Rambling About.. Ellery Adams' Murder In The Paperback Parlor

Title: Murder In The Paperback Parlor Author: Ellery Adams Publication: 4 August 2015 -- Berkley First Line: “You expect me to break that with my bare hand?” Jane Steward, manager of Storyton Hall and mother of six-year-old twin boys, pointed at a piece of wood in disbelief. Favorites on 4s:  4% - "De Nobis Fabula Narratur," the twins replied, doing their best to pronounce the Latin words correctly. "Their Story Is Our Story." 34% - Jane bit into a biscuit and couldn't help but sigh. There was something profoundly soothing about the taste and texture of the soft, buttery dough. 44% - "My novels might be filled with intrigue and violence, but I don't act out my plots." 74% - "Think of all the books in the library that have plain brown leather covers. They look utterly unremarkable. Now, consider what happens when the cover is opened—how a cornucopia of images sweeps the reader along on an unpredictable journey. Your guests are all like books you’ve never read before."

Ramble: I read the first book in Ellery Adams' Book Retreat Mystery series before I started blogging and fell in love with it. The series is set at Storyton Hall -- a book-themed hotel in Virginia that is managed by Jane Steward, a widowed mother who lives on the property with her six-year-old twin boys. Jane is also tasked with being a guardian of the property's great secret -- a library of rare manuscripts that few know exist. Several of the staff at Storyton know and are tasked at guarding Jane and her sons. Of course, this would probably all be easier if people would just stop getting killed on property. This installment takes place just before Valentine's Day and the hotel is hosting a Romancing The Reader event featuring Regency romance novelists and themed events. After the murder of one of the star novelists headlining the event, Jane and her friends, family and staff work together to solve the crime and protect the reputation and secrets of Storyton.

As I said, I fell in love with the first book in the series. A book themed hotel hiding treasures like never published Shakespeare? Where do I send my resume? I've worked in hotels since high school and I'm sure my family wouldn't mind living in the quaint village of Storyton....

This installment didn't grip me quite as much as the first. Maybe because there wasn't as much about the secrets or maybe because I've never enjoyed Regency romances or maybe because the romance sideline in this book falls incredibly flat for me. I didn't find that I much cared who the guilty party was and had guessed the twists (and the murderer) well before the reveals. Still, I love Storyton and Jane's friends and neighbors and I am so excited about the next installment having a tie-in to The Secret Garden! Even if I solve that mystery early, too, it will still be worth the read if only for the glorious snippets of writing like the last of the "Favorites on 4s" quote above.

Book Beginnings, Friday56 & A Little Ramble -- Pseudonymous Bosch's Bad Magic

Friday56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader.

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Title: Bag Magic Author: Pseudonymous Bosch Publication: 16 September 2014 -- Little, Brown and Company Format: Kindle eBook (392 pages) First Line (Prologue): This book begins with a bad word. First Line (Chapter 1): Clay was not the type of person who would want a book written about him. Favorite on 4s: 4% - For as long as he could remember, he'd had a mysterious restless energy that kept him in constant motion. 24% - "Life is a test. The llama was there to help." 44% - "Never let a pickpocket bump into you if you can help it." 64% - Clay couldn't have been more surprised if she'd told him he was covered with green stripes. 84% - Almost everything looked the same; and yet everything was different.

Ramble: Back in October the first book in Pseudonymous Bosch's latest series was on a super sale for Kindle so I grabbed it thinking that sooner or later John would get around to it. Last week (or so) I saw that the second book in the series was available to request on NetGalley so without even thinking I hit the request button ... and then I remembered that we still hadn't gotten around to the first one yet.
Whoops!!!
No big deal if I read them first, right?
Well.....
John and I both hugely adored the first book in the Secret series but, so far, that's all we've read of Bosch's. I was a little worried when I first found out that the Bad series was a sequel, of sorts ... but it's all good since it hasn't given anything from Secret away. It's a "sequel" in that the main character here is the much younger brother of one of the characters in the Secret books. When I told John (yeah, I fessed up about starting this without him) he got all excited and started asking me all sorts of questions about it.

