Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE GERMAN WIFE by Kelly Rimmer on the HTP Books Summer 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.

Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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About the Book

The enmity between two women from opposing sides of the war culminates in a shocking event as anti-German sentiment sweeps America, when the aristocratic wife of a German scientist must face the social isolation, hostility and violence leveled against her and her family when they’re forced to relocate to Alabama in the aftermath of WWII. For fans of Beatriz Wiliams, Pam Jenoff, and Kristin Harmel.

Berlin, Germany, 1930—When the Nazis rise to power, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her academic husband benefit from the military ambitions of Germany’s newly elected chancellor when Jürgen is offered a high-level position in their burgeoning rocket program. Although they fiercely oppose Hitler’s radical views, and joining his ranks is unthinkable, it soon becomes clear that if Jürgen does not accept the job, their income will be taken away. Then their children. And then their lives.

Huntsville, Alabama, 1950—Twenty years later, Jürgen is one of many German scientists pardoned and granted a position in America’s space program. For Sofie, this is a chance to leave the horrors of her past behind. But when rumors about the Rhodes family’s affiliation with the Nazi party spread among her new American neighbors, idle gossip turns to bitter rage, and the act of violence that results tears apart a family and leaves the community wondering—is it an act of vengeance or justice?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58939848-the-german-wife?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=lzdgeOeWge&rank=1

The German Wife : A Novel

Kelly Rimmer

On Sale Date: June 28, 2022

9781525811432

Trade Paperback

$17.99 USD

464 pages

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE GERMAN WIFE by Kelly Rimmer is a thought-provoking and emotional historical fiction story featuring two women, one American and one German, and the choices they made leading up to and during World War II. While the focus is on the German wife and her family, the American woman’s story is entwined throughout the two timelines twenty years apart.

The story begins in Berlin in the 1930’s as the Nazis rise to power following Sofie von Myer Rhodes, her husband Jurgen and their children. Jurgen is offered a position in the fledgling rocket program of the new regime. Although both oppose the radical views of the Reich, he must accept or lose his income and even the lives of his family. As each new atrocity occurs, they must pretend and bend or die as their two attempts at escape have been exposed.

At the same time in a small Texas town, Lizzie, her brother, and parents are losing their farm to the dust bowl years during the Depression. When their parents die, Lizzie and henry move to El Paso to scrape by until Lizzie meets a widower who is a scientist and marries her. Lizzie assumes the role of housewife and Henry goes off to war.

Then in the 1950’s timeline the United States government wants the German rocket technology and moves many scientists and chemists to the United States. The people of Huntsville, Alabama are wary and even hostile to the influx of German speaking families who they still consider to be Nazis. Sophie and Lizzie’s families are on a collision course of violence with the community wondering if it was an act of vengeance or justice.

I read this book all in one sitting even as some portions were emotionally difficult to read. It is an extremely well researched look into these families lives and circumstances. I have read many history books, factual and fictional on this time-period and this story, I felt was as unbiased as it could be for the subject matter. I knew about the government bringing over German scientists, but I never really considered the ramifications of their mixing into American communities where veterans and surviving families may live. When you are younger, you believe you would never do anything against your moral code, but as you get older you have family, friendships and ties that make you hope you will never be put in that type of situation to choose. This is an emotionally complex tale that shows how hate can grow, spread and destroy whether by choice, obligation or force.

I highly recommend this historical fiction book!

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Excerpt

Sofie

Huntsville, Alabama 1950

“WAKE UP, GISELA,” I MURMURED, GENTLY SHAKing my daughter awake. “It’s time to see Papa.”

After the better part of a day on a stuffy, hot bus, I was so tired my eyes were burning, my skin gritty with dried sweat from head to toe. I had one sleeping child on my lap and the other leaning into me as she sprawled across the seat. After three long weeks of boats and trains and buses, my long journey from Berlin to Alabama was finally at an end.

My youngest daughter had always been smaller than her peers, her body round and soft, with a head of auburn hair like mine, and my husband’s bright blue eyes. Over the last few months, a sudden growth spurt transformed her. She was now taller than me. The childhood softness had stretched right out of her, leaving her rail thin and lanky.

Gisela stirred, then slowly pushed herself to a sitting position. Her eyes scanned along the aisle of the bus as if she were reorienting herself. Finally, cautiously, she turned to look out the window.

“Mama. It really doesn’t look like much…”

We were driving down a wide main street lined with small stores and restaurants. So far, Huntsville looked about as I’d expected it would—neat, tidy…segregated.

Minnie’s Salon. Whites Only.

Seamstress for Colored.

Ada’s Café. The Best Pancakes in Town. Whites ONLY!

When I decided to make the journey to join my husband in America, segregation was one of a million worries I consciously put off for later. Now, faced with the stark reality of it, I dreaded the discussions I’d be having with my children once we had enough rest for productive conversation. They needed to understand exactly why those signs sent ice through my veins.

