Carries Book Reviews

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Title: Knitmare on Beech Street

Author: Peggy Ehrhart

Publisher: Kensington Cozies

Publication Date: November 28, 2023

Page Count:  280

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

Knit and Nibble member Pamela Paterson, and her best friend, Bettina, stumble on a body in a once grand Victorian house when they join a group welcoming new residents to Arborville—and must figure out if old secrets killed the new neighbor . . .

When Pamela, Bettina, and their friends show up at the Voorhees House to greet its new owner, they’re met with a most unwelcome sight: a dead body on the kitchen floor. Tassie Hunt just inherited the old Victorian, which had been occupied by a reclusive widow for many years and had a reputation for being haunted. But Tassie would have been unlikely to be spooked since her career involved debunking such paranormal phenomena.
 
Her demise sets off a new flurry of gossip and ghostly speculation in the New Jersey town, of course—and it’s tempting to think spirits were indeed involved considering there’s zero evidence so far of foul play. A nosy neighbor reports strange lights and sounds, and a man obsessed with the Victorian era starts photographing the place from the street. But it won’t take long before Pamela and Bettina are moving in on a killer . . .

Knitmare on Beech Street by Peggy Ehrhart is the tenth book in the cozy A Knit & Nibble Mystery series. Each book of the series contains it’s own mystery that will be solved so they can be read as a standalone or in any order one chooses. However, those that follow from the beginning will see the full character development that carries over from book to book.

The main character of the Knit & Nibble series is Pamela Paterson who is on the older side for a cozy protagonist. Pamela found herself with an empty nest when her daughter headed off to college so she joined the Knit and Nibble knitting group. The group not only spends time together crafting their favorite projects but also cooks up some yummy treats as the name suggests.

Pamela and her best friend and fellow knitter, Bettina, first became involved in what has become a habit for them in solving murders when a body was found at Pamela’s home. This time around Pamela and her fellow knitters have signed up with a group to join in on welcoming new residents to their town, Arborville, NJ. However, when the group arrives at the mansion known as Voorhees House in town they are in for quite the scare when they find a dead body in the kitchen.

The cozy A Knit & Nibble Mystery series is one that I have followed from the beginning and will continue to return to simply because I adore the characters in this series! Pamela and Bettina certainly get up to some comical hijinx which makes each read fun to follow. The only thing that keeps my rating lower each time is the same I have mentioned before, the author has a tendency to ramble on when the characters are cooking or knitting which feels like page filler making them fall at three and a half stars insead of the four of five they would be otherwise.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor who writes mysteries and plays blues guitar. She holds a doctorate in Medieval Literature, and her publications include a prize-winning book dealing with classical mythology in the Middle Ages. Her Maxx Maxwell mysteries, Sweet Man Is Gone (2008) and Got No Friend Anyhow (2011), feature a blues-singer sleuth.

Peggy is currently writing the Knit & Nibble mystery series for Kensington Books. Set in the charming (fictional) town of Arborville, New Jersey, it features amateur sleuth Pamela Paterson, founder and mainstay of the town’s knitting club.

Peggy is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Visit Peggy online at http://www.PeggyEhrhart.com

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Finding the End Zone
Tam DeRudder Jackson
Publication date: November 8th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Never date a player.

Football god Callahan O’Reilly can keep his blazing blue eyes to himself. I have a scholarship to maintain, and I do not have time to babysit a jock through a make-or-break class project. Even if one smoldering glance from him sets my panties on fire.

Time to change her mind.

Jamaica Winslow opens her mouth and spews sass like a volcano. One look at her uptight package and I want to coax the genie from the bottle, unleash all the passion she hides beneath a mop of unruly curls and a smart-ass attitude. She’s not my type, she doesn’t know one damn thing about the game that rules my life, and I can’t stop thinking about her.

Who said anything about love?

Jamaica does her best to keep me at arm’s length, but I’m not a pro prospect because I let the plays come to me. With the game on the line, I always want the ball. When an alum with deep pockets and delusions of grandeur makes demands that threaten my NFL chances and Jamaica’s scholarship, I have no choice but to man up and do the right thing no matter the cost.