Me: "Read it yourself."
John: "I will after we get the hardcover."
Me: "I'll add it to my refund list."
John: "And Bad Luck, too?"
Me: "Yes. And Bad Luck, too. Does this mean I have to wait for you to read them? You know I already have them both for Kindle ... "
John: "But ... but ... won't it be one of our books to read like that first one by him was?"
And then be batted his ridiculously long eyelashes at me.

He is so my kid. Because we have the whole Secret series in hardcover it is required that we get the whole Bad series in hardcover, too ... and I've agreed to abandon the book until we get the hardcover and can read it together.

*sigh*

Luckily, I already know that he's going to love it because I made it 40% in before the guilt got to me and I already love it. Now I just need that blasted refund to hurry up ...

Rambling About.. Samantha Tonge's How To Get Hitched In Ten Days

Title: How To Get Hitched In Ten Days Author: Samantha Tonge Publication: 11 February 2016 -- Carina UK Format: Kindle eBook (thanks, NetGalley & Carina!) Amazon Description: HOW NOT TO GET THE GIRL… Meet Mikey, every girl’s best friend – he bakes the creamiest cheesecake, loves movie nights and is a great dance partner. For Jasmine, Mikey is the perfect flatmate – he owns a 50s diner that turns out the best food around, gives the best bear hugs and amazing romance advice – after all they’re scoping out the same hot guys! So when her boyfriend proposes in the worst possible way, Jazz knows her best friend will be there to pick up the pieces with gourmet popcorn, Pinot sleepovers and a shoulder to lean on. But Mikey isn’t about to let Jasmine give up on love, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to mend her broken heart – even if it means helping the one person who sees him as the enemy… Because at the end of the day, all’s fair in the pursuit of true love… right?

(because I was reading an e-ARC the final text/locations may be different)    First Lines: I stepped back as Kate crossed the black and white check tiled floor. Due to the speed of her roller skates, her red dotted skirt swished from side to side.

Favorites on 4s:
4% - There wasn't a lot in the world a slice of cherry pie with a dollop of ice cream couldn't put right.
34% - 'Well, I've been reading lately, to improve my vocabulary.'  'Celebrity magazines won't do that,' I said and gave a wry smile.
64% - 'First things first -- remember the two main principles of salsa : sassiness and emotion. Let your heart and the music instruct your feet.'
84% - 'It's reminded me just how damaging it can be to be inward-looking and not share worries and feelings with other people.'

Ramble: Once again Samantha Tonge has written a story that I couldn't put down for more than a minute or two until it was done. (Luckily, this time it was a short story so that was only a handful of hours.) The chapters alternate points of view between Mikey and his best friend/flatmate Jasmine (Jazz). I would have been thrilled if it had all been from Mikey because 1) I've had a lot of "Mikey"s in my life and it made me miss them all and 2) I never really warmed up to Jazz that much. She was only important to me in that she was important to him. I "ooooh"ed and "awwww"ed more than a few times watching everything that he went through to try and see to it that she was happy even though he wasn't. I would absolutely love to see a full-length novel with Mikey in the future!

Rambling About.. Trisha Ashley's A Winter's Tale

Title: A Winter's Tale Author: Trisha Ashley Publication: 17 November 2008 - Avon Amazon Description: A charming romantic comedy about a hard-up single mum inheriting a stately home – and a host of headaches. The perfect novel for curling up with during the long winter nights. Sophy Winter is not your typical Lady of the Manor. When she unexpectedly inherits Winter's End – a crumbling mansion in the beautiful Lancashire countryside – it seems like all Sophy's prayers have been answered. But the house is decrepit and its eccentric inhabitants are a nightmare. And once it is discovered that Winter's End played host to a young Shakespeare, the entire village of Sticklepond becomes curious about Sophy's plans, especially charming Jack Lewis. But is he really smitten by Sophy…or her newly-acquired cash? Meanwhile, Sophy’s gorgeous head gardener Seth is the strong and silent type. But does his passion bloom for anything beyond the horticultural? A charming romantic comedy for fans of Katie Fforde and Jill Mansell – guaranteed to thaw the coldest of hearts!

