Retribution

I received a copy of Retribution by Regina Smeltzer from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lillian Hunter’s life is destroyed when she’s implicated in setting the fire which killed her husband and daughter. Seeking peace and restoration, she pulls the pieces of her shattered life together and accepts a position at a college in another state. Surrounded by a loving family that has adopted her as their own, Lillian struggles with new life, new love…and new danger. Fires are being set in which she is once again implicated. Doubting her own sanity, Lillian takes steps to ensure she isn’t setting the fires. But if it isn’t her, who is it? And why, after she’s moved halfway across the country, have they followed her? A day of reckoning is coming as Lillian seeks to exonerate herself and claim retribution for the destruction of her life. Will she discover the truth before her new life is consumed by the flames?
I had a little trouble getting into this book.  It seemed really dark and depressing.  As the story continued I realized why it started out like it did.  Lillian felt as if her life was over after losing her husband and daughter to a house fire.  It doesn't help that she blames herself along with everyone else in town.  She desperately needs to find herself again. Will moving south be the answer she needs?

Twilight at Blueberry Barrens

I received a copy of Twilight at Blueberry Barrens by Collen Coble from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Kate has devoted herself to keeping her family's blueberry barrens thriving. But when blossom blight devastates her blueberry fields, she's forced to come up with alternative ways to replace that income. Fixing up the small cottage on her property as a rental seems an obvious choice, but it won't be enough. When Drake Carver drives by with his two nieces in tow, looking not only for a place to rent for the summer but also for a nanny for the girls, it's almost too good to be true.
Drake is a judge whose brother and sister-in-law died in an accident shortly after he received a threat that his family would suffer if he didn't drop a high profile case. Is there a connection? This remote area of Maine seems like the perfect place for him to keep his nieces safe until he determines if they're in danger.
Drake and Kate constantly lock horns; having never been a parent before, he gives his nieces free reign. Kate won't stand for their disrespect and keeps challenging Drake to set a higher standard. Even though Kate has given up on having children because of the chemo she had to take, she finds herself oddly drawn to this improvised family. But Drake begins to fear that he's putting Kate in danger as well.
Meanwhile, Kate learns that her uncle—in prison for murder—has escaped. Add to that a stalker whose sights are set on her, and Kate is looking over her shoulder at every turn.
With danger swirling from multiple directions, it may be a question of who gets to her first.
This was a really good book, but I love all of the Colleen Coble books I've read.  Kate has done everything that she feels is expected of her.  Tending to the Blueberry Barrens her family has owned for years and fixing up the small cottage on the property to rent.  Can she believe in her self enough to follow her dreams?

Restoring Love

I received a copy of Restoring Love by Jennifer Slattery from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mitch, a contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic . She's almost his worst nightmare, and she’s also working on restoring something—herself. As he struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected in common—a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after her husband's incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along with true love?

This book took me a little while to get into.  It seemed really negative at first.  I think it was because the book started out with Bianca's story.  She's a single mother trying to keep her family afloat without the help of her husband.  He can't seem to keep himself out of jail and when he is he seems to have trouble following him home.  As we get to find out about Angela we find that she's doing her best to get her life on track.  She's a new believer with the help of her daughter and son-in-law.  Mitch is a contractor working on the house across the street from Angela.  Can they help Bianca and her family while also work on a relationship?

Death of a Pumkin Carver

I received a copy of Death of a Pumpkin Carver by Lee Hollis from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This Halloween, Hayley can't imagine a worse trick than her ex-husband Danny returning to Bar Harbor. Her kids may be happy to see their dad, but Hayley's determined not to be taken in by his charms, and suspects he's in financial trouble—again.
Still, the haunted holiday is about to get a whole lot scarier after Danny's moonshine-making uncle is found lying dead next to a tombstone in a cemetery—and Danny quickly becomes the prime suspect. To prove her ex is innocent, Hayley will have to dig deep into her own bag of tricks to unmask the real culprit . . . before anyone else—including her—ends up in the graveyard...

A good book that kept me guessing until the end.  The added recipes were a nice extra.  Hayley's ex-husband Danny has come back to town un-expectantly.  He's nothing but trouble as far as Hayley's concerned but her kids are very happy to see their dad.  When Danny's uncle is found dead Danny becomes the prime suspect.  Hayley doesn't like her ex but she does know that he's not a killer.  Will they be able to work together to find the murderer before they're next?

