Summer Changes for Favorite Friday Fiction

Hello, friends! Summer is here and has brought an unexpected event in my life which will affect my schedule somewhat for a few months. My husband is scheduled for surgery next week and will be off work for six weeks.

Add that on top of my increased babysitting in the summer and a large garden to pick, can, and freeze.  I’ve decided to scale back my blog work for a couple of months which includes Favorite Friday Fiction.

I still plan to get some reading time in so when Favorite Friday Fiction resumes on September 7th, I’ll have lots of new books to share with y’all. I’ll still post every Monday with Small Acts of Kindness so don’t miss those fun reads.

I hope you enjoy your summer. And I can’t wait to meet you back here in September!

Favorite Friday Fiction: Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

Clutch of Constables is my classic choice for June. I love books by Ngaio Marsh, especially when Agatha “Troy” Alleyn, Inspector Alleyn’s wife,  plays a starring role in the book. If you love all things mysterious, you’ll enjoy this great read…

Click to tweet: A classic mystery by Ngaio Marsh is this month’s Favorite Friday Fiction classic.  #Fridayreads #amreading


Clutch of Constables

A classic Ngaio Marsh novel which features blood-curdling murders in the confines of a riverboat, the Zodiac, cruising through Constable country.’He looks upon the murders that he did in fact perform as tiresome and regrettable necessities,’ reflected Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn on the international crook known as `the Jampot’.

But it was Alleyn’s wife Troy who knew `the Jampot’ best: she had shared close quarters with him on the tiny pleasure steamer Zodiac on a cruise along the peaceful rivers of `Constable country’. And it was she who knew something was badly wrong even before Alleyn was called in to solve the two murders on board…

Favorite Friday Fiction: Chapel Springs Revival by Ane Mulligan

Chapel Springs Revival by Ane Mulligan is the first book in a very enjoyable series of humorous novels. I love the way she combines small-town humor with an inspirational story. They balance each other and make it a fun and thought-provoking read. You’ll want to check out this series…

Click to tweet:  You’ll want to read Chapel Springs Revival, an INSPY Awards Nominee, by Ane Mulligan. #FavoriteFridayFiction #Fridayreads


Chapel Springs Revival
With a friend like Claire, you need a gurney, a mop, and a guardian angel.

Everybody in the small town of Chapel Springs, Georgia, knows best friends Claire Bennett and Patsy Kowalski. It’s impossible not to, what with Claire’s zany antics and Patsy’s self-appointed mission to keep her friend out of trouble. And trouble abounds. 

During an early morning discussion at Dees ‘n’ Doughs bakery with their ladies group, all Chapel Springs entrepreneurs, attention is drawn to the slackened tourist trade. With their livelihoods threatened, they join forces to address the town’s revitalization in hopes of drawing back the tourists. No one could have guessed the real issue needing restoration is their marriages. 

Claire, a pottery artist, stumbles through life with her foot in her mouth. When she became a Christian, she thought life and her marriage would be included in the new creation part. But her thighs are just as big and her husband, Joel, is as ornery as ever. She’s become nothing more than a sheet-changer, a towel-folder, a pancake-flipper. Her life is humdrum and she’s tired of being taken for granted. 

Patsy has plans for her empty nest, plans that include a cruise ship. However, her husband, Nathan, continues to work long hours, and he’s not talking about slowing down. In fact, he’s not talking much at all. She’s asleep long before he comes home each night. At first she thought it was just because of tax season, but now she’s not so sure. Something other than work seems to keep him late at the office every night. With the lines of communication closed, she’ll have to find another way to reach him. 

With their marriages as much in need of restoration as the town, Claire and Patsy embark on a mission of mishaps and miscommunication, determined to restore warmth to Chapel Springs and their lives. That is if they can convince their husbands and the town council, led by two curmudgeons who would prefer to see Chapel Springs left in the fifties and closed to traffic.

Book Review: Marrying His Best Friend

Book Review: Marrying His Best Friend by Jennifer Gracen

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  There were times when I thought the next scene was obvious and was surprised at a twist with a new character and subplot I didn’t see coming.

