Laura Freeman's Blog, page 34
July 19, 2019
Cranberry’s Bluff by Deborah Garner
Cranberry’s Bluff by Deborah Garner
[image error]This story could be considered a cozy mystery but there is no dead body. Garner weaves an interesting and complex story about a bank robbery involving innocent Molly Elliott.
Molly is making a deposit at the bank for her boss in Florida when a women, bearing a striking resemblance to her, robs the bank and runs out. After recovering from the initial shock, Molly walks to work but is arrested. Everyone thinks she robbed the bank according to the news even though the police discover their error and let her go. Then she begins receiving threatening notes saying they know she took the money. The police can’t figure out who is sending the messages or who searched her apartment.
It’s all too much for Molly who inherits a Cranberry Cottage bed and breakfast across the country in Oregon. She screens customers and seems to have her life under control again until one night when five guests arrive.
The honeymoon couple Dan and Susie, the shopper Sadie, a quiet loner Charlie and a handsome writer Bryce turn out not to be who they say they are.
Garner shows talent releasing the information slowly to reveal the suspects, motives, and plots to find the money and blame Molly for the crime. Some readers may guess some things early on, but she holds back a few surprises for the ending. This is a great read for those who like to solve mysteries in a cozy setting.
July 11, 2019
A Mail-Order Heart by Janelle Daniels
A Mail-Order Heart by Janelle Daniels
[image error]This is the second Mail-Order bride story I bought, and a lawman married both of them. This one has a dramatic kidnapping and chase in it unlike the other, tamer story. There was nothing wrong with the story, but I would have liked the women and especially Clara to face more realistic hardships. Daniels introduced Simon as a bad guy and didn’t use him. Maybe he returns in a later book since this is a series. I think Daniels is ambitious having nine mail-order brides, especially if each woman has her own story.
Clara Stewart arrives in the mining town of Promise Creek, Montana to marry Ivan only to find out he has eight other women he’s promised to marry, and Ivan is dead. Sheriff Sawyer Morrison and Clara butt heads but also have a strong attraction to each other.
Sawyer thinks as sheriff he isn’t entitled to a bride, and Clara takes charge of the women and is determined to make the best of the situation. There are plenty of men who are looking for wives, but the women want to choose. Mayor Bracken tells them Ivan has left them his large house and gold mine, but they all have to agree to stay. Clara convinces them its best. The women’s different personalities clash but Clara takes the brunt of the problems.
Sawyer and Clara are in the mine when it collapses but find another way out. Someone caused the cave-in. They spread the rumor there is gold in the mine only their lie is the truth and leads to trouble.
July 4, 2019
To Catch a Spinster by Megan Bryce
To Catch a Spinster by Megan Bryce
[image error]In most Regency novels, the man seduces the innocent woman and is forced to marry her. This is a regency novel that turns the genre on its head with a woman more interested in losing her virginity than keeping it and refuses a proposal of marriage afterwards.
Olivia is 27 years old with five married sisters. She has accepted her lot in life as a spinster but would like to experience being courted and bedded at least once and live on the memories. She chooses Nathaniel Jenkins, 39, who is being henpecked by his mother to wed. He is not interested in the young girls dressed in orange.
Olivia asks her brother-in-law to introduce her to Nathaniel and she offers to pay him to court her and bed her. Nathaniel, being a gentleman, refuses but is intrigued by Olivia. They are well-matched and likable to the reader. As he gets to know her, he changes his mind and after a night of lovemaking, he proposals.
Olivia, much to his surprise, refuses him. The families on both sides try to change Olivia’s mind through most of the book. She is afraid they will fall out of love like her parents and other couples she has known.
I enjoyed the writing and the twist about Olivia being the seductress but the plot was too simple. I expected more to happen. But for writers, this is an excellent example of taking an idea and adding to it. So much more could happen to the heroine in your version with similar circumstances. It’s all in the telling, after all.
June 28, 2019
The Blow-In by Susanne O’Leary
The Blow-In by Susanne O’Leary 2017
[image error]This is another ebook I purchased. It is a modern sweet romance set in Ireland and to the author’s credit, she uses the setting and language to put you in the Irish countryside. If you’re going to visit Ireland, read this book first.
The story is told in first person by Finola McGee, a reporter who has quit her job after exposing corrupt politicians and moves from Dublin to the countryside of Knockmealdown. She takes over as editor of a small-town paper and plans not to stir up any trouble. But there is already a mystery as to why the previous editor left town in a hurry. Also her publisher informs her they need to double circulation or lose the paper. So much for resting.
Finola has three men introduced into her life for a new romance. Her old one crashed and burned.
One is a kind veterinarian but no spark; one if a momma’s boy with no spine; and one is a movie star named Colin working on a film that may save the paper.
The author introduces us to bullying in the small town and the hatred toward immigrants. Even Finola is called a “blow-in” for not being born in the town even though she’s Irish.
To discover more, you’ll have to read the book.
