New York City in the 1920s—glamour, prohibition, and corruption. And “Egyptomania”—the fascination with all things to do with ancient Egypt after the recent discovery of King Tut’s tomb.
Dr. Lauren Westlake is the underappreciated assistant curator of Egyptian Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An expert in her field, she longs to visit one of the dig sites in Egypt. She also longs for her archaeologist father’s approval.
Suddenly, her long-absent father is back in her life—along with long-time friend Joe Caravello. Now serving as a detective with NYPD, Joe recruits Lauren to help identify forged antiquities. As Lauren grows closer to Joe, she struggles to overcome the barriers that keep her from trusting her father.
The Metropolitan Affair is a gently-told mystery and romance with themes of family, loyalty, faith, trust, and betrayal. The art details add an interesting element. I did find it hard to keep up with the large number of secondary characters, but I enjoyed the story.
Favourite lines:
Dead people were easy to talk to. It was the living ones that often gave Lauren trouble. Even her father. No. Especially him. [From the opening.]
So while Lauren had wanted to run, she had stayed. And she had only survived the staying because of the people who stayed with her. [Chapter 37.]
Jocelyn Green is an award-winning and bestselling author of historical fiction and nonfiction. For more about the author and her work, visit jocelyngreen.com.
In 2019, Diana has a perfect life—if you don’t count the recurring nightmares of her disastrous wedding. She’s single, with a successful career and a meaningful Big Sister relationship with a needy teen girl, Carly. And her best friend Shane is as happy as she is to leave romance off the table.
Discovering a twist in her family tree and learning the story of her grandmother Lilly will affect Diana’s present—and her choices for the future. When Diana quizzes her father, Dale, he decides to write the story for her as a book, one tantalizing chapter at a time.
Diana’s portion of the story is told in first person, present tense and Lilly’s in third person past (1922-1944). In the 1920s, children Lilly and Tommy commit a crime with devastating consequences. Bound together by the secret shame of what they’ve done, they spend their lives trying to atone.
Richly told with settings solidly anchored in present and past, Lilly’s Promise is a thought-provoking book that touches on a number of hard topics including infidelity, abortion, and wartime injuries and trauma. Yet it’s a hopeful story, pointing toward God’s love, encouraging its characters (and readers) to choose life, forgiveness, and freedom from fear.
This is one of those books where the characters stayed with me between reading times. And even as Lilly’s choices went from bad to worse, the present-day presence of her now-elderly son, Dale (Diana’s father) gave hope that her story would turn out.
Lilly’s Promise is a Braun Book Awards Winner. Canadian author Terrie Todd writes heartfelt historical and contemporary women’s fiction and has a nonfiction book as well. She is the author of The Silver Suitcase, The Last Piece, and more. For more about her books and to read her blog, visit terrietodd.blogspot.com.
[Book provided by the author. My choice to write a review.]
A lovely feel-good story with fantastic descriptions of the settings—both in California and Sicily.
A painting that could be a previously-unknown lost masterpiece pulls art history expert Derek Gaines out of his quiet life and back into places of prestige in the art world—places he left when his wife died.
Seeking to establish provenance of this unsigned work and prove his suspicions of the painter’s identity—and perhaps find more valuable art—Derek finds unlikely support from Kelly Reid, one of the VPs of a famous auction house. He’s a widower, she’s been burned by a cheating (now ex) husband, and in the thrill of the art chase they may yet find unexpected romance.
The art plot could have been written as a high-energy thriller, which would also have been good, but I enjoyed it this way as a safe and intriguing read. The Miramar Bay series is one place I turn for gentle, non-scary tales with happy endings. Sometimes that’s what we need.
The Emerald Tide is book 6 in the Miramar Bay series of standalone novels. Readers following the series in order will recognize occasional recurring characters in peripheral roles but each story is self-contained with different characters in the major roles.
Davis Bunn is a prolific and award-winning writer whose work spans multiple genres in Christian and clean mainstream fiction. The Miramar Bay books are clean reads without overt faith threads. To learn about the author and his work, visit his Goodreads page.
[Review copy from the public library via Hoopla Digital.]
A sweet, opposites-attract Christian romance with a suitably heart-happy ending.
Set in a small town in Washington State, this instalment of the Trinity Lakes Romance series features Tabitha, the overworked mainstay of the Lakeview Inn, and Logan, the New Zealand-born world traveller.
Tabby and Logan both need to learn—or re-learn—to ask for God’s direction for their lives instead of forging ahead on their own. And then to trust Him in the waiting.
It’s book four in the series but reads easily as a standalone. The setting is beautiful, the characters easy to spend time with, and there’s a hint of mystery about the abandoned boathouse on the edge of the property.
Check out New Zealand author Iola (pronounced yo-la) Goulton at iolagoulton.com.
I don’t know if this is the best book in the Smithwell Fairies Cozy Mystery series (it’s # 6) or if it’s just the long wait since the previous one released, but I really enjoyed being back in the fictional town of Smithwell, Maine, with Kate Brewer (human widow) and her fairy sidekick Minette. They make a great mystery-solving team, along with Kate’s next-door neighbour Emily and her possibly-a-spy-but-we-don’t-know-for-sure husband. Plus a little off the record help from local Detective Rancourt.
