Showing posts with label Cozy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cozy. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

The Comfort Book Club 2022

The Comfort Book Club
hosted by Miranda Mills (details)
@thecomfortbookclub | YouTube
A monthly book club for fans of classic comfort reads.

JANUARY:
Dinner with Edward
A Story of an Unexpected Friendship
by Isabel Vincent
Memoir, Food, New York | Published: 2016 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
delightful friendship with dinners as bonding moments


FEBRUARY:
Miss Buncle's Book
by D.E. Stevenson
Classic, Humor, Historical, England | Published: 2012 (first 1934) | Goodreads


MARCH:
The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra
by Vaseem Khan
Mystery, India | Published: 2015 | Goodreads | mr rating: 5
rollicking good time; with adorable baby elephant


APRIL:
The Enchanted April
by Elizabeth von Arnim
Classics, Historical, Romance, Travel Italy | Published: 2015 (first 1922) | Goodreads


MAY:
Emma
by Jane Austen
Classics, Historical, England | Published: 2009 (first 1815) | Goodreads

JUNE:
A Sky Painted Gold
by Laura Wood
Historical, YA, Coming of Age | Published: 2018 | Goodreads

JULY:

Joy in the Morning
by P.G. Wodehouse
Classics, Humor, England | Published: 2011 (first 1947) | Goodreads

AUGUST:

Father
by Elizabeth von Arnim
Classics, Historical, England | Published: 2020 (first 1930) | Goodreads

SEPTEMBER:

The Lark
by Edith Nesbit
Classics, Historical, Coming of Age, England | Published: 2017 (first 1922) | Goodreads

OCTOBER:

Persuasion
by Jane Austen
Classics, Historical, Regency | Published: first 1817 | Goodreads


NOVEMBER:

Wintering
The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
by Katherine May
Memoir, Nature | Published: 2020 | Goodreads | my rating: 4


DECEMBER:

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
by Karina Yan Glaser
Childrens, Middle Grade | Published: 2017 | Goodreads



Saturday, October 23, 2021

The Comfort Book Club 2021

The Comfort Book Club
hosted by Miranda Mills (details)
@thecomfortbookclub | YouTube
A monthly book club for fans of classic comfort reads.

OCTOBER:
84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff
Memoir, Epistolary | Published: 1990 (first 1970) | Goodreads | my rating: 5


NOVEMBER:
Diary of a Provincial Lady
by E.M. Delafield
Classics, Historical, Humor, England | Published: 2016 (first 1930) | Goodreads

DECEMBER:
The Country Child
by Alison Uttley
Classics, Childrens, England | Published: 2016 (first 1931) | Goodreads

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

Waiting for Tom Hanks
by Kerry Winfrey

Published: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Cozy
Paperback: 259
Rating: 5
Goodreads
Website

Waiting for Tom Hanks series:
Waiting for Tom Hanks
Not Like the Movies - release: July 7, 2020

First sentence(s):
I just thought I would've met Tom Hanks by now.

Zombie sighting:
"Because," Drew puts his hands on my feet and rubs them. "God, your feet are cold. I have to be on Good Morning USA to talk about the zombie movie I have coming out this week. We actually made it two years ago, but it took forever to find distribution and... this is boring. You don't care."
-chapter 18, page 201


Can a romcom-obssessed romantic finally experience the meet-cute she always dreamed of or will reality never compare to fiction, in this charming debut adult novel from Kerry Winfrey.

Annie Cassidy dreams of being the next Nora Ephron. She spends her days writing screenplays, rewatching Sleepless in Seattle, and waiting for her movie-perfect meet-cute. If she could just find her own Tom Hanks—a man who’s sweet, sensitive, and possibly owns a houseboat—her problems would disappear and her life would be perfect. But Tom Hanks is nowhere in sight.

When a movie starts filming in her neighborhood and Annie gets a job on set, it seems like a sign. Then Annie meets the lead actor, Drew Danforth, a cocky prankster who couldn’t be less like Tom Hanks if he tried. Their meet-cute is more of a meet-fail, but soon Annie finds herself sharing some classic rom-com moments with Drew. Her Tom Hanks can’t be an actor who’s leaving town in a matter of days...can he?


My two-bits:

Super cozy and cute romance that touches on all the Ephron-like tropes. Got my fill of chuckles and "ouch" moments.


Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
by Mario Giordano
translated by John Brownjohn

Find out more about this book and author:
Goodreads

Published: 2018
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Mystery, Cozy, Italy, Sicily
Hardback: 352
Rating: 5

An Auntie Poldi Adventure series:
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna
Auntie Poldi and the Fruits of the Lord

First sentence(s):
On her sixtieth birthday my Auntie Poldi moved to Sicily, intending to drink herself comfortably to death with a sea view.

Zombie sighting:
My writing spans a wide range and I love to read a board range: from literary fiction to, er, zombie novels.
-Q&A with Mario Giordano, page 332


On her sixtieth birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea, and few visitors. But Sicily isn’t quite the tranquil island she thought it would be, and something always seems to get in the way of her relaxation. When her handsome young handyman goes missing—and is discovered murdered—she can’t help but ask questions...

Soon there’s an investigation, a smoldering police inspector, a romantic entanglement, one false lead after another, a rooftop showdown, and finally, of course, Poldi herself, slightly tousled, but still perfectly poised.


My two-bits:

Loved this cozy mystery set in Sicily. Plenty of arm-chair traveling in and around the protagonist's small town as well as food references to make one go out to seek a restaurant serving a squid ink pasta dish - just for a taste.

The mystery solving includes some romantic interludes to spice things up.

~*~

* part of Books, Inc. Foreign Intrigue Book Club (here)

Monday, July 13, 2015

A Sporting Murder by Lesley A. Diehl

A Sporting Murder
by Lesley A. Diehl

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter @LesleyDiehl

Release date: July 15, 2015
Publisher: Camel Press
Genre: Cozy Murder Mystery
Paperback: 250 pages
Rating: 3.5

Eve Appel Mystery series:
A Second Hand Murder
Dead In The Water
A Sporting Murder

It's smooth sailing for Eve Appel and her friend Madeleine, owners of Second to None Consignment Shop in rural Florida's Sabal Bay, land of swamps, cowboys, and lots and lots of 'gators. Eve and her detective boyfriend Alex have joined Madeleine and her new beau David Wilson for a pleasure cruise on his boat. But cloudy, dangerous waters lie ahead. A near fatal encounter with Blake Reed, David's supremely nasty neighbor, is soon followed by a shooting death on the dividing line between David and Blake's land. Both men run sport-hunting reserves, but Blake imports "exotics" from Africa and promotes gator killing, while David stays within the law, pointing clients toward the abundant quail and turkey as well as the wild pigs that ravage the landscape. Nevertheless, when a mutual client is killed, it is David who is arrested and charged with murder.

Blake's nastiness is only exceeded by that of his wife, Elvira, who forces Eve and Madeleine out of their shop, intending to replace it with a consignment shop of her own. It seems that bad luck looms over them all, even Eve's brawny and hard-to-resist Miccosukee Indian friend Sammy, whose nephew has disappeared. As the case against David grows stronger and his friends' misfortunes multiply, Eve and her strange and diverse group of friends, including her ex, a mobster, her grandma, and Sammy's extended family, band together to take on the bad guys. But the waters are getting muddier and more troubled, and Eve and Madeleine may end up inundated in every sense of the word.


My two-bits:

It could be because I started this series at book 3, but I had a little bit of a hard time distinguishing who was who as character descriptions and back story were lacking for me. Just wanted to mention that the experience reading would be enhanced by reading books 1 and 2 first.

For the most part the mystery had interesting elements in regards to the world of sport hunting "exotics".

About the author:
Lesley A. Diehl retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida--cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office. Back north, she devotes her afternoons to writing and, when the sun sets, relaxing on the bank of her trout stream, sipping tea or a local microbrew.


--~ Blog Tour Giveaway ~--

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~*~

* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge - square:

* review copy and giveaway courtesy of book tour sponsored by Tribute Books Blog Tours.


Thursday, July 10, 2014

Hot Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Hot Chocolate
by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Visit Dawn:
Amazon
Website
Artistic Origins
Facebook
Goodreads
Google+
LinkedIn
Twitter @dawnireland

Published: 2011
Publisher: Artistic Origins
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Paperback: 460 pages
Rating: 4

Hot Chocolate series:
Hot Chocolate
Bitter Chocolate
Spice Chocolate - released in 2016

Meet the middle-aged Alcott sisters: Madge, Lila Mae and Dorothea, heiresses to the Alcott Chocolate fortune and mavens of Houston’s elite River Oaks.

