Tag: #aboutauthor

Feature Post and Mini Book Review: Don’t Look in the Freezer by Patti Eddington

Book Description

Patti Eddington should have known when she married her veterinary student boyfriend that she would spend anniversary and birthday dinners not sitting at tables at fancy restaurants but kneeling under a surgery table in a cocktail dress, desperately trying to mop up a steady stream of blood and urine with cheap paper towels. She should have guessed that every knock at the door or ring of the phone would mean her husband would be torn away from the family for hours—sometimes returning deflated, sometimes smiling. But she could never have dreamed that her beautiful, curly-haired young daughter would one day bathe and sleep with an inflatable tick (until the day it was mysteriously punctured by a salad fork) or that she would go through her marriage of forty-five years opening every freezer door with caution.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236668714-don-t-look-in-the-freezer?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=lpaYWMSvnK&rank=1

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My Mini Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

DON’T LOOK IN THE FREEZER: The Very Strange Life of a Veterinarian’s Wife by Patti Eddington is an entertaining nonfiction series of essays/memoir on the author’s life as the wife of a veterinarian and their pets throughout the years. While many of the chapters are humorous there are also many poignant moments throughout.

If you are a lover of animals, I do not see how you could not enjoy this book. Our family had many of the pet animals described in Patti’s family, so I can relate to the good and bad. Everyone has had that “good” pet or “crazy” pet that no matter what, you loved them and mourned their passing. This book though includes the other side of the story about the dealings with pet parents and interruptions to the doctor and his family’s personal lives that they dealt with.

This is a book for all pet lovers and is an unfiltered look at this author’s life and pets.

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About the Author

Patti Eddington is a newspaper and magazine journalist whose favorite job ever was interviewing the famous authors who came through town on book tours. She never dreamed of writing about her life because she was too busy helping build her husband’s veterinary practice, caring for her animal obsessed daughter—whose favorite childhood toy was an inflatable tick—and learning to tap dance. Then fate, and a DNA test, led her to a story she felt compelled to tell. Today, the mid-century modern design enthusiast and Jazzercise instructor enjoys being dragged on walks by her ridiculous three-legged dog, David, and watching the egrets and bald eagles from her deck on a beautiful bayou in Spring Lake, Michigan.

Social Media Links

Website: https://pattieddington.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Patti-Eddington-Author/100091516900287/?mibextid=qWsEUC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pattieddingtonauthor/?igsh=ajVpNmN6cXNiM3N1

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/don-t-look-in-the-freezer-by-patti-eddington

Feature Post and Book Review: Heartless by Brian Fitzgerald

Book Description

Ten years of frustration and heartbreak caring for his son John, born with a catastrophic heart defect, have convinced Rick Morrow that the world is stacked against his family. And on what should be the best day of their life — the day when John will finally get a new heart – an even worse nightmare begins, when the helicopter carrying the heart crashes, destroying the heart and the hopes of the Morrow family.

Rick’s heartbreak turns to rage as he begins to suspect that the accident was no accident at all. His pursuit of the truth puts him on a collision course with the giant Cera Corporation and the powerful family that runs it, who have an agenda of their own and will stop at nothing to make it come true. The escalating conflict threatens Rick’s reputation, his safety and even his marriage. It reaches its gut-wrenching climax with Rick and his wife Mary facing and even more terrible question; will they sacrifice all they believe in to save their own son, at a cost almost too high to imagine?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58278246-heartless?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Gk87HRvkDc&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HEARTLESS by Brian Fitzgerald is a tour de force medical thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It takes on so many issues revolving around transplants, family stressors, corruption, money, and personal and medical ethics as you follow a couple with a child who needs a heart transplant. I find it hard to believe this book has not made it on to any must read or book club list.

Rick and Mary Morrow have dealt with frustration, fear, and hope of having one of their young sons on the national heart transplant list for ten years. Right when they believe all hope is gone and their marriage is shattering, a heart becomes available. A decision is made to fly the heart between hospitals in a new experimental container. Rick follows the helicopter from the ground but realizes there is something wrong. It is coming down. Rick was a helicopter mechanic in the service and knows something is not right with the scene.

Rick’s heartbreak turns to rage as no one believes him. He continues to question everyone involved, but he runs onto a wall put up by the conglomerate Cera Corporation and the powerful family with their own agenda behind the scenes. With escalating threats, Rick and Mary face the ultimate question of what they will sacrifice to save their son?

