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Grinch Kisses by D.J. Jamison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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It was juuuuust after midnight when I finished reading Grinch Kisses by DJ Jamison. It’s the first book in the multi-author holiday series of male/male romance called “Christmas Falls”. The main characters are Griff “Grinch” Calloway and Logan Reid.

Griff’s job involves organizing the Christmas festival season each year in Christmas Falls. The small town depends on tourism, which means everyone depends on Griff to keep things running smoothly. He takes his job seriously, so seriously in fact, that friends and neighbors call him Grinch. With all the work he puts into the holiday, Christmas has lost its magical luster, but that all changes when his sister returns home with a gorgeous boyfriend in tow.

Logan was orphaned at an early age and bounced from one foster situation to another. For that reason he doesn’t put down any roots. He’s between seasonal jobs when his friend Jess begs him to accompany her home to Christmas Falls as her boyfriend to spare her the grilling her family will subject her to over her latest failed romance. Logan agrees, figuring he can get some home-cooked meals out of the deal. What he didn’t count on was that he’d end up staying with Jess’ brother, Griff, to spare her parents’ delicate sensibilities. Logan doesn’t mind at first, but the more time he spends with Griff, the more he wants to come clean about the fake boyfriend bit and get to know Griff better.

This was a fun holiday story. Each man has issues to work through. Griff initially returned home to Christmas Falls in hopes of luring his children into spending more time with him there, while Logan doesn’t feel like he deserves a big, happy family like Griff and Jess have. I thought the author spent too much time on their individual angsting, but things worked out in the end.

Favorite lines:
♦ “The next time I see you, there will be cream and bones for everyone.”
♦ “That cat sounds like it’s ready to do murder.”

Fun and seasonal, four stars

Cat Got Your Killer by Sofie Ryan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished reading Cat Got Your Killer in the wee hours this morning. It’s the 12th book in Sofie Ryan’s “Second Chance Cat” series of cat-centric cozy mysteries. The main character is Sarah Grayson, along with her cat, Elvis.

When Sarah goes to the shore to see how her boyfriend, Mac, is progressing on the boat he’s building, she ends up helping to pull a body out of the water. The dead man was involved in another drowning that happened along that same beach fifteen years ago. People who knew the victim were convinced there was no way he would have returned to a place where a friend drowned, and when the police determine he was murdered, Sarah’s friend Glenn is implicated. Soon, the senior citizen PI’s that work out of Sarah’s shop are on the case. Sarah is certain the current murder is tied to the former death. All she needs to do is prove it.

A fun and charming story, as each book in this series has been so far. However, once again my enjoyment was tainted by Rose. I assume the author intended for the feisty senior citizen to provide some comic relief, but I do not find Rose amusing at all. She comes across as smug and condescending, which really just gets my hackles up. Who finds this funny? Moving on. Characterizations were stellar, from familiar people to those we meet in this book. The plot moved at a steady pace without any unnecessary meandering. The narrative was balanced nicely between the investigation, Sarah’s job, and her downtime.

Favorite lines:
♦ “You figured out that Michael Norris was murdered because he didn’t like seagulls?”
♦ “I’m pretty sure nothing is official if we don’t have cake.”
♦ “Avery could sell snow shovels in a heat wave.”
♦ “You did win me over with you lasagna.” // “I thought I won you over with my studly good looks.” // “No, I’m pretty sure it was the lasagna.”

Very good, four stars

Eggnog & Murder: A Christmas Paranormal Cozy Mystery with a Magical Holiday Whodunit with Recipes, a Lie-Detecting Rabbit, and a Small-Town Sleuth by Mila Alderwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished reading my first holiday book of the season last night: Eggnog & Murder by Mila Alderwood. It’s a paranormal cozy, and the main character is Juniper Moss.

Juniper’s life revolves around her beloved bakery and her rabbit familiar, Pip. She is honored to provide the eggnog for Winterberry Falls’ annual winter fest, but when the choir director collapses after taking on sip of her nog, Juniper finds herself under the suspicion of the villagers. To clear her name and salvage her reputation, she begins following clues and leads, with Pip’s help. Sheriff Rowan Hale has faith in her ability to track down the culprit. Juniper’s magic is steady and warm, but she can feel another magic, cold and bitter, overlaying her own. The town and the festival depend on her getting to the bottom of things.

Let me get this out of the way first. There was no murder; the choir director recovered from his malaise. For that reason, the title of the book was at least confusing if not misleading. Beyond that, the story was charming. Juniper is a calm and steady presence in the midst of upheaval in town. I admired her determination to see things through, even when she made some missteps along the way.

Favorite lines:
♦ “They’d panic more over missing pastries.”

Lovely, four stars

Kiss My Axe by May Archer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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Since I was snowed in today, I spent the day reading the rest of Kiss My Axe by May Archer. It’s a male/male romance set in the quaint Vermont town of Winsome. Main characters are Griffin Mercer, newly unemployed marketing exec, and Beckett Axford, lumber specialist.

Griffin’s career and dreams go up in flames when someone sabotages a million-dollar ad campaign he’d put his all into. Unemployed and seemingly unemployable, he’s given a lifeline when he learns he’s inherited property from a man he knew in his youth, whom he referred to as Uncle Jim. With his BFF, Milo, in tow, Griffin relocates (temporarily!) to Winsome VT, the home of busy bodies and pickles. As if that weren’t bad enough, he’s soon butting heads with Beckett Axford over an unrecorded easement agreement across the property that Jim left to him. Griffin is done being anyone’s doormat, and he digs in his heels, refusing to cave in to Beckett’s demands for access to his own tract of land.

Since taking over the family lumber business from his father, Beckett has been facing the pressure of running the company, working on schedules, and learning his father made some questionable deals that have Axford Lumber teetering on being in the red. When some upstart city boy refuses to allow Beck’s crew to cross his property to get to a tract of trees, Beckett sees red. Never mind how sexy Griffin Mercer is, nor how he makes Beckett feel.

A new May Archer series? Yes, please! This one did not disappoint. It was funny, tender, and vexing by turns. Characterizations were stellar, from the two mcs to Beckett’s mad family, Griffin's mothers, and the locals. There was even a smarmy villain and some interesting subplots thrown in. All of it written with Archer’s deft touch that makes you want to move to that setting and meet everyone there.

Favorite lines:
♦ Perky could not look more horrified if I laid out a pentagram on his linoleum floor and summoned a pickle demon.
♦ I glare at my brothers and cousin so hard they’d burst into flame if there were any justice in the world.
♦ I mentally shake my fist at the sky and think, Fucking Vermont.
♦ I’d spotted a half-dozen Winsomefolk gathered around the front window of the Pickle Jar, gasping like they’d just witnessed the second coming of Cucumber Christ.
♦ “I mean r-ride like a horse!” he blurts, cheeks going crimson so fast I almost hear the sizzle. “Like g-galloping. Trotting. Whinnying. Neeeiiiiighhh!” // “I never whinny on the first date, Mercer. That’s a hard neigh from me.”
♦ I’m trapped in a Norman Rockwell painting with people who simultaneously know me way too well and not at all.
♦ If the edge of his lips hadn’t twitched, I might have thought he blamed me for this surprise waffle attack.
♦ A bunch of people who have jobs and mortgages and the right to vote taking turns racing around the bar.
♦ “YOU THROW LIKE MY GRANDMOTHER’S POODLE!”

Delightful fun! I did figure some things out, while other things caught me by surprise. Lovely story, full of fun and feels. Five stars!

Purrfectly Hidden by Nic Saint

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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Last night I finished Purrfectly Hidden by Nic Saint. It’s the 16th in the “Mysteries of Max” series starring feline sleuth Max and his besties.

When Odelia’s mother has a plumbing issue she calls in a local plumber. As he’s opening the wall in the basement to get at the problem he finds a skeleton. Rumor abounds as to whose skeleton, but the ME determines it belonged to Boyd Baker, a married man who lived in the house with his family before he disappeared. Everyone assumed Boyd had run off, but now it appears he was murdered. As a reporter, Odelia is interested in investigating the case, and she recruits her cats to help out by speaking to Hampton Cove’s oldest pet, a macaw named Camilla. In the meantime, Odelia has a mouse problem in her own basement, and dealing with the issue is something else she tasks the cats with. None of her cats, however, is too keen to just go about, murdering mice. That is, until one of them humiliates Harriet.

This was a departure from other books in the series in that it was a cold case being investigated. The cats didn’t do any sleuthing except to speak to Camilla. A lot of the narrative was taken up with Max being too fat to fit through the cat flap, the mouse dilemma, a completely irrelevant subplot revolving around a pair of inept burglars, and Vesta’s typical annoying antics.

Favorite lines:
♦ “You would think with four cats on the premises this mouse would have chosen another house to make its home.”
♦ “Only men are dumb enough to get stuck inside a basement wall.”
♦ “Tongues are wagging so fast it’s a miracle no sprains have been reported yet.”

This was an okay read, but just okay. Average score of three.

Something Wicked by Michelle Rowen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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I finally waded through the rest of Something Wicked by Michelle Rowan. It’s the second in her “Living in Eden” series of...paranormal romance, I guess, but there was really nothing romantic about it. Main characters are Eden Riley and Darrak, the demon who’s possessing her. Be still, my heart!

Eden and Darrak would both like to break the curse that compels him to possess her body at night, although during the day he can assume a corporeal form. It seems the only help they can get is from unscrupulous denizens of the underworld, but they’re desperate enough to try it.

Nothing romantic about this, in my opinion. Eden and Darrak are attracted to one another physically, but they can’t act on it for fear of tainting Eden’s soul even further. The story was one long slog of them meeting various other characters (some friends, some foes), most of whom think the only way to help is to kill one or both of them. It wasn’t charming or fun or funny at all. I was just very ‘meh’ about the entire story.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Shifters rarely crossbreed. They’re very particular about that sort of thing. It’s very Harry Potter. Only werewolves instead of wizards.”
♦ “You don’t sound sure about not being sure. Are you sure you’re not sure?” // “Sure.”

I’ve enjoyed other books by this author, but this one simply did not do it for me. Giving it three stars.

Murder in a Cup by Lauren Elliott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I took a vacation day today and used my downtime to finish reading Murder in a Cup by Lauren Elliott. It’s the second book in the “Crystals and CuriosiTEAS” series of paranormal cozies. Main character is Shayleigh “Shay” Myers.

Things are going well for Shay. She’s settling in as the owner/proprietress of a shop that serves tea and goodies as well as offering tea leaf readings, crystal healing, etc. She has a group of regular customers that come in each morning, and when they push for a group reading, Shay reluctantly agrees. She isn’t comfortable yet with her abilities, but she is determined to do her best. The evening is going swimmingly until one of the ladies drops dead. When it’s determined that Jasmine was poisoned, Shay’s shop is shuttered, and her lively young assistant, Tassi, becomes the prime suspect. Shay is determined to prove that Tassi is innocent. To do so, she’ll need to learn to embrace her gifts and trust her instincts.

There was a lot going on in this story other than the murder: Tassi’s father is in town and seems keen on establishing full custody of her, Shay’s neighbor Liam is having trouble with his girlfriend, Zoey, Liam’s Gran has moved from Ireland to spend time with him, his trouble-making cousin shows up, Tassi’s father (a prominent lawyer) plans to bring a civil suit against Shay for practicing witchcraft, and Shay’s ultra-efficient new employee is making her feel inferior. Characters were portrayed well and the plot made sense, even with so much going on. I would have thoroughly enjoyed the story except for two main things: One, it’s not the 1600’s. You can’t sue someone for being a witch. And, even if Shay qualified as a witch, so what? Freedom of religion, yadda yadda yadda. Two, Liam and Shay are so perfect for one another, but once Zoey was out of the picture, clearing the way for Shay, another woman emerged on the scene for Liam. WTF? Most maddening.

Favorite lines:
♦ We all have our small daily rituals.
♦ “He really did save you from death by teapots?”

Engrossing and entertaining, four stars. Might have been five, but for the annoyance factors.

The Ghost Lights of Forrest Field by M.L. Bullock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I read another ebook last night. It was The Ghost Lights of Forrest Field by ML Bullock, and it’s the 6th installment in the “Gulf Coast Paranormal” series of spooky mysteries. Main characters are GCP members, Cassidy Wright and Midas Demopolis.

The GCP team is asked to investigate strange blue lights that have been seen near an archaeological dig at the site of an old fort. The flashbacks that Cassidy gets as she paints her visions shows that a young girl living at the fort had seen the lights and followed them, while her friend chased after her and died after touching one of the lights. New team member Aaron is convinced that the mysterious lights are elementals, which his Native American heritage warns against interacting with. However, if the team is going to put this particular haunting to rest, they will need to delve into the past to bring peace in the present.

This was an engrossing story. It was creepy without being terrifying (I’m too old to be terrified!), and the flashbacks from the past added some interesting perspective. I enjoyed reconnecting with familiar characters and meeting new ones.

Favorite line: ”What self-respecting ghost hangs out in the boonies?”

Very good, four stars.