“Papa did tell us that this is a small town, remember?” I said gently. “There are only fifteen thousand people in Huntsville and it will be very different from Berlin, but we can build a good life here. And most importantly, we’ll be together again.”

“Not all of us,” Gisela muttered.

“No, not all of us,” I conceded quietly. Loss was like a shadow to me. Every now and again, I’d get distracted and I’d forget it was there. Then I’d turn around and feel the shock of it all over again. It was the same for my children, especially for Gisela. Every year of her life had been impacted by the horrors of war, or by grief and change.

I couldn’t dwell on that—not now. I was about to see my husband for the first time in almost five years and I was every bit as anxious as I was excited. I had second-guessed my decision to join him in the United States a million or more times since I shepherded the children onto that first bus in Berlin, bound for the port in Hamburg where we boarded the cross-Atlantic steamship.

I looked down at my son. Felix woke when I shook his sister, but was still sitting on my lap, pale and silent. He had a head of sandy curls and his father’s curious mind. Until now, they’d never been on the same continent.

The first thing I noticed was that Jürgen looked different. It was almost summer and warm out, but he was wearing a light blue suit with a white shirt and a dark blue bow tie. Back home, he never wore a suit that color and he never would have opted for a bow tie. And instead of his customary silver-framed glasses, he was wearing a pair with thick black plastic frames. They were modern and suited him. Of course he had new glasses—five years had passed. Why was I so bothered by those frames?

I couldn’t blame him if he reinvented himself, but what if this new version of Jürgen didn’t love me, or was someone I couldn’t continue to love?

He took a step forward as we shuffled off the bus but didn’t even manage a second before Gisela ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.

“Treasure,” he said, voice thick with emotion. “You’ve grown up so much.”

There was a faint but noticeable American twang in his German words, which was as jarring as the new glasses.

Jürgen’s gaze settled on Felix, who was holding my hand with a grip so tight my fingers throbbed. I felt anxious for both children but I was scared for Felix. We’d moved halfway across the world to a country I feared would be wary of us at best, maybe even hostile toward us. For Gisela and me, a reunion with Jürgen was enough reason to take that risk. But Felix was nervous around strangers at the best of times, and he knew his father only through anecdotes and photographs.

“Felix,” Jürgen said, keeping one arm around Gisela as he started to walk toward us. I could see that he was trying to remain composed, but his eyes shone. “Son…”

Felix gave a whimper of alarm and hid behind my legs.

“Give him time,” I said quietly, reaching behind myself to touch Felix’s hair. “He’s tired and this is a lot to take in.”

“He looks just like—” Jürgen’s voice broke. I knew the struggle well. It hurt to name our grief, but it was important to do so anyway. Our son Georg should have been twenty years old, living out the best days of his life. Instead, he was another casualty of a war that the world would never make sense of. But I came to realize that Georg would always be a part of our family, and every time I found the strength to speak his name, he was brought to life, at least in my memories.

“I know,” I said. “Felix looks just like Georg.” It was fitting that I’d chosen Georg for Felix’s middle name, a nod to the brother he’d never know.

Jürgen raised his gaze to mine and I saw the depth of my grief reflected in his. No one would ever understand my loss like he did.

I realized that our years apart meant unfathomable changes in the world and in each of us, but my connection with Jürgen would never change. It already survived the impossible. At this thought, I rushed to close the distance between us.

Gisela was gently shuffled to the side and Jürgen’s arms were finally around me again. I thought I’d be dignified and cautious when we reunited, but the minute we touched, my eyes filled with tears as relief and joy washed over me in cascading waves.

I was on the wrong side of the world in a country I did not trust, but I was also back in Jürgen’s arms, and I was instantly at home.

“My God,” Jürgen whispered roughly, his body trembling against mine. “You are a sight for sore eyes, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes.”

“Promise me you’ll never let me go again.”

Jürgen was a scientist—endlessly literal, at least under normal circumstances. Once upon a time, he’d have pointed out all the reasons why such a promise could not be made in good faith—but now his arms contracted around me and he whispered into my hair, “It would kill me to do so, Sofie. If there’s one thing I want for the rest of my life, it’s to spend every day of it with you.”

“Many of our neighbors are Germans—most have just arrived in Huntsville in the last few weeks or months, so you will all be settling in together. There’s a party for us tomorrow at the base where I work, so you’ll meet most of them then,” Jürgen told me as he drove us through the town in his sleek black 1949 Ford. He glanced at the children in the rearview mirror, his expression one of wonder, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “You’ll like it here, I promise.”

We’d be living in a leafy, quiet suburb called Maple Hill, on a small block the Americans nicknamed “Sauerkraut Hill” because it was now home to a cluster of German families. I translated the street signs for the children and they chuckled at the unfamiliar style. Our new street, Beetle Avenue, amused Gisela the most.

