Book Review/Recommendation: The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in book reviews, books and reading



TITLE: The Divine Proverb of Streusel

AUTHOR: Sara Brunsvold

GENRE: Christian General Fiction

DESCRIPTION:

Shaken by her parents’ divorce and discouraged by the growing chasm between herself and her serious boyfriend, Nikki Werner seeks solace at her uncle’s farm in a small Missouri hamlet. She’ll spend the summer there, picking up the pieces of her shattered present so she can plan a better future. But what awaits her at the ancestral farm is a past she barely knows.

Among her late grandmother’s belongings, Nikki finds an old notebook filled with handwritten German recipes and wise sayings pulled from the book of Proverbs. With each recipe she makes, she invites locals to the family table to hear their stories about the town’s history, her ancestors–and her estranged father.

What started as a cathartic way to connect to her heritage soon becomes the means through which she learns how the women before her endured–with the help of their cooking prowess. Nikki realizes how delicious streusel with a healthy dollop of faith can serve as a guide to heal wounds of the past.

MY THOUGHTS:

When I first started reading this book, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through. It wasn’t that the writing was bad, it was that it was a bit slower than other books I read. This isn’t a hard-hitting, fast-paced book, and that’s okay, but it was just not what I was used to.  I kept going and before long the easy-going pace with detailed descriptions, paragraphs of deep thoughts, and messages grew on me. While the slower pace of the book isn’t a detriment to the story, I think it is an important observation to mention for those who prefer a story with a quicker pace. However, I would encourage those who aren’t usually into “slower” books to give this one a chance.

Even without adventure and action, this book is still capable of captivating the reader.  Nikki grapples with the broken relationship with her father which leads to a broken relationship with her fiancé. The fiancé is not a major character in the book since he is thousands of miles away from where she is throughout most of the book.

Nikki is helped in this personal journey with wisdom passed down from her grandmother in a notebook full of personal observations and recipes. She receives further advice from her uncle whom she forms a sweet bond with as the story progresses. That bond helps her to learn not only about her uncle’s life journey, but also the life experiences that shaped her father and his actions.

I easily fell in love with Brunsvold’s characters, even though the main character was not really my favorite at first. In the beginning I found her actions to be selfish and childish but when I compared her reactions to some of my own reactions to past traumatic experiences in my life, I realized her reactions really were very realistic.

The characters who kept this story moving forward in a relatable way were the gentle uncle who wants to do all he can to help his niece and his brother heal their hearts; the spunky aunt/great aunt who adds both humor and spiritual depth; and the nurturing, supportive friend of the uncle who also becomes a friend of Nikki.

There is a bit of romance in the book, but it is not a plot driver. There are two romances and they are subplots meant to help the reader get to know the characters and their motivations better. The entire message of the book about forgiving others and ourselves for past mistakes wouldn’t entirely fall apart if either romance was removed, but the romances make the message even richer.

While I enjoyed both of the romance subplots, I was glad that the main plot dealt more with Nikki trying to come to terms with not only her father’s actions, but her reactions to what he did that led to the split of their family. This was a book that was about the baggage we bring with us through life and how if we don’t deal with the difficult things in that baggage, we will continue to hurt those around us.

Faith in God is the main foundation of this book. Not only do the characters attend church, but they have a personal relationship with Jesus. They ask for help from him and are guided by his message of forgiveness throughout the story. The cookbook that Nikki learns and cooks from is full of messages of how God works in our life. The messages in the cookbook provide a type of devotional within the book so it is almost as if The Divine Proverb of Streusel is two books in one.

This is a book I would not hesitate to recommend to others. It has an uplifting message, is void of swearing, sex, or violence, and weaves together the stories of characters who were so well developed it felt as if I knew them. It wasn’t until I had almost finished this review and was talking to my husband about a family situation that it hit me how much of an impression this book had made on me. It had been a couple of days since I had read it and yet it still had me thinking about how we forgive those who have hurt us when the person never offers an apology or even believes they did nothing wrong. Or maybe they do offer an apology but it is not in their words but in actions that we don’t feel are enough for us.