What do you do when the wrong body turns up? A woman’s husband is missing—a man mysteriously connected with Kate’s late husband Michael—but the guy in the morgue is not him. Despite having the missing man’s ID in his shoe.
The police think Daniel ran off for a fling. But why would he leave clues only his wife could follow?
Kate, Emily, and Minette know the longer a person is missing, the greater the danger. If the police won’t investigate, it’s down to them.
These are clean cozy mysteries with enjoyable characters. There’s some progression within the series but you could start with this book and not be confused. Then go back and start with book 1, Dying to Remember, because the whole series is worth reading.
I enjoy the descriptions: characters, food, and especially scenery. In Counterfeit Corpse, the images of small-town Maine give readers a vicarious autumn getaway.
Favourite line:
She puckered her lips as though she were about to spew bits of sheriff all over my kitchen floor. [The missing man’s wife, talking about the sheriff’s lack of concern. Chapter 1, at the 3% mark on my Kindle app.]
Karin Kaufman writes cozy mysteries (the Juniper Grove and Smithwell Fairies series), suspenseful mysteries (the Anna Denning and Teagan Doyle series), as well as the Geraldine Woolkins children’s series. For more about the author and her work, visit karinkaufman.com.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
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The chance at a partnership with the reclusive owner of a mysterious cliffside mansion brings Ashley Scott to the Oregon coast with the goal of establishing it as a premiere wedding destination.
The historic house is well maintained and stocked with period furniture. Transforming the grounds falls to local landscaper Jonathan Gray and his crew. Physically and emotionally scarred from the near-fatal explosion that ended his military service, Jon has come to the remote village of Hope Harbor to live a simple life and hide from gawkers.
Built by a lumber baron for his bride, the house’s subsequent tragic history led to rumours of haunting. But this isn’t a paranormal book, despite the isolated setting and the fog that creeps in. It’s a story of realistic, likeable people.
Filled with characters readers will embrace, this gentle story of second chances invites us to step out from any protective boundaries we may have allowed circumstances to construct around us. Sometimes secondary appear to have divine insight in what to say, especially Charley the taco truck owner. When God wants to get our attention, we’ll often meet His message at every turn. Fiction usually avoids this but when you’re looking for a heart-warming read with a comforting, almost fairy-tale feel, it’s a good fit.
Windswept Way is my first taste of Irene Hannon’s Hope Harbor series. It’s book 9 and now I’d like to pick up book 1. Linked by place, each novel seems to feature different core characters and a fair dose of feel-good serendipity. Fans of Davis Bunn’s Miramar Bay series will enjoy the Hope Harbor series, and vice versa. The main difference I see is the Hope Harbor books have a strong faith thread where Miramar Bay is clean mainstream.
Irene Hannon is a bestselling, award-winning author of over 60 books, both romance and romantic suspense. For more about the author and her work, visit irenehannon.com.
[Review copy from the public library via Hoopla Digital.]
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I’m joining the First Line Friday link-up again, hosted by Carrie at Reading is My Superpower. And I cannot say enough good things about this week’s book: All the Lost Places, by Amanda Dykes.
First line:
Once upon the dawn of time, there was water.
[Prologue]
And because some people disrespect prologues, here’s the first line of chapter 1 as well:
I only ventured out at night, and all the better if it rained.
Lyrical, beautifully crafted, and luminous with hope, All the Lost Places is a dual-timeline historical novel. Rather than my stiff summary, here’s the official back cover copy:
When all of Venice is unmasked, one man’s identity remains a mystery . . .
1807 When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.
1904 Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.
This is a gentle, luxurious read best enjoyed slowly like a fine dessert. Having said that, I admit to reading parts too fast because I had to know what happened next. Daniel and Vittoria, Sebastien and Mariana and their friends… these characters mattered to me. And I knew I could trust author Amanda Dykes to treat their story carefully even when they couldn’t see the way forward.
All the Lost Places reads in part like a fairy tale, understandable perhaps since Sebastien’s story is birthed in the pages of the book Daniel is assigned to translate. Daniel and Sebastien are both men haunted by the broken places in their lives. As they grapple with this, they discover that perhaps a lost or broken place is an opportunity to be filled with light.
Daniel is an artist, living now with an injury that prevents him from picturing in his mind what he wants to draw. As he tries to discover how to move from who he was and how he worked to who he is—and can he work this way?—he must also learn how to find redemption when restitution is not enough.
Such serious themes don’t weigh the story down. Readers will enjoy a detailed vicarious tour of Venice as the men in both times engage with a variety of engaging characters. Sebastien’s multiple adoptive guardians, Daniel’s bookseller and gondolier, these and more are delights. And oh, the settings!
This is a novel with far too many favourite lines for me to quote. I encourage you to read it for yourself and discover your own.