It started as fun and games. Now I’m playing for her heart—and my own.

Game Time.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

“You know what I’ve been thinking about all day?”

I smirked. “Football?”

He tugged at my curls, and I inched closer. “No. I’ve been thinking about an even more fun game.”

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “There’s a game you like playing better than football?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“What game do you like better than football?” With his eyes zeroed in on my lips the way they were, my question came out on a whisper.

“Tongue tag.”

His warm lips covered mine, and I sighed into the soft pressure of his mouth.

 

Author Bio:

Tam DeRudder Jackson’s love of all things Celtic led her to write the Talisman Series. Steeped in Celtic mythology, these steamy, fated mates, paranormal romance adventures are set in the mountains of Tam’s native Montana and the Highlands of Scotland. Rogue, the most recent book in the series, was named a best romance of 2022 by the Independent Book Review.

An avid fan of rock music, Tam never misses a chance to see a live show, especially if it’s Shinedown, one of her favorite bands. Her love of rock music inspired her contemporary rock star Balefire Series, a sexy fun ride following the lives and loves of the members of a fictional mega-band. Readers of this series consistently give the books five-star reviews.

Tam earned her BA in English from Montana State University and her M.Ed. in literacy from Lesley University. After a short teaching stint in Bath, England, she settled in the wilds of Wyoming where she taught adolescents all about the Celts and a bit about writing before she stepped out of the classroom to pursue her writing career full time.

When she’s not writing, you can find her working her way through her mountainous TBR piles, alpine skiing, or traveling to some new place on her ever-expanding bucket list. To stay up to date on her adventures, connect with Tam on her website http://www.tamderudderjackson where you can subscribe to her newsletter.

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After teetering on the edge of misbehaving last week but hanging onto the wagon by a slim thread I’m back this week with a much shorter post. Only three new titles added to my ever towering TBR this week so I can still count my behaving streak in months yet again!

As always clicking the covers will take you to the book on Amazon!**

New additions from Netgalley Nov 5th  – Nov 12th

A teen girl’s attempt to make amends with her former friend group takes a sinister turn during a weekend getaway at an ancestral Irish estate in this atmospheric, literary horror from the author of Those We Drown.

There’s something in the lake at Wren Hall.

At least, that’s what the locals say. Not that Meg cares much about the rumors. When she’s asked to spend Halloween weekend at the Ireland retreat of the wealthy Wren twins, she recognizes the invitation for exactly what it is: her last, and only, chance to save her spot at Greyscott’s, the exclusive British art school she attended on scholarship until last summer. Clever, beautiful, and talented, the twins are the pride of Greyscott’s, and kindhearted Lottie Wren was once Meg’s closest friend. But not anymore.

None of Meg’s old friend group have talked to her since she left school—and they especially don’t talk about the incident that resulted in her suspension. Now, Meg is willing to do whatever it takes to earn their forgiveness.

But Wren Hall turns out to be far from the idyllic country manor Meg was expecting. The house is damp and drafty, the mirrors are all covered, and the weed-choked lake is at the center of legends that haunt the property to this day—a tainted legacy the estate seems unable to shake.

The truth is, people aren’t the only ones who keep secrets. Places can keep them too—and Wren Hall is drowning in them. When the past bleeds into the present and ancient sins rise to the surface, Meg must ask herself how well she really knows her one-time best friends…or whether any of them will survive the weekend.

Investigating cold cases online from the safety of home is a harmless diversion for many true crime fans. But for one woman, it becomes a deadly game that’s all too real…

New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Ivy returns to Pike, Wisconsin, in her electrifying new romantic thriller for fans of Allison Brennan, Lisa Jackson, and Karen Rose.

