Maggie Sefton - Dropped Dead Stitch

This is the seventh book in the Knitting Mysteries, and I thoroughly enjoyed it again.



Spring has sprung for the knitters of Fort Connor, Colorado, and the House of Lambspun. But for one of Kelly Flynn’s pals, things are coming apart at the seams…

Kelly’s friend Jennifer is a top-notch knitter – and a bit of a party girl. But she’s always stayed one step ahead of trouble, until the night a stranger follows her home. As Jennifer recovers from the dangerous encounter, she looks to Kelly and their other close-knit friends for comfort and support.

A retreat in the mountains, stitching and talking, seems to be just what the doctor ordered. So the gang heads up to a ranch in the picturesque Poudre Canyon. But they’re all in for a shock, because the owner of the ranch turns out to be Jennifer’s attacker. Now Jennifer has some hard choices to make – and when the man is found dead a few days later, Kelly does too. One of her best friends is the top suspect in a murder case – and few who were there are above suspicion. Kelly and crew will have to pick up the stitches fast before someone is left dangling…



After being raped one night, Jennifer refuses to press charges. For one, she doesn’t know the guys name, and second, she has the habit of picking up guys in bars. No-one would believe her, she would be dragged through the mud at the trial. So slowly she is recovering, with the help of a good therapist. Then her therapist is holding a workshop for women who have been the victim of sexual violence, and she wants to give knit and crochet sessions. Lisa is going as part of her internship with dr. Norcross, and she asks Kelly and Jennifer to help her teach the other women.

But when they arrive at Poudre Canyon, Jennifer recognises her attacker as the owner of the ranch, Cal Everett. She wants to leave at once, not being able to face him. But dr. Norcross talks to her, and she decides to stay after all, after dr. Norcross gave Cal a piece of her mind in front of Jennifer.

So Cal stays out of sight from the woman, and Jennifer joins the sessions after all. But only while doing needle work, the woman relax and share their stories. And then, just when they are about to leave, Cal is found dead. Was it an accident, he was pretty drunk last night, after having this fight with another rancher named Bill over money owned. Or did someone help him? And when Jennifer has no alibi, Kelly is determined to clear her name.

Steve’s business is failing, the housing market is very bad at the moment, so there are troubling times ahead for him. And Kelly is getting a little bored with her alpaca accounts, she wants to have something more challenging for her CPA skills. But Mimi and Burt are getting married, with the whole gang there to celebrate.



A great story again. I read it in just a few hours, just what I needed. But still I am not going to pick up a needle myself!

Lisa Kleypas - Married by Morning

This is the fourth book in the series about 4 Hathaway sisters and 1 brother. Lisa Kleypas is one of my favourite authors, and I loved this book lots. My book has a different cover, with white roses, very pretty too.



He is everything she wants to avoid ...
For two years, Catherine Marks has been a paid companion to the Hathaway sisters - a pleasant position, with one caveat. Her charges older brother, Leo Hathaway, is thoroughly exasperating. Cat can hardly believe that their constant arguing could mask a mutual attraction. But when one quarrel ends in a sudden kiss, Cat is shocked at her powerful response - and even more so when Leo proposes a dangerous liaison.

She is not at all what she seems ...
Leo must marry and produce an heir within a year to save his family home. Catherine's respectable demeanor hides a secret that would utterly destroy her. But to Leo, Cat is intrguing and infernally tempting, even to a man resolved never to love again. The danger Cat tried to outrun is about to seperate them forever - unless two wary lovers can find a way to banish the shadows and give in to their desires ...


When he was young, Leo lost his fiancée to scarlet fever, and nearly died from it himself, as well as his second sister Win. But he survived, when he begged to be left to die. And insane with grief, he tried to kill himself with liquor, women, even opium. Till his family intervened in the nick of time and send him off to France with his sister, to watch over her recovery.
And there Leo found himself again, and regained his love for architecture, his chosen profession before he inherited the title of Viscount Ramsay and the estate that went with it.

So now, three sisters are married, it is his turn. Due to a strange clause in the titles of the estate, he will have to be married and sire a son within five years of inheriting. Four of those years have passed by, and if Leo failes to meet the requirements, they will loose the house they all so lovingly restored.

So his sisters organise a ball, meant for Leo to find eligible young woman to choose from. But Leo already has his sights set at Catherine Marks, his sisters’ governess and companion. But Cat has secrets of her own, and he is determined to unveil them.