First Line: 
No house as ancient as Winter's End was ever entirely silent : even at eight years old, Sophy Winter knew that. 

Favorites on 4s:  
14% - I had thought I was a piece of insignificant flotsam swept along on the tide of life, but now suddenly I saw that everything I had learned, every single experience that had gone into moulding me, had been leading up to my return.
44% - Then suddenly it felt as though someone had poured a bucket of iced ectoplasm down my back and Alys's translucent face materialized, palely glimmering, from the darkness behind Jack.
74% - Into the slightly crackling silence a ghost from the past, in the form of a rather posh voice with the faintest hint of a Scottish lilt, demanded 'Sophy, is that you? Sophy, are you there?'


Ramble: 
When I first grabbed the book and read the Amazon write-up I was expecting a typical chick lit. Girl meets boy ... and another boy ... and has to choose and blah blah blah cozy cozy mushy mushy. I was hoping that the crumbling mansion  and Shakespeare bit would help make the mushy mushy a little less tedious. Now I'm wondering if whoever wrote the bit for Amazon had actually really read the book?!?

They did get the basics right -- Sophy inherited Winter's End. 

It was her grandfather's house and she had lived there with her stoner hippie New Agey mom until she was nine years old (or so ... it was either eight or nine). Shortly after they left thirty(ish) years ago, a distant male cousin named Jack was sent to live there on school holidays.  He had assumed that he would be the one to inherit the property. When Sophy returned and decided that it was where she belonged and that she would do whatever it took to save it, she was met with opposition from some. She was also met with a great deal of support from others, though -- including the ghost of Alys Blezzard who had lived there in the 1580s and was Sophy's childhood "imaginary" friend.

I think that some of my favorite bits were the ones surrounding Alys. Each chapter started with an excerpt from her journal and written with the spelling and grammar appropriate to her time period. I was actually tempted a time or two (or three or four) to skip from chapter to chapter just reading those bits so I could find out her story that much faster before returning to the "present" ... but I held off and read them properly.

Anyway, Sophy immediately got to work cleaning and restoring the house and I actually found that part fascinating. I typically despise cleaning and would much rather stay curled up with a book and let the dust settle where it will around me but reading about how she went about her restoration and the treasures that were uncovered once the grime was gone almost made me want to buy some cleaning supplies and get to work. Almost. (My house was built in 1991 and had only ever had one other owner before I bought it in 2004. No secret treasures there aside from things I've probably forgotten buying.)

There is "romance" but it's not the first and foremost focus of the story. One character tried to make it so but .... ugh. Just so much ugh. I can't remember the last time I wanted to punch a character so hard in the face. Luckily, though, all's well that ends well. In spite of face-punching urge,s that all turned out to be much ado about nothing and this still ended up being a book full of mystery and laughs and gumption and heart. 

Top Ten Tuesday : Top Ten Tax Refund Buys

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in quite a while but it's a quiet night at work and it's a freebie week so I'm doing Top Ten Tax Refund Buys in honor of filing already. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

I absolutely cheat. The first three actually total nine ... but I really really REALLY want all three omnibuses (preferably with decent dust jackets):



1. The Thorne Smith 3-Bagger (Topper, Skin and Bones, and The Glorious Pool)

2. The Thorne Smith 3-Decker (The Stray Lamb, Turnabout and Rain in the Doorway)

3. The Thorne Smith Triplets (Topper Takes A Trip, The Night Life of the Gods, and The Bishop's Jaegers)


Only three middle grade titles on my list:



4. Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier -- I've already read but need in hardcover

5. Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard by Jonathan Auxier -- I've read part of the ARC for but had to stop because it was too delicious not to hold in my hands

6. Jolly Foul Play by Robin Stevens -- I'll have to buy from the UK because it will be released there loooong before here


The last four are a bit of a mish-mosh:



7. The Rowdy Coyote Rumble by Ann Charles -- because it's the newest installment of one of my favorite series

8. & 9. How To Get A (Love) Life & How To Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake -- because they sound fecking adorbs and I couldn't possibly do a list of ten without some UK Chick Lit

10. Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore -- one never needs a reason for Christopher Moore.