An online crime-solving group is just the kind of adventure Bailey Evans needs. She loves her nursing career and small-town life, but her days are predictable. Her confidence bolstered by having her sheriff cousin Zac nearby, Bailey’s up for some innocent fun and intrigue… Until she starts receiving unnerving warnings: Once the game begins, there’s no backing out of The Murder Club. Then the game gets real… 

First, Bailey is shut out at work after an elderly patient dies and leaves her a shocking inheritance. Then a priceless necklace from an anonymous source arrives in her mail—along with a bone-chilling threat. Determined not to involve expectant father Zac, Bailey contacts an expert appraiser: the charming Las Vegas businessman who’s never left her mind… 

Dom Lucier knows real gems—and Bailey is the most precious thing he’s seen since they met at her best friend’s wedding. Returning to Pike to trace the jewelry’s bloody history, Dom helps Bailey kick open a murderous cold case. But as death and disaster escalate, they’ll need a new strategy to escape a killer who won’t be satisfied until the streets of Pike are soaked in blood…

For fans of Debbie Macomber and Elin Hilderbrand, a new series of heartwarming beach-read novels set in a picturesque fishing village on Martha’s Vineyard, with all the seaside charm and small-town heart that readers expect from Jean Stone’s previous Vineyard novels, and a new cast of characters for readers to fall in love with.

The quaint, historic fishing village of Menemsha is a side of Martha’s Vineyard that tourists don’t always see. Maddie Clarke’s late mother was born on the Vineyard, and Maddie hazily recalls childhood visits to her Grandma Nancy’s cottage above Menemsha Harbor. Now divorced with a teenage son, Maddie is awaiting news of a tenureship at her Massachusetts college when a letter arrives that could change everything . . .

It turns out Grandma Nancy didn’t die long ago, as Maddie believed. In fact, Nancy just passed away at 89—and left Maddie her gray-shingled cottage. Maddie intends her visit to Martha’s Vineyard to be a brief one, just long enough to settle the estate and sell the cottage. But on arriving in Menemsha, she finds far more than memories . . .
 
There are other family secrets waiting to be uncovered, and a Native American heritage Maddie knew nothing about. Most surprising of all, there is the glimmer of a very different future—a chance to connect with her people and find herself, and perhaps find love, on this beautiful, celebrated island . . .
 

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Murder Before Dawn
Delta James
(Mystery, She Wrote, #1)
Publication date: November 3rd 2023
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

The only thing more exciting than a famous local author staying at the bed and breakfast is a real murder mystery.

Mystery novelist and member of the Mystery Writer’s Murder Club, Jessica Murdoch, heads off for a staycation at a bed and breakfast in her hometown of Badger’s Drift, Maine for some rest and relaxation. When a murder takes place in her luxurious suite, she figures it’s up to her to uncover the town’s secrets and find the killer.

Thorn Wilder, a seasoned detective in the Badger’s Drift Police Department, is assigned to investigate the murder. Thorn, an astute and methodical investigator, is familiar with Jessica’s work and quickly recognizes her as a potential asset in solving the case. Jessica finds herself irresistibly drawn to the enigmatic detective and becomes an unofficial consultant in the investigation.

Join Jessica Murdoch, Tracer, her faithful basset hound, and Thorn Wilder as they unravel the dark mysteries that lurk beneath the surface of this small town, and discover the shocking truth that lies at the heart of it all.

Murder Before Dawn is the first story in the Mystery, She Wrote series. Four mystery authors meet at a book conference and discover they all live in small towns in Maine. After a fabulous weekend together they decide to form the Mystery Writer’s Murder Club. They meet monthly at a different house to check out cold cases in the area, write, and relax. They soon discover the only thing more exciting than a good murder mystery book is an actual murder mystery.

If you like fast-paced mysteries with quirky characters, an inquisitive basset hound, and unexpected twists, you’re going to love the Mystery, She Wrote series.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Feeling much better about where she stood with Thorn as far as Thompson’s murder went, Jessica had the cop take her and Thorn back to her place to get her SUV. Upon hearing her enter the yard, Tracer, her beloved basset hound, came barreling out the dog door that had been incorporated into the back door.

Sudie followed close behind him, laughing. “He said you were back here, but I didn’t believe him. He always knows where his mama is.”

“Detective Thorn Wilder, this is my friend and housekeeper, Sudie. Sudie, meet Thorn.”