“Is there an insect plague we should worry about?” she chuckled.

“I really hope so,” Felix whispered, so quietly I had to strain to hear him. “I like beetles.”

As Jürgen pulled the car into the driveway, I couldn’t help but compare the simple house to the palatial homes I’d grown up in. This was a single-story dwelling, with a small porch leading to the front door, one window on either side. The house was clad in horizontal paneling, its white paint peeling. There were garden beds in front of the house, but they were overgrown with weeds. There was no lawn to speak of, only patchy grass in places, and the concrete path from the road to the porch was cracked and uneven.

I felt Jürgen’s eyes on my face as I stared out through the windshield, taking it all in.

“It needs a little work,” he conceded, suddenly uncertain. “It’s been so busy since I moved here, I haven’t had time to make it nice for you the way I hoped.”

“It’s perfect,” I said. I could easily picture the house with a fresh coat of paint, gardens bursting to life, Gisela and Felix running around, happy and safe and free as they made friends with the neighborhood children.

Just then, a woman emerged from the house to the left of ours, wearing a dress not unlike mine, her long hair in a thick braid, just like mine.

“Welcome, neighbors!” she called in German, beaming.

“This is Claudia Schmidt,” Jürgen said quietly as he reached to open his car door. “She’s married to Klaus, a chemical engineer. Klaus has been at Fort Bliss with me for a few years, but Claudia arrived from Frankfurt a few days ago.”

Sudden, sickening anxiety washed over me.

“Did you know him—”

“No,” Jürgen interrupted me, reading my distress. “He worked in a plant at Frankfurt and our paths never crossed. We will talk later, I promise,” he said, dropping his voice as he nodded toward the children. I reluctantly nodded, as my heart continued to race.

There was so much Jürgen and I needed to discuss, including just how he came to be a free man in America. Phone calls from Europe to America were not available to the general public, so Jürgen and I planned the move via letters—a slow-motion, careful conversation that took almost two years to finalize. We assumed everything we wrote down would be read by a government official, so I hadn’t asked and he hadn’t offered an explanation about how this unlikely arrangement in America came to be.

I couldn’t get answers yet, not with the children in earshot, so it would have to be enough reassurance for me to know our neighbors were probably not privy to the worst aspects of our past.

Jürgen left the car and walked over to greet Claudia, and I climbed out my side. As I walked around the car to follow him, I noticed a man walking along the opposite side of the street, watching us. He was tall and broad, and dressed in a nondescript, light brown uniform that was at least a size or two too small. I offered him a wave, assuming him to be a German neighbor, but he scoffed and shook his head in disgust and looked away.

I’d been prepared for some hostility, but the man’s reaction stung more than I’d expected it to. I took a breath, calming myself. One unfriendly pedestrian was not going to ruin my first day in our new home—my first day reunited with Jürgen—so I forced a bright smile and rounded the car to meet Claudia.

“I’m Sofie.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Since we arrived last week, you are all I’ve heard about from your husband! He has been so excited for you to come.”

“I sure have.” Jürgen grinned.

“Are you and the children coming to the party tomorrow?” Claudia asked.

“We are,” I said, and she beamed again. I liked her immediately. It was a relief to think I might have a friend to help me navigate our new life.

“Us too,” Claudia said, but then her face fell a little and she pressed her palms against her abdomen, as if soothing a tender stomach. “I am so nervous. I know two English words—hello and soda.”

“That’s a start,” I offered, laughing softly.

“I’ve only met a few of the other wives, but they’re all in the same boat. How on earth is this party going to work? Will we have to stay by our husbands’ sides so they can translate for us?”

“I speak English,” I told her. I was fluent as a child, taking lessons with British nannies, then honing my skills on business trips with my parents. Into my adulthood, I grew rusty from lack of speaking it, but the influx of American soldiers in Berlin after the war gave me endless opportunities for practice. Claudia’s expression lifted again and now she clapped her hands in front of her chest.

“You can help us learn.”

“Do you have children? I want Gisela and Felix to learn as quickly as they can. Perhaps we could do some lessons all together.”

“Three,” she told me. “They are inside watching television.”

“You have a television?” I said, eyebrows lifting.

“We have a television too,” Jürgen told us. “I bought it as a housewarming gift for you all.” Gisela gasped, and he laughed and extended his hand to her. I wasn’t surprised when she immediately tugged him toward the front door. She’d long dreamed of owning a television set, but such a luxury was out of reach for us in Berlin.

I waved goodbye to Claudia and followed my family, but I was distracted, thinking about the look of disgust in the eyes of that passing man.

