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Una L. (quiltpurple) - - Reviews

1 to 16 of 16
Along Came a Ranger
Along Came a Ranger
Author: Debra Holt
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 3/25/2018


This is the first of Debra Holt's books I've read and I assure you it won't be the last. I was hooked within the first 10 pages.

We have a successful romance writer Stacy Smith speaking at a writer's convention and we have Davis McKenna also at the same hotel for a convention of Texas Rangers. There is a retrieved towel, a stuck elevator and an agreement to meet for breakfast where Stacy discovers, oops, he's a Texas Ranger, a cowboy, and she does NOT date cowboysânot ever. She says thank you but no thank you to breakfast and thinks that is that. Back home in Austin Stacy tries to get back to work but can't get Davis out of her mind. Davis is also intrigued and can't get Stacy out of his mind so does a little sleuthing to find out where she lives and more about her. As the story progresses Davis tries to break down Stacy's barriers but is she weakening her stance or not. Just when things look like we're headed for the HEA ending all kinds of problems come up and the action is enough to keep you turning the pages as fast as you can read.

This was book three in a series of four but definitely works as a stand alone. Now off to get the other three in this series!


Bell, Book and Candlemas (Wiccan Wheel, Bk 2)
Bell, Book and Candlemas (Wiccan Wheel, Bk 2)
Author: Jennifer David Hesse
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 9
Review Date: 5/13/2018


Bell, Book & Candlemas was definitely one of the best cozy mysteries that I've read in a long time. The MC Keli Milanni is an attorney who is intelligent and not apt to get into trouble except for the influence of her BFF Farrah. There have been a rash of burglaries in town and the new age Wiccan gift shop is being vandalized with paint, the owner is being intimidated by recurring threatening letters, then someone dies. Are all the events separate or are they connected? Even with all the possibilities, the sleuthing does not get bogged down and the story moves along nicely and includes some definite chilling moments. A full 5 stars from me on this one.


The Case of the Sinister Spirit (Jane Gallows Witch Private Investigator, Bk 1)
Review Date: 8/12/2018


I usually enjoy Leighann Dobbs' books, but this one seemed to really drag and never get off the ground for me. The one particular bright spot was Jinx, a very sarcastic cat. He was a hoot. Jane Gallows is a mediocre witch who needs chocolate for her spells to work. Now the chocolate I can relate to, and there are a couple of pretty funny scenes involving Jane, chocolate and Jinx. I do have hopes that book two in the series will be better and book one was just good enough that I will give book two a chance.


Claws for Alarm (Nick and Nora, Bk 2)
Claws for Alarm (Nick and Nora, Bk 2)
Author: T. C. LoTempio
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 21
Review Date: 4/17/2016


I liked this one even better than the first. Love that the MC is not real ditzy and the plot has some substance. Even though I figured out the culprit about halfway through, the story had enough twists and turns to keep me fully engaged and not wanting to put the book down.


Cowboy Bold (Longhorn Canyon, Bk 1)
Cowboy Bold (Longhorn Canyon, Bk 1)
Author: Carolyn Brown
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 13
Review Date: 6/22/2018


Carolyn Brown has outdone herself this time. I absolutely loved this book and think it is one of her very best. Longhorn Canyon Ranch is a working ranch that Cade Maguire, his brother and ranch foreman open up to a small group of 8 inner city kids ages 10 - 12 for five weeks a year to teach them leadership and how to work as a team . They come with attitude plus and manage to go home friends. You can't help but fall in love with Benjy who is a high functioning autistic child who lives with his great grandmother.


Dead and Butter (Southern Psychic Sisters Mysteries)
Dead and Butter (Southern Psychic Sisters Mysteries)
Author: A. Gardner
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 8/12/2018


First in series and new to me author. Have to say, I really enjoyed this one. It moved right along and kept me interested the whole way. I'm glad I have book two here waiting to be read as I can see lots of possibilities moving forward.

Ember Greene is an unwilling psychic from the south who is ruthlessly working her way up the corporate ladder in New York when she is called home because her little sister is missing. What follows is a race against time to find who the culprit is and to bring her sister home safely. Lots of action, some of it pretty icky, and the conclusion is not obvious until close to the end.


Deadly Brew (Dewberry Farm, Bk 3)
Deadly Brew (Dewberry Farm, Bk 3)
Author: Karen MacInerney
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 11
Review Date: 4/2/2018


It's Halloween in Buttercup, Texas and the spooks are out. At the Witches Ball the locals come to support the local animal rescue center but dissension runs high about a new exotic game ranch and everyone is suspect when one of the ranch owners dies that night.

An enjoyable, but highly predictable, read. It was easy to figure out who the killer was even without the sleuthing. Three stars from me.


Death & the Gravedigger's Angel (An Auction Block Mystery)
Death & the Gravedigger's Angel (An Auction Block Mystery)
Author: Loretta Ross
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 4
Review Date: 6/8/2018


A pair of interlocking mysteries keeps this novel very interesting. A former Army medic suffering from PTSD is accused of murdering the son of a man who disrupted his wife's funeral. Death meets with him and does not think it possible he did it. In the meantime Wren is getting an old dilapidated mansion ready for auction and stumbles across a set of beautiful drawings from a soldier from WWI and starts trying to discover his identity.