“Are you the one investigating what happened up at DeeDee’s place?”

“I am.”

“And you think Jessica had something to do with it? I wish Tracer was trained to attack; I’d have him bite you,” said Sudie.

“Not to worry,” said Jessica to Thorn. “The most Tracer would do is beat you to death with his tail or knock you down and drown you in drooly kisses. Other than that, he is completely harmless.”

“But that boy can track anything. If you need something followed, you get Jessica to lend you Tracer. He found a lost little girl last year. Everybody was so worried for her. By the time they caught up to him, he was bouncing and barking with her, and she was giggling away.”

“You trained your dog to track?” he said, kneeling down to offer his hand to Tracer to let him sniff it before giving him a tummy rub when the dog flipped over onto his back.

“It’s not hard with a basset. Their noses are the best in the business. They’re especially good at finding kids because they’re so non-threatening.”

Thorn stood up. “Are you saying that if we found some kind of scent item, we could use him to track something?”

“Not only that, you don’t have to have a scent item per se. If we let him sniff around that footprint, he’d probably be able to track where it went.”

“Good to know.”

 

Author Bio:

As a USA Today bestselling romance author, Delta James aims to captivate readers with stories about complex,curvy heroines and the dominant alpha males who adore them. For Delta, romance is more than just a love story; it’s a journey with challenges and thrills along the way.

After creating a second chapter for herself that was dramatically different than the first, Delta now resides in Florida where she relaxes on warm summer evenings with her loveable pack of basset hounds as they watch the birds, squirrels and lizards. When not crafting fast-paced tales, she enjoys horseback riding, walks on the beach, and white-water rafting.

More about Delta, including a full list of her books and audiobooks, can be found at http://www.deltajames.com.

Her readers mean the world to her, and Delta tries to interact personally to as many messages as she can. If you’d like to chat or discuss books, you can find Delta on Instagram, Facebook, and in her private reader group https://www.facebook.com/groups/348982795738444.

If you’re looking for your next bingeable series, you can get a FREE story by joining her newsletter https://www.subscribepage.com/VIPlist22019.

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Title: The Wishing Bridge

Author: Viola Shipman

Publisher: Graydon House

Publication Date: November 7, 2023

Page Count: 364

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

Once the hottest mergers and acquisitions executive in the company, Henrietta Wegner can see the ambitious and impossibly young up-and-comers gunning for her job. When Henri’s boss makes it clear she’ll be starting the New Year unemployed unless she can close a big deal before the holidays, Henri impulsively tells him that she can convince her aging parents to sell Wegner’s–their iconic Frankenmuth, Michigan, Christmas store–to a massive, soulless corporation. It’s the kind of deal cool, corporate Henri has built her career on.

Home for the holidays has typically meant a perfunctory twenty-four-hour visit for Henri, then back to Detroit as fast as her car will drive her. So turning up at the Wegner’s offices in early December raises some eyebrows: from her delighted, if puzzled, parents to her suspicious brother and curious childhood friends. But as Henri fields impatient texts from her boss while reconnecting with the magic of the store and warmth of her hometown, what sounded great in the boardroom begins to lose its luster in real life. She’s running out of time to pull the trigger on what could be the greatest success of her career…or the most awkward family holiday of her life.

With unabashed winter charm, The Wishing Bridge sparkles with the humor and heart fans of Kristy Woodson Harvey, Nancy Thayer and Jenny Colgan love most.

Includes the bonus novella Christmas Angels.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon  /  BookShop.org / HarperCollins / Barnes & Noble 

Excerpt:

December 7

I hit the brakes, my car fishtailing on the slippery road. I come to a stop just inches from the car before me.

Ah, the hazards of winter in Michigan and Detroit drivers who think snow is a reason to hit the gas.

I cock my head and see an accident just a few cars in front of me. A man is out of his car, screaming into the window of the car he hit.

Merry Christmas!

I take a breath, sip my coffee—which miraculously didn’t spill—hit my blinker and wait to merge into the next lane.

That’s when I notice it: the abandoned house I drive by every day to work.

