Veiled Revenge by Ellen Byerrum

Veiled Revenge by Ellen Byerrum ISBN-13: 9780451239518 Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Obsidian Mystery Released: February 5, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Washington, D.C., fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian is trying to balance writing fashion news and getting her best friend, Stella, ready for her upcoming wedding. At Stella's bachelorette party, a friend and psychic, Marie Largesse, arrives with a stunning Russian shawl. A shawl, Marie warns, that is haunted and can curse those who mock it. When a party crasher mocks the shawl and is found dead the next day, the other guests blame the shawl and fear a curse has been unleashed against the wedding. But Lacey suspects there's a human behind the murder, and she must employ her Extra-Fashionary Perception to capture the villain before Stella can heroically cancel her wedding to avoid the curse.


My Review:
Veiled Revenge is a cozy mystery. This book is the ninth in a series. While you can understand and enjoy this book without reading the previous novels, you'll probably enjoy it more if you have read them. There were many references to events in a previous novel, including spoiler information on how that novel turned out.

The characters were likable and engaging even when creating drama. Whether quirky, weird, flamboyant, or not, they were all unique. I don't care much about fashion, so I wasn't sure I'd like Lacey, but she's nice and wasn't a fashion snob like I half expected.

The book was almost more of a suspense novel than a mystery--will Stella get wed or not? And who killed the wedding crasher and is trying to kill Lacey, Stella, and Stella's fiancé? The mystery was clue-based. I was able to correctly guess whodunit about a third of the way through I didn't have any idea as to why or exactly who that person was until near the end.

There were no sex scenes. There was a fair amount of explicit bad language (about 55 to 61 bad words, depending on what you count as bad language). Overall, I'd recommend this personality-filled adventure, especially if you've read and enjoyed the previous books in the series.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Oodles of Poodles by Linda O. Johnston

Oodles of Poodles by Linda O. Johnston ISBN-13: 9780425259962 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: February 5, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Back Cover:
Has Hollywood gone to the dogs? Pet rescuer and animal shelter manager Lauren Vancouver is observing production on a new movie called Sheba’s Story. The title character—a white Miniature poodle—is played by many similar-looking poodles, and to make sure no animals are harmed, Lauren’s friend, veterinarian Carlie Stellan, and Grant, a handsome representative from the American Humane Association, are on location. But when the film’s director is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run after arguing with Carlie about animal safety, it’s up to Lauren to clear her friend’s name and catch a killer before someone else ends up in oodles of deadly trouble.


My Review:
Oodles of Poodles is a cozy mystery. This book is the fourth in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunit of a previous books.

The heroine says that she has no imagination. By the end of the book, I thoroughly agreed with that statement. The only method she could come up with to investigate the murder was to go around asking everyone involved with the filming who they thought the murderer was. When that didn't turn up anything useful, she then asked everyone if they did it and, even if they didn't, what motive they would have had to murder the guy. Unsurprisingly, this turned up nothing useful and managed to anger everyone she talked to.

She was on the set representing her rescue shelter's rich patron, and yet she got upset when her angering everyone caused him to reconsider using her as his representative on the set. It didn't occur to her that this might be a result of her behavior. And when she set a trap for her suspected murderer, it didn't occur to her that one result of her stunt would be to leave people with a negative impression of her animal rescue operation that she's so self-righteously proud of.

So I wasn't impressed with the heroine and sometimes didn't like her attitude toward others. Though there were some subtle clues, this wasn't really a clue-puzzle mystery and whodunit was uncovered mostly by chance. There was a lot of nice detail about how an ideal, well-funded animal rescue shelter is run and on filming an animal movie.

There were no graphic sex scenes. There was a minor amount of explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this novel to dog lovers who wish they could spend every moment of their day playing with dogs or those interested in some behind-the-scenes on how animal movies are filmed.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon & Dean Hale

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon & Dean Hale Illustrated by Nathan Hale ISBN-13: 9781599900704 Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Released: August 5, 2008

Source: Borrowed from the library.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Once upon a time, there lived a little girl and her mother . . . or the woman she thought was her mother. Over the years, as the little girl played in her pretty garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the rather enormous garden wall. One day she finally climbed to the top of the wall and looked over into the mines and desert beyond.

Shannon Hale teams up with husband Dean Hale and brilliant artist Nathan Hale (no relation) to bring readers a swashbuckling and hilarious twist on the classic story as you’ve never seen it before. Rapunzel (and her amazing hair) teams up with Jack of beanstalk fame to gallop around the wild and western landscape, changing lives, righting wrongs, and bringing joy to every soul they encounter.


My Review:
Rapunzel's Revenge is a re-imagined fairy tale in graphic novel form for tweens or teens. Several fairy tales collide. Rapunzel uses her hair like a weapon and travels with Jack (of the beanstalk) and his goose through a western setting. They right wrongs as they fight their way back to the garden-palace to save Rapunzel's mother and stop the evil, growth-magic witch that raised Rapunzel.

