The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie

In a moment of nostalgia, I picked this one up for free on amazon.  I've seen lots of versions of Christie's stories on TV, but this isn't the first story of hers I've read.  Many years ago, I read And Then There Were None - awesome story - highly recommended.

This is the first book published by Christie and introduces her wonderful character, Poirot, the Belgian detective.

There's been murder at Styles, and Hastings is on hand when it happens.  A woman has been poisoned, and the clues are vague.  They point first to one person, then another. Hastings comes across his old friend, Poirot, and gets him on the case.  While the man's "little ways" are something of a mystery to Hastings, Poirot knows what he's doing.  It's just a matter of when he'll share it with everyone else.

You're reading this from Hasting's point of view, so you're on the ride with him.  You get to watch Poirot's strange ways first-hand and try to figure out what he sees.  I kinda felt bad for Hastings in general, it seemed like Poirot pointed out his shortcomings as a detective pretty often.

I really liked this book.  While it was published in 1920, it was easy to read and understand what was going on.  Even at the end, when the complicated murder plot was being revealed, it was done in a way that explained everything well.

The only issue I saw was this version seems to be missing some illustrations.  I'd be reading and see "looked like this" except there was nothing there.  They may have been helpful, but their absence didn't disrupt the story for me.  Good Book!

Fools Rush In (Weddings by Bella #1) - Janice Thompson

This is the first book in the series.  The other three are Swinging on a Star, It Had to Be You and That's Amore.

Bella is preparing for a themed wedding.  Her brother, who usually runs the sound, is unavailable, so she's on the lookout for a deejay.  She thinks she's just had the best luck when she overhears someone talking to a deejay.  What she finds out later is the man's name is DJ, and he has no idea how to deejay a wedding.  She's instantly in love and starts mentally planning their life together.

I started out liking this book, really I did.  The characters seemed quirky and enjoyable, but then nothing was happening.  I'm used to at least some sort of conflict in the books I read, even the romances.  Instead, everything was lovey dovey, and the only bumps in the relationship existed in Bella's imagination.  Without DJ doing anything, she imagines all the problems that could occur between their families or if she could move to the country.  Neither of these things made sense.

The whole section of the book about coincidences just grated on my nerves, since most of them weren't coincidences at all. Inhaling a piece of beef and then choking isn't a coincidence, it's cause and effect.  And I felt like if I read the words "boot-scootin'" one more time, I was going to scream.

Normally, I'd go ahead and quit, but I kept waiting for something to happen.  Like an argument or a real problem.  By the end, I felt obligated to finish.  It just wasn't for me.

The Tender Years (Prairie Legacy #1) - Janette Oke

Let me start off by admitting that I don't read Janette Oke very often.  My exposure has been reading Love Comes Softly, When Calls the Heart (many, MANY years ago), and watching some of the Love Comes Softly series movies on Hallmark channel.  After saying that, I have to admit the prologue of this book had me feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I have no idea how many characters from how many series were talked about, but I felt like my head was going to explode halfway through the prologue.  Eventually, I got to the information I needed: Virginia is Marty and Clark's granddaughter.

She's 13 and dealing with all the trouble that brings.  She wants to be friends with Jenny, but Jenny is a troublemaker and Virginia feels like she's more along for the ride than getting to be a real friend.  Jenny's had it rough, but she's pretty harsh on Virginia.  Her parent's solution?  Invite the girl over and pray for her.

When an accident occurs, it splits the two girls apart.  Jenny's been injured and rumors are spreading around town about what really happened down at the river.  Virginia's mother continues to reach out to Jenny, while Virginia starts to feel jealous of the attention the girl gets.

This was a decent book, but I couldn't help but wish poor Virginia would get a little more help from her folks.  They're more than willing to look for why others act the way they do (Jenny, the Crells) but when Virginia has issues, they just punish her without getting to the root of the problem.

This covers about two years of Virginia's life.  Virginia then gets some time to grow up before her story continues in A Searching Heart, A Quiet Strength and then the series finishes out with Like Gold Refined.  This is Oke's style, developing characters over multiple books.  It wasn't bad, just not my style.

Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3) - Colleen Coble

This is the third book in the Sunset Cove series.  The first two are The Inn at Ocean’s Edge and Mermaid Moon.

Kate is trying to find out what she wants to do with her life.  She feels tethered to the blueberry fields, but it’s not something she’s passionate about.  When a handsome stranger offers to rent the cottage she’s refurbishing, she also gets a nanny position.

Drake is determined to find out what happened to his brother.  Drake doesn’t agree with the police who have ruled his brother killed his wife then killed himself.  Now that Drake has custody of his nieces, he takes them to where it all happened, hoping to discover the truth.

There’s danger around every corner and an abundance of villains.  I had the puzzle of the villain figured out, but that wasn’t what bothered me the most.  The main low point for me was the sappy relationships.  No one seems to have a major argument or disagreement.  There’s more than one of these relationships: Kate and Drake, Claire and Luke – even Claire and Kate!  All the conflict comes from the mysterious villains.  The main highlight was the cameo from Gwen Marcey (from a series by Carrie Stuart Parks).

