Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 25

But I read a book not yet on the list -- COLD SLICE, I think it is a June book.

Gotta say -- LOVED IT!!!

It's titled a "Working Man's Mystery" and it is about a group of "bad boys" -- you know long-haired, beer drinking (a little pot smoking), manual laborer types who also work at Carlo's number 7 (a pizza place in small town Ohio).

One of their pizza drivers is killed in the parking lot (can't be good for business or morale I'd think) and these buddies determine to help out the police solve the crime.

It was a fast fun read, the first in what I hope is a long series. I really really enjoyed it!

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Sara Reyes
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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 1636

Don't feel bad, Sara! I haven't even read that one yet. This is a hectic time of year for me---every two weeks something else major is going on: Mother's Day, then my husband's birthday, then the middle child's birthday, then Father's Day, then 4th of July, then the oldest child's birthday. And this year we have the Dagny's high school graduation the day before Curran's birthday, my mom's coming, and I'm already making preparations for TTP the weekend before Dagny's birthday.... So that's my excuse until the last half of July, when things should calm down slightly.

Anyway, since you brought it up, here's the list of June books :

Click on the titles of Books of the Week to go to the discussion threads.

• Blushing Pink by Jill Winters
  
• Borrowed Dreams by May McGoldrick **Book of the Week, June 10, 2003
  
• Coffee and Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux **Book of the Week, June 17, 2003
  
• Cold Slice by L. T. Fawkes
  
• Never Walk Alone by Paula Detmer Riggs
  
• The Old Fox Deceiv'd by Martha Grimes
  
• One Touch of Magic by Amanda McCabe
  
• The Puzzle Bark Tree by Stephanie Gertler **Book of the Week, June 24, 2003
  
• The Reluctant Rogue by Elizabeth Powell
  
• The Secret Diary by Martha Kirkland **Book of the Week, July 1, 2003
  
• Taste of Honey by Eileen Goudge
  

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
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Everything seems to go wrong for Resse Brock. Or rather, on the surface, everything seems perfect, but it's not quite right.

She's in a Ph.D. program...but the professor is a tyrant using her to write his boring book.

She has a job in a bookstore...but the manager is another tyrant--a young, perky tyrant, no less.

She has a boyfriend, Kenneth...but there are not sparks between them, and he seems oddly uninterested in her.

She has a loving family...but one sister is married and the other's wedding is approaching, and the pressure is on for Reese to follow suit.

The she sees Brian Doren again, the best man in her sister's wedding, a man with whom she shared a passionate kiss two years ago.

But things go wrong there, as well. Every time she seems to be getting somewhere with him, something goes wrong.

And to make matters worse, Kenneth suddenly begins courting her, and Brian's ex-fiancee, Veronica, is trying to resume their relationship.

Somehow everything works out in the end, amazingly.

The book isn't all a light comedy of errors, though. There's a subplot I absolutely loved--Reese's sister Angela's husband Drew had had a heart attack a while before, and now their marriage is falling apart. There's a wonderful story of how the heart attack affects both of them and how they end up repairing the cracks in their relationship afterward.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 1636

Sara was right about this one. This mystery set in a pizza joint is a page-turning treat.

The small community of employees at Carlo's pizza place are well-drawn individuals--three dimensional characters you'd expect to meet at your local pizza joint.

And if I were single, boy, would I like to meet some of these guys.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 1636

Originally written in 1982, this is a good introduction to Martha Grimes's Richard Jury mysteries.

I must confess that while Martha Grimes is a familiar name to me in the mystery genre, I'd never read any of her books until now.

This story is filled with the atmosphere of British mysteries, and features a mystery within a mystery--not only whodunit, but who-was-it-done-to.

A clever mystery with an engaging cast of characters, The Old Fox Deceiv'd has ensure that the next time I'm in the mood for a British mystery, Martha Grimes will be on my list of authors to look for.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 1636

To truly appreciate this book, I probably should have read the first Carson Springs novel, Stranger in Paradise, first. Not that Taste of Honey wasn't a complete story in itself, but I'd like to see how some of these characters' stories unfolded before I met them in Taste of Honey.

Gerry's intention of becoming a nun was derailed when she became pregnant by a priest. Twenty-eight years later, after a marriage, divorce, and two more children, she finds the daughter she'd given up for adoption.

Claire had been raised by loving, but overprotective adoptive parents. The story of her being torn between two families is very poignant and real.

While they get to know each other, Gerry and Claire also learn more about themselves, and open their hearts to love.

The next Carson Springs novel, Wish Come True, is out in hardcover now, but first i'm going to catch up on events in Stranger in Paradise.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
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When Rhys was a teenager, he was involved in a collision with a bus that left several people dead and him in prison, blamed for the accident. Reviled by the town and even his own family, Rhys didn't return home after serving his sentence, but set out to make a life for himself.

Years later, when a flood devastates the town, Rhys's now-prosperous trucking company buys his father's old warehouse and promises jobs to revitalize the community.

He'd intended to continue staying away, keeping his involvement secret, but another accident puts his manager in the hospital, and Rhys has to return to his hometown to oversee the project.

He faces the expected anger, snubs, and whispers, but also finds unexpected support and friendship, most surprisingly form Brina, Rhys's brother's ex-wife and the sister of a boy who'd been killed in the bus accident.

This emotional, heartwarming story is punctuated with humor, like Brina's reliance on quotes from The Successful Innkeeper, and Rhys's budding relationship with a niece and nephew he'd never known before.

Rhys's life is changed forever by the two accidents--one that drove him away from his hometown, and one that brought him back.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
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Sarah and Miles both have ambitions involving the same land--Sarah wants to continue her late husband's archaeological excavation of a Viking village, and Miles wants to turn the land into farmland and provide work for the many now-unemployed former soldiers.

Since the land belongs to Miles, it's his decision, but when he finds himself falling in love with Sarah, it's not as easy as he thought it would be.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 1636

Jane Rutledge's plans for the future include a convenient marriage to a neighboring landowner so that she can continue to care for the land she loves, but right now she's in the city for her sister Penelope's debut.

Sebastian's plans for the future did include continuing on with his carefree life until his father threatened to cut him off if he doesn't marry, so he's also in London for the season.

They first meet when Jane falls out of a tree into Sebastian's garden. Hardly a promising meeting, but a flame is sparked that grows every time they meet, even though Sebastian has decided to pursue Penelope.

All might have been well when Sebastian kisses Jane in public, compromising them, and they marry, but circumstances & misunderstandings have Jane living alone in the country, doubting his feelings for her, until the neighboring landowner Jane had intended to marry plans on suing her for breach of promise and Sebastian faces him in a duel.

In romances, it's a given that the couple will end up living together happily ever after--it's the journey that makes the book, and this journey has a few more twists than usual. It kept me turning the pages, and closing the book after the last one with a satisfied smile on my face.

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~*~Darla~*~
Reality is for people who lack imagination

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