Mr. Fitzgerald drops you into the lives of Rick and Mary with a writing style that pulls you immediately into their story and does not let go. The thriller plot moves at a fast pace with an ever-escalating tension between the truth and the cover-up with plenty of twists and surprises throughout. You also have the dichotomy between the Morrow’s financial situation and the unlimited funds of the Cera Corporation which leads the reader to ethical and moral dilemmas to contemplate. And then you get hit with a personal moral choice that the Morrow’s are cornered into making for their son. This book will stick with you for a long time after you close the cover because you will continue to think about what choices you would have made.

I highly recommend this medical thriller and hope many, many more people read it!

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About the Author

Over the course of career in marketing and technology Brian made his living through storytelling, communicating in print, online and national broadcast TV. During that time, as head of communications for a billion-dollar information security firm, he had a role in some of the most tumultuous events in cybersecurity including major breaches and global privacy issues. Brian has worked with (and at times been at odds with) the media, academia and even America’s intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. These experiences have informed his fiction writing, as he strives to bring to life the human consequences of advances in technology, medicine and social media.

Social Media Links

Website: https://brianbooks.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brian-Fitzgerald/author/B0GF45VCP5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1791144059&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=1f4ee3f8-1ec4-4e18-be69-344437e21500

Feature Post and Book Review: A Killer for Christmas by Kim Harrington

Book Description

Christmasville, Maine, is the only place where Kelsey Hendricks has ever felt happy. When she loses both her job and her boyfriend, the move is a no-brainer, especially when she sees a listing for a position as Christmasville’s social media manager. Surrounded by twinkling lights and candy canes and with the perfect job, this tinsel town is working its magic on Kelsey. With two heartthrobs vying for her attention, her life is now just like a Christmas movie.

Except for the murders.

The first one is dismissed as an accident. But after the second, and definitely the third, it becomes abundantly clear that Santa is leaving coal in someone’s stocking this year.

Determined to bring back the holly jolly spirit to the town before tourists begin canceling their reservations, Kelsey must sleuth her way out of a chilling murder mystery and back to a holiday rom-com.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245670642-a-killer-for-christmas?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=EeAnRrD7DE&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

A KILLER FOR CHRISTMAS by Kim Harrington is an entertaining holiday cozy mystery read for all lovers of the combination of Christmas spirit, a possible rom-com holiday romance in cute small-town Maine, and murder. This combination may sound crazy, but you know there is a group of us who are all out here looking for this book…Ho, Ho, Oh no!

Kelsey Hendricks quits her job and flees a bad break-up in Boston to the one place that always brought her joy and happiness, Christmasville, Maine, where it is Christmas every day. She lands the job as the town’s social media manager and checks into a local family-owned inn. It would all be a great start to a new life if she did not continue to come across dead bodies. The first may have been considered an accident by the mayor and police chief, but two, and then three?

Kelsey and her newly made friends must deal with a mayor that will believe anything but the truth to save the town’s tourist income, an on-line troll calling themselves the ChristmastimeKiller, and two men who could either be her rom-com dream or a killer?

This is a fun holiday cozy mystery read with just the right amount of interesting small-town characters and/or suspects, with periods of threat or uncertainty thrown into the mix. Kelsey is a protagonist that is relatable and the dialogue between her and her new friends is fun and believable. I enjoyed the characters, but I did not feel an in-depth attachment to them, except for Kelsey. The murder plot moved well throughout the story after the second murder with a climax I did not see coming. (I like when that happens.)

This is the one, if you are like me, and like a little murder and possible romance to go with your holiday cheer.

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About the Author

Kim Harrington is the author of A Killer for Christmas, her debut adult mystery coming in 2026 from Crooked Lane Books. She is also known for her teen novels Clarity, Perception, The Dead and Buried, and Forget Me, as well as books for younger readers including Revenge of the Red Club, the Sleuth or Dare series, and Gamer Squad series. Her books have been published in ten countries. She lives in Massachusetts with her family and never leaves the house without a book. Find her online at kimharringtonbooks com.

Social Media Links

Website: https://kimharringtonbooks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkimharrington

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimharringtonauthor/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kimharringtonbooks.bsky.social

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-killer-for-christmas-by-kim-harrington

Feature Post and Book Review: Murder in the Vineyard by Liz Fielding

Book Description

Huge-hearted Abby loves dogs — and doesn’t think twice about swerving to avoid an adorable terrier in a country lane. Or following along, when the troublesome pup goes darting off into a local vineyard.

But she never expects where the runaway dog is leading her — straight to a corpse!

Clementine Courtenay, elegant matriarch of the May Valley Vineyard, lies floating face-down in a stream.