Single mom Maura Callahan never anticipated that she’d be living with her mom in the suburbs at age 29, raising her young daughter, Chloe, and working a job that barely pays the bills. At least she still has her best friend Aidan, who makes her laugh, keeps her on her toes, and provides a shoulder to cry on when necessary. She’s never told him her true feelings though, fearing ridicule and rejection.

Aiden McKinnon, an executive at a high-profile social media company in the heart of Dublin, has longed to change his bestie status with Maura for years, but it seems Maura’s relegated him permanently to the friend zone. Still, she and Chloe are his world. But when Chloe’s father shows up out of the blue and demands shared custody when he’s never once met the little girl, Aidan sees a way to finally have what he secretly wants most while ensuring Maura and Chloe’s safety.

Will he be able protect Maura and her precious little girl? Will he ever be able to admit his love for Maura and, if he does, how will she react?

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite Friday Fiction: The Five Times I Met Myself by James L. Rubart

The Five Times I Met Myself is another great novel by James L. Rubart. The struggles of the characters mirrored my own and touched me. Like all his books, it is very well-written. Make sure you have a box of tissue nearby!

Click to tweet: The Five Times I Met Myself by James L. Rubart on Favorite Friday Fiction. Awesome book! #Fridayreads #amreading


The Five Times I Met Myself

“If you think fiction can’t change your life and challenge you to be a better person, you need to read The Five Times I Met Myself.”

Andy Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of How Do You Kill 11 Million People, The Noticer & The Traveler’s Gift

What if you met your twenty-three-year-old self in a dream? What would you say?

Brock Matthews’ once promising life is unraveling. His coffee company. His marriage.

So when he discovers his vivid dreams—where he encounters his younger self—might let him change his past mistakes, he jumps at the chance. The results are astonishing, but also disturbing.

Because getting what Brock wants most in the world will force him to give up the one thing he doesn’t know how to let go . . . and his greatest fear is that it’s already too late.

Favorite Friday Fiction: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a wonderful classic book I could read again and again. My favorite section is where Colin has a revelation:

“He had known it before in a way, he had hoped it and felt it and thought about it, but just at that minute something had rushed all through him—a sort of rapturous belief and realization and it had been so strong that he could not help calling out. “I shall live forever and ever and ever!” he cried grandly. “I shall find out thousands and thousands of things. I shall find out about people and creatures and everything that grows—like Dickon—and I shall never stop making Magic. I’m well! I’m well! I feel—I feel as if I want to shout out something—something thankful, joyful!”

Click to tweet: The Secret Garden still continues to capture readers of all ages. #Fridayreads #classic


The Secret Garden

The orphaned Mary Lennox is sullen, ill tempered, and unloved when she’s sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. A man consumed by grief over the death of his wife, Archibald has allowed his sprawling estate on the moors to fall into grim disrepair. It’s when Mary begins tending to her late aunt’s mysterious garden—locked up and neglected for years—that she discovers its life-changing secrets and a flowering rejuvenation of the human spirit.

Out of this dark, closed-off world and a child’s innate curiosity about life and death comes one of the most transformative coming-of-age novels ever written.

Favorite Friday Fiction: The Unquiet Bones by Mel Starr

The Unquiet Bones by Mel Starr is a little different from my normal reads. Yes, it is a mystery but one which takes place in Medieval times. Once I wrapped my mind around the time period, I enjoyed the book very much…

Click to tweet: The Unquiet Bones is a Middle Ages mystery to enjoy. #Fridayreads #mystery


The Unquiet Bones

Uctred thought he had discovered pig bones. He did not know or care why they were in the cesspit at the base of Bampton Castle wall. Then he found the skull. Uctred is a tenant, bound to the land of Lord Gilbert, third Baron Talbot, lord of Bampton Castle, and had slaughtered many pigs. He knew the difference between human and pig skulls. Lord Gilbert called for me to inspect the bones. All knew whose bones they must be.