Maybe the person has passed away and we will never receive the apology we so craved. What do we do with that unresolved pain, the lack of closure? We can choose to hold on to bitterness or let it go and give it to God. This book is a reminder that even if the other person doesn’t meet us where we need them to, God always will.

What I Read in April and What’s Coming Up in May

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in books and reading

I am a little late on this one but oh well. Life gets in the way of blogging. Gasp! I know. Shocking. *wink*

But seriously, I forgot that I wanted to write a post about what I read in April and what I “plan” on reading in May last week so I am doing it this week instead.

To explain, I always write what I plan to read in a certain month, but I almost never stick to my list of what I will read, as you can see if you ever look back on blog posts where I have shared what I plan to read.

First up, what I read in April:

The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun

I offered a longer review of this on the blog yesterday. You can find that HERE.

The short version, though, is that I liked this book and it became one of my favorites of the series for the different version of Jim Qwilleran, the fact they were investigating the death of a close friend (which made me sad) and just the humor offered between Qwill and a child and then Qwill and his girlfriend Polly’s new kitten.

The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene

Oh Nancy Drew, I do love you.

Even though so much of these books are completely unbelievable and silly. I can’t help reading them, though, because even with some silly plot points mixed in, the overall plots actually do hold up and are interesting. The books are like fluffy Angel Food Cake. They just melt in  your mouth – a quick and sweet treat that makes you roll your eyes and giggle and then reach for another one.

This one involved a mystery at an inn (obviously, by the title), Nancy’s identity being stolen, and missing jewels. And as always Carson Drew, Nancy’s father, gave her permission to chase after dangerous people and be nearly killed as long as she was “careful.”

A Troubling Case of Murder on the Menu by Donna Doyle

I shared a review of this one last week. It was cute and sweet without much bite or plot at all. And that was just fine with me. Sometimes we need something like that. The book was only about 100 pages and I’m sure I will read others in this cute and short series.

For a shortened version of the plot: a retired, older woman, decides to start blogging as a  hobby to fill her days now that her husband has passed away. In the process of visiting restaurants to blog about them she stumbles onto a dead body. Emily Cherry is a cute main character and her supporting characters include curious cat Rosemary and her overprotective family and a good friend, Anita.

Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright

I did not like this book. Let’s just get that out of the way. I liked parts of it and it moved along fast to start with.

Then it got repetitive.

The main character lives in an inn that is known to be haunted and has a history of death. There is a cemetery behind the old Victorian-house that houses the inn. Her sister was found dead near the inn. She is surrounded by death and constantly feels like the bony fingers of death are strangling her (we are told this at the beginning and end of almost every chapter after all) and her life is sad and hopeless because of her sister’s death. She has become almost a recluse. We are reminded of all these things about ten to twenty times throughout the book – in case we forgot the other ten or twenty times it was mentioned.

This is a dual timeline book so there is a mystery in the past and that got a little weird for me because the girl in the past seemed to be falling in love with a married man or a murderer or … who even knows at some points which is the good part of the mystery.

I might  have been able to push a 3.5 stars out for this one if it hadn’t been for the sick and twisted ending that made me want to throw up and gave me the ickiest feeling.

All of this might not have bothered me so much if it wasn’t for the book being promoted as Christian Fiction. I got scolded by a reader for having a long kiss but this book was demented and that same reader gushed over it. Christian readers can be really, really weird at times. Kissing bad. Demented murder and assault good. Ha. Ha. Weird, right?

The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold

This book was about a woman (Nikki) who finds out her father has cheated on her mother and is divorcing her and sort of has a mental breakdown.

Her entire foundation of what her family was and what love means is shaken. She is engaged to a man and worries the same could happen to their relationship one day. She takes off to her late grandmother’s house a couple of states away and stays with her uncle who she barely knows to try to find herself. Her uncle (who is her dad’s brother) is in the process of cleaning out his mother’s house. She finds an old cookbook filled with recipes but also wisdom and begins cooking her grandmother’s recipes as a way to distract herself. In the process she begins to learn about her family, including the difficult relationship that her father had with his father.