***

About the Author

Kelly Rimmer is the worldwide, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Before I Let You Go, The Things We Cannot Say, and Truths I Never Told You. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, two children and fantastically naughty dogs, Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. Please visit her at https://www.kellyrimmer.com/

Social Media Links

Author website: https://www.kellyrimmer.com/

Facebook: @Kellymrimmer

Twitter: @KelRimmerWrites

Instagram: @kelrimmerwrites

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-german-wife-9781525899904/9781525899904

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781525811432

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-german-wife-kelly-rimmer/1139609914?ean=9781525811432

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FGT2V4F/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-german-wife-a-novel/9781525804830-item.html?ikwidx=1&ikwsec=Books#algoliaQueryId=bcb8245f4a6a5bf65037b28607513004

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: When It Falls Apart by Catherine Bybee

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WHEN IT FALLS APART (The D’Angelos Book #1) by Catherine Bybee on this Montlake Blog Tour.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section, the author’s social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!

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Author Q&A

Interview with Catherine Bybee

For anyone wondering the plot of your newest release, you give a great sneak peek with the title—When it Falls Apart. What is “falling apart” in this novel?

All the threads that hold my heroine, Brooke, together are crumbling down around her. When it Falls Apart begins with Brooke’s romantic relationship crashing and burning. At the same time, in a different state, her father is circling the drain in the ICU. And for the cherry on the top of her “falling apart life”, Brooke has found herself demoted at work. In short, everything in Brooke’s life is dissolving around her.

Like all of your books, When it Falls Apart has a beautiful romance, however, there is a rawness about Brooke’s story. How was writing this novel different from your others?

If you read my notes both in the front and the back of this novel, you’ll soon realize that the story was very personal to me. Rawness comes from experience. The relationship Brooke has with her father is hauntingly familiar to me and my dad. The emotions that the heroine experienced when taking care of him were easy for me to grasp onto and write about. Sadly, the love story with Luca was completely made up and I didn’t have the support of a strong Italian family to help deal with the struggles, but I digress.

Relationships with a parent who wasn’t there for you growing up are messy. When that parent ages and needs their child, sometimes that help comes with a bucketload of resentment, even if the child wishes they could stop those ugly feelings from creeping up on them. And THAT is the rawness you speak of.

Books, TV shows, and movies oftentimes glamorize what it means to care for a loved one. However, in When it Falls Apart you don’t sugar-coat anything about caregiving and the toll it takes on a person. How do you think readers who have been in similar situations will be affected by this story?

Justified. Validated. Accepted.

It’s a hard job taking care of an elderly family member. And if there aren’t other siblings to help, or won’t help, it’s made even more difficult. It’s difficult, gritty, dirty work that only has a bad ending…eventually. What I do hope my readers take away is that they’re not alone. That the struggle is very real and that if they don’t find balance (which is almost impossible at times) they will burn out completely and not be fit to help at all. I hope my readers are empowered to set boundaries and balance, so they come out on the other side of caring for an elderly loved one whole themselves.

Brooke gets virtually no support from her significant other, which has her reevaluating their relationship. She realizes she has settled and has to make some hard decisions. Do you think this happens too many times to women in real life?

100% Yes! There is a song by Taylor Swift with a line that says, and I’m paraphrasing here, I can be what you want for the weekend. But often that weekend ends up being a relationship that women hold on to or are convinced they can’t live without. Often it takes a huge shake-up to remove yourself from that situation. But once you’re away from the day to day dysfunctional relationship, the easier it is to see the dysfunction.

After her breakup and move, Brooke is not looking for a relationship. In fact, she tells her best friend: “I haven’t wiped off my smeared mascara from Marshall yet, the last thing I want is to jump into anything else.” Her crying over a man lasts all about two minutes when she meets Luca. Tell us about him.

Hmmm, Luca… he is the kind of man who doesn’t want a place on Brooke’s dance card…he wants to rip it up.

Luca is wired to help the people in his life. Brooke becomes a part of his inner circle simply by moving into the family building where he sees her every day.

Now, if Luca had flat out asked Brooke on a date, she would have run the other way…so no, he doesn’t go about it that way. He simply shows up and does not leave. Not when things get tough, or messy…or when his own past peeks its head in. Luca is a man who is right there at Brooke’s side without question or censor on why she does the things she does. His support and validation of her feelings is the part she was missing. Add in the hunky Italian single father and “Mamma Mia!”

At first, Luca is not thrilled that Brooke is renting a room in his family’s building. What changes his mind about her?

Her strength and vulnerability. I know that sounds contradicting, but some of the strongest women I know have a big vulnerable spot in their life that if you know them well enough, you see. The biggest smiles often hide the deepest pain. Luca sees her struggle and dedication to helping her elderly father and since family is first on Luca’s list, she passes his unconscious test.

Luca’s family, the D’Angelo’s, are incredibly close and share everything from ownership of the family restaurant to helping care for Luca’s daughter Franny. How is this different from Brooke’s relationship with her family?