Madge ambushes Lila Mae with Dorothea’s manipulative plea: she can’t care for Bernie, their 92-year old father, any longer. Lila Mae explodes in a hissy fit—she had warned Dorothea years ago that they should put Bernie in an assisted living center.

Robert, Lila Mae’s astrologer, warns of impending problems and he’s rarely wrong.

The sisters call a meeting with Walter Branson, their solicitor. They discuss Bernie’s nurse Bambi Chaline, a blonde bombshell who looks more like a hooker than a nurse.

Arrangements are made for Bernie to be transferred over to Lake Sides Assisted Living Center in the Uptown Galleria area and a severance package is drawn up for Bambi.

Jimmy Ray Chaline, Bambi’s bowling alley husband, is enraged that Bambi was let go. He hires ambulance chaser Mark Slade to file a lawsuit for wrongful termination.

The suit is thrown out of court further fueling Jimmy Ray’s rage. Bambi had been more than satisfied with her bonus, letters of recommendation and praise from the Alcott clan.

When Jimmy Ray fails to return home from the bowling alley that night, a series of events unfold that shocks the entire Alcott family and their extended members.


My two-bits:

I found this first book in the Hot Chocolate cozy mystery series to be quite cozy indeed.

The cast of three sisters and their family, friends and acquaintances with their individual quirks are introduced in amusing ways.

The mystery is solved in a gentle way - meaning that it felt like a side note and getting to know these characters and community was the main story.

fyi: recipes for some delightful yummy treats included.

~*~

* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge

* review copy courtesy of book tour for Bitter Chocolate, book 2 in the series - check out the other stops here for more details on this book and goodies sponsored by Premier Virtual Author Book Tours and signup for giveaway

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Guest post for Bitter Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Bitter Chocolate
by Dawn Greenfield Ireland
just released: June 2014
Amazon | Goodreads

The characters you loved in Hot Chocolate are back with more escapades of life in Houston's wealthy River Oaks.

Lila Mae is in a tizzy over the Chocolate Ball - a huge event that she and her sisters, Dorothea and Madge, host every year. But due to unusual circumstances, Dorothea and Madge dump everything in Lila Mae's lap. If it weren't for Julian Gillespie of Event Is King, the Chocolate Ball would have melted.

Bernie, the Alcott sisters' 92-year-old father, decides he wants his Bentley back. The sisters and Bambi are horrified. They hire Joseph's cousin Chewie as Bernie's new chauffeur.
Wolfram, Lila Mae's new astrologer, gives clues of things to come. This leaves Lila Mae and her sidekick Amelia with brows furrowed.

On her day off, Amelia decides to bake a chocolate blueberry pie. She discovers she needs to make a grocery run. When she returns home, she discovers her kitchen door is slightly ajar. Arms loaded with groceries, she toes the door open.

Three things catch her attention: a vase of flowers on the kitchen island that was not there when she left the house, her marble rolling pin covered with blood... and a dead body on her kitchen floor.

Amelia's eyes drift toward the dining room and beyond - is the house empty, or is there a murderer inside? She backs up, turns and hurries outside. After setting the bags on the ground, she slips back into the kitchen and snaps a picture of the dead guy. Then she calls Detective Chance Walker, Lila Mae and finally... 9-1-1.


~*~

About the author:

Dawn Ireland is the CEO of Artistic Origins Inc, a 100% woman-owned publishing and technical writing service company that has been doing business since 1995. She's an award winning independent publisher and author of The Puppy Baby Book , Mastering Your Money, and Amazon Best Seller Hot Chocolate (the first in the series, and her fifth novel). The Hot Chocolate audio book was awarded theAudioFile Earphones Award on Valentine's Day 2014.

Her family feature film screenplay A Girl and Her Dogwas awarded a Kids First! Endorsement by the Coalition for Quality Children's Media in October 2012 and optioned by Shadow Cave Productions in February 2013.

Originally from Feeding Hills, MA, Dawn migrated to San Antonio in 1968, then when her first son was one years old, her family moved to Houston where work was more plentiful. After 40+ years of heat and humidity, she has her sights on the Pacific NW.

Dawn is the co-author of the animated screenplay Memoirs of a Dog which won the Spirit Award of the Moondance Film Festival (children's category) September 2011. Her dark comedy Plan B was a finalist in the Table Read My Screenplay script competition in 2010 and years before that, Standing Dead won the Women in Film and Television (Houston Chapter) screenplay award.