The bottom line is that I enjoyed this one and it had me thinking about it a couple days later even.

I will have a full review of it up tomorrow.

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor

This book follows the story of an Irish family who lost their parents a year before and are working hard to keep the family bistro/café running. The story is told from the perspective of Shioban O’Sullivan, the older sister who was going to go to college but couldn’t when her parents died and she was left to care for her siblings. While they are all trying to adjust to life without their parents, she walks downstairs one morning and finds a dead body in the bistro.

Shioban already has feelings for the Guarda (which is essentially a town cop in Ireland) and things get awkward when she decides she has to help solve the murder after her brother is accused.

I really enjoyed this one, which is the first in a series. The characters are either hilarious, sweet, or obnoxious in a good way and the Irish sense of humor is one I can relate to. There was some swearing in this one but no graphic violence or sex at all.

The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes

I read this middle-grade book in March and then read it again with Little Miss. The book is about Jane Moffat, the middle child in the Moffat family. She is a little girl who is being raised with her three other siblings by her mom. Her father has passed away.

The book begins with Jane deciding she would like to be introduced to people as The Middle Moffat. She meets the oldest inhabitant in town that day and a friendship forms when she slips and calls herself the Mysterious Middle Moffat. The oldest inhabitant is a 99-year-old Civil War veteran and thinks it is so funny that she calls herself mysterious and even when she tries to explain that she misspoke (she’d actually been trying to think of additional titles to add to the Middle Moffat) he continues to call her mysterious.

Each time he sees her he taps his nose and calls her mysterious. Jane, in turn, becomes concerned that something might happen to the man before he turns 100 and begins to try to protect him, including spending a day with him one day when it is really foggy because she is concerned he will walk out into the fog and be injured.

Each chapter is a type of story of it’s own, but there are always a few aspects that carry over, including the interactions with the oldest inhabitant.

We ended up reading this book around the same time as the solar eclipse and it worked out perfectly because there is also a chapter about Jane trying to see the solar eclipse with her friend Nancy. We also read a chapter about Jane having friend problems with Nancy around the same time Little Miss was having some issues with her friends.

There was only one chapter we didn’t like as much as felt like it dragged a bit.

I hope to read the other books in this series soon.

Coming up in May

I am already reading two books: Apple Cider Slaying by Julie Anne Lindsey and Operation Rescue by Kari Trumbo.

Apple Cider Slaying is a cozy mystery.

I don’t know that I really want to read Operation Rescue, to be honest, but I agreed to read it to review for Clean Fiction Magazine so it may surprise me and become one I like. It is a Christian Fiction book about a rehab center for people who have been rescued from human trafficking and I think there is going to be some romance mixed in between staff at the rehab center – not with any of the victims who are there for healing, thankfully.

I am reading The Secret Garden with Little Miss and we will finish it this month because we are more than halfway through it already.

I also plan to read The Mysterious Affair of Styles by Agatha Christie. It is the first Hercule Poirot book.

I don’t know if I will get to other books this month since I am a slow reader and am also listening to Around the World in 80 Days on Audible with The Boy but other books, I have on my list this month or next are:

Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander

The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe

Death At A Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly

The Women of Wyntons by Donna Mumma

The Real James Herriott by Jim Wight

And

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Right before I published this, though, Little Miss and I went to the library and I picked up The Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski and Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes so those two will probably get bumped in front of some of those in the above list.

How was your reading in April and do you have ideas of what you will read in May or will you just figure it out as you go (which is what I will probably do in the end because I am such a mood reader).

Book recommendation: The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in books and reading, everyday musings

 

I have read almost all of the 29 books in The Cat Who series by Lilian
Jackson Braun and there have been hits and misses and a couple all out duds –
like any series.

Originally, I had skipped The Cat Who Talked To Ghosts because when
I started it it seemed to be written in first person point of view and while I
read books in first person POV, all of the other The Cat Who books are written
in third. I wasn’t sure I would like the change.

It turns out, however, that only a section of the first chapter of the book
is written in the first person point of view. The rest of the book is written
in the third person.