There are many abandoned homes in many forgotten neighborhoods in this proud city whose shoulders were slumped by the mortgage crisis, layoffs in the auto industry and never-ending

winters that used to be as brutal and mind-numbing as a Detroit Lions football season.  Neighborhoods stand like ghost towns, and, in winter, they look even sadder, the grass dead, the green gone, broken glass shimmering in the sun before the snow arrives to cover their remains.

This particular home is a three-story redbrick beauty that looks like a castle. The windows are broken, the walls are collapsing and yet the wooden staircase—visible to the world— remains intact. I slow down just enough every day to admire the finials, worn and shining from the hands that have polished them over the years. 

There is a line of shattered windows just above the ground, and as you pass by, you catch a glimmer of red in the basement. Coming the opposite way, you swear you can see a man smiling. 

I stopped years ago to investigate. I parked, careful to avoid nails, and wound my way in high heels through the weeds to the broken window. I knelt and peeked into the basement.

Santa!

A plastic molded Santa smiled at me. It was a vintage mold—like the one my grandparents centered in the middle of a wreath on their front door every year—of a cheery Santa with red cheeks, blue eyes, green gloves, holding a candy cane tied in a golden bow.

I scanned the basement. Boxes were still stacked everywhere.

Tubs were marked Christmas!

In the corner of the basement sat a sign overrun with cobwebs that read Santa’s Toy Shop!

December 1975

“They’re here! They’re here!”

My voice echoed through my grandparents’ house. I ran to the front door, grabbed the first catalog, which seemed to weigh nearly as much as I did, and tottered down the steep basement stairs. Back up I went to retrieve the next one from Mr. Haley, the postman, who looked exactly like Captain Kangaroo.

“Don’t move!” I said, disappearing and returning moments later.

Then back down the stairs I scrambled once again.

Mr. Haley laughed when I returned the final time, out of breath.

“Last one,” he said. “Oh, and a bunch of Christmas cards for your grandmother.”

I bent over, panting, as if I’d just done wind sprints on the track.

“Tired?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No! Think of what Santa carries! Not to mention what you carry every day!”

“You got me there,” he said. “Here’s the cards. I’ll see you tomorrow. Merry Christmas!”

I watched him trudge through the freshly fallen snow, just enough to dust the world in white. If there’s one thing we never had to worry about in our town of Frankenmuth, it was a white Christmas. My dad said it was one of the gifts of living in a Christmas wonderland.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Haley!” I yelled, my breath coming out in puffs.

I shut the door, tossed the cards on the telephone desk sitting in the foyer and hightailed it back down to the basement.

I looked at the catalogs where I’d set them on the shag carpet and ran around them in a happy circle doing a little jig.

I turned on the electric fireplace. It was so cool, fake brick, and it just faded into the Z-BRICK walls. The flames seemed

to dance, even though they weren’t real.

I went over to the card table where my grandparents played games—bridge, canasta, hearts—and I grabbed my marker from a cup.

The red one.

The one I used every year.

The one Santa would recognize.

I took a seat on the orange shag and arranged the catalogs in a semicircle around me: the Christmas catalogs from JCPenney and Monkey Wards, and my favorite, the Sears Wish Book.

The catalogs were heavy and thick, big as the Buick my grandpa drove. They were brand-new and all mine. I began to f lip through the crisp pages, turning quickly to the ones that showed all the toys, clothes and games I wanted for Christmas.

I was lost for hours in the pages, dreaming, hoping, wishing. “Yes, yes, yes!” I said, my marker in constant motion.

“Are you using a red marker so Santa will see?”

I looked up, and my dad was standing over me. He was tall, hair as fair as mine. He had just gotten off work. He was an accountant at a car dealership, and he never seemed happy when he got home from work.

Until he came down to my grandparents’ basement. 

“Of course!” I said. “Finn gets green. I use red!”

“So what do you want Santa to bring you this year?”

 I patted the carpet, and my dad took a seat next to me. I began showing him all the things I’d marked in the wish catalogs.

