The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore

 Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone.

Kira North hates Christmas. Which is unfortunate since she just bought a Christmas tree farm in a town that’s too cute for its own good.

Bennett Ellis is on vacation in Dream Harbor taking a break from his life in California. And most importantly, taking a break from his latest run of disastrous dates.

After a run in with Kira in her fields, Ben has no intention of offering to help the grumpy owner set up her tree farm, despite the fact she’s clearly got no idea what she’s doing.

Kira knows she should stop being so stubborn, but her farm is not all cute and cozy like people always show on social media, it’s borderline dangerous with no heating, and she’d rather no one saw it.

But somehow fate finds Ben at Kira’s farm once more, and as Kira watches him swing an axe at the first tree, she finds herself appreciating his strength and questioning why she refused help in the first place…

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     The Christmas Tree Farm: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor) (Book 3): Gilmore, Laurie: 9780008610746: Amazon.com: Books

Laurie Gilmore is a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller and a USA Today bestseller who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

My Thoughts...

Book 3 in the Dream Harbor series did not disappoint. This is really not a Christmas read it can be read year-round. I enjoyed the setting and most of the characters.
The ending was the best part of the whole book.
You have to read this to find out who says being independent doesn't have to mean being alone.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Author's Guide to Murder by Karen White, Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willing

 Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of novelists: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.

There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists. 

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious. 

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death? 

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it! 

Pick up your copy here...

The Author's Guide to Murder: A Novel: A Suspenseful Murder Mystery with a Sexy and Suspenseful Edge, Perfect for Fall 2024, Join the Hunt for a Killer Among Writers: Williams, Beatriz, Willig, Lauren, White, Karen: 9780063259867: Amazon.com: Books

I grew up being a voracious reader and it was a natural step to turn my interest to writing. I have published 34 award-winning and bestselling novels including my latest releases, THE HOUSE ON PRYTANIA, published by Penguin Random House in May, 2023. This is the 2nd book in the New Orleans-set Royal Street series, to be followed by a third book, THE LADY ON ESPLANADE, scheduled for publication on November 4, 2025. My next book, THAT LAST CAROLINA SUMMER, will be published by Park Row Books (a division of HarperCollins) on July 22, 2025.

I write what others have termed "grit-lit"--southern women's fiction, as well as two contemporary paranormal mystery series.

I have also written five collaborations with bestselling authors Lauren Willig and Beatriz Williams. The most recent, THE AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO MURDER, was published my William Morrow in November, 2024.

I have two grown children (one of whom appears in several of my books under the alias of Meghan Black), and live near Atlanta, Georgia with my husband and one spoiled Havanese dog, Sophie Belle.

Beatriz Williams is a New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before she turned her attention to writing novels that combine her passion for history with an obsessive devotion to voice and characterization. Beatriz’s books have won numerous awards, have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the world.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Beatriz now lives near the Connecticut shore with her husband and four children, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

I will read anything Karen White writes, so I had to read this one with her name on it. I was not disappointed at all. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Your Brightest Life by Jessie Minassian

 Today more than ever, as a young woman you can use an extra dose of optimism to tackle the challenges and complicated situations in your life. Inside Your Brightest Life, Jessie Minassian draws on over twenty years of questions and feedback from teen- and college-aged girls to dive into the topics you care about, presenting honest truths and tested tips from a Christian perspective that help you live a life of purpose, joy, and faith.

Maybe you’ve heard it all—God loves you, made you perfectly, and has wonderful plans for your life. But when it comes to nervousness about your future, wondering whether that guy likes you, or dealing with the mean girl in your head, sometimes what you know gets lost. The good news is, you don’t have to tackle everything alone. Your Brightest Life pairs humorous yet wise stories with practical tips to help you navigate the most important questions and challenges you face. And with short, easy-to-read chapters made to fit into your busy schedule, it’s the perfect way to start a journey toward a brighter future, filled with deeper wonder, faith, confidence, and a sense of purpose.

Your Brightest Life helps you take control of your life and make the most of every opportunity with:

• inspiration to live life with courage and determination
• real-world advice about everything from relationships to personal growth, time management, exercise, and staying healthy mentally and physically
• tips that address the challenges you face—like loneliness and uncertainty about what comes next—in new and relatable ways

The 70 stories in the book are organized by categories that include:

• boys
• friends and family
• health and beauty
• faith
• mindset

• life skills

Pick up your copy here...