This is definitely not my favorite from Coble.  I felt the writing wasn’t as good as I’ve read in her other books.  I didn’t feel that connection with the characters, and the sickeningly sweet relationships were a little too over-the-top.

Claire and Luke show up A LOT in this one, so I would recommend reading The Inn at Ocean’s Edge before reading this one.  Most of the time, you’re okay reading Coble’s books alone or out of order, but I think in this case, you’re better off either reading this one alone or reading the other one first.  3.5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Spy's Devotion (Regency Spies of London #1) - Melanie Dickerson

For my Kindle Unlimited book this month, I found this little gem.  I'm a fan of Dickerson's, so this was an easy decision for me.

Julia is an orphan, who has been taken in by her indifferent aunt and uncle, and her self-absorbed cousin.  Her cousin has her eyes on one Mr. Nicholas Langdon, and Julia is supposed to help her secure him.  The thing is, Nicholas seems to have no interest in Julia's cousin, but they seem to get along well with one another.

Nicholas came back from the Peninsula with a few injuries and a diary.  He's supposed to deliver it to the War Office, but on his way there, he's attacked and the diary is stolen.  He was smart enough to make a copy, but the attack throws suspicion on Julia's uncle. Nicholas has to decide whether to trust Julia to help him or leave her alone.

The interactions between these two are frustrating.  They both hold back their feelings, and you just want to shake some sense into them!  Phoebe, the spoiled cousin, certainly makes it easy to hope she doesn't get her way.  The minor characters are fun to read.  I think my favorite was Nicholas's sister.  Her character made me smile a few times.

This was a neat little tale, with all the characteristics of a regency.  There's balls, gentlemen, a cad, and the dashing hero.  I really liked this one and look forward to the next one.  A Viscount's Proposal is due out February 2017, and I'll be watching for it. Good Book!

A Love Transformed (Sapphire Brides #3) - Tracie Peterson

This is the third book in the series.  The others are A Treasure Concealed and A Beauty Refined.

Clara’s husband has been murdered.  While she didn’t love him, she now has to decide what to do with her life.  Her late husband’s brother is showing interest in marrying her, but she’s only ever loved one person, and she’s not marrying without love again.  She takes her children to the one place she was happy: Montana.

Curtis has a rough past.  When his true love, Clara, was torn away from him fourteen years ago, his life went off the rails.  Now, he’s turned his life around, but things aren’t necessarily getting better.  A cave-in at his mine leaves him bedridden with the possibility of never walking again.  Add in the return of Clara and his life is much more complicated.  He wants to save her from being stuck with a crippled man with a past, but she’s not willing to give up easily.

Things get more complicated, since she’s still being pursued by her brother-in-law.  He’s up to no good, and willing to do what it takes to get what he wants.  Clara’s mother also isn’t ready to let her daughter waste her life in the wilds of Montana and is looking for her as well.

I really liked this book.  I looked forward to picking it back up to see what would happen next.  Clara is a strong character, and her kids are great as well.  The story was well written, and I was getting a bit nervous at the end to see how things would turn out.

These can be read out of order since they’re all about different characters.  This is definitely my favorite book of this series.  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Melanie Dickerson's Wonderful Fairy Tale Lands

I love reading Dickerson's versions of fairy tales.  There's links between them that I love figuring out.  I've outlined the connections in the past, but with more books coming out all the time, I think it's time for the links to have their own post!  I try to keep up with the author, so I'll try to keep this post updated.

Glynval, England is the home of the le Wyse family.  Characters from this family include:
Colin (The Princess Spy).  Lord Ranulf (The Merchant's Daughter) is the father of Westley (The Silent Songbird).

Hagenheim, Germany is home of the Gerstenberg family.  Characters include:
Wilhelm and Rose (The Healer's Apprentice) are the parents of Valten (The Captive Bride), Gabe (The Fairest Beauty), Margaretha (The Princess Spy), Kirstyn (The Orphan's Wish), Wolfgang (The Warrior Maiden) and Steffan (The Piper's Pursuit).  Gerek (The Golden Braid) is a knight of Duke Wilhelm.  The last book in the Hagenheim series involves the youngest daughter Adela (The Peasant's Dream).

The official order of these books is: The Healer's Apprentice, The Merchant's Daughter, The Fairest Beauty, The Captive Maiden, The Princess Spy, The Golden Braid, The Silent Songbird, The Orphan's Wish, The Warrior Maiden, The Piper's Pursuit.

In her Medieval Fairy Tales series, Dickerson connects Odette and Jorgen (The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest) with Avelina and Reinhart (The Beautiful Pretender).  Jorgen is the chancellor and Reinhart is the Margrave.  Magdalen (The Noble Servant) is Avelina's close friend and is also mentioned in The Beautiful Pretender.

The Regency Spies of London series seems to be standing alone.  A Spy's Devotion is about Nicholas and Julia.  The second book, A Viscount's Proposal, is about Leorah, Nicholas's sister.  In A Dangerous Engagement, Felicity is friends with Julia and Leorah.  She's also seen Philip talking to Nicholas in the past.

*Updated January 13, 2020.

My own little princesses