A story of family trauma, romance, personal growth and lots and lots of humor. Sameera is recovering from a very bad, failed relationship and facing the real possibility of losing her job. At the office holiday party she meets an attractive waiter who turns out to actually be the caterer himself. Through a comedy of errors, she is forced by her family to visit his for Christmas and the humor as well as the heart tugs just keep mounting.

In the spirit of O. Henry‘s, The Gift of the Magi, this Christmas story is told. Monica and Holly finally take the elf gone bad back to the North Pole, where Monica finally finds the perfect gift for Brian. Meanwhile, Brian and her sister, Mona are back home trying to solve an arson case and Bryan is grilling Mona so he can find the perfect gift for Monica.

While reading fall reads, I also completed a table runner in time to use this month.

This series is a fun, easy read. While Violet and her mother are going over plans for Friendsgiving, they hear a scream. The 1st murder is discovered. As Violet heads to the victim‘s wife, she discovers the 2nd. While searching out clues, Violet is attacked and now it‘s personal. It‘s always fun watching Violet deal with news, holiday festivities and still sleuth.

It could just be the mood I‘m in, but I can‘t get into this book even after listening for 3 hours.

Claire and Nick head to St Augustine, Florida to help clear a client from suspicion of murder of her mother. Claire has narcolepsy, among other health issues, which add to the twists. As they‘re following clues it also seems like they are being followed/spied upon by someone else. While they find a murderer, you are left with a new trauma that is to be resolved later. 3.5-3.8 ⭐️

Amber thinks she‘s just stopping in for a quick visit with her godmother. Then she is swept into the overhaul of Cranberry Stores and feels like she has finally found her home. Her meeting with Josh was hazardous (they fell into the river 🤪), but they still warm up to each other. I felt the ending was abrupt in this meander to getting to know the village, but well worth the read. I really like getting to know the characters of the villages.

Both Lily and Ben have been career driven in their lives. Then Ben‘s father died and he sold his partnership to come home and renovate the family hotel. Lily gets redundant just when she is supposed to be offered a partnership at her interior decorating firm. The request for help at the hotel is a godsend. Maybe, just maybe, the hotel will rejuvenate their lives as they seek a fresh start. 5⭐️

Emma, trying to save her vineyards, hosts a wine and food tasting party for wealthy potential clients. Instead she finds a dead body in the cave after the event. Turns out he was murdered. Her vineyard is taking the heat in media, so she searches out the murderer to get back on an even keel. It doesn‘t hurt that the lead detective is hot.

While Charlotte‘s sister, Joslyn is away on retreat, a good friend is murdered. Charlotte receives keys and a note for Joslyn the next day. Trying to figure this all out Charlotte runs across Matt, a private detective. Together they attempt to untangle the truth. My favorite side story is the memoir being written by an old lady.

Lucy‘s mother has a long-term illness, for which Lucy has been trying to cover all the expenses and full-time care for her mother. One day, her mother tells her she has taken care of all the mother‘s care for a year and Lucy is to take a year off. During that time she is to earn to money for a trip to Paris and art school. Lucy lands in a small town and works on a maple ranch, where she uncovers a few mysteries. A lovely romance.

Ugh. Perfect Halloween seasonal read—creepy and gross, well written. Definitely NOT my cup of tea. Erin is hoping to buy her boss out of the ancient bar she runs. He tries to convince her it isn‘t worth her time or money. He tells her of his story and how he became so powerful in their neck of the woods to try to convince her to turn away. If you love things like Stephen King, you‘ll probably love it;otherwise avoid.

This one felt a little contrived to me, but that could just be that I was grossed out by the style of murder. Isaac is being bullied and his bully has been murdered. To clear his name, Monica, Holly and Brian look for clues and facts. Not sure what the nonsense about the elf was about, except maybe a tease for the next book. 3.5-3.8 ⭐️

A fun sideline about a stolen ring. The housekeeper was murdered at the manor. Caitlyn is the lead suspect, but she has an alibi. Searching for the murderer she comes across a lot of secrets.

A sports player is murdered during a game. The suspect is Mona‘s boyfriend, so she asks Monica to help clear his name. It turns out hate groups exist in all realms and Monica finds some members suspicious.

Monica and Holly go to the play Crucible and see a murder. As she and Brian investigate, Holly convinces the Mystic Council to make investigate what kind of mystic she is. A bit of a twist in our murderer and a cliffhanger at the end.

Delores hears her friend and downstairs neighbor murdered. She goes downstairs to check on her and immediately calls the police. Then she asks her daughter, Hannah (who is on her honeymoon), to start investigating. What a cliff hanger we‘re left with.

