Birthday Musings

Words of wisdom on my 67th Birthday:

This moment is the youngest I will ever be and the oldest I have ever been. 

Age is only a number (I’m really 21 inside, that’s the Birthday we announced our engagement)

I don’t need 2 eyes with perfect vision to see what’s important in life.

It’s how you treat others that is a reflection of who you are, not how others treat you. 

Marry the person who makes you feel like “you are enough” just as you are and wants you to be his dancing partner each and every day. 

When you apply sunscreen on your face, include your neck, it may prevent neck wrinkles. 

TSA Global Entry is worth every penny. 

Traveling with Grandchildren is the best, it gives a fresh perspective on events, people, and places. Plus, she laughs out loud at the absurdity of life and most of what comes out of my mouth...the eye roll completes it... It seems that no one says “mojo, chillaxing” anymore and dancing to the music in public places is frowned upon even if it is Graceland! 

The people who love me when I am least lovable are “my people.”

A dying friend once told me, it’s all about “the Love”...I am feeling the love today and counting my blessings. Thank you for all of the Birthday wishes.

Even though we were staying in a hotel, my Husband gave me this rose for my Birthday... he's a keeper!

I See Life Through Rose`-Colored Glasses

I See Life Through Rose`-Colored Glasses: True Stories and Confessions by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella. New York: St. Martins Press, 352 pages. *****

Seeing life through the lens of this mother-daughter team is hilarious, touching, and real. This collection of stories is totally relatable, they invite us into their imperfect lives and allow us to join in the comedic side of life.

No subject is off limits, from a do it yourself colonoscopy, to peeling a hard-boiled egg and giving up a pool chair to a pool bully.
Lisa points out the incongruities of growing older and the way in which we cope with emerging technologies (Live Feeds), news stories on Facebook (it's all true especially the snake coming out of the toilet), a favorite uncle Mikey who brings Christmas presents that fell off of the back of a truck and the power of steroids to heal a sore throat while providing the energy to accomplish everything needed for Christmas.
Francesca navigates us through her dating world, planning her birthday, and knowing when it is over as evidenced by a ravaged birthday cake. Her empathy and love for her pets shine through in her advocacy for air conditioning and a dog stroller for Ruby, "Francesca Serritella, Attorney at Paw."

The stories are a must read for this summer, this writing duo has an endless supply of everyday occurrences for us to laugh with them and at ourselves.

A previous book, summer 2017.
I need a Lifeguard everywhere but the pool.

I received an ecopy for a review.

Lisa and her daughter Francesca write a Sunday humor column, Chick Wit, for the Philadelphia Inquirer. These stories have been collected in a New York Times bestselling series of books including this one. Scottoline presently has 30 million copies in print in the United States, not including audio, e-book and various large print editions. Internationally, Lisa is published in 35 countries.

The Other Woman

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones. Minotaur Books, 2018. 304 pages. ***** Publication Date August 21, 2018.

Emily is content living the independent life until she meets and falls in love with Adam.  He's kind, considerate, and is equally in love with her. Adam speaks so highly of his mother and seems so protective of her, that Emily is thrilled when he finally introduces them. Until...she gets to know Pammie, the evil future mother-in-law. Pammie seems to have Adam's best interests at heart and Emily tries to give his mother the benefit of doubt and not complain about her behavior. James, Adam's handsome brother, becomes her ally in the family's dynamics and Emily begins to feel drawn to James when Adam doesn't see how manipulative his mother is to all of them. Pammie seems determined to sabotage the wedding, even taking it upon herself to invite Emily's former best friend to the bachelorette activities despite hard feelings between them. 

Considering that it is Jones' debut novel, the plot is filled with suspense, conflicts, and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. Readers of psychological thrillers will enjoy her convoluted plot. 

Fans of The Girl in Cabin 10, B.A. Paris, and Mary Kubica will enjoy this novel. I look forward to more from Jones and hopes that she develops as an author in the psychological thriller genre. 

I received an ecopy for a review.

Sandie Jones has been a freelance journalist for over 20 years, interviewing celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Isla Fisher, Simon Cowell and Naomie Harris. Her debut novel, The Other Woman, is a psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between a woman and her partner's mother.
If Sandie wasn't an author she'd be an interior designer as she has an unhealthy obsession with wallpaper and cushions!She lives in London, England, with her husband and three children.

A Merciful Silence

A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot. (Mercy Kilpatrick Book #4) Seattle: Montlake Romance, 2018.  344 pages. *****

Eagle's Nest police officer Ben Cooley is driving home when he sees that the road ahead of him is washed out by the heavy rain.  Calling for assistance, he reports that the guardrail is gone and then he notices the rock with eye sockets and teeth. In the latest FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick and Eagle's Nest police chief Truman Daly story, this crime-solving duo attempt to solve a present-day mass murder and in the process, revisit a similar 20-year-old murder case. The convicted killer in the previous murder is behind bars, so is this the work of a copycat or has the wrong man been incarcerated? There is a witness to the first murder if only she could remember what happened on that fateful night. 

This book is the latest one in the series, and while some series may grow stagnant or stall, this one keeps getting better. Be prepared...once you start this book, you are not going to want to stop until the last page. 

I received an ecopy for a review.

Kendra Elliot has sold over 5 million books, hit the Wall Street Journal top ten bestseller list six times, and is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier award. 
Her 2017 release, A MERCIFUL DEATH, was a #1 Amazon overall bestseller and was optioned for TV by Warner Brothers Television and Ellen Degeneres' A Very Good Production. 
She is also an International Thriller Writers' finalist and a Romantic Times finalist. She grew up in the lush Pacific Northwest and still lives there with her family, three cats, and two Pomeranians. She's always been fascinated with forensics, refuses to eat anything green, and can't wait to wear flip flops every day. More on Kendra Elliot on her website https://www.kendraelliot.com/home/.