Your Brightest Life: Tips for Navigating Relationships, Health, Faith, Mindset, and More: Minassian, Jessie: 9780310165996: Amazon.com: Books

JESSIE MINASSIAN is a popular speaker, blogger, and author of fifteen books, including Your Brightest Life, and her award-nominated fiction debut, A Gentle Tyranny (pseud. Jess Corban). As the "resident big sis" at Life, Love, and God—a Q&A website for teen- and college-age girls she founded in 2005—she keeps her finger on the pulse of each new generation of young adults. In addition to speaking across the country, Jessie’s work for girls and their parents has been featured internationally through outlets such as Focus on the Family, Parenting Today’s Teens, She Reads Truth, Axis, Revive Our Hearts, and YouthWorker Journal. She and her husband live on the central coast of California with their two teen daughters.

Thoughts...

This would make the perfect gift for your daughter, the young girls at church or in a classroom it is so much a need for our young girls right now.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

I Died on a Tuesday by Jane Corry

 Eighteen-year-old Janie White has the world and a bright future ahead of her. She’s about to leave behind her small seaside town, the only home she’s ever known, to embark on a book publishing career in London and couldn’t be more excited. Even though she’ll miss her dad and friends, she can’t wait to start her life.

She’s cycling home after her last early-dawn swim in the bay when the peaceful stillness of that Tuesday morning is suddenly shattered. A white van careens around the corner and barrels straight for Janie on her bike. In one swift moment, her life is forever changed, and her dreams of a new beginning destroyed. She’s brutally run down by the van and left for dead on the street.

Twenty years later. . .

Pop superstar Robbie Manning answers the front door of his palatial home to a pair of police officers who inform him that he’s being arrested for the attempted murder of Janie White. As word of Robbie’s arrest spreads, no one—including his family—can believe it; Robbie is upstanding, a model citizen and family man. But he doesn’t deny the accusations. He’s been waiting for the truth to come out for the last two decades, and he’s ready for his punishment. He deserves it after what he did to Janie.

After everything Janie has gone through, everyone wants to believe this story.

But is it the truth?

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: I Died on a Tuesday: 9780385697934: Corry, Jane: Books

Jane Corry is a prize-winning author and journalist (Daily Telegraph and women's magazines) who worked for three years as the writer in residence of a high security male prison. This experience helped inspire her Sunday Times Penguin bestsellers 'My Husband's Wife', 'Blood Sisters', 'The Dead Ex', 'I Looked Away', 'I Made A Mistake', 'To Tell The Truth', 'The Lies We Tell', 'We All Have Our Secrets' and 'Coming To Find You'. She has now sold over 1.5 million copies of her books world-wide.

Jane worked as an RLF Fellow at Exeter University and is a former creative writing tutor at Oxford University. She also writes short stories; features for The Daily Telegraph and speaks at literary festivals all over the world. Many of her ideas strike during morning dog-jogs along the beach followed by a dip in the sea - no matter how cold it is!

Jane's latest novel 'Coming To Find You' reached number 7 in the Sunday Times in 2023 and is also published by Doubleday in the USA and Canada. Her new book I DIED ON A TUESDAY comes out this June (Penguin).

My Thoughts...

I could not turn the pages fast enough. I had to see how it all ended. I really enjoyed My Husbands Wife, but this one is just as great.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

To Die For by David Baldacci

 

Travis Devine has become a pro at accomplishing any mission he's given. But this time it’s not his skills that send him to Seattle to aid the FBI in escorting orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who’s under federal investigation. Instead, he’s hoping to lay low and keep off the radar of an enemy–the girl on the train.

But as Devine gets to know Betsy, questions begin to arise around the death of her parents. Devine digs for answers, and what he finds points to a conspiracy bigger than he could’ve ever imagined.  

It might finally be time for Devine and the girl on the train to come face-to-face. Devine is going to find out the difference between his friends and his enemies–and in some cases, they might well be both.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: To Die For (6:20 Man): 9781538757901: Baldacci, David: Books

David Baldacci has been writing since childhood, when his mother gave him a lined notebook in which to write down his stories. (Much later, when David thanked her for being the spark that ignited his writing career, she revealed that she'd given him the notebook to keep him quiet, "because every mom needs a break now and then.")

David published his first novel, ABSOLUTE POWER, in 1996. The feature film adaptation followed, with Clint Eastwood as its director and star. In total, David has published 50 novels for adults; all have been national and international bestsellers and several have been adapted for film and television. His novels have been translated into over 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. David has also published seven novels for younger readers.

David is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy programs across the United States.

Raised by Wolves by James Patterson

 Two strangers. One small town. And a choice that could change everything.

 
The police respond to the arrival of two teens at the grocery store.  They don’t speak English.  They don’t speak at all.  They’re brother and sister and, for all anybody can tell, they’ve been raised in the forest.

Two teens appear out of nowhere, ransacking a small-town grocery and attacking the police officers who come to investigate. Their clothes are torn and filthy, their hands and bare feet callused, they have fangs. They’re sister and brother, alone against the world. Where did they come from? Raised by wolves, they say.

Kai and Holo are taken in by the police chief and his wife, and begin adjusting to life in a small town, attending school and going on dates. But humans, they find, are the most vicious animals. And the mystery of their upbringing brings dark and powerful forces to Kokanee Creek, tearing the town apart and threatening the lives of everyone they love. How will the wolves survive? How will Kai and Holo?

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: Raised by Wolves: From the Author of The Girl in the Castle: 9781538767016: Patterson, James, Raymond, Emily: Books

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Tiger Woods, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. Patterson has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, and collaborated most recently with Michael Crichton on the blockbuster “Eruption.” He has told the story of his own life in “James Patterson by James Patterson” and received an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

the Starlets by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne

 One perfect island. Two rivals. A star-studded cast.

But underneath the glitter, disaster is brewing.

Summer, 1958. Vivienne Rhodes thinks she’s finally landed her break playing Helen of Troy in Apex Pictures’ big-budget epic, A Thousand Ships, an anticipated blockbuster meant to resurrect the failing studio. Naturally, she’s devastated when she arrives on the remote Italian island of Tavalli and finds herself cast as the secondary character, Cassandra—while her nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Lottie Lawrence, America’s supposed “sweetheart,” is playing the lead role instead.

The tension on set, though, turns deadly when the ladies discover that members of the crew are using the production as a front for something decidedly illegal—and that they are willing to kill to keep their dealings under wraps. When the two women find themselves on the run and holding key evidence, Vivienne and Lottie frantically agree to work together to deliver the proof to Interpol, hoping to protect both their lives and their careers.

Staying one step ahead of corrupt cops and looming mobsters, the archrivals flee across the seas. Their journey leads them into Monaco’s casinos, Grace Kelly’s palace, on a road trip through the Alps—even onto another film set, before a final showdown back on Tavalli, where the lives of the entire cast and crew hang in the balance. Vivienne and Lottie finally have the chance to be real heroines—to save the day, the film, maybe even each other—but only if they can first figure out how to share the spotlight.

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: The Starlets: 9781400240661: Kelly, Lee, Thorne, Jennifer: Books

Lee Kelly is the author of CITY OF SAVAGES, a Publishers Weekly pick and a VOYA Magazine “Perfect Ten” selection, A CRIMINAL MAGIC, which was optioned and developed for a television series by Warner Bros., and WITH REGRETS, as well as THE ANTIQUITY AFFAIR and THE STARLETS (forthcoming in 2024), both of which are co-written with Jennifer Thorne.

Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Electric Lit, CrimeReads, Writer's Digest, Orca, and Tor, among other publications, and she holds her MFA degree from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. An entertainment lawyer by trade, Lee has practiced law in Los Angeles and New York. She currently lives with her husband and two children in New Jersey, where you’ll find them engaged in one adventure or another.

Jennifer Thorne is an American author of books for adults and young readers who writes from a nineteenth-century Cotswold cottage in the medieval market town of Minchinhampton alongside her husband, two sons, and various other animals.

Born in a small town in Tennessee, Jenn grew up bouncing between her parents’ homes in various other states and countries, with books as her constant companions, before returning to New York as a teen to study drama at NYU. Though acting had been her lifelong dream, she found that she was more fulfilled by writing performance vehicles for her friends than acting in them herself. After a move to Los Angeles, she detoured into writing and never looked back.

Published as Jenn Marie Thorne, Jenn debuted in 2015 with The Wrong Side of Right, an acclaimed YA contemporary novel set in the world of presidential politics. Two YA novels followed, advocacy comedy The Inside of Out, and classical musician romance Night Music, as well as picture book Construction Zoo, inspired by playtimes with her two imaginative young sons.

In England, finding her footing as an expatriate among the rolling hills and roving cows of Minchinhampton while a pandemic closed borders around her, Jenn wrote Lute, her first horror novel and first work for adult readers.