Amanda Dykes is the author of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year for her debut novel, Whose Waves These Are. Her more recent books are Set the Stars Alight and Yours is the Night. For more about the author and her work, visit amandadykes.com.
[Review copy from the public library.]
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This week I’m trying something new and joining the First Line Friday link-up, hosted by Carrie at Reading is My Superpower. The book I’ve chosen is Brink of Danger, romantic suspense from Christy Barritt.
The faceless villain opens this one up. Here’s the first line:
I’m there. In the crowd. People talk to me. Laugh with me. Give me high fives.
Ansley Wilder loves adventure. That’s why she works for a zipline company. But after a near-miss that was no accident, she takes a personal interest in helping her police chief brother Luke and her former crush, fire chief Ryan Philips, investigate.
Ryan came back to Fog Lake for a less-stressful post after a tragedy rocked his previous fire crew. Except his first day back is the day Ansley nearly dies. When more suspicious activity follows, it all seems centred on Ansley.
Ansley is a woman trying to do life different after a recent wake-up call. She’s doing her best and making good progress but still sometimes messes up. She’s trying to find her way back into faith and to shake her wild image.
Readers see the unseen watcher manipulating the circumstances “for Ansley.” Every time I thought I knew who the villain was, there’d be a reason it couldn’t be. I enjoyed the puzzle.
My favourite quote comes from the watcher, the self-styled “Woodsman,” remembering the influence of now-deceased parents:
Both of them are dead now, but their memories live on in me. I’m like a sapling that grows over a grave, continuing the circle of life.
Brink of Danger is book 3 in the Fog Lake romantic suspense series. I had no trouble starting here, although now I know how the first two books’ romances turned out. 😊 To start at the beginning of what looks like a 7-book series, look for Edge of Peril.
I found the romance thread a little more overt than I like best, but the suspense was compelling. I appreciated the family dynamics between Ansley and two of her brothers and her honesty about the struggle to forgive her mother for walking out on the family.
Christy Barritt writes “quirky mysteries and spine-tingling suspense.” Brink of Danger is in the latter category, a fast-paced suspense read that starts with danger and never lets up. The villain definitely adds a touch of creepy. For more about the author and her many books, visit christybarritt.com.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
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Roast Date, by Heather Day Gilbert (WoodHaven Press, 2022)
Macy Hatfield is a good friend and a good neighbour. So she can’t help but get involved to try to clear her neighbour Vera’s name after a woman is found dead in Vera’s home. Especially since there’s no family around to help… and Christmas is coming.
The Christmas activities fit into the story to add atmosphere without feeling tacked on like they do in some books. There are cookies, carols, presents, and a visit to a Christmas tree farm. It would be a good book to read any time of year, but I enjoyed reading it mid-December.
The Barks & Beans Café Mystery Series is perfect for readers who like a fun, clean read with engaging characters… and pets. The stories aren’t fluff, but neither are they deep and brooding. Adult siblings Macy and Bo make a good team—both in the café and in solving the mysteries that keep coming their way. And of course Coal, the gorgeous Great Dane pictured on all the book covers, is a treat in his own right.
I always enjoy a virtual trip to the Barks & Beans Café to discover what’s on the menu and to see the interaction with the shelter dogs. Macy’s friend Summer brings them for café patrons to visit and hopefully adopt.
Roast Date is book 7 in the series and I think it’s one of the best. New readers could begin here and not feel lost. Doing so would give some minor spoilers for earlier books.
It’s a good series to read from the beginning, though, as the characters’ relationships do develop and there’s a behind-the-scenes villain who shows up from time to time. (Each mystery is self-contained and fully solved at the end of each book.)
This one ends with a hint of trouble to come in book 8, Shade Grown, which will release in 2023.
Heather Day Gilbert’s books range from clean mainstream cozy mysteries to Christian romantic suspense to Viking historicals. For more about the author and her work, visit heatherdaygilbert.com.
[Review copy provided by the publisher. My opinions are my own.]
Find out how a rescued hummingbird becomes a symbol of hope for a town on the brink of despair in this heartwarming, feel-good story with a thread of mystery and danger.
This Christmas, the fictional southern California town of Miramar Bay, ordinarily a haven, is under threat of sweeping wildfires. Wildfires which some clever thieves can use to their advantage. After all, if the evidence of break and entry burns up, who’s to say the stolen items didn’t burn too?
Stopping the thieves is personal for Ethan Lange, who barely escaped the fire with his life. And it’s one of many Christmas wishes for hard-edged police officer Ryan Eames, a single mom with a socially awkward son, Liam.
This is the backdrop for a sweet love story between two wounded souls—and a tale of friendship between Ethan the artist and eleven-year-old Liam with his secretive drawings.
The Christmas Hummingbird is book 7 in the Miramar Bay series, and while readers of previous books will recognize some of the other town residents each story stands alone with its own central characters.
Fans of Davis Bunn (and his pen name, Thomas Locke) know he writes in many genres from gentle stories like this one to thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction. While much of his work is overtly Christian fiction, some, like the Miramar Bay books, are not. They’re still clean reads.
[Review copy from the public library via Hoopla Digital.]