Brooke doesn’t have that family. She has a father who abandoned her as a little girl that she carved out a relationship as an adult, and now she’s charged with caring for. Even her previous romantic relationship didn’t support her unconditionally the way the D’Angelo’s do for each other. She’s rather dumbfounded when they start treating her like family. It’s a wonderful thing to watch happen.

San Diego’s Little Italy plays a huge part in the story. The community, language, and food are in full display. Tell us about your own experiences in your adopted city.

I love Little Italy, the food, the pace… the people. There are many places in San Diego that are overrun with the college scene, San Diego is a college town. But Little Italy is more family friendly. Very touristy, but there isn’t a day you don’t see locals hanging out. I go to the farmer’s market often. Pick up authentic Italian ingredients for my own home cooking. I try new restaurants and take all my friends there when they are visiting from out of town. Not to mention it was the closest thing to the “real Italy” that I could go during the travel restrictions. So why not write about it and tell the world of this small island within San Diego that shouldn’t be missed?

There are two more siblings in the D’Angelo family. Where will you be taking readers next with the series?

Chloe is a yogi. Think Bali!

And Giovanni loves wine… think Tuscany, Italy.

I cannot wait to show you what I have in store for these two!

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Book Summary

Brooke Turner has always had a complicated relationship with her father. But when his health takes a turn for the worse, she drops everything to care for him. He’s her dad, after all, and he needs her. What Brooke doesn’t anticipate is the unraveling of her long-term relationship and a cross-country move to San Diego’s Little Italy.

Luca D’Angelo is the oldest of three children and a single father to a young daughter. When his mother rents the top floor of their house to Brooke, he’s angry. Who is this beautiful stranger with no ties to the neighborhood? Can she be trusted in such close proximity to his family?

As Luca learns of Brooke’s difficult journey with her ailing father, his heart softens. And Brooke, who witnesses Luca’s struggle as a single parent, develops feelings for him, too. But when it all falls apart, will love heal their wounded hearts?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59414276-when-it-falls-apart?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=mC6in7UgUC&rank=1

When It Falls Apart

Author: Catherine Bybee

Release Date: June 21, 2022

Publisher: Montlake

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WHEN IT FALLS APART (The D’Angelo’s Book #1) by Catherine Bybee is the first book in a new contemporary romance series featuring the very tight knit Italian D’Angelo family who own and live above their restaurant in the enchanting setting of Little Italy in San Diego, California. Each book will feature one of the D’Angelo siblings and their HEA romances.

Brooke Turner has an on-line marketing career which works well with her partner who is a travel blogger as they travel more than they are home. Brooke receives a call from the hospital that her father is very sick and needs surgery. She just got him back on his feet after a lengthy recovery from a stroke and now she needs to leave again. This blows up Brooke’s relationship even though Brooke’s father was never much of a father, she still feels responsible to help him since he has no one else.

Luca D’Angelo is the eldest son of three children and a single father to a young daughter. Since the death of his father, he runs the family restaurant with the help of his mother, brother, and sister who all work there and live above the restaurant. When his mother talks to Brooke when she visits the restaurant and discovers she is looking for a place to rent, Luca’s mother rents the top floor apartment to Brooke. At first Luca is worried about this stranger living in the family building, but he soon learns of Brooke’s difficult life and current problems with her father and only wants to help.

They develop feelings for each other, and Brooke loves Franny, Luca’s daughter. They want to take it slow, but in Little Italy everyone knows everyone else’s business and the nonnas are always looking to match their loved ones. When Luca’s ex-wife shows up, will their fragile romance survive, or will it all fall apart?

This is one of those stories that pulls you right in and keeps you there until the HEA. Brooke is an amazing person despite her terrible upbringing. She is loving and always giving to her own detriment many times. Luca is the handsome Italian single dad whose momma raised him right and he is a chef. Who wouldn’t fall for that? The entire family, neighbors and secondary characters are brought to life with realistic and difficult situations that many of us have or will face in the future. The H/h in this story face each situation with maturity and open communication. I loved Luca, Brooke and Franny and the entire D’Angelo family.

I highly recommend this wonderful romance and I cannot wait for the next in the series!

***

Excerpt

“Oh my God, Carmen. He was standing at his car first thing this morning. Like ‘hop in, bella, let’s get stuff done today.’ Who does that?”

Brooke had picked up the phone as soon as Luca was off in search of a dump guy.

“We’re talking about the single, hot, Italian dad, right?”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Yes. Luca.”

“Oy, oy, oy.”

“Stop it. I need advice. And I need it before he gets back.”

Carmen stopped teasing. “You don’t need advice. You need to relax. He sounds like one of the good ones. Let it happen.”

