Fiction, Cozy Mystery, “Aloha Lagoon” series

4****

Blurb: For marine biologist Nelly O’Hare, “Mele Kalikimaka” on the island of Kauai means enjoying the holiday with her cute golf pro boyfriend, Jack Frango, getting ready for her bestie, Kiki Hepburn’s, wedding, and lots and lots of Hawaiian rain. Nelly is excited for it all—even the rain. Mr. and Mrs. Barrington, Kiki’s high society parents, have come to Aloha Lagoon for the holiday and the wedding. Unfortunately, they’ve brought along some not-so-welcomed guests in tow. But when the rude and cantankerous couple create havoc among the wedding party, everyone is shocked when they’re found dead on the golf course. Even more shocking is that the only people present at the scene at the time of the crime are Mr. and Mrs. Barrington—and Jack. Nelly tries to stay out of the ensuing investigation, but despite her best efforts, she’s soon drawn in by the murderer on the loose. The victims’ adult children, their conniving female friend, and the family’s big-tipping lawyer all had a reason to want the couple gone, but it’s going to take some careful snooping to figure out who the putter-wielding killer really is. Will Nelly be able to find the truth before her friend’s nuptials? Or will the wedding be derailed as the murderer strikes again…

THOUGHTS: Kiki and Dex are getting married! Her parents show up with another family in tow–one nobody invited–and nobody’s happy about it. But when the other couple end up dead on the golf course, killed by Kiki’s father’s golf club, it’s up to Kiki and her friends to figure out who the culprit really was – hopefully before the wedding! As usual, there are lots of suspects, especially when there are hints of mob connections–but nobody suspects the real killer until Kiki and Nellie are in mortal danger (of course). The wedding didn’t come off without a hitch or two, but Nellie pulls it off for her friends and we have a HEA that makes you smile.

Definitely recommended.

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Halloween

4****

Blurb: Let me be the first person to welcome you to Normal, Kentucky located in the heart of the Daniel Boone National Forest. I’m Mae West the owner of Happy Trails Campground. Fall at the campground is my favorite time of the year. The bursts of orange, yellow, green, and red pop on the falling leaves, creating a colorful path along the trails for all of my guests at my campground is a real life picture that could never be captured by a camera. Days are warm and at night you need a light sweater to enjoy the campfire or snuggle up in a cozy blanket. The campground is full and the campers are excited to participate in Normal’s annual Pumpkin Carving Carnival. It’s a little spooky seeing the hundreds jack-o-lantern faces all light up with toothless or toothy smiles. It’s the dead body among them that chills me to the bone.

THOUGHTS: Combine a beautiful campground in the fall, Halloween, warm campfires, and happy campers and you have the makings of a great time. Well, except for the dead body. Mae West (no relation) owns the campground and enjoys her guests and this time of year. Except that this year, she’s not having much fun. One of her favorite people, Hank, is in a bit of trouble thanks to his sister Ellis. It’s up to Mae and the Laundry Club ladies to bring out the truth.

The characters are fun and realistic, the setting beautiful, and more than enough suspects to keep you guessing. My favorite part was the description of Mammoth Cave. I’ve been there and (from what I remember – it was a long time ago), this was spot on. The only things I had a problem with were the multiple strings left dangling and the unanswered questions – I’m assuming they will be answered in later books. Still, it was a fun read.

Recommended.

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Hawaiian Resort

4****

Blurb: It’s springtime in Aloha Lagoon, Hawaii, and romance is in the air! Along with murderous intentions… The dive shop where Kiki Hepburn works is sponsoring the first annual Aloha Lagoon Resort Spring Fling Dance, and naturally is in charge of the “Under The Sea” themed décor. In between hanging crepe paper jellyfish tentacles and paper mâché honu, Kiki witnesses an argument between two men, and is unsurprised to see her old foe Ruby Nakasoma right in between them. But what does surprise her is when, during the dance, Kiki and her boyfriend Dex find one of the men dead, with Ruby leaning over him holding a vicious looking murder weapon! Kiki thinks Ruby’s true nature has finally caught up to her, but when Ruby makes a heartfelt appeal for help, Kiki starts looking for a murderer who may or may not be finished… With Dex undercover and suspects as bountiful as springtime hormones, bike-riding delivery men, a tree-trimming cougar on the prowl, and a nose-booping jack-of-all-trades make their way under Kiki’s magnifying glass. Will she find the murderer before they find another victim?