The tale is humorous and a quick read. Rapunzel is not a passive damsel in distress, and she and Jack make a good team. There was plenty of action, funny dialogue, and engaging characters, but the characters didn't develop much or have much depth.

There was no sex or profanity. I'd recommend this lighthearted book to readers who like graphic novels and humorous fairy tales.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

And the winner is...

It's time to announce the winner of the Follower Love Giveaway Hop. Including Twitter entries, we had 29 entries. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

Shelver506
who won "Vanished" by Irene Hannon

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you for your address.

For those who didn't win, you can always buy a copy of these books from your favorite bookstore or see if they have them at your local library.

Town in a Pumpkin Bash by B.B. Haywood

Town in a Pumpkin Bash by B.B. Haywood ISBN-13: 9780425251881 Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: February 5, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
In the quaint seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy Holliday runs the Blueberry Acres farm with her father…

Preparations for the Pumpkin Bash, Cape Willington’s annual Halloween festival, are well underway. Candy is helping a friend run a pumpkin stand and a haunted hayride in the hopes of making some extra cash. But when she discovers a real dead body near some fake tombstones on their hayride route, Candy uses her keen eye for detail to investigate.

As her search leads her through old graveyards and a haunted house, Candy will discover that not all of the skeletons hidden in this small town’s closets are Halloween decorations…


My Review:
Town in a Pumpkin Bash is a cozy mystery. This book is the fourth in a series, but the whodunits of the previous mysteries weren't spoiled in this one. While you can easily understand this book without reading the previous novels, the author is linking the murders in a way that the characters vaguely suspect but haven't discovered yet. As in, why are there suddenly a lot of murders in a small town? There is a reason, but it's not the focus of this mystery. To follow the overall mystery, you'd probably want to start with the first book in the series.

The characters were engaging, and they reacted realistically to discovering a dead body. I liked that Candy (who is also a reporter) helped by uncovering background information that the police might not have connected to the current murder rather than Candy trying to do their work for them. The suspense was mainly from wondering whodunit and from unknown people periodically scaring Candy or stealing her work.

This was a clue-based mystery but not a puzzle mystery. I could piece together the possible relationship and motive along with Candy as she uncovered information, but there were no clues pointing to a specific character in the book until the very end.

I was confused by occasional references to someone who is not always visible but who isn't treated like a ghost. (This character wasn't directly involved in this mystery though he helped in past mysteries. In the next book, I learned that he's simply a man who has some people convinced that he can become invisible.) There was a very minor amount of explicit bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable cozy mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

To Brie or Not To Brie by Avery Aames

To Brie or Not To Brie by Avery Aames ISBN-13: 9780425255544 Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: February 5, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Charlotte Bessette, owner of The Cheese Shop, has a lot on her plate: setting a date with her fiancé, feeding the actors in her grandmother’s production of Hamlet, and planning the menu for her best friend and cousin’s upcoming wedding.

Just days before the wedding, the abusive husband of her future sister-in-law turns up dead in the Igloo Ice Cream Parlor's freezer. She has no choice but to add one more thing to her to-do list: find the killer before the villain destroys all that she loves.


My Review:
To Brie or Not To Brie is a cozy mystery. It's the fourth book in a series, and you'll probably enjoy it most if you've read the previous books in the series (which I haven't). We're introduced to 25 characters in the first 28 pages--along with their back story--while several of the women are yelling accusations and cat-fighting with each other.

Since I was new to these characters, it was terribly confusing and hard to keep track of. Since the next scene occurred days later and introduced yet more characters, I set the book down and read two other books before I felt up to trying it again. Even having read the beginning twice, it was difficult for me to keep track of who everyone was because there were so many characters and some of them didn't show up again for chapters. It took about 100 pages before I felt like I was getting a good handle on who was who.

There were many scenes with people yelling, saying mean things to each other, grabbing or nearly hitting each other, and/or smashing things. All of the characters were very opinionated and most seemed to specialize in annoying each other, so it's not surprising that I found about half of them annoying, too. I might have liked those characters better if they were more developed, which I'm assuming would have been another benefit of reading the previous novels.

Charlotte was scatterbrained, passive aggressive, and very imaginative. She invented wildly imaginative scenarios about whodunit rather than logically thinking things out. She stumbled across the answer to whodunit, yet it was a clue-based puzzle mystery. Using logic, I was able to guess whodunit about halfway through (though it wasn't obvious). The clues kept confirming my guess and I turned out to be correct, so I didn't find uncovering "whodunit" very challenging even with the confusing-for-me beginning.

