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Book Review: An Honorable Deception

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An Honorable Deception
The Imposters #3
by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

When a young socialite who seeks the Imposters’ help in finding her missing ayah is subsequently shot, Yates knows there’s more to this case than it first appeared. And since two of his team are semi-incapacitated, it’s easy to accept help from his old friend Lady Lavinia, who is still reeling from the betrayal uncovered in her family in a previous Imposters case.

Yates was a semi-side character in the previous two books, but there were always sections from his POV, giving us a chance to get to know him as an Imposter, brother, and earl. In this book, he’s in the forefront, and his history with Lavinia shown in the first book is expanded upon. I always liked Yates, so I was happy to see more of him. And though his sister Marigold is married now, I love their sibling relationship in this book.

Besides Yates, this book has two other POVs—Lavinia and Lady Alethia, the woman whose ayah has gone missing. Alethia has her own dark past, and the way Lavinia and Alethia help each other through their healing is one of my favorite things about this book. There was one quote in particular that I found very moving:

“‘Whoever made you think you’re not worth it— they’re wrong. So very wrong. And you let them win when you keep thinking those thoughts. You are precious….You must not take any unnecessary risks. Your life matters.’”

After reading the first book in this series, I already knew I needed to read other books by Roseanna M. White, and after reading the author’s note and finding out that some characters from another series of hers appeared in this book, I’ll definitely be starting with that one. The ending makes it seem like there’s more to come in this series, though I don’t know if that will be the case, or if it will spill into a different series like the Shadows Over England series did into this one. I’ll definitely keep an eye on White’s future books, but in the meantime, I highly recommend this book for fans of Christian historical mystery (this is set during the Edwardian era in London).

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: November 19, 2024

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Book Review: I Think I Was Murdered

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I Think I Was Murdered
by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker
read by Karen Peakes

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian mystery, romance

After Katrina’s beloved grandmother dies and the FBI goes after the CEO of the tech company for which she is legal counsel, she retreats to her hometown to figure out her next steps. She also lost her husband a year previous, and she eases her grief by talking to an AI chat program that is loaded with her his texts and emails. But then an innocuous question to her the bot returns a response that sets her world spinning even more: “I think I was murdered.”

The premise of this story intrigued me greatly, and the mystery aspect of the story was suspenseful and engaging. The book mostly takes place in a small town in California, where Katrina grew up with a Norwegian father and grandmother (called “Bestemor”), and there are a lot of references to Norwegian food and traditions, which I enjoyed. There is romance, but it’s not quite as front-and-center as a lot of these Christian romantic suspense books tend to be. The main male character has family issues that don’t connect to the main story, though they do provide an in-depth backstory for him that make him a well-rounded character.

However, there are several side stories, and I’m not sure all of them are particularly beneficial to the story. There are a couple of minor twists in the book, one of which I suspected from pretty early in the book. I don’t know if it was just that obvious or if I simply took a leap that happened to be correct. In the end, the book wasn’t a stand-out read for me, but I did enjoy listening to it. The narrator is decent, differentiating voices well enough to make the story easy to follow, though there were times when it seemed like her voice was more distressed-sounding than it needed to be. Overall though, I’d recommend this book for fans of Christian romantic suspense/mystery novels, especially those who are interested in the AI angle.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Christian Publishing for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: November 12, 2024

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Book Review: The More the Terrier

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The More the Terrier
Andy Carpenter #30
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When reluctant defense attorney Andy Carpenter is presented with a stray dog, he (or, more accurately, his son) recognizes it as a terrier his family once fostered. Upon returning the dog to his home, Andy discovers that its owner has been arrested for murder. The young man’s attorney doesn’t inspire confidence in Andy, so he decides to take over the case.

This installment in the series (which, like others with a Christmas-related name or cover, takes place near Christmastime, but isn’t really Christmas-y in nature) has all of the intrigue, drama, and wit that I’ve come to love from these books. The pressure that Andy feels when someone’s life is in his hands is high in this book, and I appreciate his sense of justice. His defense case felt a lot weaker and more muddled than normal, though it’s understandable, given what he had to work with. In the end, I was a little surprised by the way the case and investigations went, based on what I’m used to from this series, which tends to be formulaic (in a good way). Rosenfelt has a way of changing up the formula enough to keep the books from becoming mundane, but this was a little less clean in the end. I might even say that it’s been my least favorite in the series so far, but I still enjoyed it and am rating it 4 stars, so that should tell you how much I’ve loved the rest of the series (I’ve only read 1/3 of the series so far).