Teaser Tuesday # 43 -- Trisha Ashley's A Winter's Tale

I'll likely do a good and proper ramble Wednesday(ish), but omigosh am I loving this book!  Trisha Ashley has such a way with words that they just sort of reach into your chest and play with your heart.
The Book & Tease

Trisha Ashley -- A Winter's Tale

The Meme

Rambling About.. M. C. Beaton's The Quiche of Death

Title: The Quiche of Death Author: M.C. Beaton Publication: December 1992 - St. Martin's Press Format: epub -- Book Bazaar Reader -- 137 pages  First Lines: Mrs Agatha Raisin sat behind her newly cleared desk in her office in South Molton Street in London's Mayfair. From the outer office came the hum of voices and the clink of glasses as the staff prepared to say farewell to her. Favorites on 4s: (page 24, 54, 74, 94, 114)  24 - She ate some breakfast and picked up an Agatha Christie mystery and tried to read, but could not focus on the words. What did fictional mysteries matter when there was a real-live one in the village? 54 - Old houses crack and sigh as they settle down for the night. For a long time Agatha lay awake, starting at every sound, until she suddenly fell asleep, one hand resting on the knob of the poker. 74 - "Like another world," said Roy. "I thought you'd made a ghastly mistake coming here, Aggie, but now I think you're lucky." 94 - "You know, you haven't given it much time. It takes about two years to settle in anywhere. Besides, you're a different person. Less prickly, less insensitive." 114 - Agatha Raisin, with her skirts hitched up, was running down Lilac Lane as if all the fiends of hell were after her.

Ramble: I've been meaning to read the Agatha Raisin books for at least a decade ... or two ... and finally got around to starting!

Agatha is 53 and has take an early retirement from her public relations firm in London in order to buy a cozy little cottage in a cozy little village. Everyone seems friendly at first. Her new neighbors always say hello and talk about the weather but she soon realizes that it's all they talk to her about so she decides to enter the upcoming quiche competition so people will notice her when she wins. Of course, Agatha doesn't know how to do more than microwave frozen dinners from the market so she goes to the best quiche shop in London and buys a quiche to enter in the contest. She loses, the contest judge ends up dead, her quiche is declared to be the weapon. Things in Agatha's world aren't quite so cozy.

I have some big issues with Agatha Raisin. She's brash and ballsy and selfish and reminds me a little too much of people I have known. Since other characters tended to call her out on her less desirable personality traits I'm assuming that I wasn't necessarily supposed to like her much. Luckily, I absolutely adored some of her neighbors and her former assistant, Roy. They're why I have The Vicious Vet lined up and ready to go already. If next month's TBR goes by as quickly as this month's has it will be the first thing I turn to to fill in the empty bit of time. I'm hoping that Agatha herself will grow on me some more, but as long as everyone else is written as they were in The Quiche of Death I think I'll be okay.

Rambling About.. Samantha Tonge's Doubting Abbey

Title: Doubting Abbey Author: Samantha Tonge Publication: 10 November 2013 - Carina UK First Lines: Welcome to this blog. Your visit is appreciated. May I introduce myself - I am Lord Edward, the son of the Earl of Croxley. Our home, Applebridge Hall, is in the final of the Million Dollar Mansion competition. Favorites on 4s: (4%, 24%, 44%, 64%, 84% )  Life has a habit of throwing opportunities our way... Who knows what will happen? (4.4%) I lifted the book to my face and sniffed. 'My mother always used to do that,; muttered Edward and stared. 'She believed you could smell a good story.' (24%)  'You have five minutes to explain yourself, young lady, before I tell the Earl everything; before you reduce my niece's reputation to tatters.' (44.2%) 'Perhaps talking movies aren't the great invention people thought them to be. Perhaps silence is ... safer.' (64.8%) 'But what this fortnight has taught me, more than anything else, is that money and status don't change things that are important, like looking after your own and not letting down those you love.' (84.9%)