#thriller #mystery #romance 

Liar, Liar

Liar, Liar by Lisa Jackson. New York, Kensington, 2018. 416 pages. ****

Didi Storm is determined to hit it big as a celebrity impersonator in order to claim fame and to care for her family. Remmi, her daughter, is fifteen and is much more realistic about their future especially since Didi now has twins with no husband in sight. When Didi takes one of the twins on a late night ride and Remmi is accidentally locked in a secret compartment in the car, Remmi witnesses a car explosion. Didi's actions are erratic after that late night assignation and Remmi fears for her life and the lives of her brother and sister. When Didi fails to return one day, Remmi sets out with her brother to find her. Fast forward twenty years later, a tell-all book is published about Didi and a woman in Didi's clothes falls from a San Francisco building just as Remmi is approaching the building. Is it Didi on the sidewalk? Who wrote the book about her mother and can Remmi finally get the answers to that fateful night in the desert?

An intriguing plot of mystery, fame, family relationships, and heartbreak. I always enjoy Lisa Jackson's books and I was not disappointed. This is the kind of book that you take on vacation, enjoy it and pass it on to a friend. Remmi is a very strong, resilient, likable character, Didi, not so much. I felt that Jackson did a good job of tying together all of the subplots, a couple of surprises, but satisfying at the end.

I received an ecopy for a review.

Lisa Jackson is the number-one New York Times bestselling author of more than 85 novels, including Afraid to Die, Tell Me, You Don’t Want to Know, Running Scared, Without Mercy, Malice, and Shiver.  She is also the co-author of the Colony Series, co-written with her sister, Nancy Bush. There are over 20 million copies of Lisa Jackson’s books in print in twenty languages.

Before she became a nationally bestselling author, Lisa Jackson was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, the USA Today, and the Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists. More about Lisa www.lisajackson.com.

#mystery

The Patchwork Bride

The Patchwork Bride by Sandra Dallas.  New York: St. Marin's Press, 2018. 217 pages. ****

Ellen is reminiscing about her life while working on a wedding quilt for her Granddaughter, June, when June arrives at the ranch and proclaims the wedding is off. Through a series of stories about a woman named Nell, Ellen tries to reassure June that many brides have cold feet and that sometimes waiting to be sure is better. Nell is a young woman who journeyed to the New Mexico territory in 1898 in search of a husband. While working on her Aunt Lucy's ranch, Nell falls in love with a handsome cowboy, Buddy. Engaged to be married, stubborn Nell runs back to Kansas when Buddy tries to control her.  Engaged two more times, Nell eventually marries the love of her life. In the process of staying with her grandparents on their ranch and listening to Nell's story, June makes up her mind about marrying Dave.


I received an ecopy for a review.

The first Sandra Dallas book I read was "Prayers for Sale." Dallas has a way of capturing and retelling a tale that is both heartwarming and hopeful. Life is filled with disappointment and hardships, however, Dallas always shows the love that transcends the hurt. She breathes life into her characters who reflect the times and situations in which they lived. I love stories about strong women who don't settle in life and forge ahead in self-discovery and in search of their dreams. A great summer read!

New York Times best-selling author SANDRA DALLAS, the author of fifteen adult novels, two young reader novels, and two non-fiction books, was dubbed “a quintessential American voice” by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. Sandra’s novels with their themes of loyalty, friendship, and human dignity have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and have been optioned for films. For more info https://www.sandradallas.com.

#historicalfiction #quiltingfiction #patchworkbride #quiltsfiction

Dark Tide Rising

Dark Tide Rising: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry. New York: Ballantine Books, 2018. 244 pages. ***** Published September 18th, 2018.

In this latest book in the William Monk series, Monk is asked to accompany Harry Exeter in paying the ransom for the return of his wife, Kate Exeter. When the ransom drop goes horribly wrong, Monk and his men are caught off guard and attacked, Monk begins to suspect that one of his own men has alerted the kidnappers. Monk realizes that he doesn't know about the personal lives of his men and he embarks on a mission to arrest the kidnappers and uncover the perpetrator who has corrupted his team. His investigation takes an ugly turn when the suspected kidnapper is found with his throat slashed and a bank teller is murdered.  Everyone has something to hide and it is up to Monk to uncover what it is and whether it is relevant to this case.

Set in Victorian England, Anne Perry has a gift for bringing the sights, sounds, and brutality of that era to her readers. I have always liked Jack the Ripper type books complete with the mystery of who he actually was and whether he has been identified. The William Monk series is well-written and has a plot complicated enough to hold my attention and always has a twist at the end. This one is no exception, it was engrossing from beginning to the end. Each of her books may be read as a stand-alone, but I would start at the beginning of this series and read them all!

I received an ecopy for a review.

From her website,  "Anne Perry's publishing career began with The Cater Street Hangman. Published in 1979, this was the first book in the series to feature the Victorian policeman Thomas Pitt and his well-born wife Charlotte. This is arguably the longest sustained crime series by a living writer.  She has now started a series featuring their son Daniel, beginning with 21 Days (2017). She began the Monk series in order to explore a different, darker character, and to raise questions about responsibility, particularly that of a person for acts he cannot remember. How much of a person's identity is bound up in memory? All our reactions, decisions, etc. spring from what we know, have experienced. We are in so many ways the sum of all we have been!" For more information on Anne Perry, visit her website.

#victorianenglandmystery #williammonkseries