Stay tuned for The Last Dog (futuristic/sci-fi 2015), and Spicy Chocolate (2016).

Visit Dawn:
Amazon
Website
Artistic Origins
Facebook
Goodreads
Google+
LinkedIn
Twitter @dawnireland

Guest post:
Origin of my Chocolate Inspiration for the Hot Chocolate series
Bitter Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland ~ Virtual Book Tour

When I came up with the idea of Hot Chocolate, I was going to call it The Alcott’s. But luckily one of my friends intervened and said since Lila Mae concocted café mocha, and it was so loved by everyone in her family, Hot Chocolate would be a much better title. And let’s face it … I could go through the whole gamut of different chocolate flavors before ever running out of good titles.

The actual hot chocolate/café mocha drink stems from my very own breakfast drink.

I needed an empire for the family. Being set in Houston, Bernie could have been an oil baron. That just didn’t seem to work – it seemed more like a cliché, so I decided chocolate would be their wealth builder. If Hershey’s could be an empire, why not Alcott Chocolates?

There are only a few people I have come across that do not like chocolate. I wonder about them – sort of like not trusting people who don’t like dogs or cats, know what I mean?

I grew up in a family of chocolate lovers. My mother had Hershey’s bars with almonds stashed everywhere. She also pulled out a box of chocolate covered cherries at special occasions. We dove in. If my parents were alive now, they’d love the fact that I created an entire series where chocolate was the main focus.

--~ eBook Giveaway courtesy of tour ~--

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Open to all.

Offer ends: July 16, 2014

TO DO: (2-parts)

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~*~

* guest post courtesy of book tour - check out the other stops here for more details on this book and goodies sponsored by Premier Virtual Author Book Tours.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Bitter Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Bitter Chocolate
by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Visit Dawn:
Amazon
Website
Artistic Origins
Facebook
Goodreads
Google+
LinkedIn
Twitter @dawnireland

Just released: June 2014
Publisher: Artistic Origins
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Paperback: 400 pages, with recipes
Rating: 4

Hot Chocolate series:
Hot Chocolate
Bitter Chocolate
Spicy Chocolate - to be released 2016

The characters you loved in Hot Chocolate are back with more escapades of life in Houston's wealthy River Oaks.

Lila Mae is in a tizzy over the Chocolate Ball - a huge event that she and her sisters, Dorothea and Madge, host every year. But due to unusual circumstances, Dorothea and Madge dump everything in Lila Mae's lap. If it weren't for Julian Gillespie of Event Is King, the Chocolate Ball would have melted.

Bernie, the Alcott sisters' 92-year-old father, decides he wants his Bentley back. The sisters and Bambi are horrified. They hire Joseph's cousin Chewie as Bernie's new chauffeur.

Wolfram, Lila Mae's new astrologer, gives clues of things to come. This leaves Lila Mae and her sidekick Amelia with brows furrowed.

On her day off, Amelia decides to bake a chocolate blueberry pie. She discovers she needs to make a grocery run. When she returns home, she discovers her kitchen door is slightly ajar. Arms loaded with groceries, she toes the door open.

Three things catch her attention: a vase of flowers on the kitchen island that was not there when she left the house, her marble rolling pin covered with blood... and a dead body on her kitchen floor.

Amelia's eyes drift toward the dining room and beyond - is the house empty, or is there a murderer inside? She backs up, turns and hurries outside. After setting the bags on the ground, she slips back into the kitchen and snaps a picture of the dead guy. Then she calls Detective Chance Walker, Lila Mae and finally... 9-1-1.


My two-bits:

This was my first cozy mystery read. I found it to be a kind of mashup of chick-lit and light mystery.

Book 2 in this series continues to follow the details of daily living of a family with the main characters being three middle-aged sisters in a small community in Houston, Texas. I like how they stick together and are involved with each others lives despite the craziness of life.

It was interesting to get perspectives from the large cast of characters and especially amusing to get the point of view of Lila Mae's dog at times.

There are touches of new age, astrology and food references (including recipes).

I had an overall pleasant experience with this read.

~*~

* stay tuned for giveaway of this book tomorrow - signup here

* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge

* review copy courtesy of book tour - check out the other stops here for more details on this book and goodies sponsored by Premier Virtual Author Book Tours

 
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