I opened the book on my Kindle one night after a particularly hard day when
I needed a comfort read. I’m glad I needed that type of read because this
turned out to be one of my favorite books in the series.

For those who don’t know about this series, it features former big city
newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran (most commonly referred to Qwill in the
series), now a small town newspaper columnist living in what I believe is
Northern Michigan, though it’s never really said where the fiction town of
Pickax in the fictional county of Moose County is.

Braun simply says Moose County is “north of everywhere.” According to the
site Novel Suspects, “Though fictitious, Pickax is generally assumed to be
based on the town of Bad Axe, Michigan, where Braun lived for many years.”

The series starts with Qwilleran living in the city (probably Chicago though
it never really says), writing for a newspaper, and falling into a murder
investigation or two. He ends up adopting two cats during that first book – a
cat named Koko Kao Kung (Koko for short) and Yum-Yum. Koko is the one who has
some mysterious skills that help Qwill solve crimes. Some of those skills
include opening books, knocking things off shelves, or alerting Qwill to
unsavory characters who look like nice people.

This installment deals with the murder of Qwill’s former housekeeper. She
calls Qwill in the middle of the night, saying she has been hearing weird,
ghostly noises at the apartment she lives in at the county museum, which she is
the caretaker of.

Qwill heads out for the 20-minute-drive to her apartment but by the time he
arrives, Iris Cobb is already dead on the floor of her kitchen, apparently
frightened to death. Qwill wants to find out who killed her and the museum also
needs a temporary caretaker so it works out perfectly when the chairman of the
museum board asks if he knows anyone who can fill in temporarily. Qwill packs
up the cats and moves into the museum himself to see if he hears the ghostly
sounds Iris said she was hearing.

During the stay, Koko does his best to lead Qwill to the killer, including
literally sniffing out clues and knocking particular books off shelves. In the
process of trying to find Iris’s murderer, Qwill meets some interesting neighbors
– a couple from the south who have a three year old daughter and a young woman
living alone on a goat farm.

Qwill is thrown into a secondary mystery when another murder occurs but
seems to be separate from the first. In all honesty, the first death very well
could have been an accident since the woman had a heart condition and some
health issues. Qwill will have to figure it out.

One thing to know about Qwill is that he is not a huge fan of children. He
has no children. He doesn’t want children. The fact that a child was written
into this story and he had to interact with said child offered a new layer to
his character that was both funny and endearing.

This installment turned out to be one of my favorites even though one of the
regular recurring characters in the series was the victim this time. There was
a totally different feeling to this book than others. There seemed to be an
actual focus on the mystery while in other books there is a lot of wandering
around and rambling side stories that have nothing to do with the main mystery.
That can be both a comforting and annoying aspect to the books.

I love reading about the quirky characters in Moose County but in some
books, I think Braun forgot she was supposed to be writing a mystery.

Luckily The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts was not one of them. It
revealed more of Qwill’s character as someone who cares more for children than
he realized and who actually grieved more over a victim than in other books,
most likely because he was so much closer to this victim than other victims.

This was also the book where we are introduced to Bootsie, Qwill’s
girlfriend Polly’s cat who is hilarious referred to as a beast of a cat in
future books.

The Cat Who books really do not need to be read in order since Braun briefly
catches the reader up to who Qwill and the regular characters are in each book.
I would highly recommend this one for any lovers of cozy mysteries.

Sunday Bookends: Under pressure – sinuses that is – lots of cozy mystery love, and lovely warm days

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in Sunday Bookends




It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.



What’s Been Occurring

Yesterday I woke up with insane sinus pressure. More than I have had in a long time. It hurt so bad I couldn’t smile or show much emotion so I think my family thought I was mad at them all day. I had to keep explaining about how bad it hurt and that it wasn’t them. This time anyhow. Ha!

I don’t know if it is an actual sinus infection or if it is just because of allergies, the temperature drop yesterday and the rain today. Whatever it is, it stinks, but hopefully it will clear up later this week.

Little Miss had a couple of friends over and they played all around outside, briefly at the playground, and inside. After they went home we watched the movie Migration as a family.