The police say she must have slipped and drowned. But Abby’s not so sure.

As rumors begin to swirl amid the tangled vines, Abby realizes that no one in Clementine’s inner circle is quite what they seem.

Between jilted lovers, greedy offspring and bitter rivals, Clementine kept her friends close and her enemies closer still . . .

What secrets will Abby find — fermenting in the darkest corners of the Courtenay family cellar?

It’s up to Abby to solve the case before this sweetest vintage turns sour .

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256776617-murder-in-the-vineyard?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=P3Z0PZQwgW&rank=4

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MURDER IN THE VINEYARD (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #4) by Liz Fielding is another wonderfully engaging addition to the cozy Maybridge Murder Mysteries series featuring an English horticulturist, wife and mother who seems to always find herself embroiled in a murder. This book can be read as a standalone, but the protagonist’s family and all the Cotswolds characters continue to evolve, and I have enjoyed the entire series in order of publication.

Abby Finch finds herself swerving into a hedgerow after barely missing a small terrier that has darted in front of her car. It is wet and trembling, so she puts it in her car to begin the search for its owner. She meets the woman who runs the local dog rescue, Fancy Day, and discovers the dog was homed to Clemintine Courtenay, who is from an old money family and owner of the May Valley Estates Vineyard. When they go in search of Clemie, they find her lying face down in a stream dead. While Abby has questions, the police feel there is no foul play involved.

Abby promises her new husband she will not get involved, but there are rumors and questions that do not add up. Clemintine was entangled in family greed, drama, and rivalries as well as hiding her own secrets. When another body turns up in the same location, Abby and her friends work to untangle the twisted family vines.

I enjoy this series and Abby’s adventures every time I get a new addition to this series. Abby and her family and friends continue to engage me in every outing. Ms. Fielding’s writing of the character interactions and friendships make me feel as though I could walk right into the story and be a part of the group. Scout the terrier’s journey to becoming a part of Abby’s family is a wonderful addition to the story. The mystery plot in this addition to the series is very smartly interwoven with current and generational family secrets, plenty of red herrings, and the always present horticultural tie ins that I enjoy reading about.

I highly recommend this entertaining addition to the Maybridge Murder Mysteries series.

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Author Bio

Liz Fielding worked as a secretary in Africa and the Middle East and was co-ordinator of the Brecon Jazz Festival before writing full time. Her books are published worldwide in multiple languages, she has won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award for both The Best Man & the Bridesmaid and The Marriage Miracle and in 2019 was honoured with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association in the UK.

She is now writing cozy crime for Joffe Books and her first Maybridge Mystery, Murder Among the Roses is available now.

Liz lives in West Sussex.

Social Media Links

Website: http://lizfieldingblog.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizfieldingauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liz.fielding/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/murder-in-the-vineyard-a-brand-new-utterly-gripping-english-cozy-mystery-full-of-twists-maybridge-murder-mysteries-book-4-by-liz-fielding

Feature Post and Book Review: Daughter Of Egypt by Marie Benedict

Book Description

In the 1920s, archeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert—daughter of Lord Carnarvon—whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible.

Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary—and nearly erased from history.

When Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut’s secret tomb, she risks everything to uncover the truth about her reign and keep valued artifacts in Egypt, their rightful home. But as danger closes in and political tensions rise, she must make an impossible choice: protect her father’s legacy—or forge her own.

Propelled by high adventure and deadly intrigue, Daughter of Egypt is the story of two ambitious women who lived centuries apart. Both were forced to hide who they were during their lifetimes, yet ultimately changed history forever.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231127315-daughter-of-egypt?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=isZR3yLPsu&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

DAUGHTER OF EGYPT by Marie Benedict is an informative as well as an engaging dual timeline historical fiction novel featuring a young English woman in search of the tomb of a female Egyptian Pharaoh and the life of said Pharaoh from research and the speculation of an author whose books continually satisfy.

Lady Evelyn Herbert grew up listening and learning about the wonders of Egyptian archeology from her father, Lord Carnarvon, and Howard Carter, the archeologist who ran Lord Carnarvon’s digs. Evelyn becomes obsessed with Hatshepsut; finding her lost tomb and discovering why she was nearly erased from history 3000 years previously.

In the 1920s, Evelyn is allowed to accompany her father and Carter to Egypt. While there is disappointment in their first attempts to uncover Hatshepsut’s tomb, they finally make headlines around the world with their discovery of Tutankhamun’s intact burial chambers.