“Let it happen,” she mocked. “I don’t ‘let’ things happen. It happens to me and it’s never good.”

“You didn’t used to be such a pessimist.”

“Once upon a time the glass was half full. Not these days.”

“Okay, Debbie Downer. You want my advice . . . here it is. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything. Zero effort.”

“Really?” Carmen didn’t sound convinced. “Makeup . . . a nice dress?”

Brooke hesitated. “Maybe . . . a little last night, but that was it.”

Carmen chuckled.

“Carmen!”

“Sorry. Okay . . . any red flags?”

Brooke thought about that. “He loved his ex-wife.”

“That’s a red flag?”

“I guess not.”

“Is he good to his mom?”

Brooke looked back on the dinner the night before. “To the whole family. He takes being the oldest brother quite seriously.”

“And his daughter?”

All Brooke could do was smile. “Great dad. We should all be so lucky.”

“He’s Italian, does he smoke?”

“No.”

“A lot of Italians smoke,” Carmen pointed out.

“In Italy. The San Diego variety are less in that wheelhouse.”

“That’s good.” Carmen sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, Brooke. How does he kiss?”

“He hasn’t kissed me,” Brooke nearly yelled.

“Now then . . . we have a problem.”

“There hasn’t been . . . I don’t even know if—”

“Stop right there. He did not drive your sorry ass all the way to Upland to do grunt work all day if he wasn’t interested in kissing you, bellllaaa. More than that, you want him to.”

Brooke closed her eyes, and even in her own head she couldn’t convince herself that Carmen was wrong.

“Let it happen. You deserve some happiness, Brooke.”

The van with the air conditioning repair guy pulled into the driveway.

“I gotta go.”

“I want a kissing update the next time we talk,” Carmen teased.

“Love you,” Brooke said with a laugh.

“Back at ya, boo.”

She hung up.

Her best friend was such a dork.

***

About the Author

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written twenty-eight books that have collectively sold more than five million copies and have been translated into more than eighteen languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite Series, the Weekday Brides Series, the Most Likely To Series, and the First Wives Series.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.catherinebybee.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/catherinebybee

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@catherinebybee1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2905789.Catherine_Bybee

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Book Review: Every Kind of Wicked by Lisa Black

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

EVERY KIND OF WICKED (A Gardiner and Renner Book #6) by Lisa Black is a fast-paced, intricately plotted addition to this forensic/police procedural thriller series set in Cleveland, Ohio featuring a female forensics expert and a male detective tied together by a dark secret. This series is best read in order due to the evolving character arc between the two main characters, but the crime plots in each book can stand alone.

A young man is found dead in the snow in the Erie Street Cemetery and Jack Renner is assigned to investigate with Maggie Gardiner on scene to look for any forensic evidence. Maggie’s ex-husband, Rick is assigned to investigate the death of a junkie in what appears to be an overdose by the Westside Market. At first, they are considered separate cases, but they begin to merge when both cases lead back to a pill-pushing doctor they are having difficulty finding.

When Maggie is called to the scene of a murdered woman connected to Rick’s case, she discovers a bloody fingerprint, and it belongs to Rick. Rick is missing and Maggie refuses to believe he could be involved in this murder. As Jack and Maggie investigate the several murders they find connections to a call-center scam operation as well as a Medicare scam. Maggie’s world is about to be changed forever.

This was such an exciting addition to the series! I could not put it down. You have two crime plots that at first do not seem connected and then Ms. Black merges them into one terrible criminal operation which was completely unexpected. Maggie faces personal emotional trauma during this story that was a complete surprise and then the ending through me for a complete loop. I love that this series is set in my hometown and I can visualize all the locations in the book.

This is definitely one of the best books in this series! I cannot wait for the next book. I highly recommend this series and author.

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About Lisa Black

Lisa Black’s books have reached the NYT bestsellers list, been translated into six languages and have been optioned for film. Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Lisa will be a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.

She is a certified crime scene analyst in Florida and a former forensic scientist for the Cleveland coroner’s office. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in more than fifty homicide trials.

She still aspires to drive Nancy Drew’s convertible and marry Ellery Queen.

Website: https://lisa-black.com/

Book Review: Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BAYOU BOOK THIEF (Vintage Cookbook Mystery Book #1) by Ellen Byron is an enjoyable contemporary cozy mystery set in New Orleans with everything I am looking for in a cozy mystery, wonderful characters, well-paced plot, and writing that gives colorful visual imagery of the setting.

Miracle “Ricki” James-Diaz is a twenty-eight-year-old widow who is beginning a new life in the place of her birth, New Orleans. She is excited to land her dream job of running a gift shop featuring vintage cookbooks and kitchen gadgets in the former home of a New Orleans legendary restauranteur at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum.

