden, Casey finds herself taking over her aunt's retreat. With the confusion of taking the leadership position, an annoying manager continues to nag Casey about taking over at any point in time in case she wants to back out. And she's got her own yarn project to do as well for the retreat! But after an unexpected death from one of the members in the retreat, Casey's stuck figuring it out on her own. And this might even be the same murder from the yarn retreat before and her aunt's unexpected death..... This book was a little more down to earth but a bit slower than I thought it would be. Casey didn't realize who the killer was till the last chapter or so. It looked a little more realistic but I think could have been placed at least two or three chapters prior to the ending of the book.

The Last Dragonslayer

Recently, this series has caught my attention. The Chronicles of Kazam by Jasper Fforde starts out with The Last Dragonslayer. Jennifer Strange is 16, orphan and the back up manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management in absence of the recent Great Zambini. But the world that she lives in doesn't try to hide the magic but rather use it for helpful services like moving illegally parked cars, de-mole a garden or fix the pipeline in a house. Jennifer must find out how to stop the death of the very last dragon on Earth but how can she do that if she's supposed to be the dragonslayer? This book was better than I expected and a different kind of take on the types of magic. It gives the world a new idea of the magical world, history and its high legends. I thought that this book would give a good laugh for girls who think that they can't go into business or some sort of agent. The characters were given the right kind of humor and sarcasm needed. There's new animals and a science sort of take on magic, preservation and the limited use of some types of energy.

Dark Chocolate Demise

Dark Chocolate Demise was the book that got me into the adult cooking mysteries. Mel and Angie in the Cupcake Baking Mysteries are back once again to solve a murder. In the Old Town Zombie Walk?! This just got a whole lot harder with the undead roaming around.... With twists, mistaken identities and old flames under cover - things might get dangerous once more before people go six feet under. Permanently. This book had me hook line and killer. In truth, I didn't like Mel and her old flame and how they kept getting back together. I thought the reason to break up was to date somebody else, not go after them romantically because they could be in danger!

Cookie Dough or Die

Cookie Dough or Die by Virginia Lowell is part of the Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery and one of the better parts of Adult Fiction/Mystery. It's about two best friends, Olivia and Maddie, who run a cookie shop in a small town called Chatterley Heights. Olivia collects antique cookie cutters and soon after a friend of hers dies, receives her entire antique collection of cookie cutters that amount to about $30,000 with another $150,000 for whatever she needs it for. The story isn't rushed into a mystery solving case as soon as it happens but rather is a bit more slower paced environment with a more realistic storyline. Plenty of funny and clean humor with a side of silly Yorkshire Terrier antics!

Great Gatsby

One of my personal favorites in books is this fantastic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Placed in the Roaring Twenties, the story follows a young accountant by the name of Nick. Nick lives next to a rich man who is never seen by the name of Jay Gatsby. Many rumors swirl around this young multimillionaire but which stories are true and false? The story bursts with romance and secret affairs as a side and a flash to the past fashion, places and glitzy parties. I enjoyed the character development as well as the description of the settings and parties. The only thing not to my liking is how some characters are in knowledge of particular secrets but reveal them to the wrong characters.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1644892192

The Menagerie: Krakens and Lies

The creature trio is back once again with me as I flipped through the pages of The Menagerie: Krakens and Lies. Once again, a page ripper for me if I do say so. I was awestruck with the sudden plot twists and ideas which came from the pages like the deep blue! In this final ending of the Menagerie trilogy, the story comes to a complete (and funny) ending with the trio having solved all the mysteries set in front of them in the prior two books.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1644890317

The Menagerie: The Dragon Trials

The Menagerie: Dragon on Trial had my attention the second I picked it up. It picks off a few days after the first book ends and has more creatures than ever! The amazing trio consisting of Zack, Blue and Zoe are trying to help prove a dragon innocent but the evidence seems to point all to him! This book had be fumbling for my thoughts and as well as the characters. The mystery seems to be hiding in every page and all while trying to figure out why Zack's mom disappear in the first place....

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/929973739