As a young girl, Cat has sent by her dying mother to live with her grandmother and aunt, the mother of the father who left them. When she is fifteen, she finds out they run a brothel, and she is meant to become one of the whores. Frantic to find a means of escape, in her grandmothers desk she finds a letter from the halfbrother she never knew she had, to send for him when ever she needs him. And behold, Harry Rutledge rescues her in the nick of time.

She then is send to a boarding school in Scotland, where she stays for the next four years, and then teaches for another two. The headmistress wants her to start her own life by then, and tells her of the unusual family Hathaway, who are looking for a governess, to teach them the rules of society. So Cat goes, and is happy there, if for the Lord of the Manor who loves to argue with her, criticize her.

But then the time comes for Cat to be acknowledged as Harry’s sister, and to be brought about in public. The worst thing happens, she is recognized by the lecherous lord who purchased her all those years ago, and he wants to have her! But Leo saves her, and he wants to marry her. Not only to keep the mansion in the family, but because he is attracted to her. Although he has sworn never to fall in love again, never to grieve like that again, he cannot stop his feelings for Cat. But can Cat learn to trust a man, to love a man, and believe that this rake has changed his ways?


A good book, fast paced, with some nice love scenes, but one of the stars of the book undoubtedly is the ferret Dodger. I loved to read more about the other members of the family, but the focus is firmly on Leo and Cat. I will wait impatiently for the fifth and final novel in this series. Is there a man out there for Beatrix and all her animals?

Joanne Pence - Something's Cooking

This is the first book in the Angie Amalfi mystery series, and tells the beginning of the relationship between Angie en Paavo.



Life’s a banquet for Angelina Amalfi – a gourmet chef and food writer with enough sass and spunk for two. But things start to go really bad really fast when the man who’s been contributing unusual recipes to her column is discovered dead and Angie suddenly finds herself being stalked by a killer whose appetite was merely whetted by the first deadly course. One the plus side, Paavo Smith, the homicide cop assigned to the case is one delectable dish. But when more people start to fall all around her like ruined soufflés, ever-resourceful Angie realizes she’ll have to cook up a survival scheme quick before her personal goose gets cooked. This case may be too hot to handle and the stakes are high, for she’s about to take on deadly arms smugglers and lethal food fanatics. But if anyone can keep her cool, Angie can.


I am still not convinced that this is a real cozy, as Paavo is a cop and they work close together. In the end it is Angie who figures out the clue, but Paavo is close on her heels. It was a good story, though I had my suspicions about the murderer, and they did come true. I prefer to be surprised in the end.
And to be true, I do wonder why a gourmet chef and food writer would publish the recipes from some one else, which are truly dreadful. You won’t want your readers to make those things for real, do you?

I will read the rest of the series ofcourse, as I have been able to buy 5 more books in this series. And yes, glommer that I am, I will try to find the rest too.

Suzanne Enoch - The care and taming of a rogue

I just finished the first book in the Adventurers' Club series, and I have read the next one before (not my usual reading order), but I forgot to buy this one.



How to tell if a man is an unrepentant rogue:
1. He has no patience for frivolous debutantes
2. He kisses you after a single dance
3. He makes you forget yourself and kiss him back . . .

After years away from London, Captain Bennett Wolfe is back - and alive, much to Society's surprise. Having been presumed dead, this rugged adventurer is now much sought after by every marriage-minded young woman . . . but Bennett only has eyes for the intriguing Lady Phillipa Eddison.

Phillipa would rather read than flirt, but she does know a thing or two about proper courtship rituals. A gentleman does not kiss a lady senseless, and he certainly does not bring his pet monkey when he comes calling. Lady Phillipa's never been so scandalized . . . or tempted. She simply must teach Bennett some manners - before she succumbs to temptation as wild as the man who offers it.


After a three year stay in the Congo, Bennett Wolfe comes back to London with his vervet monkey, only to discover he is presumed death, and the man who left him for death and stole his diaries, has blackened his name by writing his book for him, with himself as the leader of the expedition.
But Lady Philippa doesn’t believe this new book. She loved Bennett’s first two books and sees too much similarities. So when Bennett tells her he wants her, after just meeting her, she decides to teach him some lesson’s in manners and courtship, and help him mend his reputation. His monkey, Kero, also takes a liking to Philippa, and has a great part in this book, Her sister Olivia tries to save her and her reputation, but that is too late. She has already fallen for Bennett. Having never been courted before, as all the man fall for her beautiful sister, she likes the fact that a man she has always admired through his books, now is after her. And as she loves to set things to rights, she can’t stand aside when Bennett goes after the man who has ruined his changes to ever lead an expedition again.
Also the Duke of Sommerset plays a part in this. He is important in the African Society, and responsible for choosing Bennett to lead the expedtion. But even he can’t help him to restore his reputation. The Adventurer’s Club is introduced, and Bennett is made a member of it.