This series has become something of a comfort read for me. Or more accurately, a comfort listen, since, though I’ve enjoyed the books from the first one I read, once I started at the beginning with the audiobooks, it amplified my enjoyment a lot. Therefore, receiving an ARC of the audiobook was a real honor. I highly recommend this book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, and though there are some over-arcing storylines throughout the series, you don’t really need to start at the beginning (though I’d still recommend it).

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: October 15, 2024

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Book Review: Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor

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Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor
by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

Though marriage to Cyril Lightbourne, a very distant relation that Mariah Lyons’s father’s estate will pass to someday, would be convenient, Mariah has to face the fact that he’s not the same kid she played with years in the past when he first visited Plumford. Their letters became strained over the years, and she’s heard that he’s set his sights on the flirtatious, malicious Lady Pearl, which lowers Cyril in her own esteem anyway. Still, she’s glad that their old friendship is rekindled when he comes to Plumford at Christmastime, and she has enough to deal with anyway, since a Danish lord is visiting Plumford at the same time, set on winning Mariah’s hand.

I’m always wary of romances set at Christmastime, since they’re often much more sappy and devoid of plot than other romances, but I recently fell in love with some of Roseanna M. White’s other works, so I was excited to receive an ARC of this novella. And it did not disappoint. It’s short enough that there aren’t any major surprises, but there are some lovely minor surprises, and I actually found myself cheering at some moments near the end of the story. I was confused at first when a 3rd POV popped up, that of the Danish Lord, Søren Gyldenkrone, but it really paid off in the end.

I’m a complete novice when it comes to what this book is based on—The Nutcracker—but that by no means lowered my enjoyment of it. The Christian element is mostly related to the characters clearly being Christ-followers themselves and some allowing their faith to change their thinking (for the better). The only downside to getting an ARC of a Christmas book in August is that I don’t get to read it while ensconced in a colorful, wintery environment myself (technically, I could have, but I don’t like putting off ARCs like that). I may have to re-read this one next December (only because this December would be too soon), just for the full effect. In case it’s not clear, I highly recommend this sweet, well-themed Christmas romance.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.
Publication date: September 3, 2024

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Book Review: Between Flowers and Bones

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Between Flowers and Bones
The Restorationists #2
by Carolyn Leiloglou

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian middle grade fantasy

Now that she’s not the only Restorationist kid that needs training, Georgia finds herself in the shadow of Vincent, her 2nd cousin, whose Gift is much flashier than hers. Her own parents spend more time with him than they do with her, and she begins to doubt the usefulness of her Gift. But she tries to remember that they need to work as a team to defeat the Distortionists and Vincent’s rogue aunt, who wants Georgia and Vincent to help her steal a painting.

I greatly enjoy the world Leiloglou has set up in this series and had a lot of fun returning to it. This book brings some cheer-worthy moments regarding peripheral characters and sets up a time-sensitive future danger. If the protagonist had been a bit different, this would have definitely been another 5-star read. As I read, I felt more and more like her issues with Vincent were being sort of trumped up to give us a moment of clarity and change, which all felt a little too much like Georgia was too wise for her age (even with the help from an older gentleman). It’s not that her issues with feeling overlooked and unneeded are unrealistic for her age (or any age, really), but the way she overcomes them seems a bit unlikely.

The plot, though, and the worldbuilding of this fantasy story are engaging and simple to follow. The ending feels just a smidge unresolved and/or rushed, but overall, I am so excited for the continuation of this series. I recommend this book to anyone (young and old) interested in fantasy fiction with a Christian worldview.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: September 10, 2024

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Book Review: The Mystery of Locked Rooms

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The Mystery of Locked Rooms
by Lindsay Currie

My rating:2.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

When her family is faced with foreclosure and moving to another state, Sarah and her friends West and Hannah decide to try to find the fabled treasure in a nearby abandoned funhouse built in the 1950s. They’ve solved lots of escape rooms together, so they know they have the best chance of making it past the riddles and puzzles to find the prize at the end.

I’ll get to the part of this review about the escape room side of this book in a bit, but I’ll start with talking about the plot and characterization. The plot was fairly basic—MC desperately needs money to save herself/her family, fabled treasure is available, she enlists her friends to help her get it. The ER elements aside, it plays out about like you’d expect. There’s even one character with a far-above-average memory, which I guess I don’t know how rare it is, but I have a feeling the statistics are something vastly lower than 1 in 4 people with that kind of memory, which is what a lot of MG books make it seem like. Throughout their experience in the funhouse, these kids are pushed to their limits and end up opening up to each other in ways that they haven’t in the past, and their conversations sound a lot more insightful and self-aware than kids would really be at this age (pre-teens, I think? I don’t remember if their ages are stated). Add to that the way the funhouse is just somehow magically set up to test each of their unique strengths and weaknesses, and I feel like it definitely could have been done better.