Ramble: Abigail Croxley has been called to her family estate, Applebridge Hall, to assist her cousin and uncle with the final run of the reality show Million Dollar Mansion. The money would greatly help with much needed repairs to the old place and, Abbey hopes, would bring her father and his brother together again as they've been estranged for decades. The only problem is that she's due to head off to Africa to help care for orphans with her boyfriend. Abbey and her roomate, Gemma Goodwin, look quite alike and have been mistaken for each other before -- aside from the fact that Abbey is polished and proper and Gemma is happiest with heavy makeup, short skirts, bronzer, bra inserts, and speaks more in slang and idioms than Abbey. Luckily, Lady Constance used to run a finishing school and is prepared to give Gemma a crash course in being a lady to take Abbey's place. Abbey's uncle and cousin hadn't seen her since she was nine years old so it shouldn't be too hard to fool them for a couple of weeks ... except, of course, that nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I was expecting to like it (I rarely pick up a book without expecting some pleasure), but I wasn't expecting to flying through it as quickly as I did. After starting it Saturday afternoon I didn't put it down for more than a minute or two until my eyes snapped shut at night and I fell asleep. As soon as I woke up I finished the remaining 20% or so before even finishing my first cup of coffee for the day. 

Rambling About.. Stella Newman's Leftovers

Title: Leftovers Author: Stella Newman Publication: 23 January 2015 - Bookouture First Line: I am a Leftover. Well, according to this ridiculous quiz in Style & Food Magazine I'm a Leftover... Favorite 5 Lines: (maybe not my FAVORITE favorite since there were a freaking ton of them ... )  Eating alfalfa is about as much fun as eating a handful of baby's hair. (Kindle p 2) This is what my life has come to: elation over a pack of stolen Post-it notes. (Kp 7) My grandma always told me that a bowl of pasta is the answer to most of life's problems. (Kp 13) Caffeine. Salt. Fat. Carb. Chair. Those five nouns : what more could a girl ask for? (Kp 34) Denial is a healthy psychological state, designed to protect us from ourselves, and should be respected accordingly. (Kp 35)

Ramble: I posted a public service announcement on Twitter about Leftovers. It should not be read on an empty stomach or too far away from a kitchen. Stella Newman (my new kindred spirit) is obviously a foodie and she'll make your mouth water and your stomach grumble... but you'll also likely shed a tear or two from laughing too hard ... and, maybe, in heartache/commiseration.

Until this past Christmas I had gone several years without reading "chick lit" because I found it difficult to relate much to the characters. (I know, I know. I can't really relate to the characters in my mysteries or paranormals, either. I don't expect to, though, so it's not the same. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) The main character in Leftovers? Definitely someone I could relate to.

Susie Rosen is 36, single, works at an ad agency, and is passionate about food. She's particularly passionate about pasta (and wine) and tweaking recipes to make them new ... which I totally get since I rarely follow a recipe without making a dozen changes to it.

She's NOT passionate about her life in general, though. She has horrible luck with men (up until I met Tom a big "here, too"). Her job is pretty awful outside of a couple of co-workers who aren't detestable (no comment). She's in a rut but is, for the most part, in denial about it. And I say "for the most part" because she knows that she's in denial... which is pretty much self-contradictory, but I get it. I've been there. In some aspects I'm still there. And after watching Susie navigate her rut I kind of feel like attacking my own somehow.

Some day.

Maybe.

Book Beginnings & Friday56 -- Leftovers by Stella Newman

The last book of the month on my original TBR is one that I'm reading with John and since I put off finishing Sophie Quire until I get the hard copy that left me with some time to get my fix of UK Chick Lit in ... AND have something fun to share for this week's Book Beginnings & Friday56! Friday56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader.

Yes. I took the quiz. I overlapped two of the "tribes" so I guess I'm a Leftover Alfalfa. You'll have to get the book I guess to understand ... but it's only $2.99 here in the US for Kindle (or app) and sooooo worth every penny (which I would honestly say if it were twice as much!)

