Summer's Opus

Title: The Keeper of Lost Things Author: Ruth Hogan Genre: Contemporary Adult Romance Rating: Five Stars! Okay, so normally I write a pretty involved synopsis for every book I review, but the description on the book jacket for this particular book was so well done that I didn’t think there was   much  to add — there   are  a few word and phrase changes sprinkled throughout though, and my opinion is featured in the last paragraph, which I hope you enjoy! So without farther ado, here’s the slightly tweaked synopsis . . . Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. It isn’t a title he had intentionally picked, but forty years ago, he had carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. Sadly, on the very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects — the things others had dropped, misplaced, or accidently left behind — and then he wrote stories about them. Now, in the twilight o...

  Title: A Stranger in the House Author: Shari Lapena Genre: Adult Mystery Rating: Five Stars! Karen and Tom Krupp are happily married, their vows so recently taken that they’re still in that annoyingly blissful honeymoon stage. Life in their upstate New York home is pleasant, both of them free to enjoy each other’s company as they haven’t had children yet and Tom, a respected accountant, does a great job but doesn’t allow himself to get distracted by his work. He and Karen are best friends and life, for all intents and purposes, is perfect . . . that is until one night when Tom returns home, late from work, and finds Karen missing — it seems like such a rash, unwarranted thought, but her car is gone and there’s plenty of evidence to show that she left in a hurry. She even left her purse behind, complete with her phone and ID, which Tom knows she wouldn’t do intentionally. Desperate, he searches the house for answers and then decides to call the police...

Title: What The Cat Dragged In (The Celtic Witch Mysteries – Book 1) Author: Molly Milligan Genre: Adult Supernatural Cozy Rating: Five Stars! The body that turns up in Bron's garden has been there for decades, and he died of natural causes, so she should just rebury him and carry on as normal, right? But resuming the status quo isn’t easy when the ghost of the dead man wants attention — and he’s going about it in the most comical of ways! It's down to Bron, a traditional hedge witch, to find out what the ghosts wants, which is all well and good since she’s currently teaching Maddie, her cousin from America, the ropes about their family history and all of the magical fun that it entails. Soon, the girls are up to their knees in faery folk (don't trust 'em), druids (keen on trees), wild animals (Bron's a healer), the obligatory smoldering blacksmith (sorry, he prefers men), and the maddest Mad Great Aunt of all. Trust me; it’s well worth the...

  Title: Kate & Blake vs The Ghost Town Author: Dakota Kahn Genre: Adult Romantic Mystery Rating: Four Stars Kate Becker flees the big city chaos of San Francisco to return to her hometown for the same peace and quiet she had hoped to escape from not too terribly long ago. But there’s an opportunity for her to do some good as the local public defense attorney and of course, there’s Blake, her high school sweetheart turned fiancé. As one of sheriff deputies in Whispering Pines, Blake’s job is pretty laid back, so Kate foresees nothing but a lifetime of simplicity and wedded bliss for their future. That is until the local ghost town is picked to be the site of a major new resort, with two developers bidding for the rights to build there. The residents of Whispering Pines are none too pleased by the prospect of a garish resort, and just as Kate decides to join the fight to save her town, one of the developers is murdered — right on the gaudy gallows he had erec...