I love this series because the author's characters are realistic and interesting and her plots are very believable. I figured out who the murderer was a while before it was revealed, but that did not destroy the enjoyment of the rest of the story at all. Five stars from me and I hope there are more stories coming.


Gravier's Bookshop (New Orleans Paranormal, Bk 1)
Gravier's Bookshop (New Orleans Paranormal, Bk 1)
Author: Evelyn Klebert
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 4
Review Date: 6/14/2018


Eerie, spooky, absolutely wonderful read! Caroline is an empath who is being targeted by an unknown person or being and her energy is being drained. Max is a widower and owner of a bookshop with psychic abilities. Together they form an alliance to attempt to rid Caroline of whatever or whomever is trying to possess her. This is a short, read in one day book--really more like a novella, but it was super good.


Lethal Licorice (Amish Candy Shop, Bk 2)
Lethal Licorice (Amish Candy Shop, Bk 2)
Author: Amanda Flower
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 36
Review Date: 4/9/2018


The second in the Amish Candy shop mysteries revolves around the Amish Confectionery Competition where Bailey King is competing in place of her recently deceased Amish grandfather. As she is setting up her tables, Juliet Brody, mother of the local sheriff's deputy and good friend of her grandmother, comes begging for her to help find Jethro, her small spotted pig, who has gone missing. Instead of finding Jethro, they find another of the competitors, dead and shoved in the organ chamber at the church.

The story revolves around the competition, Bailey searching for the murderer, and explaining a lot about Amish customs. It was a thoroughly enjoyable cozy with a not so obvious murderer. I would give Lethal Licorice a full 4 stars because the story kept moving, was enjoyable, had interesting characters, and a not so obvious conclusion.


The Midnight Witch
The Midnight Witch
Author: Paula Brackston
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 8
Review Date: 4/4/2018


With this book I was expecting a nice, lighthearted paranormal read, but that was not to be. Instead I got a fascinating, edge of your seat story involving the necromancers of the Lazarus coven and a very dark magic coming from an unknown source. The story begins in 1913 and takes place over the next five years with emphasis on before and after the war. The main dark magician is known immediately but who has infiltrated the coven to create havoc and wreak death and destruction, and can good and love win in the end? A riviting story and one I gave 5 stars to.


Moonshine & Magic (A Southern Charms Cozy Mystery) (Volume 1)
Moonshine & Magic (A Southern Charms Cozy Mystery) (Volume 1)
Author: Bella Falls
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 12/17/2018


I seldom give a book five stars, but oh wow did this one deserve it. While technically a paranormal cozy, it was not the sweet, simple cozy that I am used to. This one had teeth. The very idea of Honeysuckle Hollow was delightful, the characters were wonderful and the story just kept getting better. Charli Goodwin knows her own mind and isn't afraid to stand up for what is right. Her grandmother loves her to pieces and has her back at all costs. And the costs may run very high indeed as they race to save Charli's life.


The Skeletons of Scarborough House (Chapelwick, Bk 1)
The Skeletons of Scarborough House (Chapelwick, Bk 1)
Author: Kitty French
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 6/3/2018


What a hoot! This was a suspend all beliefs and go with the flow cozy mystery. Set in the midlands of England some of the words and phrases might make you stop for a moment and figure it out, but the whole story was delightfully funny and not at all serious.


A Treacherous Curse (Veronica Speedwell, Bk 3)
A Treacherous Curse (Veronica Speedwell, Bk 3)
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 18
Review Date: 6/11/2018


Once again a spectacular read with lots of different scenarios taking place but all to a satisfying climax. Interesting information about the fad of the times of everything Egyptian, but not so much as to weigh down the story and become dull. Veronica Speedwell is definitely a woman ahead of her time!


Two Birds with One Stone (Marsden-Lacey, Bk 1)
Two Birds with One Stone (Marsden-Lacey, Bk 1)
Author: Sigrid Vansandt
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 7
Review Date: 6/9/2018


This was a great first of series book with enjoyable characters and a good plot. Lots of possibilities for another book.

Two American women working in England become acquainted and become friends and cohorts in solving the mystery of a death, then two, plus a shooting, and while they're at it, become interested in two English gentlemen. A bit silly at times but it never lost it's enjoyability.


Yuletide Homicide (Wiccan Wheel, Bk 3)
Yuletide Homicide (Wiccan Wheel, Bk 3)
Author: Jennifer David Hesse
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 7
Review Date: 6/3/2018


Another great cozy mystery by this author! Keli is a lawyer specializing in family law but she is also Wiccan. She has recently acknowledged her beliefs to her boyfriend and things are progressing nicely but a case assigned to her and stuffy colleague Crenshaw Davenport III and the appearance of her ex-fiance may just upset the balance. A delightful read that doesn't make you suspend all belief and just lets you sit down and enjoy. A strong 4 stars from me.


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