"Deadly Act" by Mary Stone and Bella Cross

Kylie Hatfield works at Starr Investigations as an assistant to the P.I. Often, however, she forgets to mention the fact that she herself is not yet a licensed Private Investigator when speaking to potential clients. This often tends to get her in trouble in a number of different ways.

Kylie is accompanied most everywhere by her very large dog, Vader. She is also quite attracted to Vader's dog trainer, Linc, though she finds him as annoyingly frustrating as he appears to find her. Her efforts to solve a case on her own often seem to wind up including him in the trouble she very quickly finds herself in.

I found this to be a fun little mystery involving a main character who appears to wind up attracting trouble more often than not. But in this case, she finds herself quite literally in the middle of more trouble than she was prepared to handle.

This book was one that quite easily held my interest and had me wanting to know what would happen next. Kylie is a very likeable main character with very human flaws and an overwhelming desire to help those who may be in trouble. In my opinion, it makes her more relatable than characters without such human flaws.

I recommend giving this book a try if you're looking for a fun and entertaining mystery to enjoy. I'll be continuing on with reading this series.

Scarred Mail Order Bride and her Lonely Bachelor" by Florence Linnington

Leanne Robinson had almost completely given up hope of having any sort of a happy life. She had been left permanently scarred and injured in the fire that took the life of her father, and things seem to have gone downhill from there. She had been working as a nanny for a family that did not appreciate her nor did they treat her well. But when she received a letter from the mail order bride company that she had placed an ad with, she begins to once again have hope that things are finally looking up.

Unfortunately, the letter she received appears to have been lost in the mail for the past six months. Could the man who had written her possibly still be in need of a wife? And if she shows up and he’s no longer interested, what will she do then? She doesn’t have an answer to that question, but she feels it is a risk worth taking.

This was the story of Theo and Leanne. I enjoyed watching the two of them overcome a number of problems as they are trying to find a way to deal with more than a few losses that each has experienced in their lives. Both of them may have started out as “broken”, but with a little help they just might be able to help each other overcome their own previous tragedies and find a new way to move forward in life.

I enjoyed reading their stories a great deal. As with her previous books, Ms Linnington has woven a fascinating tale of two people who each need help, but who do not know how to ask for it, or even what it is that they are truly seeking.

"No Treats for Charlie" by Tiegan Clyne

When a male witch takes revenge for the wrongs he feels were committed against him, he does so by punishing all witches and not just those who had actually done something to wrong him. Can Matilda and her familiar Charlie discover a way to both stop him and undo the harm he had already done to a number of witches?

This was a wonderful Halloween novella that focused on a witch that no one respected and her familiar, the one no one else thought was "pretty" enough to want. I really enjoyed this story. Ms Clyne has given us a very well written story, one that managed to tug on this cat lover's heartstrings.

If you're looking for a quick but fun Halloween story, I recommend giving this one a try. I don't think you'll regret it.

"Hitched: the Top Ten" by G.K. DeRosa

Kimmie-Jayne is the bachelorette in a television show called “Hitched” that is being filmed in a secret location. The twist revealed to her earlier during filming was that all of the bachelors who are competing for her affections are supernatural creatures who were disguised as humans until the “big reveal.” It had been thought that the ”accidents” that had been happening would stop after the reveal took place. Unfortunately, not only didn’t they stop, they became even more deadly. Clearly someone doesn’t want the show to succeed, but no one seems to be sure who that might be or what their reason is for sabotaging the show.

Kimmie continues to get to know the men in the competition and seems to be developing feelings for each of them. But one thing she must keep in mind is that she will need to eliminate 5 of them soon, so she must find a way to decide which 5. And of course, she also needs to survive the deadly accidents that keep happening as well. There are more twists threatened before the end of the show, but she’ll just have to deal with those twists once they’ve happened.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and well edited, as well as being very entertaining to read. I was never really a fan of the bachelor/bachelorette television shows that have aired as reality TV the past, but I did enjoy this spoof on those shows. This book managed to catch and hold my interest, and I will be continuing on and reading the next book in the series as well.