While opening several boxes of donated books to Bon Vee, Ricki and Cookie are shocked to find the dead body of a recently fired tour guide who was caught stealing books from the gift shop. Ricki decides to put her research skills to work investigating the death when one of her new friends is considered a suspect. Will Ricki be able to find the killer without getting herself in hot water?

This is a perfect cozy mystery read to me! I loved the main character, Ricki and all her quirks and her messy background. The cast of secondary characters are all fully fleshed and realistic window dressing to the city of New Orleans. The plot builds steadily to the climax, and I was guessing right up to the end. Ms. Byron uses her characters, red-herrings, and plot twists to full advantage to keep me turning the pages. New Orleans lifestyle and culture is seamlessly woven into the story without slowing the pace. An all-around enchanting cozy.

I highly recommend this cozy mystery and I am looking forward to revisiting these characters in the next book in the series!

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About Ellen Byron

Ellen writes the USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries and Catering Hall Mysteries (under the pen name Maria DiRico). MARDI GRAS MURDER won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and was nominated for a Best Humorous Mystery Lefty Award by Left Coast Crime. A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING and BODY ON THE BAYOU, both won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery, and were nominated for Agatha Awards in the category of Best Contemporary Novel. PLANTATION SHUDDERS, the first book in the series, was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards. Cajun Country Mysteries offer “everything a cozy reader could want,” according to Publishers Weekly, while Library Journal says, “Diane Mott Davidson and Lou Jane Temple fans will line up for this series.” HERE COMES THE BODY, the first book in her Catering Hall Mysteries, is inspired by her real life. LONG ISLAND ICED TINA, the second in the series, recently launched, with both books in the series garnering great reviews.

Ellen’s TV credits include Wings and Just Shoot Me; she’s written over 200 magazine articles; her published plays include the award-winning Graceland and Asleep on the Wind. She is a native New Yorker who lives in Los Angeles and attributes her fascination with Louisiana to her college years at New Orleans’ Tulane University. She also worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.ellenbyron.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellenbyronauthor?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ellenbyronla

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Shadow of the Gypsy by Shelly Frome

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SHADOW OF THE GYPSY by Shelly Frome on this Virtual Author Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review

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Book Description

A nemesis out of the past suddenly returns, forcing Josh Bartlett to come to terms with his true identity.

Josh Bartlett had figured all the angles, changed his name, holed up as a small-town features writer in the seclusion of the Blue Ridge. Only a few weeks more and he’d begin anew, return to the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut and Molly (if she’d have him) and, at long last, live a normal life. After all, it was a matter of record that Zharko had been deported well over a year ago. The shadowy form Josh had glimpsed yesterday at the lake was only that—a hazy shadow under the eaves of the activities building. It stood to reason his old nemesis was still ensconced overseas in Bucharest or thereabouts well out of the way. And no matter where he was, he wouldn’t travel thousands of miles to track Josh down. Surely that couldn’t be, not now, not after all this.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59486269-shadow-of-the-gypsy?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=aLdI5rQjNy&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SHADOW OF THE GYPSY by Shelly Frome is a suspenseful crime mystery with family drama and a little romance all thrown into the mix of an intriguing read.

Josh is hiding from his past working on a small-town weekly paper. In the mysterious beginning of this story, the reader learns of his dysfunctional upbringing and the blonde girl he dreams about that he hopes to return to soon. But his past catches up to him, even though he has changed his name. He learns he was tricked into a debt to the man he is hiding from, the gypsy, Zharko.

I felt the first few chapters were confusing, but once the pieces of Josh’s past begin to unfold, the story began to pull me in. Josh and all the other characters are all fully fleshed and interesting. They are on a good vs. evil spectrum that has very few shades of gray. Just like his nefarious characters, the author also gives the landscape an atmospheric feel of foreboding. The story moves at an ever-increasing pace and yet I never felt as if I knew what would be reveled or what was about to happen right up to the climax. Mr. Frome has a unique style which in this novel gives the story a noir feeling to this crime mystery and so much more.

I recommend this unique mash-up crime mystery.

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Excerpt

Slipping away from the patio, keeping low like he did as a kid in the Connecticut hills playing Indian scout, Josh skirted the bushes, circled behind the low-lying activities building, and hunkered down by the near side of the visitors’ parking lot. He got behind the tailgate of a red Chevy pickup and glanced around the edge of the truck bed. Then, in practically no time, he spotted him.

At first, he wasn’t absolutely sure. After all, the figure was still almost a hundred yards away blurred by the shimmering sunlight. The guy could be on the grounds crew. He could be the driver of the pickup. After all, there were countless wiry workmen in denim for hire in these parts, especially now that spring had arrived.