Rambling About.. Janet B Taylor's Into The Dim

Title: Into The Dim
Author: Janet B. Taylor
Publication: 1 March 2016 - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
First Line: Everyone in town knew the coffin was empty. I think that's what packed the pews - the pure curiosity of the thing.
Favorite Line: (maybe not my FAVORITE favorite since there were a freaking ton of them ... but the first one I scribbled down in my notebook:) Aged leather and old paper. The library smelled like Shakespeare. It smelled like my mom. (p 25)

Ramble: Seriously, though? If you know me you probably know that I love time travel. I grew up on Doctor Who and Time Bandits and Timeline have been two of my favorite movies ever. I marathon read the first book in the Outlander series and have only put off on reading more because I then fell in love with the show and don't want to spoil it. When I got the notice from NetGalley about Into The Dim being available and saw that there was a blip on the cover from Outlander's Diana Gabaldon I figured "eh ... why not?" I'm very hit or miss with YA reads but 1) It was free. 2) No one would yell at me for not finishing it if it blew. 3) Scotland. 4) Time Travel.

Just add those last two together. Time travel and Scotland. It's like David Tennant ... and Gerard Butler ... and Sean Connery ... and I just thought to myself "gosh this book had better not blow."

The Amazon blurb tells the basics (of course):

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing.      Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens. 

And I know it says it's "an Outlander for teens" but .... eh .... not so much. Yeah, there's a girl ... there's time travel ... there's Scotland. That's about it.  Into The Dim reminds me soooo much more of the 2003 movie Timeline. Holy heck how I love that movie and have watched it dozens of times over the years. (And no .... not because of Paul Walker. He was great but I've been more of an Ethan Embry girl ever since he did All I Want For Christmas with a little Thora Birch and Leslie Neilson as Santa  -- several years prior to his awesomeness in Empire Records.) I guess the movie was based on a book by Michael Crichton which, somehow, I only JUST found out. Yeah. I need to get my grubby mitts on it.

Yeah. I got distracted. Sorry. Be glad that I didn't take the time to post Time Bandits, too. Oh. Fine. But just one.   And no ... Robin Hood really has nothing at all to do with anything ... it's just a funny clip. Okay, okay. Back to the book. So, eight months after her mom is presumed dead in an earthquake Hope is shipped off to Scotland to her aunt's and finds out that her mom wasn't really at the earthquake site but is a time travel and has been left behind at the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine. "Eleanor of huh?" Get thee to a library, kids.  It had to be done. In order to try and save her, Hope must go back to the twelfth century. From the descriptions of the trip, no doubt she wished she had Hermione's Time Turner. C'mon ... Rowling lives in Scotland ... and there are HP references in the book ... and ...  Once in 1154 London not only do Hope and her fellow travelers meet Eleanor, but also Thomas Becket  and King Henry II (my fingers are ITCHING to put a Burton/O'Toole clip here. ITCHING, I say!). The historical details and descriptions are phenomenal without being too overbearing. (You know how sometimes you can be reading something TOO descriptive? Like "Yes, we KNOW already! The freaking grass was green!") Granted, some bits I felt could have been maybe not mentioned quite as much as the were. Taylor more or less beat a dead horse with how poorly women were treated and how much worse the Jewish women had it and yadda yadda yadda .... but, luckily, the good far outweighed the bad and I'm already excited about the fact that there'll be at least one sequel! 

Rambling About.. Catriona McPherson's Quiet Neighbors

Title: Quiet Neighbors
Author: Catriona McPherson
Publication: 8 April 2016 - Midnight Ink
First Line: It was the last thing on her mind when she fled across London. She had her passport and meant to take a train to the airport then buy a ticket for the farthest place on the departure board, to put time zones and maybe the date line between them.
Favorite Line: Suddenly she was living in an Anne Taylor novel. A world where you can set down one life, walk away, and pick up another. It was almost too easy. (p 31)

Ramble: I've been a fan of Catriona McPherson's since I first stumbled upon her Dandy Gilver mystery series. When I saw she had a non-Dandy title on NetGalley I was ecstatic. When I received the notification that Midnight Ink had approved my request I even squealed a little.

I miss Dandy.

It's listed as a mystery but even at the half-way point I was finding the main mystery to simply be "what the heck is the big mystery?!?" And, more to the point, "do I really care?!?" I even read through the reviews on Goodreads and the description on Amazon to see if either would give me a clue.