And after this book, I am very curious to the Duke’s story, but I suppose that will be the last book in this great series.

Maggie Sefton - Fleece Navidad

This is the sixth book in the Knitting Mysteries, and I read it back to back with the previous one.



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for the knitters of Fort Connor, Colorado, who are furiously working on their holiday projects. And it's not a stitch too soon, because some unfortunate residents will be feeling a deadly chill instead of holiday cheer ...

Kelly Flynn and her friends have transformed the House of Lambspun into a winter wonderland - complete with a new mascot, an actual lamb named Annie. But their most rewarding project is helping the town's librarian, Juliet, teach children how to knit.

Juliet has extra reason to be joyful this year - she is in love. But just as Juliet finds happiness, death finds her, leaving her not-so-festively facedown in her trademark Christmas cape. Suspicion falls on a knitting newcomer - a lonely widow with a puzzling past. Some believe she was sweet on Juliet's wealthy boyfriend, but Kelly and her knitting crew aren't convinced. It's up to them to separate the lion from the lambs - before someone else gets fleeced ...


I like this one a lot too, but this time I knew the plot long before Kelly finally figured it out. Which takes away some of the joy in reading for me. I like to be kept in the dark as much as the heroine. But as usual, I enjoyed meeting all the previous characters, Kelly's friends, and learning what goes on their lives. The relationship between Kelly and Steve is going well, and even Carl learns how to behave.

So, gimme the next one!

Maggie Sefton - Dyer Consequences

This is the fifth book in the Knitting Mysteries series. The former one stopped with a bit of a cliffhanger, which continiued in this one.



With spring on the way, it's time for the knitters of Fort Connor to start dreaming of warmer days - and lay aside their wool in favor of cotton and silk. But there's still a chill in the air, and Kelly Flynn worries that some of the last icy daggers of winter may be pointed at her ...

Kelly has a spring project in mind that's a bit more involved than her usual scarves - rehabbing an alpaca ranch. She and her boyfriend can't wait to begin - but someone has different ideas for keeping Kelly busy, including slashing tires and cracking windshields. Kelly's scared, but she's hoping it's just random vandalism.

All that changes when House of Lambspun, the local knitting shop, is trashed and a young woman is found dead in the basement, drowned in a tub of dye. Although it seems like a burglary gone wrong, Kelly suspects there's more to the story. And as disturbing incidents pile up, she must pick up the stitches of these crimes before the killer strikes again ...


This one was a good one. I totally had no clue who the murderer was, till Kelly found out herself. Lots of suspense, some romance, lots of humor. Great book, great series. And they all have recipes and knitting patterns inside. Not that I have any idea how to read a knitting pattern, nor any inclination to learn to knit, but it still is fun reading about it. How Kelly strugles to learn everything, and when she finally finishes something, has to learn something new.

Donna Fletcher - Irish Hope

This is the second book in the Irish Eyes series written by Donna Fletcher.



Hope is a privileged decendent of the high king, but she's impetuous and adventurous to a fault. Rather than settle for an arranged marriage, she strikes out on her own, disguised as a young boy, desperate to experience life and love-no matter the risk...It falls to Colin of Shanekill to find Hope. He can best any man in battle and charm any woman in bed-but he has never known true love. During his search he takes a young boy under his protection, never realizing that the woman for whom he searches walks beside him. As they travel, Hope comes to love Colin as no woman has. Desire tests her resolve and her deception becomes more difficult to maintain. Now, as she approaches her destination, she faces a choice: reveal her true self to Colin, or deny her passion-and risk losing her only chance at love...

I don't have much time to make a good review of this book, which I loved. Donna Fletcher makes her characters really come to life, with their good points and their faults.

I am late for bed now, and should be doing a lot of things as I am leaving for a few days tomorrow after work. Will be a while before I can finish the reviews I will place when I am back, cause I have to leave the next day again. I'm taking some cosy's with me, a historical romance and one paranormal romance (or two)...