While not as hysterical as the 1st, Sisters Before Misters is funny and even heartwarming as the sisters snark their way to a closer relationship. Chad has disappeared; his apartment hints at murder. His wife, Eliana (the oldest Finch sister) is the primary suspect; so the sisters and Leo work to prove her innocence. This, despite Leo being convinced she‘s actually guilty. And, Eliana‘s actions and reactions don‘t help to contradict him.

I really liked this one. 5stars. Alex is called to a home visit to an almost 100 yo (out of the range of his typical clients. There he is grilled about psychopaths and asked to come back the next day. But, Talya is murdered overnight. It takes a quite a bit of sleuthing to figure out what happened! Mobsters, jewels and all kinds of “different” clues are dug up.

3.8-4⭐️ Campground owner, May, and the laundry room girls are asked to clear Ellis from the murder of her boyfriend in this Halloween cozy mystery. It takes some cave exploration and a Halloween party to find some answers.

A fast paced fantasy with romance, betrayal, honor and adventure . Rose gives her heart away to a fairie deamon when trying to escape her aunt‘s cruelty. When she is 20 he comes back to claim it, demanding she get a prize for him. Only as she attempts to honor her debt does she grasp his evil plans.

Stone Barrington is asked to guard a large satchel for the ex-president, being told it had information that could cause problems for those in power. The problem is that dead bodies keep turning up in connection with said case.

Creepy enough for my seasonal reading, although it was just the next book on the list. Told from two different time periods and two different women, Emma and Jayne. They both lived in an ultra modern home, with many exacting rules and lots of observation of them. One died in the house, and several suspected murder. The second one starts looking into it and finds strange things happening to her as well.

Humorous seasonal cozy mystery. Bizzy can read minds most of the time and she‘s not afraid to use this gift in an investigation. Cider Cove has turned itself into a Halloween town for the month of October. During one of the zombie walks a man dies, but everyone thinks it is just part of the show. Bizzy and her detective husband, Jasper, try to find out who poisoned him and why. Of course, the animal characters are my favorite.

Wow! This book shows how a chance encounter with someone can change the direction of our entire lives even if we don‘t know all parts of the individual. Sona met her patient Mira at the hospital. Falsely accused of killing Mira, Sona begins a journey to deliver Mira‘s last wish. 5⭐️

Will definitely hold your interest, but I hated the ending. Falk heads to his hometown for the funeral of his high school best and his family. Luke is believed to be a murder suicide, but Falk finds discrepancies. Cooperation from townsfolk is scarce. They all believe Falk murdered his girlfriend when they were in school and the real murderer was never found.

I wasn‘t sure I‘d like this but it is a good YA read. Charlie is in high school. Coming from a family of witches, she is disappointed that she never came into any powers. However, she is good at deducing and she is trying to figure out who hurt the popular mean girl, so that she can clear her cousin‘s name. She may be falling for her best friend too.

Told from the cat‘s point of view, Arnold and his kittens are searching for Aerie who has a bag of treats. Her cupcakes are there, but she seems to be missing. So, the cats are on a survival and rescue mission. Survival because a giant macaw snuck into the party and he would be their nemesis. Proven when it captures Ozzie, their dog.

An interesting “what if”, which brought out an interesting story. The only unbelievable is how quickly William turns his mindset. Strongly encouraged by her house ghost, Mira looks into the history of the town, its local Apple Harvest Festival and the 2 families originally involved with the apples. In the process she finds a century old injustice and that someone is willing to commit intimidation or violence to keep it buried.

I loved this cozy mystery novella and will have to look into the series. Angie and her Nan are throwing a benefit to find homes for cats at the local shelter. Angie can talk to animals and they help in her search for the murderer of the substitute dj. I love her cat (the chihuahua is annoying, but that would be in character).

I‘m so glad I read this 2nd in the series. So much humor and the story read smoother; I enjoyed it. Monica has now hired Holly as her assistant in the shop. But, why is she able to cross the barrier between mortal and mystic worlds and why is the memory eraser not properly working? Worse, who killed Penelope @ Dracula‘s party? I have to confess I wondered for a moment if Holly could somehow have done it. (I‘m well into my seasonal reading 😂)

I haven‘t been reading much. Instead I‘ve been rejoicing and sewing to my heart‘s content at a quilt retreat. I‘ll be getting back to it soon.

I‘m sorry maybe it‘s me, but I‘m finding this annoying and boring. I‘m moving on.