"Time Tunnel: The Twin Towers" by Richard Todd

This book starts off with a mysterious craft crashing in what will eventually come to be known as Area 51. The government rushes to cover up the fact that the type of craft that crashed appears to have not been from Earth and contains 4 seemingly alien bodies. But what is it really? And where did it come from? For many years these questions have plagued society. Area 51 has become legendary, and people both do and don’t believe that there is a huge conspiracy to cover up the truth of the matter.

This book supplies another fictional possibility as to what may have happened. And what could happen because of it. What if the events of the past could be changed? Could we fix what should never have been allowed to happen in the first place? And if we did, what would be the new outcome?

This was a very interesting book. It follows history closely enough that at times it is almost difficult to tell what really happened as opposed to what the author fictionally created. The biggest complaint I had about the book was that many of the pages that were pictures of documents or letters were a bit difficult to read on my kindle. By necessity, the photo text came through too small for my tired old eyes to sometimes see clearly. If read on a tablet or larger device though, I doubt that the reader would have the difficulty that I did. And even though it was at times difficult for me to see some of those pictured documents clearly, with only a little effort I was able to read them.

The story was well told and at least once my eyes were tearing up because of what I’d read. The ending left me really wanting to know what happens next. I have questions that I am dying to have answered, but that I can’t ask in a review as it would give away too much of the story. It really is better to read it yourself. I would recommend this book to anyone who sometimes wonders “what if something had turned out differently.” I believe it was well worth the time it took me to read it. I will definitely be looking for the next book in the series.

"History of the First Queen" by Mark Miller

This was the tale of Nyssa, who came from very humble beginnings and who found herself thrust into a new world one day while seeking to escape from those who always made her life miserable. How was she to know that the grand adventure she would soon find herself a part of, if successful, would save the world that was destined to become her own.

This is the fourth book in the Empyrical Tales series, and in my opinion it is the best one in the series that I’ve read thus far. In this book, we get to see not only how Nyssa arrives from her own world into Empyrean, but how she grows to become one of the land’s four Queens. I found it to be a fascinating tale that also introduced us to a number of characters that we’ve already met, though we had previously seen them at a later point in their lives than we often find them in this book.

Through much of the story, Nyssa is lost in a strange world and must find her way through numerous situations made more difficult by the fact that she has absorbed deep magical energy that seems to be causing her to bounce back and forth in Empyrean’s timeline. She never knows when she will skip around in time or when she will find herself afterwards.

I really liked that this tale is told in the manner of someone reading a book about how Nyssa became the first Queen. The story (both the one we read as well as the one read to the children in the castle), was well written and very entertaining. There were numerous twists and turns in the story that kept me guessing all the way until the end of the book.

This story was clearly well thought out and flowed very well, even while dealing with a girl who found herself skipping randomly back and forth through time. While that could have made it difficult to follow, it was well enough written that I had no problems keeping track of whether Nyssa was in the past, present, or future of Empyrean. And though I won’t spoil it for you, I absolutely loved the ending.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys intricately designed fantasy worlds containing a rich history that clearly shines throughout the story.

"Escaped Mail Order Bride and her Redeemed Husband" by Florence Linnington

Catherine and her step brother Guss had been living with his father since the death of Catherine’s mother several years earlier. However it was a far less than ideal situation. Hershal was often drunk and physically abusive. Catherine had been taking most of his beatings and abuse to keep Guss safe, but when Hershal began trying to touch her inappropriately, she knew that both she and Guss had to leave as soon as possible.

After exchanging a number of letters with a man in Colorado that had answered her ad in a mail order bride catalogue, Catherine left town with Guss as soon as Mr. Jeremiah Beals began to speak of marriage. She was so desperate to find a better home for the two of them that she didn’t even wait for Mr. Beals to propose. She and Guss simply snuck out of the house one night while Hershal was still asleep and left to go meet the man she hoped would marry her and take care of both Guss and herself.

This was another wonderful book in this series from Ms. Linnington. She is very good at describing the hardships of a less than ideal life and then comparing and contrasting said life with a much better situation in another part of the country. As always, her stories leave me smiling at the end, after having watched her characters be put through the wringer on their way towards what they hope will be a happy ending.

I enjoy her stories a great deal, and I believe that anyone who enjoys an often heart-wrenching mail order bride story will also enjoy this book.