THOUGHTS: I really enjoy these “Aloha Resort” mysteries. You get great characters and an island setting that just makes you want to relax with a good book, a pineapple drink in hand, and the sound of the ocean in the background.

In this one, Kiki and her boyfriend Dex are decorating for the annual spring fling dance when they stumble upon a dead body, with Kiki’s old enemy standing over the victim. But when Ruby, her frienemy begs Kiki to help her prove she didn’t do it, what’s a girl to do? There are lots of suspects and lots of secrets in the area surrounding the resort. And lots of danger for Kiki when she follows the clues and gets caught by the killer.

Join Kiki and her friends in this great series! You’ll be glad you did.

Recommended.

THE EARL’S WRANGLER by Andrew Grey

Fiction, Contemporary Romance, M/M (gay)

3***

Blurb: When Randall Whealton, Earl of Plymouth, loses a bet to his friend the Duke of Northumberland, he pays the spend a month with him and Alan at Alan’s family ranch in Wyoming. It’s the last thing he wants to do, but pride and honor won’t let him back down. Cattle wrangler Sawyer Kincaid works with livestock and horses at the Justice ranch. The job suits him—animals he understands, but people are a whole different ball game. And the stuffy Englishman Alan and George bring with them is among the worst of the snooty, stuck-up… and hot as hell. A combination Sawyer is determined to ignore. Sawyer works hard, and he’s good at his job, but Randall always thinks he knows better. Sawyer would love to kick his ass back across the pond… until an outing at the local watering hole when with hands from another ranch decide to show Randall who’s boss. Ranch hands stand up for each other, and Sawyer finds himself defending Randall and later nursing his injuries. That buried attraction flares to life—but it could just as easily burn out once Randall’s time in Wyoming is up.

THOUGHTS: This is the third in the Cowboy Nobility Series and fits in very well with the other two. There must be something about the ranch in Wyoming that draws the British nobility in – or maybe it’s just the hunky men there. When Randall, an Earl in England, loses a bet and is forced to spend a couple of weeks on the ranch in Wyoming, he’s in for a lot more than he bargained for. Sawyer, a wrangler on the ranch in charge of the barn and horses, isn’t impressed by the snooty Brit and has him mucking out stalls and doing other dirty work. But as the week goes on, something happens between the two young men as they commiserate over terrible fathers they had and enjoy working the horses. When Sawyer’s father gets in deep with mobsters and threatens Sawyer, Randall hauls him over the pond to his estates where they find out that working a ranch or an estate aren’t really that different from each other. As Sawyer helps Randall become more at ease with working the estate, the two men form a deep connection.

While I loved Sawyer and Randall, there were a few questions I still had about them when the story ended. I will note that the blurb doesn’t do the story justice, so take it with a grain of salt. The sex scenes are hot and fit well with the story and the HEA ending was sweet and satisfying. So if you like your cowboys hot and your British royalty hotter, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.

Recommended.

MISS BUTTERPIG MURDER by Leslie Langtree

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Merry Wrath Series

5*****

Blurb: There she is! Miss Butterpig of Who’s There… Everyone in ex-CIA agent turned Girl Scout leader Merry Wrath’s home of Who’s There, Iowa is thrilled when The Miss Butterpig Pageant for middle school girls comes to town! Okay, so the most thrilled people are the pageant moms, but there are girls in Merry’s troop who can’t wait to compete as well. In fact, girls Merry has never met before come out of the woodwork—like a poetry-writing goth, a Russian bodybuilder, and a baton-wielding kid whose ponytail may be a bit too tight. There she is, your middle school, um, ideal… Merry and her friends, Kelly, Hilly, Kevin, and the Hamlets, are tapped to be judges, and everyone is getting excited for the big event. What could go wrong…other than one of the pageant moms being found dead in the alley behind the theater, moments after trying to influence the judges on her daughter’s behalf? She’s the smartest of the smart, she’s walking on air… Between dealing with Russian gangsters, most of her troop competing as budding beauty queens, a Wagnerian operatic goose, and several overzealous pageant moms, Merry has to solve this murder quickly, so the show can go on and Miss Butterpig can be crowned! She’s Miss Butterpig, Who’s There!