They were not. Hugh de Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight in Wyclif’s England, had had some good fortune. Newly trained as a surgeon, he was staring from his Oxford window, hoping for clients, when Lord Gilbert was kicked by his groom’s horse. Hugh’s successful treatment of the suffering Lord led to an invitation to set up his practice in the village of Bampton – and, before long, the request to identify some bones…

Favorite Friday Fiction: The Bargain by Aaron D. Gansky

The Bargain is an intriguing roller coaster of a book. I loved the characters and setting. The way Gansky builds up suspense is masterful. I’ve read most of his books and enjoyed them all. If you like suspense, read this book…

Click to tweet: The Bargain by Aaron D. Gansky runs over with riveting suspense. #suspense #Fridayreads


The Bargain
One man stands between a destitute town and total destruction.

Ten articles in eight days is a tall order for any journalist, even for Polk Award winner Connor Reedly. But with a dying wife and an empty bank account, the promised payment of $250,000 is hard to turn down. More so, his enigmatic employer, Mason Becker, has insinuated Connor’s acceptance of the job will result in a supernatural healing of his beloved wife. 

The people of Hailey, California—the subjects of Connor’s charged articles—are a secretive group, not willing to open up to strangers. When shots are fired and Connor is running for his life, he demands Mason answer his questions: Why are the articles so important? Is anyone going to publish them? Where is the money coming from? How can he be so confident that the completion of the articles will heal his wife? 

Nothing in Connor s vast journalistic adventures—not Katrina, not September 11th, not even his first-hand experience in the genocide in Darfur–could prepare him for the answers Mason gives. Now, it seems, the lives of everyone in Hailey—including his wife’s—are in his hands.

Favorite Friday Fiction: The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart

The Moon-Spinners. I love, love, love this classic book by Mary Stewart. She is considered one of the pioneers of romantic suspense. The book was made into a Disney movie in 1964 with Hayley Mills. As a kid, I adored the movie but the book is ten times better. Don’t miss reading this one…

Click to tweet: The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart. A classic novel and #Disney movie starring Hayley Mills. #FridayReads #FavoriteFridayFiction


The Moon-Spinners

The pioneer of romantic suspense Mary Stewart transports her readers to the idyllic hills of mid-century Crete in this tale of peril and intrigue that will keep fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym on the edge of their seats.

‘Mary Stewart is magic’ New York Times

‘One of the great British storytellers of the 20th century’ Independent

While on a walking holiday through the beautiful, deserted hills of Crete, Nicola Ferris stumbles across a critically injured Englishman, guarded by a fierce Greek. Nicola cannot abandon them and so sets off on a perilous search for their lost companion – all the while being pursued by someone who wants to make sure none of them leave the island . . .

“When the big white bird flew suddenly up among the glossy leaves and the lemon flowers, and wheeled into the mountain, I followed it.”

Favorite Friday Fiction: Ready to Fumble by Christy Barritt

Ready to Fumble by Christy Barritt is book one in her Worst Detective Ever series. The name of the series is actually what caused me to look into buying the book and I’m glad I did. Her books are as humorous as the series name. I love her main character, Joey Darling, and the mysteries she gets tangled up in. I enjoyed this one so much, I’ve read the other five in the series. You won’t go wrong with these cozy mysteries…

Click to tweet: Ready to Fumble by Christy Barritt is a humorous book and fun to read. I loved the whole series. #FridayReads #FavoriteFridayFiction


Ready to Fumble

I’m not really a private detective. I just play one on TV.

Joey Darling, better known to the world as Raven Remington, detective extraordinaire, is trying to separate herself from her invincible alter ego. She played the spunky character for five years on the hit TV show Relentless, which catapulted her to fame and into the role of Hollywood’s sweetheart.

When her marriage falls apart, her finances dwindle to nothing, and her father disappears, Joey finds herself on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, trying to piece her life back together away from the limelight. A woman finds Raven—er, Joey—and insists on hiring her fictional counterpart to find a missing boyfriend. When someone begins staging crime scenes to match an episode of Relentless, Joey has no choice but to get involved.

Joey’s bumbling sleuthing abilities have her butting heads with Detective Jackson Sullivan and kindling sparks with thrill-seeking neighbor Zane Oakley. Can Joey channel her inner Raven and unearth whodunit before she ends up totally done in? And where is her father anyway? Can she handle fame, or is disappearing into obscurity the wiser option?