I found the writing a bit stilted, but that could just be that it‘s the 1st in a series. There is a touch of humor though. Monica is an “unnatural” witch, who has come over to the mortal side to run her aunt‘s bookstore. Monica comes across as quaint because she doesn‘t know how to pronounce everything properly. She is attracted to the local detective so she becomes involved in helping him solve a recent murder. 3.5⭐️

Gemma Doyle finds what has the potential to be a valuable historical document hidden in her shop. When she tries to return it to the. woman she is convinced left it, she discovers her dead body. As she tries to solve the mystery, it seems to put a kibash on her relationship with the local detective. 3.5-4⭐️

Now I‘m on pins and needles until the next one in the series is published. Eddie got a sweet deal on antiques that survived a fire. However, it seems as though a poltergeist is attached to at least one of the items. While she and her friends are solving that mystery, Alexander, her neighbor, is called in to solve serial murders happening to fortune tellers and it seems it involves her family.

Caitlyn heads to the village of Tillyhenge to find out about her origins, despite a recent murder there. All she knows of her history is that her adoptive mother found her on the roadside. She finds a room at the chocolate shop and quickly makes herself at home and searching for the murderer. 4🌟… witchy cozy mystery with other paranormal characters.

I enjoyed peaking into the day-to-day aspects of the life of a handicapped individual. Cam is a depressed student returning from a health break. Penny is a wheelchair riding, medical research student with dreams of her own. Their lives quickly become entwined. My favorite character was her friend Ro.

Not sure what to say. Well written, leaving me to contemplate the story, life and the difference in problems between white & black. Twins run away from home to start life anew. One disappears a few years later having successfully crossed over as “white”. This is a tale of them and their daughters.

The perfect relaxing read. Ginny is settling into her new lighthouse, business, and boyfriend; and finally reads the diary she discovered. This frees her daughters to focus on their own relationships. Ginny meets a mysterious woman and there‘s a humdinger of an ending.

I couldn‘t put this down. Maura owns a town pub called Sullivan‘s. In the middle of a blizzard several people are stuck @ the pub til the storm stops. One of them is the woman suspected in a murder years ago and she insists on her innocence. So the group decide to go over the details since they have nothing else to do for the night.

Some melodrama, but a satisfying read. Lorena‘s fiancé disappears, absconding with her entire life savings. At the same time, her father is on vacation (a “business trip”) with his new girlfriend. When her mother finds out, she puts what she wants to keep in storage, puts the house up for sale and heads to Greece with both her daughters, to a partially rehabilitated house she inherited. 4+?

A fun cozy mystery. Suzanne discovers the dead body of her cheese supplier when she goes to place a new order. While trying to solve the murder, she comes across horses being sold for consumption. Trying to save the horses and finding things not adding up in either situation she accidentally discovers they‘ve been hunting in the wrong direction.

Lordy, Mary Dell and her family go through some rough times (some of their own making) during the year or so in the book. However, the book leaves you feeling good as things work out and the bad guys are put in their place.

A paranormal cozy mystery. Bernie and Adam (and her ghostly grandma, Ruby) witness a murder on an ATV date to watch the moon over cliffs near Sedona. It was too dark to actually see who the person was but they knew a moonlight jeep tour was in the area. They, of course, try to figure out who the culprit was. 3.5-3.8 ⭐️

For those who like Christian based reading…Connie plans to start a Bible Study in her shop after work, but the group starts getting threatening hate mail. They decide to continue and Connie considers adding bagels to her offerings at the shop. One of Marple‘s better stories.

I loved this book, with flavor of “Our Town”. This is the story of Elmwood Springs, Missouri, from its foundation as a dream of its founder to its near death in present times. The characters are loveable, even in the hereafter. I couldn‘t stay away from the book.

A feel-good summer story. Both Lydia and Angela are at a crossroads in their life when they run into each other on Marigold Island. While strolling together, they discover the Beachside Inn is up for sale and decide to go into the venture together. They want to give visitors what they had in their childhood. Between 3:8-4🌟

Starting with an interesting “what if” this book takes you through a maze of clues and interconnections between characters. Delaney is called in to investigate the possibility of a discovery of a crusader‘s sword. Dancing around Scottish law of found treasure, Delaney heads to the estate in question. Not only does she get a glimpse of the treasure but a dead body is found.

A great read; an emotional roller coaster. Xavier and Samantha have a meet cute shortly before she is permanently moving from Minnesota to California to help with the daily care of her mother who is deep in the throes of dementia. Long distance relationships are hard! Even though I liked both of them, I think my favorite character was Hank!