There was some fake bad language (e.g. dang, heck). Charlotte couldn't seem to keep her hands off her fiancé, but there were no graphic sex scenes or encounters. If you're a cheese expert and love all things cheese or if you enjoy watching cat-fight dramas, then you might enjoy this book. But I'd recommend starting with the first book in the series.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Follower Love Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Follower Love Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


Shadow of Colossus by T.L. Higley is a Christian historical romance novel. You can read my review.

Island of Rhodes, 227 BC. In the ten years that Tessa of Delos has been in bondage as a high-priced Greek courtesan to a wealthy politician, she has learned to abandon all desire for freedom and love. But when her owner meets a violent death, Tessa is given the chance to be free--if she can hide the truth of his death and maintain a masquerade until escape is possible. Tessa must battle for her own freedom and for those she is beginning to love as forces collide that will shatter the island’s peace and bring even its mighty Colossus to its knees.


Vanished by Irene Hannon is a Christian romantic suspense novel. You can read my review.

Reporter Moira Harrisons is lost. In the dark. In a thunderstorm. When a lone figure suddenly appears in the beam of her headlights, Moira slams on her brakes--but it's too late. She feels the solid thump against the side of her car before crashing into a tree on the far side of the road.

A man opens her door, tells her he saw everything, and promises to call 911. Then everything fades to black. When she comes to, she is alone. No man. No 911. No injured person. But she can't forget the look of terror she saw on that face in the instant before her headlights swung away. And she can't get anyone to believe her story--except a handsome ex-homicide detective turned private eye, who agrees to take on the case.


This contest is for USA & Canada residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered and naming which book you'd like to win. (I have comment moderation on to prevent spam comments, so don't worry if your entry comment doesn't appear immediately. It will soon.) Please also leave some way for me to contact you--or follow this blog so you can see the winner announcement.

OR

2) you can twitter me saying "Hi @genrereviewer. Enter me in the giveaway for [give the book name and author's name]."


This giveaway ends on February 11, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on February 12, 2013 on this blog.

If you entered using twitter, I'll send you a @ or DM telling you of your win and asking where to send the book. If you entered using the blog comments, you'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your mailing address. If the winner hasn't responded with a mailing address within four days, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

I hope everyone has fun with this!


The blogs participating in the Follower Love Giveaway Hop:

Mystery of the Heart by Jillian Kent

Mystery of the Heart by Jillian Kent ISBN-13: 9781621360155 Trade Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Realms Released: January 8, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Lady Mercy Grayson longs to be a physician like her older brother, Lord Ravensmoore. Society would never tolerate a female physician, though, so Mercy disguised herself as a man to go to medical school. Her secret was uncovered, and now someone pursues her to obtain blackmail money and perhaps more...

Lord Eden has found a relic for the Regent--the spearhead said to have pierced Jesus' side on the cross and is rumored to heal illnesses. As he travels home to London, he rescues Mercy and returns her to her family on his way to see the Regent. But other people want the relic, too, and they violently take it from him. Mercy treats his wounds, but he must recover the relic for the Regent (and help keep Mercy safe while he's at it).


My Review:
Mystery of the Heart is a Christian historical romantic suspense novel set in 1819 in England. This is the third book in a series. This book is a continuation of the previous books, so a good chunk of Mercy's story has already happened before the start of this book.

While this novel was set in the British Regency era, it read more like a Disney version of history. The national-level events were generally correct, but the characters were too modern--even for modern-thinking people of the era--in their knowledge and views. Actions that, in an Austen or Heyer book (also set in this time period), would cause an immediate, forced wedding or be the cause for utter disgrace were hardly remarked upon.

Eden and Mercy went from a mild sort-of-friendship to hugging and kissing in public (with less shock than a modern teenager would experience) while neither had any intentions of ever marrying anyone. Eden betrayed Mercy and the one thing that she was attracted to in him, yet he still wins her. When he finally decided he wanted to marry, he promptly went from not-interested-in-God to completely surrendered to Him since she was Christian. It's not a story that's highly realistic, but if realism isn't important, then it's a fairly fun, action-packed adventure.

The characters were nice enough, but I wasn't very impressed. Lord Eden knew that untrustworthy people with large gangs wanted the relic, yet he never planned on defending himself from them. He kept finding himself outnumbered and meekly handing the relic over to his attackers. Mercy felt that God had called her to practice medicine, but apparently being a midwife was too lowly because she interprets this to mean that God wants her to dress as a man and pretend to be one for the rest of her life so she can practice as a physician. And she thinks she can successfully do this even though her pretense had already been uncovered once.

For the Christian element, there were numerous scenes of various Ravensmoore family members ranting about how a holy relic can't heal, only God. I agree with their view, but I got it the first time. Several characters also wondered if they could know for sure if they were following God's will, and there were some brief references to the various characters praying.

There was a very minor amount of explicit bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, it's a fun story if you don't mind the lack of realism.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.