Today, if I can get off this couch after I finish this blog post, we will have lunch at my parents. If not I will just sit here and whine for the rest of the day while sipping tea.

What I/we’ve been Reading

Currently:

Apple Cider Slaying by Jennifer Anne Lindsey

Description:

Blossom Valley, West Virginia, is home to Smythe Orchards, Winnie and her Granny’s beloved twenty-five-acre farm and family business. But any way you slice it, it’s struggling. That’s why they’re trying to drum up business with the “First Annual Christmas at the Orchard,” a good old-fashioned holiday festival with enough delicious draw to satisfy apple-picking locals and cider-loving tourists alike—until the whole endeavor takes a sour turn when the body of Nadine Cooper, Granny’s long-time, grudge-holding nemesis, is found lodged in the apple press. Now, with Granny the number one suspect, Winnie is hard-pressed to prove her innocence before the real killer delivers another murder . . .
 

I’m also reading The Secret Garden which I am reading aloud to Little Miss.

Just Finished:

Murder Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins (will have a review up soon).

I was surprised to find the audiobook for this available for free on Amazon this week when I went to purchase a copy of a book for a friend. I downloaded it and it helped me get through it a little faster as I listened to it while driving to pick up groceries on Friday and yesterday while puttering around the house with the aforementioned sinus pressure. Most of the time I read it though because I found the narrator a little annoying. She made every character sound afraid no matter what they were saying. It was weird. I read the last few chapters instead of listening to it.

Soon to be read:

Operation Restoration by Kari Trumbo

The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe

Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander

The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight

What We watched/are Watching

This week I watched Booktubers, as they are called, and mainly those who read cozy mysteries. I gleaned a lot of book suggestions from those videos.

I didn’t watch other shows except for an episode of Midsomer Murders with The Husband because it was nice out and I mainly read a book outside on the back porch.
What I’m Writing

I’m working on book three of the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series – Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree.

What I’m Listening to

I am listening to Around the World in 80 Days on Audible.

I do not like the song Angels by Sarah McClaulin (spelling) at all since it has been so overplayed, but just heard a version by David Phelps and liked it a lot more with his arrangement.

Photos from Last Week

Blog Posts I Enjoyed This Past Week

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Thank you for the review of Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in books and reading, everyday musings

Thank you to Erin at Still Life with Cracker Crumbs for this very nice review of Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage. Be sure to follow Erin for book reviews and chats about everyday life and stories about her family and adventures in Michigan!

Book Review: Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage by Lisa R. Howeler

Saturday Afternoon Chat: Nice weather, electrocuted teenagers, and ear infections

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in everyday musings, Saturday Afternoon Tea


For once I can report that the weather was lovely this past week in our neck of the woods. There was sun, not too much heat, and only one day where it rained.

Today, however, the weather is going to get cold again, but not as cold as it was in early April, so I’ll take it. I don’t mind a few days of cuddling under a blanket with a good book and a cup of tea.

Last week I had one day where I could have tea but otherwise, it was cooler drinks like lemon in water, juices, and anything that would help keep us hydrated as the temperatures rose.

I mentioned last week that The Husband’s truck fell apart a bit and that it is in the shop, probably for quite a while, so we were without a car here at the house. That meant we found things to do in our yard instead of going to the playground. Little Miss was able to go to the playground at least one evening and also found a way to ride her bike down the grassy hill behind our house which was fun for her.

I spent more than one night on the back porch reading the cozy mystery I’ve been reading and that was very relaxing and nice. I plan to have the book finished today.

The Boy had a bit of a weird week. I forgot to mention in my post last week when I was talking about all the weird stuff happening in our family that The Boy was zapped with an electric current while working on installing a light at my parents. A switch accidentally got left on. He was fine but hadn’t been feeling well that week already and thought he was coming down with a cold.

On Saturday afternoon when The Husband called about his truck catching fire under the tire (we now know the ball bearing broke), I let The Boy know he’d need to watch his sister while I drove up to get a car to The Husband so he could continue on to his job. He said, “Oh, well, that’s a lot more serious than what I was going to tell you, which is that I can’t hear out of my right ear.”