In the second timeline, Hatshepsut tells her story and even though she reigned over a time of peace and prosperity, she was nearly erased from all history. Her bold and visionary rise as a female pharaoh took political and religious maneuvering, but not all accepted her reign.

This is a compelling take on the lives of two strong, ambitious women who lived centuries apart. I knew nothing about Evelyn accompanying her father and Carter on the digs, so I found that very interesting. I love reading and learning about ancient Egypt and the pharaohs and I found Ms. Benedict’s resolution to Hatshepsut’s story as acceptable as any others I have read about previously.

Ms. Benedict consistently brings one or both of her compelling female protagonists out of the shadows and to readers’ attention. Overall, this is another entertaining historical novel that taught me something new.

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About the Author

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years of experience as a litigator, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. A graduate of Boston College and Boston University School of Law, she is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of DAUGHTER OF EGYPT, THE QUEENS OF CRIME, THE MITFORD AFFAIR, HER HIDDEN GENIUS, THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE, LADY CLEMENTINE, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, CARNEGIE’S MAID, and THE OTHER EINSTEIN. She has also coauthored with Victoria Christopher Murray the New York Times bestselling THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN, a Good Morning America book club pick, and THE FIRST LADIES, Target’s 2023 Book of the Year — and with Courtney Sheinmel, THE SECRETS OF LOVELACE ACADEMY. All have been translated into multiple languages, and many have been selected for national book clubs. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Social Media Links

Website: https://authormariebenedict.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormariebenedict/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormariebenedict/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/daughter-of-egypt-by-marie-benedict

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: Deck the Halls with Boughs of Murder by Jacqueline Frost

Book Description

New parents Holly White and Sheriff Evan Gray are sleep deprived but incandescently happy to be celebrating their baby’s first Christmas. Their family, friends, and neighbors are spoiling the newest addition. Adding to the perfect holiday season is the recent completion of their newly built home. All that’s left to do is move in and send off those change-of-address cards. But their cup full of cheer turns sour when Holly discovers a dead body.

It all started with a sweet trip down memory lane—Candy Cane Lane and Toyland were two of Holly’s favorites as a child, and she had been looking forward to sharing them with her baby. Then she stumbled upon the body of Greysen, the animal keeper, left among the reindeer at the petting zoo.

Earlier in the day, Holly witnessed a fight between Greysen and a stranger. Stranger still, the reindeer petting zoo had originally been empty that day—no reindeer in sight until they reappeared along with a corpse.

As Holly fights to keep the Christmas spirit alive, she is Greysen’s only chance at justice—and her baby’s only chance at a happy first Christmas.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246265540-deck-the-halls-with-boughs-of-murder?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=GhXenMhl20&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF MURDER (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Book #7) by Jacqueline Frost is back for a highly anticipated annual holiday visitation with Holly, her family, and friends in Mistletoe, Maine and of course the annual murder. This is a series that I recommend is read in order of publication because the lives of the characters are continually evolving and they make this series so endearing that you want to follow their lives besides also including a good cozy mystery murder.

Holly White-Gray and husband Sheriff Evan Gray are sleep deprived but looking forward to their baby, Joy’s first Christmas in their newly built home on Holly’s family’s Christmas Tree Farm. Holly has been doing her best in her attempts to stay out of other people’s intrigues, but as she is taking Joy on her first trip to a childhood amusement park, she witnesses an argument. When she and her sister-in-law return later to look for the family heirloom gloves Joy lost, they discover one of the men from the argument dead in the reindeer pen.

No matter how hard she tries, Holly “The Gumdrop Gumshoe” is once again in search of a killer even as the stakes are so much higher this year with a new baby to keep safe.

I love this cozy mystery series so much and while the amateur murder investigation is always well plotted with plenty of red herrings, it is the wonderfully endearing characters that I look forward to catching up with every year. The love of family and friends, the settings, and the time of year puts you in the mood to celebrate yourself. While a murder is investigated and solved in each book, the author is still able to instill humor and fun throughout with witty dialogue and the Reindeer Games on the tree farm.

I highly recommend this enchanting addition to the Christmas Tree Farm cozy mystery series and look forward to many more to come.

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About the Author

Jacqueline Frost is a mystery-loving pet enthusiast who hopes to make readers smile. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three spunky children. Jacqueline is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW) and Sisters in Crime (SinC).

Social Media Links

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/deck-the-halls-with-boughs-of-murder-by-jacqueline-frost

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jacqueline-Frost/author/B06XF4WFDF?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1788930442&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=9d3c2162-6544-4457-887a-ea2e9f86ff6b