2 Mysteries For Cozy Reading

by MK French

Mysteries are by definition difficulties that need to be solved. Not all of them are terribly intense, though they will definitely capture your imagination and make you think. If these stories take place in a small town with people that know everything about everyone else around them, that's the very definition of a cozy mystery. So pull up a comfortable armchair, brew a big mug of tea, and settle in with these books and a fluffy fleece blanket.

3 Books About Michigan

by Susan Roberts

Even though I've lived in North Carolina for over 40 years and love living here, a part of my heart still belongs in Michigan where I grew up.  Every summer my family would take a trip to somewhere different in the state so that we could learn all about it and my favorite places are the small cities along Lake Michigan.  Because of my love of the state, I really enjoy reading books about Michigan.  I recently read three books in a row about this lovely state and here are my reviews.

Camp Lake by John A. Heldt ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

While I don't read a lot of romance, I do sometimes like the sweet stories of discovering love. When I'm in the mood for such a story, I know John A. Heldt will deliver. Camp Lake is a satisfying conclusion to the Carson Chronicles.

Maiden, Mother, and Crone edited by Gwen Benaway ~ a Review

by MK French

Maiden, Mother, and Crone is an anthology of stories written by trans women involving various genres of fantasy. There is high fantasy of the sword and sorcery type, as well as alternate universes and supernatural creatures. Each story uses the classical tropes of fantasy, with heroines battling various challenges and progressing with bravery and cunning. These heroines are trans, and as Gwen Benaway puts it in her forward, "The reality of our lives as trans women is never far from the surface of our fantastical stories, but within their magical bounds, we have the agency and capacity to change worlds."

November Road by Lou Berney ~ an Excerpt

Behold! The Big Easy in all its wicked splendor!
Frank Guidry paused at the corner of Toulouse to bask in the neon furnace glow. He's lived in New Orleans the better part of his thirty-seven years on earth, but the dirty glitter and sizzle of the French Quarter still hit his bloodstream like a drug. Yokels and locals, muggers and hustlers, fire-eaters and magicians. A go-go girl was draped over the wrought-iron rail of a second-floor balcony, one book sprung free from her sequenced negligee and swaying like a metronome to the beat of the jazz trio inside. Bass, drums, piano, tearing through "Night and Day." But that was New Orleans for you. Even the worst band in the crummiest clip joint in the city could swing, man, swing. (p. 3)

A Midnight Clear by Sam Hooker, et al. ~ a Review

by MK French

Christmas is seen as a time of cheer and joy, but not everyone enjoys the season. This collection of six short stories plays off the darker potential in the season, sometimes dipping into outright horror.

The Hitwoman and the Fallen Angel by JB Lynn ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman is the only series that I started reading when book 1 first came out and am still reading (and loving) 21 books later.