With his mind revving like crazy, he reminded himself that his old nemesis had been booted out of the country. Josh had, in fact, recently flown back to New England once or twice to make sure, to touch base with his estranged mother and, most of all, to see Molly, his erstwhile childhood sweetheart. He’d been harboring thoughts of dropping his cover, starting over and living a normal life. That is, if he still had a chance with her and their relationship wasn’t a lingering fantasy. If he could hold out a bit longer to make sure.

Yet, as the figure pivoted and headed back in Josh’s direction, it was no use. He noted the black denim, shiny cowboy boots, and red blouse protruding from an open Levi jacket. If nothing else, the twisted, sparkling earring gave him away. That and the furtive way he scurried around, trying to get a bead on the whereabouts of his quarry. His thin, chiseled face and high cheekbones were also a dead giveaway, though it had been a few years since Josh had actually laid eyes on him.

As a youngster, gazing out the window of his mother’s cabin in the woods, he’d frequently caught sight of the gypsy van and that thickset, baldheaded companion called Vlad. And once, surreptitiously catching snatches of dialogue as he berated his mother in that awkward speech pattern of his: “Your boy still tractable for sure, tell me true? He is like well-behaved dog? . . . Day is coming when he will be useful. Not now but maybe soon because feds hounding me worse than ever ”

But Josh had it on the highest authority that Zharko had been deported. Threats of Zharko finding him useful had abated over the years, except in nightmares now and then, and hopes and daydreams of becoming free and clear had taken their place.

But now, Zharko Vadja was close by and Ackerman was waiting impatiently.

He remained hunkered down and, though he needed to get a move on, again found himself sifting through his memory bank, desperately trying to put this in some perspective. It was during that foray to touch base– to see how Molly was doing and learning she was teaching second grade at that very same elementary school they’d both attended before he’d been shipped off. But underneath Molly Hunter’s ingenuous veneer, trying not to dwell on his shortcomings, there was that same dubious background; the way his mother had treated her over a Christmas present, plus his mother Irina’s animosity toward Molly and her ilk.

There was also his name change leading to his affable mask as good ol’ Josh Bartlet. Which led to that troublesome exchange as she revealed she’d had another offer of marriage.

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About Shelly Frome

Award winning author, Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor, a writer of crime novels, cozy mystery novels, and books on theater and film. He is also a features writer for Gannett Media’s Black Mountain News. His fiction includes Sun Dance for Andy Horn, Lilac Moon, Twilight of the Drifter, Tinseltown Riff, Murder Run, Moon Games and The Secluded Village Murders.

Among his works of non-fiction are The Actors Studio and texts on the art and craft of screenwriting and writing for the stage. Miranda and the D-Day Caper was his last foray into the world of crime and the amateur sleuth, until now. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.shellyfrome.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shellyfrome
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shellyFrome

Book Review: Poison Evidence by Rachel Grant

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

POISON EVIDENCE (Evidence Book #7 on Goodreads, Book #8 on Amazon) by Rachel Grant is another thrilling installment in the Evidence series featuring another brilliant member of the Naval History and Heritage Command team. This book is easily read as a standalone, but there is carryover of characters from previous books in this series. Any history from previous stories between characters is explained without going into detail and seamlessly keeps the current story flowing.

Ivy MacLeod is sent to the islands of Palau with her new advanced remote sensing technology known as CAM to map a WWII battle site. Ivy is happy to leave the states and distance herself from her ex-husband’s trial for treason. When she is attacked at a party for dignitaries on the island, she escapes with the help of Jack Keaton, an American on vacation in Palau.

Jack Keaton is not who he seems, but he has saved Ivy’s life. When Ivy learns the U.S. government has betrayed her, she must make up her own mind who is the spy, who is the protector and who is the villain.

I love this series! The heroines are accomplished, intelligent women with intriguing jobs whose personal lives become very complicated with heroes that are alpha males and over-achievers in their own right. Ivy has always been socially awkward due to her intelligence and then she suffered the ultimate betrayal from a husband she loved. Her invention is her life until she meets Jack, but he has many identities and Ivy has to trust him with her life even as he could be as bad as her ex. Jack’s backstory and the reasons for the way he lives his life make him a sympathetic character and the author does a great job of keeping him on that fine line between hero or villain. The plot is an intricate, edge-of-your-seat, fast paced spy thriller that leaves the reader questioning the motives of most of the characters right up to the climax. The sex scenes in this book are all smokin’ hot and explicit, but never gratuitous.

I highly recommend this romantic suspense/spy thriller, as well as every other book in this series!

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About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Rachel Grant worked for over a decade as a professional archaeologist and mines her experiences for storylines and settings, which are as diverse as excavating a cemetery underneath an historic art museum in San Francisco, survey and excavation of many prehistoric Native American sites in the Pacific Northwest, researching an historic concrete house in Virginia, and mapping a seventeenth century Spanish and Dutch fort on the island of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles.

She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children.

Social Media Links

Website: https://rachel-grant.net/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelsgrant