Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer Book Reviews

FICTION CAN be MURDER: A Mystery Writer’s Mystery by Becky Clark – Female Sleuths, Cozy Mystery, American Literature

When a not-so-beloved literary agent dies under suspicious circumstances, a local mystery writer becomes the prime suspect in the death and must use her honed sleuthing skills to prove her innocence and find the real killer.

Colorado mystery writer, Charlemagne “Charlee” Russo, longs for the “halcyon days when authors were held in high esteem, and agents and publishers took care of all business except for putting the right word on the page.” The reality of the day is Charlee must deal with Melinda Walters, an unpleasant and dismissive, high-powered agent who can’t or won’t explain Charlee’s recently declining book royalties. Meanwhile, Charlee takes compliments and criticism from the likes of her Monday Morning writer’s group and volunteer beta readers comprised of family, friends, and neighbors. When she suddenly gets word that Melinda has been killed and her unusual death mirrors the specifics of events Charlee wrote about in her latest unpublished fictional manuscript, all eyes are on Charlee.

Soon Charlee is ticking off her own list of suspects while highlighting their motives, means, opportunities, and alibis. Her focus is primarily on anyone who had access to her manuscript, including fellow writers, boyfriend Ozzie, volunteer readers, Melinda herself, Melinda’s assistant “Q,” and a car mechanic. Clark ignites the story with an eclectic supporting cast that runs the gamut from a Mensa-card-carrying “Einstein” and a Goth who writes children’s books, to a neighbor with a shark-tooth smile who spent time in a mental health facility and appears to have a penchant for stealing books. With themes of money, love, jealousy, and revenge, the usual motives for murder, Charlee considers her suspects, one by one, but continues to entertain new possibilities along the way. Clark cleverly incorporates some unexpected reveals amidst this diverse group.

Through an intricate first-person narrative, readers remain invested in the story via the barrage of questions surrounding the murderous main event. As Charlee concedes that someone used her imaginary crime scenario to kill her agent, with questions like, “Was it to frame her? Was the prose so compelling they couldn’t help themselves? Why now? Why me?” Clark creates a pondering central character both witty, and on edge.

Clark’s writing style conjures out-of-this-world visuals, detailing the melting pot attributes of her Aurora town complete with bodegas, authentic ethnic restaurants, meth houses, and red-light districts.

Touches of humor also add an enjoyable lightness to the intensity of this drama. And, while the final reveal is unexpected, the tidbits of a backstory help the swirling pieces of this puzzle fall into place.

In this delightful and diverting debut, Charlee Russo proves a likable and plausible heroine. Readers will love her desire to consume a perfectly satisfying toasted grilled cheese sandwich, and her all-out efforts to exonerate herself and friends from the pointing fingers of law enforcement. Clark delivers fun and witty entertainment, with a double-edged appeal for mystery fans and bibliophiles alike.

Fiction Can Be Murder: A Mystery Writer’s Mystery won first place in the CIBA 2018 M&M Awards for Mystery and Mayhem.

January 27, 2020
YEARNING for the UNATTAINABLE by L. L. Eadie – Southern Gothic YA, Ghost Story YA, YA Paranormal Romance

Y.F.T.U.: Shorthand for “yearning for the unattainable.” It’s an ongoing condition in the life of 16-year-old Gentry Wickleham, very much a 21st Century teenager whose life thus far has been a series of shifting sands: a father who can’t seem to hold a job, a mother who disappeared long ago, Rawsom – her obnoxious older brother, a seemingly endless series of Dad’s girlfriends with maternal skills that verge on the non-existent, and a constant life on the move.

“Damn,” she says at one point. “Maybe I’m not sure where I belong. Maybe I don’t.”

So, when Dad and Nikki, his nubile new girlfriend, and Rawsom move to the small town of Wiregrass, Georgia, and move into her great aunt Tom’s decrepit old mansion, Gentry has no expectation of the wild, exuberant ride awaiting her. Who knew that secrets, ghosts, and murder awaited her, along with new friends, a new exciting life, and even love was right around the corner? More specifically, who knew what revelations about her family’s past, as well as her own unique relationship with a dead girl from another time, was happening right upstairs in the attic of the old house.

Yearning for the Unattainable is an enjoyable brew of multiple storylines that keep readers bouncing through Gentry’s life. Central to the story is her near-identical resemblance to Sylvie, her aunt Tom’s daughter, whose early, mysterious death at 16 during the 1960s affected virtually everyone who lived in the small, close-knit town Even today, people are influenced by her suicide – or was it murder? – a half-century ago.

But this is no usual whodunit. We live in Gentry’s sensitive yet yearning skin as she navigates through the rigors of growing up. Is she pretty enough? Can the young man she lusts after, a nearly perfect boy named Legend, even begin noticing her when he’s constantly surrounded by hoards of busty competitors that keep Gentry constantly reassessing her own ability to compete? In her world, if boys are Sirloins and girls are Sirens, then what is she?

It takes skill to tell this kind of tale. There are multiple threads to follow from the dead Sylvie to the mysteries of Aunt Tom’s mansion, to Gentry’s lustful fantasies about Legend and her reluctant development of a relationship with her father’s girlfriend among them. Author, L.L. Eadie effortlessly takes us with her from storyline to storyline in what ultimately is a complex tale. Y.F.T.U. also keeps providing new details about each key character, making it easy to recall who’s who, which allows us to know these people even as the mysteries of Wiregrass reveal themselves all the way to the last page.

The language is often salty. Some might find that offensive, but this is a contemporary book dealing with themes as old as mankind itself. Author L.L. Eadie serves up a Southern Gothic YA novel in a fresh new way and succeeds admirably.

January 22, 2020
DARED to RETURN: A Kate Anderson Mystery (Book 2) by J.J. Clarke – Cozy Mystery, Female Sleuth, Humorous Mystery

Kate Anderson has an exciting new life in Tampa Bay, Florida. An aspiring writer with a new book recently released, she’s left behind her old life as a court investigator in Kingseat, Missouri. But when she receives a frantic call from her ninety-two-year-old grandfather, Theodore, she hops on a plane back home.

Just five weeks earlier, Kate’s step-grandmother, Helen, died. Not long after Helen’s death, Kate’s grandfather was thrown out of his house and sent to the Squaw Valley Nursing Home, a place where old people go to die. Unbeknownst to Kate, most of Helen’s two-million-dollar estate has been left in trust – and not to her husband of twenty-five years. The trustee is a corrupt secret society known as HOGG, a group of important town officials who con elderly citizens out of their money, distribute it to charities and take a considerable percentage for themselves.

The elderly in town believe they are contributing to the betterment of the community. Kate refuses to sit idly by and teams up with her spunky publicist, Susie Jones, and former US Marshal and newly appointed Kingseat Police Chief, Reese Matthews, to exact revenge and bring down this ring of corruption. With a family feud, a suspicious trust, and a fiery sleuth, what could possibly go wrong?

Raised by her biological grandfather and step-grandmother, Kate hasn’t had what anyone would call an ordinary life. With a degree in law enforcement, she worked as a bond investigator until she became the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Using her law knowledge, she gave the U.S. Marshals a merry chase as she worked to clear her name.

Now, with two deaths tied to her, Kate is a tough nut to crack, and she isn’t about to let the evil forces at work in Kingseat get away with stealing from her grandfather. Her tenacity even causes her to punch a lawyer in court (and get away with it), and her endless costume closet presents unlimited chances to catch her prey red-handed initially in some humorous ─ and oddly satisfying ─ ways. She and Susie make a modern-day, irreverent superhero duo, righting the wrongs done by the evil, dominating force of HOGG.

Clarke delivers the second book in the Kate Anderson Mystery series with a lead character that will capture the imaginations of many. And while preying upon our seniors is a despicable act, what Kate does to right the wrongs will bring satisfaction to readers. This “beautiful little town with an underbelly of evil” hits close to home for some, and Kate’s fight for her grandfather is a fight for us all.

January 20, 2020
The ONLY ONE LEFT (The Neema Mysteries, Book 3) by Pamela Beason – Thriller/Suspense, Animal Cozy, Police Procedural

While spending some time with his sweetheart, animal behavior scientist Grace McKenna and her adopted family of gorillas, Detective Matthew Finn finally endures a kiss from Neema while keeping an eye on the huge silverback Gumu. He accepts a ‘toy’ from their baby, Kanoni. But upon further inspection, Matt and Grace believe the object might be part of a human finger bone. Where did it come from? How did it get in the gorillas’ remodeled barn? The homicide detective knows he’ll need to investigate, but just then, his cell phone chirps.

Desk Sergeant Greer of the Evansburg, Washington, Police Department tells Matt to get back on duty and head directly to the Gorge Amphitheatre, where the Sasquatch Festival has just ended. A car belonging to a 17-year-old girl, last seen by her parents in Bellingham, Washington, three days earlier, has been found abandoned next to a tent in the Amphitheatre campground.

Three days earlier, Darcy Ireland and Mia Valdez had hatched a plan for adventure. They each told their parents that they would be spending the weekend together as volunteer workers for the Ski to Sea race from Mt. Baker to Bellingham. In fact, they would go to the Sasquatch Festival and camp there over the Memorial Day weekend. The only problem is Darcy’s car is still at the venue. Where did the girls go?

Matt Finn’s sleuthing brain works fast and hard. He doesn’t take it easy on his body, either—missing sleep as well as meals until his growling tummy wakes him up. Little by little, clues begin to emerge, as others who had been at the festival are found and interviewed. One reported that he had seen the girls leave with a couple of dudes on motorcycles midway through the festival, seemingly happy as they rode off for what they had been told would be a picnic. He wondered why they hadn’t returned. Detective Flynn knows from experience that every hour the girls are missing decreases the chance of finding them alive.

While the law officials and the parents still know nothing about the missing girls’ whereabouts, we readers do. Darcy wakes up the next day, her face scalded red by the glaring sun. Lying in a field in the middle of nowhere, Darcy’s backpack and cell phone are missing. But she’s not alone. The first sound she hears is that of a rattlesnake. Mia awakens to semi-darkness, in a shed with a floor of dirt and a security door locked from the outside. There is more, a lot more, but we’re not about to give any more away!

With the power of her compelling descriptions and nail-biting suspense, Beason keeps her readers hanging on the edge.

Pamela Beason continues to keep us turning the pages with her stellar mysteries. Each one seems hard to top until she delivers the next. Readers unfamiliar with this outstanding thriller author will want to catch up with this series (she has several!), click on the titles to read our reviews: The Only Witness and The Only Clue.

The Only One Left won First Place in the CIBA 2018 CLUE Awards for Mysteries and Suspense.

January 17, 2020
The KORPES FILE (The Korpes Files Series Book 1) by J. I. Rogers – CyberPunk Sci-fi, Genetic Engineering Sci-fi, Dystopian, Space Opera

Set in a world that is ridden with lethal radiation from a cataclysmic event, J. I. Rogers’s debut novel and the first novel of her 942 series is a definitive addition to the science fiction genre.

Life in The Korpes File is lived almost entirely indoors and relies highly on the advancement of technology to support life on a planet that is no friend to the living. Technician Nash Korpes is a member of the Diasporan people, who face harsh discrimination from the Korlo people of Korlune, where this saga is set. Nash is a genetic anomaly that gives him the appearance of his ancestors long ago. Because of this, he is recruited as an official subject within the government research organization KMR & D.

Nash has his reasons for signing over his life; his mental state is deteriorating, and his growing medicine regime are becoming too much and even dangerous, he decides he has to find a way out.

Spanning ten years of rising tensions across Korlune and within Nash’s mind, The Korpes File is packed with a large cast of characters told from numerous points of view. The interlocking plotlines can be hard at times to keep track of, but Rogers kindly includes a handy character index and map for reference, and they’ll need it. Readers are immersed straight into Nash’s world of unquestioned conformity and strict societal expectations. Still, the story itself is unapologetic to readers and rarely takes the time to explain itself, which, in a way, is its defining quality.

The truth is hidden deep, and J. I. Rogers scatters little details calling back to earlier points that help to unravel the overarching mystery. In a way, there are two mysteries. One within Nash’s mind and the nature of his condition and subsequent treatment, whereas the other is of a resurfacing war of destruction that will change life in Korlune forever. For both these mysteries, Rogers’s narrative style involves abrupt changes throughout the novel that are frankly disruptive. Still, they are useful in creating a sense of chaos one would face in a world of rising tensions and competing realities.

When presented with a large number of characters, it may seem like a daunting task to achieve necessary amounts of character development, and Rogers does just that, again and again. Just as attachments begin to form, the chaos prevalent in the novel tears them away from the forefront. Nash himself is present throughout the story but becomes a very different person from the beginning of because of all the mental, emotional, and physical trails he goes through spanning the ten-year passage of time. The story is only just beginning, however, and Nash’s story is far from over.

The Korpes File is a dynamic debut from J. I. Rogers that is sure to delight any die-hard science fiction fan looking for something new. The second novel of the 942 series was published this past March and continues the trials and tribulations of Technician Nash Korpes trying to find his way in a turbulent and dangerous world.

The Korpes File won Grand Prize in the CIBA 2018 Cygnus Awards for Speculative Science Fiction.

January 15, 2020
BALL of YARNS – From 87 Years of Worthy Experience by Franklin Ball – Memoir, Americana, Heartwarming Stories

Author Frank Ball delivers an engaging, poignant account, contrasting idyllic times growing up and the remote, icy climes of his later years in his memoir, Ball of Yarns – From 87 Years of Worthy Experience.

Born in 1931, Ball was raised in rural California. Often left on his own, the result was a series of escapades with the first object of his affections – vehicles of any kind. An early solo experiment with his father’s sedan gave him the heady feeling of “wheels unguided by human hands.” A next adventure involved rebuilding, with his brother, a neglected Chevy Roadster that Ball proudly drove to school in the sixth grade. Yet another, more terrifying event occurred when he and a friend decided it would be fun to take a farm tractor up into the mountains on a snowy day; the descent was “reminiscent of a scene from the Keystone Cops.”

In high school, he and his pals visited an inactive bomb-testing site and exploded “dud” ordnance for kicks, and he later drove a racecar and worked as a pitman for that sport. Ball served in the military during World War II, stateside, getting technical education leading to a career in electronics, in which he excelled. After retirement, he and his wife Josie pursued more exploits together, living for long stints in Antarctica, she as a cook and he as an all-round mechanical whiz. It provided an atmosphere of camaraderie where the person nearest to a disaster had to deal with it immediately or risk the whole camp’s population freezing to death.

Ball tells his life saga in engagingly short, chronological episodes, most only a page or two. He has provided a few photographs to underpin his often-amusing narrative. His writing style shows a particularly strong ability to put the reader into the frame. This is especially the case with his story of going into the salvage business with a friend. Using shallow-water diving gear, they discovered a submerged vessel near the San Diego Bay. Pirating bits of it, mostly brass propellers, they were observed, and a story made the local newspapers since the vessel was, in fact, an abandoned US Navy submarine. Equally enthralling are the many aspects revealed about his working in frigid conditions, repairing everything from aircraft fuel pumps to urinals and figuring out for his own amusement how long it takes a cup of hot coffee to freeze when setting out in the subzero cold. And even in his eighties, he is still repairing and driving vintage cars.

Ball’s well-organized reminiscences will charm anyone with a love of vehicles, machines, youthful high jinx, and general mischief. His compelling American story speaks to timeless values of passion, family, ingenuity, determination, and legacy.

**Ball of Yarns by Frank Ball releases on January 14, 2020. To get your copy, please click on Kobo or Amazon.

January 8, 2020
NO WINTER LASTS FOREVER by Jonathan Epps – Vigilante Justice Thrillers, Literature, Thrillers

There is a frequently paraphrased quotation that goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” But there is also a well-known aphorism that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” This is a story where those truisms come together like a train wreck, at the very least a commentary on one of the darkest underbellies of American subculture.

No Winter Lasts Forever by Jonathan Epps takes place in the present, with mass shootings in the news every other week, an opioid epidemic that’s out of control, and an entire generation of young people who will, by all current economic measures, not do as well as their parents, let alone better, as previous generations have before them.

This story also takes place inside the head of Jackson Warner, a 52-year-old man in tiny Franklin, Missouri, who learns of a shooting at the school where he taught for many years. If matters can be worse, and they are, Jackson discovers his 21-year-old nephew is on the exact same path as the shooters.

Jackson won’t allow him to sit idly by. He needs to do something to fix what feels like his little corner of the national malaise. Even if all he can really do is attempt to get his nephew on a different course. He wants justice.

The story here is, in many ways, Jackson’s descent into a kind of madness. He begins to haunt the underground internet chat rooms where misguided young men trash talk each other and discuss gunning the world down. He loses track of his real life, his girlfriend, his family, and especially himself.

It’s not an easy read. Jackson’s online flirtation with those who want to end it all and take as many as possible down with them is visceral. As his walk through very dark places consumes his life, he takes on a few too many of the attitudes of the young men he says he’s “investigating.” His anger at everything he sees wrong in society is palatable and soon spins out of control.

Readers may feel that his descent into that underworld goes on a bit too long, or at least reading about it does. The online chat room language is repetitive, incoherent, unrelieved in its violence, and probably requires all the trigger warnings available for a SWAT team to mobilize. It feels authentic, and it’s terrifying. However much like a train wreck, Epps’s writing is so compelling that readers will be unable to turn their eyes away; in fact, they won’t be able to put the book down.

And just when he seems to draw back from the madness all around, it comes for Jackson and those he holds dear. He has ignored Friedrich Nietzsche’s warning. He has gazed into the abyss too long, never realizing that the abyss has gazed back at him.

It may be true that “no winter lasts forever,” but when the metaphorical spring finally comes, will it be enough to bring Jackson Warner into the light? You’ll have to read it to find out!

This story is an affecting read, but not a comfortable one. The reader is inside Jackson’s head every step of the way and wants to urge him to retreat before it is too late. That he does not, causes the reader to close the book with a shiver of dread. And that’s exactly the thing that makes Jonathan Epps one of our favorite new thriller authors.

January 6, 2020
CHRISTMAS at LADYWELL, A Time for Secrets by Nicola Slade – Historical Mystery/Thrillers/Suspense, Two-Hour Literature & Fiction Shorts, Family Life Fiction

Christmastime in the English countryside, what could be cozier? Nicola Slade casts a charming spell on the reader with her novella, Christmas at Ladywell, A Time for Secrets. The main character Freya Wellman, jolly with the holiday spirit, has much to do to ready her ancient home, Ladywell, for yuletide guests. She happily juggles tasks to ready an adjoining cottage for a visit from a famous American actor and his girlfriend. Freya also cares for her small daughter, Violet, and visits with friends and an interesting assortment of townspeople. Most eagerly, she awaits the arrival of her smart and funny husband, a successful scriptwriter who’s been in America working on a film with the actor.

It’s a busy, festive time, and the reader is more than happy to witness all this gaiety at Ladywell. Of course, that name invites inquiry, one answered by stories that are nestled like Russian dolls in this exquisite book. Freya’s ancestral home is brimming with secrets and enchantment conjured over centuries. While Freya isn’t visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, the reader is treated to three fabulous historical tales that chart the experiences of previous inhabitants of this wondrous place of potent, healing waters, invisible flowers, and a legendary, loyal hare.

Whether it’s 1390, 1543, 1825, or the present day, there’s a mystical sisterhood at Ladywell that bridges time, a linking of strong women who tend home and hearth and pass on the secrets of the land. The past re-emerges into the blissful bustle of Freya’s current life as she learns of a family connection with King Richard III. Is this connection tied to a future event? Will the secrets of the past travel to the future?

With the loveliest prose and sharp humor, Slade offers the best Christmas gift for her readers with this gem of a book. Those who read her prior work, The House at Ladywell, will undoubtedly want to read Christmas at Ladywell, but this novella also works marvelously as a separate book. So, put the kettle on, get comfy by the fireplace, let the cat snuggle on your lap, and settle in for a cheerful read that befits the season!

December 23, 2019
A PROMISE GIVEN (A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series Book 3) by Michelle Cox – Historical Mystery, Romantic Mystery, Mystery Suspense

With a much-anticipated wedding is in the works, but family complications and entanglements threaten the celebration, when is love A Promise Given, and when is it a compromise taken?

Amidst tribulations of friends and family, the smart and beautiful Henrietta, and the intense Inspector Clive Howard say, “I do.” Now the loving couple will learn how to be Mr. and Mrs. Howard on their honeymoon in England with his relatives at Castle Linley, where intrigue and mystery await their arrival.

This third book in the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series celebrates the happy couple’s lavish wedding day on October 19, 1935. All is not calm or peaceful, however. The big day finds Henrietta’s mother and younger siblings uneasily settled in a new house in Palmer Square. Wedding jitters are magnified as the lovely bride-to-be uncovers concerning stories and disconcerting marriage advice from friends and relatives. There is a question whether Henrietta’s Ma will even attend the ceremony, and what will be the outcome as Stan shifts his unrequited feelings for Henrietta to her sister Elsie?

The newlyweds attempt to leave troubles miles behind when they set sail for a honeymoon in the rolling green hillsides of England at Castle Linley. They’re hosted by the Inspector’s relatives who welcome Clive and Henrietta with open arms. As she gets to know his English family, Henrietta ponders the long journey she’s taken since she first met the Inspector. In the meantime, Clive views some alarming changes to the castle, to the family, and even to the staff. Just as the news spreads through the town that a man has been murdered, Clive becomes aware of mysterious comings and goings of his cousin Wallace. Will the newlyweds investigate together? What secrets are waiting to be uncovered – and how will the family react?

This romantic novel evokes a sensual aura that embraces and warms the reader. The setting is authentically historic. The story gives a new slant to the timeless question of whether the beauty of true love indeed conquers all. It explores what happens to those who don’t find love, and to those who compromise. Beyond the happily ever after wedding, A Promise Given follows two individuals into the challenges of starting a life together, while delving into a murder mystery that threatens to undermine their own family.

A Promise Given by Michelle Cox won the CIBA 2018 Grand Prize in the Mystery & Mayhem Awards.

December 20, 2019
BLAME it on the BET (Whiskey Sisters, Book 1) by L.E. Rico – Wholesome Romance, Small-Town Romance, Family Values

Twenty-six-year-old Hennessy O’Halloran should have it all. She should be enjoying her overpriced apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota, her successful legal career, and her “friends with benefits” neighbor, but in the month since her father’s sudden death, all of those things have become unimportant.

She thought she and her sisters had some time to figure out what to do with Jack’s legacy, an Irish pub he and their deceased mother built from scratch. Still, when they discover a substantial loan agreement secreted away in Jack’s belongings, they realize they only have six weeks to come up with over $100,000, money he borrowed against the business to help finance various expenses on his daughters’ behalves. She finds herself back home in Mayhem, Minnesota, living above the pub and trying desperately to find the funds to save the business.

Enter Bryan Truitt, land developer and business “matchmaker,” sweeps in with a letter of intent to purchase the pub sans Jack’s signature. Even though Jack had planned to sell the bar and settle his debt, his daughters can’t bring themselves to sell to the slick, fast-talking Bryan, no matter how hot he looks in his ridiculously overpriced suit and Italian loafers. Bryan, despite his initial desire to arrive, conquer, and depart this Midwest winter land, finds himself drawn not only to small-town life but also to the confident, courageous Hennessy. When Bryan wagers against Hennessy’s ability to raise the money to save the business, neither realizes the stakes are much higher than just the pub. Will they risk their hearts to win a future together?

Blame it on the Bet is full of vivid characters. From Bryan’s hard-nosed assistant Helen to the matchmaking, Father Romance, the novel overflows with realistic, lovable characters, right down to Jackson, a curse-word-loving toddler whose specialty is his spectacular aim with flung food. These folks feel so human, readers will easily fall for them, and their quirky town of Mayhem, where a psychic baker who reads fortunes in pies and everyone owns at least one rescue cat and all of them–the cats not the humans–wear sweaters. The humor is a welcome addition to a genre that sometimes takes itself much too seriously, and good ole Midwestern honesty means there isn’t the elaborate game playing plaguing many romances.

The O’Halloran sisters lend themselves to a significant theme within the novel. Known as the “whiskey sisters,” Hennessy, Jameson, Walker, and Bailey are as varied as the alcohol for which they are named, but together, they create a tight-knit unit dead-set on saving their father’s legacy. That legacy, that sense of belonging to something worth more than the individual, permeates every aspect of the plot. The sisters drop everything to pull together and face the challenge head-on, to hold onto their father’s dream, a dream which built the very foundation of each of them. Family pride drives not only the girls but, in a way, the entire town as they pull together to save O’Halloran’s with chili cook-offs and quiz nights. The fight for the town’s favorite becomes one of pride. Even Bryan becomes embroiled in his own struggle for and against legacy when he battles his familial demons in the form of his father’s past and his unintentional tie to it. He must acknowledge his own history before he may create a new future with Hennessy, becoming a member of the family he has chosen, in a home he never expected to find.

Lovers of romance will fall for this couple and this town. It will wrap you up in a cozy blanket and keep you warm as a cup of hot cocoa on a cold Minnesota day – or wherever you happen to call home.

Blame it on the Bet by L. E. Rico won First in Category in the CIBA 2018 Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction.

December 18, 2019