From Amazon:

It's the oldest bookshop in a town full of bookshops; rambling and disordered, full of treasures if you look hard. Jude found one of the treasures when she visited last summer, the high point of a miserable vacation. Now, in the depths of winter, when she has to run away, Lowell's chaotic bookshop in that backwater of a town is the safe place she runs to.
Jude needs a bolt-hole; Lowell needs an assistant and, when an affordable rental is thrown in too, life begins to look up. The gravedigger's cottage isn't perfect for a woman alone but at least she has quiet neighbors.
Quiet, but not silent. The long dead and the books they left behind both have tales to tell and the dusty rooms of the bookshop are not the haven they seem to be. Lowell's past and Jude's present are a dangerous cocktail of secrets and lies and someone is coming to light the taper that could destroy everything.

I assumed that the mystery was still yet to come so I kept reading. After all, there was laundry to fold at work (the joys of third shifting at a hotel) and I could multitask reading and folding. Besides, I found Lowell endearing and his not-so-quiet nosy neighbor, Mrs. Hewston, amusing. 

I did start to care a bit more about the secrets (I guess, the "mysteries") of the past that were popping up, but it never quite became what I was expecting when I hit the request button. I'm not sorry that I did, though. It had some delightful moments even though some bits felt horribly disjointed and I felt as though I had somehow missed reading entire paragraphs or pages. I'm pretty sure that my sister-in-law would love it, though, and if I can get her hooked on McPherson with this then maybe she'd be willing to give Dandy a try and maybe we'd have something else to gab about at family get-togethers.

Rambling About.. Rachel McMillan's The Bachelor Girl's Guide To Murder

Title: The Bachelor Girl's Guide To Murder
Author: Rachel McMillan
Publication: 1 March 2016 - Harvest House
First Line: 'A murder scene is no place for a proper young lady.'
Favorite Line: Jem realized early in her acquaintance with Merinda Herringford that attempting to solve a crime as an amateur and a woman meant leaving any semblance of pride or dignity behind. (p 21)

Ramble: When I posted the teasers for The Bachelor Girl's Guide To Murder I had only just gotten the book loaded from NetGalley into my various readers. I had no real idea what I was getting myself into. No idea that I would start saying "Rats!" and "Cracker jacks!" on a regular basis. No idea that I would become obsessed with getting my hands on a copy of M.C. Wheaton's Guide to the Criminal and Commonplace only to have my hopes shattered with the knowledge that it never existed. (Thanks, Rachel.)

It's 1910 and Merinda Herringford and Jemima (Jem) Watts -- both young ladies of "proper" upbringing -- are living in Toronto with their housekeeper/chaperone, Mrs. Malone. Jem works in the mailroom of Spenser's department store and Merinda spends her time aspiring to be Sherlock Holmes -- with Jem as her Watson. Toronto's mayoral elections are approaching. Immigration is on the rise. The 'Morality Squad' is out making sure that women are "behaving" properly. Times are changing -- too quickly for some and not quickly enough for others.

The story opens at a crime scene that Merinda and Jem are visiting with their friend, Constable Jasper Forth. A young Irish immigrant woman has been found murdered in a new theater linked to the current mayor. Shortly after, another murdered Irish woman is been discovered at an event for the mayor.

Merinda and Jem set out to solve the case of the "Corktown Murders." Jasper Forth is along for the ride as is Ray DeLuca -- an Italian immigrant working as a reporter for the Hogstown Herald newspaper. Through it all Jem's turned upsidedown as she begins to question the world around her and her place in it. Should she be looking for a man to settle down with and stop disguising herself as one during investigations? She's very traditional and conservative in some aspects of her life and very revolutionary in others. It's not easy!

Also not easy? Having the book finish as quickly as it did. I joked with the author on Twitter about making my son fend for himself come mealtime so I could keep reading ... which is exactly what ended up happening. Luckily he's pretty good in the kitchen and enjoys making his own meals from time to time. Cracker jacks, I've got a good kid.

Book Beginnings & Friday56 - The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan

Please note that since this is from an ARC (thanks to NetGalley & Harvest House!) the exact text may differ in the final publication set for March 1st. A change would be quite the pity since they're both absolutely darling blips and I already adore Merinda Herringford just from the Book Beginning. (Not sure yet if she's the "she" from the Friday 56. I haven't read that far yet!)

Friday56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader.

Rambling About.. Kitty's Countryside Dream by Christie Barlow

Title: Kitty's Countryside Dream

Author: Christie Barlow

Publication: 25 February 2016 - Bookouture

First Line: When I received the telephone call on 1st November 1985 it was unpredicted, it came out of the blue, but maybe destiny was calling, a fresh start, and a time to make something out of myself.

Favorite Line: 'Always remember to stick your nose in a book and not in other people's business.' (57%)

Ramble:For the first half of the book I figured it was probably going to end up with a solid three stars. It wasn't particularly gripping but it wasn't horribly boring. I could put it down and get distracted by things and not think about Kitty.

The story opens with Kitty arriving at her new flat that she had inherited from a grandmother she never knew and was always told had died years prior. We got to see her adjust to her new surroundings, mourn the fairly recent loss of her mom, get acquainted with the business she had also inherited and its workers. Sweet and quaint and only a few editing foibles to get under my skin, but I let those slide since I was reading an e-ARC thanks to NetGalley.

Things started picking up a little about a third of the way through, but then Kitty found a diary in her grandmother's office safe and started to read it. That changed everything ... for Kitty and the pace of the book. 

When I left work this morning I was only slightly past the 50 % mark and had gone from easily distracted to not wanting to put it down. I delayed sleep by an hour in order to finish it and find out what happened. I fell asleep hoping for a follow-up from Barlow to revisit my new friends.

I had originally requested it from NetGalley because of its adorable cover and Brit Chick Lit-ness. It wasn't what I was expecting but I definitely didn't end up disappointed!

The Reading Thing 2016 -- The Monthly Theme Version

While I was trying to figure out what I was going to read in order to fulfill my alphabet challenges (and tackle the TBR), I asked my darling son if he thought I should just randomly read or have some sort of theme for each month. He thought themes and immediately started to come up with ideas for each month. Since it's a fairly quiet night at work I figure it would be a good time to take the alphabetical Reading Thing and see about fitting it into the themes! I'm shooting for seven to eight books a month ... which may or may not actually happen.

1 February Random Update : Unless a new purchase or ARC falls into my lap I currently plan on filling "empty space" for each month with playing catch-up on M.C. Beaton, Charlotte MacLeod and Carola Dunn. I'll add them in as I go along.

*******************************************************************

January || February || March || April || May || June
July || August || September || October || November || December
*******************************************************************

***January***
New In The New Year (Mostly)
(top)

ramble	teaser	teaser	ramble
teaser/ramble	ramble	ramble	teaser/ramble
ramble	ramble	teaser/ramble	teaser & mini-ramble
ramble

***February***
Valentine's & Love Stuff (Book Crushes Included)
(top)

ramble	ramble	teaser/ramble	teaser
ramble	teaser/ramble	teaser/ramble	ramble
teaser & ramble	teaser/ramble	teaser & ramble	ramble

***March***
Irish, Easter & Just March
(and a bunch of ARCs)
(top)

teaser & ramble	ramble	teaser/ramble	teaser 1  2 /ramble
teaser & ramble	ramble	teaser	teaser & mini-ramble

***April***
Spring Break (Trips, Hotels, etc)
(top)

teaser	teaser  teaser&ramble	teaser/ramble	teaser & ramble
teaser	ramble	ramble	teaser/mini-ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble

***May***
Murder!!!
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble

***June***
Weddings ... And Ice Cream
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble

***July***
Christmas in July
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble

***August***
Magic (and Stuff)! ("Otherwise August is boring." - John)
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble

***September***
School Days
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble

***October***
Spooky Stuff
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble

***November***
Cozy
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble

***December***
Christmas & New Year's
(top)

ramble	ramble	ramble	ramble
ramble	ramble	ramble