We decided to wait it out a couple of days and see if the ear opened and drained on its own or if it was definitely an ear infection. I felt it probably was, but he wasn’t in a lot of pain. By Tuesday he was in more pain, so it was off to the doctor. The Husband took him, and it was about to become a full-blown ear infection so he was placed on an antibiotic.

The antibiotic isn’t making him feel very good at all – he’s extremely dragged out on it, so he hasn’t had the best week. His ear really hurt at the trade school he attends when they had a fire drill one day and he was standing near the fire alarm. In the end he missed a couple days of school and is just looking forward to when he’s done with the antibiotic.

I feel for the kid. In one week, he was electrocuted, developed an ear infection and then a side effect from the antibiotic. Despite all that he was fairly perky most of the week, so I was grateful he wasn’t completely knocked down.

School is almost over for the kids, and they are certainly looking forward to that.

We are taking it fairly easy for the last month by focusing on the arts – such as art and music and then some history and English.

We will have to finish up some math, but for the most we are done with science and math for the school year.

I am as excited about that as the kids.

We will be homeschooling next year as well, and I have to admit I’m already making plans for what we will study and hope to start some of it in July – easing our way into full-time school by mid-August. The Boy will be a senior next year. I haven’t yet wrapped my mind around that.

Today Little Miss is having some friends over to play. They’ve been looking forward to seeing each other in person after chatting with each other online most of the time since we live 45 minutes from them.

Tomorrow we will most likely have lunch with my parents like we do most Sundays. So far, I don’t have a ton on tap for next week. I’m hoping to work on my book, write a couple blog posts and book reviews, and hopefully have the sinus pressure I developed yesterday goes away and I’m not the next one on an antibiotic.

How was your week? Let me know in the comments or if you have a weekly catch up type post you can leave a link in the link up. You don’t have to share about your week the same way I do to link up, of course.

 

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Fiction Friday: An Introduction To My Books

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in books and reading, everyday musings

Today I thought I would reintroduce the books I have written since 2019.

I am leaving out my first two books since I hope to rework them soon.

The Farmer’s Daughter

Will the desire to change their lives bring two people together and will the Tanner family be able to save their family farm?

Molly Tanner thought she’d be further in life by now, but, no. At the age of 26, still living on her parent’s dairy farm in rural Pennsylvania, wondering if there is a life for her somewhere other than little Spencer Valley. While wondering, though, her family faces financial struggles, her best friend falls into a deep depression, and her brother’s best friend starts acting weird around her. Weird as in — is attractive Alex Stone flirting with her?

Alex has his own challenges to face, mainly facing past demons that make him feel like he’s not worthy of the love the Tanner family has already shown him, let alone the love of the woman he’s fallen for while working side-by-side with her in the barn each day.

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

Harvesting Hope

Can she forgive him for what he can’t forget?
The last year has been a whirlwind of trials and triumphs for the Tanner family.

With injuries, near foreclosures, and a family tragedy behind them, Jason Tanner, the oldest of the Tanner children is facing his own struggle after his longtime girlfriend, Ellie Lambert, overhears the secret he’d planned to tell her himself.
Now, in addition to trying to keep his family’s dairy farm sustainable during a hard economic season, Jason is dealing with the heartbreak of Ellie’s decision to end an almost 10-year relationship.

In an effort to bury his feelings, he throws himself into his work on the farm and into volunteering with Spencer Valley’s small volunteer fire company, where tragedy strikes the foundation of his faith during an already vulnerable time.

Ellie has her own challenges to face as she tries to navigate a time of life where her expectations have been turned upside down and shaken out. As she copes with the decision to walk away from her relationship with the man she saw as her best friend, her flighty, less responsible younger sister shows up to further complicate an already complicated situation.

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

Beauty From Ashes

After becoming pregnant by her abusive ex-boyfriend, 27-year-old Liz Cranmer feels trapped in a prison of shame. Now a single mother she feels like the whole town, especially her church-going parents, view her as a trashy woman with no morals. That’s not how she used to think of herself but — could they all be right? And if they think that, then what does God think of her?