A Catered Tea Party

I received a copy of A Catered Tea Party by Isis Crawford from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Everyone in Longely is talking about Blue House, an art complex that will bring the town a theater, an art gallery, and even a restaurant and coffee bar. But they're less than enthusiastic about Ludvoc “Zeb” Zalinsky, the self-made billionaire who's funding the complex—and rubbing everyone the wrong way. Bernie and Libby reluctantly agree to cater the Alice in Wonderland themed tea party he's planned, but it quickly becomes clear that Zeb is madder than the hatter he'll be dressed as . . .
 
 The night of the benefit arrives and Westchester's finest show up in droves, having paid $500 apiece to attend Zeb's meticulously-orchestrated tea party. But just when it seems the production is going according to plan, Zeb lifts an electric tea kettle, clutches his chest, and falls to the floor in fittingly dramatic fashion. The kettle shorted out and his pacemaker malfunctioned—but it doesn't take long for police to decide that this seemingly random accident was actually cold-blooded murder . . .
 
 As Bernie and Libby set out to find the culprit, they realize Zeb might have had more enemies than money. With so many possible culprits to sort through, only one thing is clear: Zeb was poured a steaming cup of revenge—and a second serving may be on the menu…

This was a different book with an English vibe.  Ludvoc Zalinsky is a pain to everyone in town.  He opens Blue House an art complex that will have a theater, art gallery and restaurant.  Twins Bernie and Libby agree to cater the first play in Blue House, Alice in Wonderland, a tea party.  Things go from bad to worse when Zalinsky turns up dead.  The main suspect is the producer of Alice in Wonderland but can Bernie and Libby find the real killer in time?

Fixing Perfect

I received a copy of Fixing Perfect by Theresa M. Travis from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In the community of Avalon on Catalina Island, a psychopath is kidnapping children and perfectly posing and painting the bodies of adult victims to resemble disabled artist, Robin Ingram. Robin struggles with feelings of imperfection, and knowing some madman has a macabre agenda—which includes fixing her—is unsettling. She's relieved when paramedic Sam Albrecht steps up to help. Sam believes he knows the identity of the killer, and he wants nothing more than to prove it in order to keep Robin out of danger. Then Sam is arrested as a suspect for the crimes, and Robin's life is thrown into a fresh whirlwind. She may not know who the real killer is, but she does know Sam is innocent--and she will find the proof to set him free, or she'll die trying.

This was a really good book.  Robin Ingram is disabled but that doesn't stop her from living life to the fullest.  Each Saturday she plays softball with a group of other disabled people from the community of Avalon on Catalina Island.  When a madman starts kidnapping children and posing them to resemble her she and everyone in the community is on edge.  A good friend, and Robin's crush, Sam Albrecht helps in the search of the killer.  When Sam finds one of the children in a building that had already been searched he becomes the prime suspect.  Can Robin help the police find the real killer before it's too late?

Wedding Bell Blues

I received a copy of Wedding Bell Blues by Ruth Moose from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Beth McKenzie, owner of the Dixie Dew Bed and Breakfast, is enjoying an exciting affair with her new love, Scott. Meanwhile, the town of Littleboro, North Carolina is abuzz with gossip about Crazy Reba's upcoming nuptials. Most brides go crazy at some point, but Littleboro's resident homeless lady has had a head start: she's beloved, indulged, and most of all, eccentric. But at almost 60—or thereabouts—her marriage seems a little peculiar. Sure, she's sporting a diamond big enough to choke a horse, but no one can tell if it's real, or just a Cracker Jack prize she pilfered from a yard sale.
Crazy Reba's wedding plans go confirmedly awry when the bride-to-be is arrested for her fiancé's murder. Beth, determined to clear Reba's name, gets in over her head when a lady wrestler who threatened to kill her books a room at the Dixie Dew, and Robert Redford, her neighbor's white rabbit, disappears.
This was a hard book for me to get into.  Beth owns the Dixie Dew a bed and breakfast in Littleboro North Carolina.  The police chief in town sees Beth as always in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There has already been one death in the Dixie Dew and Beth is going to do her best to make sure there aren't any more.  Crazy Reba is the towns resident homeless lady that everyone keeps an eye on.  When she starts talking about getting married to God the women in town do everything to make the day one Reba won't ever forget.  Will there be a wedding in June?