If this book had not been billed to be about escape rooms, I would have rated it higher. I’ll just say up front that if you’re thinking about reading this book because you enjoy escape rooms, maybe give it a pass. However, it is for younger readers, and most of them will have never played any escape rooms, or at least not enough to see the problems with that aspect of this book, so I doubt that would be much of an issue for them. I’ve only played about 30+ escape rooms, which is a low number amongst enthusiasts, but I have a difficult time believing that these 3 kids have played as many as they have at their age (and income level for one of them at least—escape rooms are expensive, and though it’s mentioned that she got a subscription or something to a particular business for a birthday present, that one business couldn’t include enough different rooms to account for the seemingly high number of rooms the book makes it seem like these kids have done). At the beginning of the book, they’re all excited because they beat a game with a very low escape rate, and then later it’s mentioned that it was their 3rd time attempting the room. In my experience, playing an ER multiple times is very uncommon. Plus, it’s mentioned later in the book that many ERs have multiple exits to the next room…also not something I’ve really seen or heard of much, if ever. Then the details within the funhouse, the way the escape room elements play out, just…don’t really make a lot of sense to me. The kids get excited over things they figure out that don’t actually mean anything or advance them, and riddles they find are somehow perfectly tailored to what they’ve done or the order in which they’ve done things, even though the puzzles are way too non-linear for that to be possible. In the end, this felt like every book or movie I’ve ever read/seen about a not-quite-mainstream fad (like when TV shows try to include MMORPGs) that is clearly written by people who do not have enough experience about the subject matter. I really can’t say if that’s the case with Currie or not, but it definitely fell short for me.

I was so excited to read this book. I figured that ERs have now been around long enough for them to be more correctly used, and this book certainly sounded like it would be a good one for that. It really wasn’t, at least to me. Between that and the drama in the plot, it just wasn’t as exciting as it seemed like it was meant to be. I didn’t hate it by any means, and it was a quick read. And as I said above, I am certain that pre-teens wouldn’t have any issue with the lack of escape room realness. That leaves the story and characters, which I still think were a bit weak, but it’s also entirely possible that they’ll resonate more with those of the age group this is meant for.

Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Last Girl Breathing

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Last Girl Breathing
by Court Stevens

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Suspense, mystery

Eight years after heavy rain caused a dam failure that swept away her younger brother, Lucy’s step-brother Martin has gone missing in the same expanse of land that was under water all those years ago. Lucy can’t help but wonder if Martin’s allegations that someone was behind the dam break are related to his disappearance, and soon she’s swept up in an escalating mystery that involves multiple deaths and disappearances.

I found myself really caught up in the suspense of this book—the search for Martin, the questions about the dam break, the obvious suspicious behavior of Lucy’s ex-boyfriend. Every once in a while, there’s a brief glimpse into the day of the dam break, and the impending disaster in those sections added to the suspense for me. There are a lot of characters, basically all of whom could be involved in either the dam disaster or the current tragedy. It took me a little bit to understand the dynamics of this group of families who are said to spend a lot of time together, but once I did, I had no issue keeping them straight.

The thrill ride comes to an abrupt halt, though, a little past halfway, when part 1 ends and part 2 is basically just a page saying that time has gone by. Then part 3 picks up 2 years later. It was a bit of a jolt, though I understand the need for a time jump. I definitely didn’t expect it and wonder if there was a better way to do it, but I was still invested and wanted to find out the truth of everything. However, my real issue comes with the ending. The ending is usually pretty make-or-break for suspense/thriller novels, and this one was…okay. It felt a little too much like a twist was thrown in just for the sake of having a twist. By the time we find out who’s behind much of the events, I don’t feel very connected to that person, so it probably doesn’t hit me as hard as it should. And by that point, to be honest, I was half expecting it anyway. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book more than not and have already recommended it to my suspense-loving teenage daughter. I like that it’s fairly clean overall, with no language that I can remember and only side references to affairs or other things of that nature (including a fairly uncomfortable mention of a first kiss when Lucy was 13). Though I think the pacing could have been better, I feel comfortable recommending this book to any fan of suspense novels who is interested.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Dog Day Afternoon

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Dog Day Afternoon
Andy Carpenter #29
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When defense attorney Andy Carpenter is asked by his mysterious and stoic associate Marcus to defend a man who is accused of a mass murder at a law office, Andy agrees, perhaps less reluctantly than normal. Though the accused man’s alibi is a bit sketchy, Andy begins to uncover a complex conspiracy that could possibly prove his client’s innocence…if only he could understand it enough to use it.