Ginny Jefferies, 53, has hit a few snags of her own in life. Her husband, Stan, barely acknowledges her, her job as the town’s library director has become mundane and stagnant, and her youngest daughter is having some kind of identity crisis. Pile on the return of a former boyfriend and you have the makings of a near-midlife crisis.

Can the two women figure out their chaotic, confusing lives together? And how will the men in their lives fit in their journey?

Beauty From Ashes is a Spencer Valley Chronicles book.

Amazon (ebook and Paperback)

Shores of Mercy

When two recovering alcoholics’ worlds collide, can they work together to leave their pasts behind?

Ben Oliver walked away from his ex-girlfriend, Angie, the moment he found out she was pregnant. Back then, a career was more important than anything.

That was four years ago. Now Ben is sober, but he’s kept away from Angie and their daughter, convinced they are better off without him. When her family moves back to the area, though, his past catches up with him.

Judi Lambert has battled her own demons. Now she’s trying to kick her party-girl lifestyle to the curb. Not far into the journey to get her life back on track, though, she’s forced to relive a traumatic experience and begins developing a relationship with an old flame.

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

beyond the season

Christmas has come to Spencer Valley and Robert and Alex are busy trying to pull of some big surprises for the women they love. If only life didn’t try to keep getting in the way and messing up their plans. Will they be able to finish their Christmas surprises in time and will there be a Christmas proposal for one of the characters from the small town readers have fallen in love with?

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing

A little bit of mystery, a dash of romance, and a whole lot of heart

After being laid off from her job as a librarian at a small college, Gladwynn Grant isn’t sure what her next step in life is. When a job as a small-town newspaper reporter opens up in the town her grandmother Lucinda Grant lives in, she decides to take it to get away from a lot of things – Bennett Steele for one.

Lucinda has been living alone since Gladwynn’s grandfather passed away six years ago and she isn’t a take-it-easy, rock-on-your-front-porch kind of grandma. She’s always on the go and lately, she’s been on the go with a man who Gladwynn doesn’t know.

Gladwynn thought Brookstone was a small, quiet town, but within a few days of being there, she has to rethink that notion. Someone has cut the bank loan officer’s brakes, threatening letters are being sent, and memories of a jewelry theft from the 1990s have everyone looking at the cold case again.

What, if anything, will Gladwynn uncover about her new hometown and her grandmother’s new male friend? And what will she do about her grandmother’s attempt to set her up with the handsome Pastor Luke Callahan?

Find out in this modern mystery with a vintage feel.

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

Gladwynn Takes Center Stage

More mystery, intrigue, and loveable characters in Brookstone, Pa.

Gladwynn Grant hasn’t been living in Brookstone, Pa. very long but already she’s been mixed up in two attempted murders and the aftermath of a jewel theft.

Just when she thinks life has settled down and her new job as a small-town reporter will begin to be routine again, the recreational director at the local retirement community is found dead.

Was Samantha Mors death an accident, or was it murder?

Since she was the second person to discover her body, Gladwynn wants to find out what really happened.

Local State Police Detective Tanner Kinney lets her know that her job is reporting the news, not investigating a possibly suspicious death. The father she barely speaks to stops for a visit and also urges her to not get involved.

When warnings to stay away from the case come from handsome pastor Luke Callahan Gladwynn wonders if he knew the victim better than he is letting on.

Quieting her inner sleuth will prove difficult for Gladwynn, though, especially when her eccentric grandmother Lucinda, and best friend, Abbie, tag along to help her solve the case.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in Weekend Traffic Jam

Welcome to another Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot hosted by Marsha in the Middle, Melynda from Scratch Made Food & DYI Homemade Household, Sue from Women Living Well After 50, and me.  Look for the link party to go live on Thursdays at 9:30pm EDT. 

This is a link-up where you can post recent or past posts on a variety of topics as long as they are family-friendly.