 “I want this eight-room dollhouse, and, oh! this Shaun Cassidy phono with sing-along microphone and this battery-operated sewing machine! It’s the first ever like this!” I stopped,

took a deep breath and continued, “And this dress, and this Raggedy Ann doll, but—” I stopped again, flipping through pages as quickly as I could “—more than anything I want this

game called Simon. It’s computer controlled, Daddy! It’s like Simon Says, and you have to be really fast, and…”

“Slow down,” he said, rubbing my back. “And what about your brother?”

“What about him?”

“What does he want?”

“He’ll want all the stupid stuff boys like,” I said. “Stars Wars figurines, an erector set, a Nerf rocket and probably a drum set.”

My father winced at the last suggestion.

“Maybe a scooter instead,” my dad suggested. “What do you think?”

“Good idea, Daddy.” I placed my hands over my ears. 

He laughed and stood up.

“Hey?” I asked. “What do you want for Christmas?”

My dad headed over to the workshop he had on the other side of the basement. We lived in a small ranch house on the other side of town that didn’t have a basement, much less any extra room. My grandparents let my father convert this space a few years ago so he could pursue a second career and his true passion: Christmas.

“You know what I want,” he said with a smile.

My dad picked up a sign and turned it my way. It was a handcarved wooden sign that read Frohe Weihnachten! Frankenmuth is a Bavarian town filled with all things German: a wooden bridge flowing over a charming river, a glockenspiel that—on the hour—played the Westminster chimes followed by an entire show complete with dancing figurines,

a cheese haus and competing chicken-and-noodle restaurants. I was named Henrietta, my father Jakob, my brother, Finn. Only my mother, Debbie, escaped the German name game with the

very American moniker.

“What’s this mean, Henri?” my dad asked.

“Merry Christmas,” I said.

“And what do I want?”

“Christmas all year long.”

“Exactly,” he said. “Just like you. Except as a grown-up.” He looked at his sign. “That’s my Christmas wish.”

For a long time, everyone thought this was just a hobby of my father’s, sort of like other dads tinkered on car engines, went fishing or coached baseball. For an even longer time, people thought my dad was nuts.

Why would a man spend all of his time creating Christmas signs in July, or designing ornaments in March?

They didn’t know my dad.

They didn’t how serious he was, that he often worked until three in the morning from October through December and countless weekends the rest of the year.

“You have a good job, Jakob,” friends would tell him. “Don’t ruin your life over some silly notion.”

But my mom and grandparents believed in him just as much as I believed in Santa.

I watched my father work. As he did, he began to whistle Christmas tunes.

The world was finally catching up with my father’s dream.

He was now creating window displays for two of the biggest stores in town: Shepherd Woolen Mill and Koch’s Country Store.

Excerpted from The Wishing Bridge. Copyright © 2023 by Viola Shipman. Published by Graydon House, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Viola Shipman is an author I’ve read before and knew could do a good feel good story that I like to sit down with when I start thinking ‘Tis the Season. The Wishing Bridge certainly also looked to be just one of those contemporary romance/women’s ficiton reads that would fit that bill too.

The Wishing Bridge features Henrietta ‘Henri” Wegner who had moved from her hometown and threw herself into the corporate world only to find her job on the line this holiday season. Henri comes up with a plan to save her career by heading home and convincing her parents to sell their iconic Christmas store, Wegner’s, in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Having read Viola Shipman before I knew that this story would pull me right in and of course that is what I found to happen. I will admit that the main character, Henri, did confuse me a bit as I did struggle with liking her at times with this major plan of hers, a bit Scrooge’ish if you ask me, but Shipman didn’t disappoint and brought the character and story together nicely as expected and in the end I really enjoyed this little Christmas tale.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

About the author:

VIOLA SHIPMAN is the pen name for internationally bestselling LGBTQIA author Wade Rouse. Wade is the author of fifteen books, which have been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies around the world. Wade writes under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction. 

Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Michigan Notable Books of the Year and Indie Next Picks. He lives in Michigan and California, and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, A Literary Happy Hour, every Thursday.

Author Website  / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Goodreads