I have not read all of the books up to this point, but I’ve read enough to know that Marcus has been a background kind of guy for most of the series. For him to be more involved is an interesting change for this book, which is important this far into a series. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about these books is the variety of characters Andy uses in his investigations, which grows a little here and there. Marcus was always the comforting protective presence who had little personality, which I never felt detracted from the books. Here, though, we see a little bit of character development, yet not so much that Marcus doesn’t remain a bit of a mystery.

These books are normally in 1st-person perspective, but there are bits here and there from 3rd-person to show the reader things that Andy doesn’t directly see. I don’t know when this started in the series (or if it was new to this book), but it threw me off at first. I think that’s just because I have recently been going through the series from the beginning and have not encountered this yet. The only complaint I really had was that the conspiracy started to get a little convoluted and difficult to follow, with a lot of names that I struggled to remember. It all came together well in the end though. And Carpenter’s trademark wit and sarcasm are in full force in this book.

This series has become something of a comfort read for me. Or more accurately, a comfort listen, since, though I’ve enjoyed the books from the first one I read, once I started at the beginning with the audiobooks, it amplified my enjoyment a lot. Therefore, receiving an ARC of the audiobook was a real honor. I highly recommend this book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, and though there are some over-arcing storylines throughout the series, you don’t really need to start at the beginning (though I’d still recommend it). 

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: July 2, 2024

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Book Review: He Should Have Told the Bees

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He Should Have Told the Bees
by Amanda Cox

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian fiction

When George Walsh dies and leaves his apiary to both his daughter, Beckett, and a complete stranger named Callie Peterson, it throws both of these young women’s lives into a whirlwind. Callie is in a difficult financial situation and could use the money from the sale of the farm, while Beck is afraid of losing the only place she’s ever felt safe. Both must learn difficult truths about their upbringings and secrets kept from them by those they loved while also trying to navigate the confusing joint ownership. 

Probably the most intriguing thing about this book was all of the various descriptions about beekeeping, which provide a sort of backdrop to the rest of the story. The author clearly knows her stuff, and I enjoyed the way Beck shared the beekeeping duties with Fern, a young girl spending the summer on a nearby farm. Like the beekeeping aspect, though, the traumatizing backgrounds of both main characters are not something I’m terribly familiar with (except for Beck’s agoraphobia—I may not be fully agoraphobic, but I have anxieties that sometimes seem similar). My mom had some major trauma in her life before she married my dad and had us kids, but much of this I only learned about after her death last year. So I could identify somewhat with what these ladies went through, but probably not as much as would have been helpful to become more invested in the story.

The Christian message in this book, though light (and I don’t mean that in a bad way—I don’t need a book to be preachy to count as Christian fiction), was appreciated. Trauma, abuse, and neglect are terrible things to go through, and I truly don’t know how anyone finds their way out from under the weight of these things without God. However, though I have nothing against therapy and counseling, those tools seemed to be pushed a bit more, and while perhaps the author meant the two to be entwined, I don’t recall the therapist that Callie sees referencing God much, if at all. Still, though this book was perhaps a bit slower-paced and more drama-filled than my normal preference, I’m glad I read it. I think there’s probably a better audience out there for it than me, and I do recommend it to anyone who is interested in Christian fiction with a focus on trauma and family connections.

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Book Review: Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit

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Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit
by Clare Harlow

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy, mystery

Ista Flit has traveled to Shelwich to find her father, one of many who have gone missing recently. The disappearances are attributed to monsters that come with the mist and seem connected to the rising and falling of magic that comes with the tides—magic that has given Ista the ability to “borrow” someone’s looks. With the help of some new friends, Ista won’t stop until she finds out what happened to her dad.

I’m going to do things a little out of order for this review and give my recommendations up front. I struggled a lot with writing this review and assigning a rating, but in the end, I rated it based on what I thought of the story, world-building, and characters. However, I don’t really know that I could recommend it to anyone in the age group it’s meant for, due to the subtle inclusion of LGBT elements. The attempt to normalize these things for kids is a major issue for me, and I am certain that there are others who will want to be aware of this in advance. At the very least, if have the same concerns at all, I would recommend reading the book before allowing your child to read it, to evaluate for yourself whether you feel it’s okay for them to read.

That being said, I do think that Clare Harlow is a talented author and world builder. The fantasy elements are interesting, and the mystery surrounding the monsters and disappearances is engaging. It ends with a cliffhanger and a clear opening for future books, though it takes such a turn from the rest of the book that I am not sure it did it’s job, for me, in making me want to come back and read more, especially when coupled with what I mentioned above. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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