How was your week this week or last? I hope you have been having nice weather like we have been having! All this week we were blessed with ice, warm, and sunny days. Well, we did have one day of rain but it was a warm rain so that was nice.

It’s going to get colder again next week, unfortunately.

Our most clicked post from last week was..well, three posts from Thrifting Wonderland tied actually!

The Garden Blooms by Thrifting Wonderland

Going to the Flower Festival by Thrifting Wonderland

Fresh Spring Tablescape by Thrifting Wonderland

Posts I enjoyed this week:

One in Hand and Four on the Road by InkTorrents

Three Very Short Book Reviews by Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs

Lilac Sugar by The Copper Table

Now it is your turn to link up your favorite posts. They can be fashion, lifestyle, DIY, food, etc. All we ask is that they be family-friendly. You can link up posts from last week or even from years ago.

Also, please take the time to visit the other blogs on the link-up and meet some new bloggers!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Book recommendation: A Troubling Case of Murder on the Menu: An Emily Cherry Cozy Mystery Book

by Lisa R. Howeler, posted in book reviews, everyday musings

TITLE: A Troubling Case of Murder on the Menu: An Emily Cherry Cozy Mystery Book by Donna Doyle

Availability: Ebook, paperback, audiobook, hardcover

DESCRIPTION:

Emily Cherry may be retired, but she’s not about to roll over and die!

Defying the doubts of her three adult children this plucky computer-shy grandma embarks on a unique path by launching her very own food blog. The only problem is that during her inaugural restaurant review, she stumbles upon a lifeless body.

In an instant, Emily’s envisioned future as a food blogger plunges into uncertainty – and a brand-new amateur sleuth is born!

Cozy up in your favorite chair and prepare for a thrilling first adventure in this brand-new senior sleuthing series.

You are guaranteed to fall in love with retiree Emily Cherry and giggle at her uncanny ability to stumble into one head-scratching mystery after another.

A troubling Case of Murder on the Menu (A Emily Cherry Mystery) by Donna Doyle

MY THOUGHTS: This was a very cute, very light mystery. Only about 100 pages it wasn’t hard hitting, there wasn’t much plot and there also wasn’t very much sleuthing but it was still a cute little book and it is the first in a 10-book series.

I loved the main character Emily Cherry and her cat Rosemary. I would love to see the characters and plots of the books expanded a bit into full-length novels but these are a nice little distraction from life if your mystery expectations are lowered and your expectations of loveable characters are raised.

In this first book Emily is adjusting to life after retirement. Now living alone after becoming a sudden widow (I don’t remember if the book says for how long she’s been a widow) she decides she wants to try her hand at something new – blogging. Her well-meaning, yet sometimes overprotective family, offers her all kinds of advice about what she should and shouldn’t do when she blogs. She takes some of the advice and discards the rest and decides to become a food blogger.

Things go awry, though, when a suspicious  death occurs at her first restaurant visit. She suddenly finds herself thinking more about the death and less about her blog.

There are some very cute conversations and moments between Emily and investigators, who think she’s simply a little old lady who needs to sit down and rest all of the time.

 She has similar cute interactions with her family, who clearly love her and care for her and are well-meaning but a little bit pushy in their opinions of what she should do with her life. When they think she believes her blog could be a money maker, she wishes they would understand that she wants to do something for fun after earning money and working her entire adulthood. Luckily, she has her friend Anita to help her navigate this new life and support whatever it is she wants to do for fun.

Through blogging Emily also reignites a love of cooking and learning new recipes.  

I recently heard a reader say that what makes a good cozy mystery isn’t necessarily the mystery itself but the characters, their stories, their animals, and how they interact with their cozy world. I have to agree with this and that’s why I loved this little book so much. Emily, as I’ve mentioned already, is lovable and inviting and reading about her creates an easy going escape needed today.

I will be reading more in this series, especially when I need a light escape into a world of cute characters, caring family members, and a snuggly and curious cat.

Sidenote: This book is listed under religious fiction but there was nothing really religious about it at all. It was just a simple, clean read with no deep message and I think that’s what we all need at times.

You can find this series on Kindle Unlimited, incidentally.