THOUGHTS: I don’t know if the author has as much fun writing these stories as I do reading them, but she should. They are so inane, so silly, and unbelievable. In most cozy mysteries, we usually have a sweet little hometown (or community building), with credible characters, and a believable plot. Not in Who’s There, Iowa. This town is populated by the silliest of people. A 13-year-old mayor (and her young teen aides), a deputy who eats his way through a grocery store’s worth of food every day, the deputy’s four hamster deputies (who have uniforms and everything), a young teen who is so… adept at hacking phones, is connected with various mobs, and has more skills than most spies, a CIA assassin, and the main character, Merry, who is an ex-CIA spy, married to the town police chief, and leads a group of eight girlscouts who I would be very wary of.

In this story, there is a pageant for middle school girls (and a goose!) and Merry, the always-hungry deputy, the assassin, and Merry’s best friend Kelly are the judges. Things are definitely crazy from the get-go and get even more so when one of the pageant mother’s ends up dead in the alley. There are a lot of suspects as the mom was definitely not liked, and it’s up to Merry and her gang to figure out who the perp is.

Don’t look for seriousness in these stories. As stated above, they are unbelievable, but fun. If you need some silly laughter in your reading, pick up this or any one of the Merry Wrath murder mysteries. And be prepared to laugh – or groan.

Recommended.

MURDER BY MOONLIGHT by K.I. Montgomery

Cozy Mystery, Cats, Amusement Park

4****

Blurb: When murder strikes at their amusement park, Cat and the Felines of Fairytale Forest must solve a roller coaster of a case! At Fairytale Forest, a theme park in the South Carolina Lowcountry, the custodial staff and a clowder of feral cats keep things neat and tidy. Until something very messy happens—one of the custodial managers is found strangled to death. Catherine Lyon is a night-shift custodian who finds herself topping the list of suspects. Sure, no one liked the victim—but someone really hated her enough to murder her in cold blood on the park’s main street? Cat certainly didn’t do it—and she wants to prove it by finding the real killer. She’s shocked when Zoe, a member of the cat colony charged with eliminating vermin in the park, leads her to the dead body and the first clue. Can Cat, Zoe and the rest of the felines clean up the mess and solve the murder of the manipulative, mean-spirited manager?

THOUGHTS: This was a cute, different cozy mystery. Cute in that there are “sentient” cats involved. Different in that the lead cat, Zoe, communicates telepathically with the sleuth—the night custodian—and helps her solve the murder. Oh, and the sleuth, Catherine Lyon, goes by the nickname “Cat”. Plus, she’s an older woman who has been working at the theme park for 20+ years on the night shift. Cat and her nighttime partner are doing their usual cleaning when Zoe comes to her and gets them to follow her to the body. Normally, the park cats don’t have anything to do with the humans, but when Zoe does, Cat pays attention. As Cat’s one of the main suspects, it’s up to her, her evening partner, and the cats to prove that she had nothing to do with the murder.

The story is told from the POV of both Cat and Zoe. It’s fun reading Zoe’s POV – about how they keep down the vermin population and their rivalry with another clowder of cats in another section of the park. An enjoyable story with a different slant on things.

Recommended.

Fiction, Science Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Adventure

4****

Blurb: Once the star student of her training class, Captain Liz Laika is now an outcast, a casualty of family scandal. Now stuck in the worst post in the Fleet, she should keep her head down. But when a Cerulean passenger is found decapitated, and Liz is framed for the murder, she has no choice but to fight for her life. No easy feat when she’s facing kidnapping, ship-eating whales, horse-sized spiders and corrupt fleet officers with personal vendettas. And in the middle of the intergalactic murder drama, her ex-fiancé reappears. Captain Liz needs to clear her name–and fast.

THOUGHTS: Take one part cozy murder mystery, one part fun space opera, one part political intrigue, stir it all together with fun characters and interesting world building and you have this story. Captain Liz Laika spend a lot of time trying to stay alive – even in the first chapter with an unfortunate spill – and trying to hold her ship together – and dodging kidnappers and an ex who thinks she’s not worth his time. 
The characters are great – I loved Liz running around in her pink/unicorn jammies and fluffy slippers – even Eugene, the boxy AI is cute. There is a lot of conflict between Liz and a whole lot of others, but she is loyal to her crew, and they to her. The story is fun to read and has a good ending that still leaves enough strings dangling that lets you know Liz and her people will face more adventures. And I’m looking forward to them!
Recommended.