Review - Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is the second book I've read by Jenny Bayliss. Like The Twelve Dates of Christmas, which I absolutely loved, it was a delight to read. 

MMUM brings a group of friends together for a wedding at an old castle in Nory's hometown. Nory, the proprietor of a book store in London is a woman who grew up in and around the old castle where her parents worked. Bridging the gap between her well-off friends she made at a high-end boarding school and her working class family, she teetered between the two worlds, though was welcomed by both. 

The romance part of this romance novel was really slow to start, but in its place, we were treated to a wonderful group of friends seeing each other in person for the first time in several years. I didn't really feel the romantic chemistry between Nory and Isaac, but I loved them both. It's as if they rekindled an old friendship and turned it into something more, but the something more was often off-page. 

All in all, a delightful listen. 

Since I ended up listening to this book, I must say that Shakira Shute did a fantastic job and kept me in the story the whole time. I listened at 1.3x speed. 

Side notes: 

* I loved the banter and interaction between the friends and would have loved this book even without the romance. I could easily have read another 100 pages of just all the friends together and in small groups - especially more about their thoughts on their late friend, Tristan. 

* Steam level was low. Any steamy scenes were glossed over in a sentence or two until the scene could be transported to a new locale.

* I was so happy for Guy's ending.

Click here for more about Jenny Bayliss. Find Meet Me Under the Mistletoe on Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon

 

Take care and happy reading!

 - Heather 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

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Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Review - Canter With a Killer

Canter With a Killer is a new cozy mystery I’ve just had the pleasure of reading. Published by Crooked Lane Books, debut author, Amber Camp, set her novel in northwest Arkansas at a horse rescue which is a new and different location for a cozy mystery and a welcomed change of pace. 

From the back cover: 

Perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Mollie Cox Bryan, Amber Camp’s debut novel will have you galloping through the pages, as a horse rescue owner races to find a killer and clear her name.

Mallory Martin left her marriage and her unfulfilling job to move back to her hometown of Hillspring, Arkansas, and start a horse rescue. It’s everything she’s been missing, with paddocks of happy horses and one very quirky donkey. But when her cantankerous neighbor and longtime critic, Albert Cunningham, is found murdered in his fancy show barn, Mallory becomes suspect number one. Since Sheriff Grady Sullivan is ignoring all good sense and focusing only on Mallory, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

Aided by her best friend, Lanie, and rescue volunteer Tanner, Mallory races headlong into the investigation in search of the real killer. But horses and murder aren’t the only thing on her mind when she meets Albert’s handsome son, Braydon. Sparks fly, and soon she’s got a new boyfriend. But there’s a case to be solved, and she redoubles her efforts to learn the truth.

The suspects mount quickly. There’s Albert’s girlfriend, Kathleen, who was on the farm when he was murdered; organic farmer Heather Rogers, who accused Albert of contaminating her creek; and Philip Atwood, who’d been trying for a right-of-way across Albert’s farm. None of the evidence is holding up though, and Mallory learns that she'll need to take the reins on this investigation if she's going to clear her own name

From my Goodreads review: 

Canter with a Killer is the debut novel by Arkansas author Amber Camp. It’s a great whodunnit featuring Mallory, owner of a new horse rescue in NW Arkansas, who is accused of murdering her meddling neighbor who seems to be quite the crotchety old man.

I love starting a new series and getting to know all the various characters that I just know I’ll come to love along the way as new books are released. At her rescue are Ashley and Tanner, two volunteers who are almost loyal to a fault but who share her love for horses.

I also love that this book was set in a more unusual setting - a horse rescue - making it a welcome change of scenery from restaurants and coffee shops (or pet stores) that I often see in cozies. I look forward to reading more books by Camp.


Read more about author Amber Camp at her official website. Find more on Canter With a Killer at Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon 

Take care and happy reading!

 - Heather 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

My NetGalley ARCs

I read a lot of ARCs which are Advanced Reader Copies of books in order to help generate buzz for soon-to-be-released books. I get them from a couple of websites, but mostly via authors directly.

Sometimes, like an extra appetizer on the menu, my eyes get a little hungrier for titles to read than my time allows. Sometimes I also put my name in for books and then start writing my own. 

NetGalley is a great resource for generating buzz on new books. Used primarily by small and large publishers alike, it's a treasure trove of new books of all genres for readers to dive into. The only requirement is that you write a review of the books you take. I currently have 10 books out. According to the NetGalley group I'm in, that's not at all unusual. What's unusual is that I recently went into NetGalley to discover I hadn't read them all. (Don't look at the dates. Really. Don't look. Sigh. Fine. Look.)

I have 10 books out - 8 are cozy mysteries, 1 is a romance, and 1 is a biography on a Pakistani cleric credited with the internationalization of the global jihadist movement. It'll take me a while to get through, but it's quite good so far. It's actually not the first book on that topic that I've read. 

I had 12 books before and have just posted a couple of reviews in my efforts to whittle down my book list. 

Cozy mystery - To the Tome of Murder by Lauren Elliott - Goodreads Review

Romance - Off the Grid by Kay Richard - Goodreads Review

I have high hopes for the balance of the books on my list. Yes - I'm way past due for a bunch since they're almost all already published, but I'm working on it. I take books that intrigue me or that are written by authors I already know I like. 

I hope you'll friend me or follow my reviews on Goodreads. 

I'm in there as H.M.S. Brown which will be my pen name when I start publishing. And yes - those are my real initials, with the addition of my mom's maiden name to add the S. I couldn't resist! And no - I don't use her maiden name of Scribner for passwords. But Yes - Scribner, like the publisher. We're distantly related. Think that'll give me an "in?" 

(Scratches chin) 

Hmm.

Hope you're all having a great weekend! Take care and happy reading!

 - Heather 

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown