Puzzle 120 - Natural Fall Decorations

So, it turns out, beautiful pictures don't necessarily make fun puzzles (especially ones will fewer than 100 pieces). Many of them don't have a lot of colors or patterns, so they are more difficult to put together. I hope you enjoy this one that I found. It took me 1:35 using 24 non-rotating pieces.

Cold Clay (Shady Hollow 2), by Juneau Black

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I really enjoyed the first in the Shady Hollow series, Shady Hollow, by Juneau Black, when I listened to it a few years ago. Ever since then, I've had the rest of the series on my TBR list. I finally listened to Cold Clay. Autumn is the season in which Cold Clay is set, so it's perfect timing.

The creatures who reside in Shady Hollow are preparing for autumn, when a rabbit discovers the dead body of a moose. The identity of the deceased is not immediately known, but amateur sleuth/journalist Vera Vixen and the authorities are on the case. After the identity of the moose is revealed, Vera does not believe the authorities have the correct culprit and she is determined to speed up this case to bring the real killer to justice.

While I enjoyed the first installment in this series, I really loved this one! As with every book in the series, all of the characters are animals who reside in Shady Hollow. They are able to talk with each other and they all have human-like qualities. While I'm not usually a fan of injured or deceased animals in cozies, it works in this series because of the fictional world the author has created. The main characters are easy to fall in love with, even the ones with edgy personalities.

I did have a hunch who the killer was in this one, but not right away. Even though I thought I knew who it was and I ended up being correct, I still enjoyed following the clues with Vera. In addition to the mystery, there is a subplot with a bit of romance. Is it realistic? No. But the entire premise of this series is unrealistic, so I can suspend belief. I'm here for the fun, not reality.

Like the first installment, Cold Clay is written in the third person. Normally this is something that takes me a bit to get used to, as I prefer first person. However, I barely noticed it in this book. I will say that I listened to the audiobook, and I think that was to my advantage. Cassandra Campbell is the narrator and she does a flawless job voicing all of the characters, in addition to telling the story. I was completely engrossed in her narration from beginning to end. If there's any book I recommend on audio, it's this one! 

This is a series I will definitely continue listening to. I'm really looking forward to finding out what Vera's next case will be and to visiting with the residents of Shady Hollow again. The reason it took me took me so long to listen to this second installment is because the first library I became a member of didn't have it. Now that I've joined a second and third library system in my state, I finally found one that does carry it on Libby. 

If you are a fan of cozy mysteries and you can suspend belief to enjoy a make-believe world, I highly recommend the Shady Hollow series. You will definitely want to begin with book 1, Shady Hollow, and read or listen to them in order so you can follow the ongoing subplot. Also, in Cold Clay, there is a reference to something that occurred in Shady Hollow. I have already put a hold on book 3, Mirror Lake. Based on the book cover, it looks like this one is also set in the fall. I hope to listen to it soon!

The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday (Borrow a Bookshop 1), by Kiley Dunbar

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Over the summer, I participated in a challenge where I had to read or listen to a book set in England. I was in Christmas in July mode, so I wanted it to be set around the holidays. My search resulted in a book that I fell in love with. It isn't the usual cozy mystery I enjoy, but it had strong cozy vibes. I'd describe it as women's fiction with a bit of romance. That book was Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop (Borrow a Bookshop 2), by Kiley Dunbar. I typically don't read or listen to series out of order, but I had read reviews that stated it could be enjoyed as a standalone, so I gave it a try. After finishing that book, I knew I wanted to read or listen to the entire series. So I recently circled back to the first one, The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday. I enjoyed the narration so much for Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop, that I chose to listen to this first one. Both are narrated by Helen Duff.

In The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday, we are introduced to Jude Crawley. She is a thirty-something graduate who can finally go public with her relationship with Professor Mack.  She also no longer needs to care for her grandmother because her health has greatly improved. Sadly, though, Jude sees Mack kissing another girl and this is the breaking point of their relationship.

Months prior to their breakup, they had put in a request to get on the waiting list for the Borrow a Bookshop in England. (The series is based on a real bookshop like this in Scotland.) They were looking forward to this getaway where guests run the bookshop for two weeks. After the breakup, they are notified that it's finally their turn. The Bookshop Holiday is non-refundable, so Jude decides to go there on her own.

Except, she's not there alone. It turns out, another guest, Elliot, has also reserved the bookshop. Their first encounter is tense and Elliot is hiding something about himself, but they must learn to put their differences aside in order to successfully run the bookshop together. They may just fall in love in the process while also growing as individuals.

I debated whether to give this book three or four stars. I settled on four because I really did enjoy it. I think it was good that I listened to the audiobook because the beautiful narration kept me engaged.

Unfortunately, this book didn't resonate as deeply with me as Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop did, though. If this had been my first experience with the series, I might not be so eager to read the rest of the books. However, since I know book 2 is so much better, I will read or listen on.

The romance in this first installment felt forced and rushed to me. I kept wondering why Jude was so into Elliot. She didn't know too much about him before their romance got serious. He knew a lot more about her than she did about him, so the relationship wasn't balanced. There were also a couple of moments that were very predictable. 

Elliot has secrets, which also really bothered me. He didn't have to reveal anything to Jude, especially just having met her, but if they're going to be in a serious relationship, Jude deserved to know sooner. Eventually Eliott did come clean, but it was close to the end of the book and it was rushed.  It felt like a data dump when he did explain everything to Jude. What happened after this felt out of place from the rest of the book.

Something else that bothered me about this book, which was also the case in Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop, was the sprinkling of mild swear words. They felt out of place for these characters. It was almost like the author was trying to be edgy just to catch our attention. None of those swear words were necessary. I would have enjoyed the book more without them.

Despite all the negatives, I do love the premise of the series and I think the rest of the books have promise. I'll definitely listen to the audiobooks because I love the narrator's voice so much. If you're looking for women's fiction with some romance that feels cozy, I recommend The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday, by Kiley Dunbar. If you're not too into it, give the series a chance because I'm confident you will enjoy the second one more. It has much more emotional depth. Some plot points do carry over into each following book, so while the main stories are standalones, I recommend starting from the beginning with this first installment.

Sunday Post 117

Hi everyone!

Through Monday, I am linking with the following: 

Reading Reality, who hosts Stacking the Shelves

Readerbuzz, who hosts Sunday Salon

Caffeinated Reviewer, who hosts Sunday Post

The Book Date, who hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

On the above blogs you will be able to see links to the posts from others who are participating in those blog hops, and if you're a blogger, you can join too. 

A friend and I participated in a speed puzzling competition today at my local library. We didn't come in first, second, or third place, but Team Pixie Puzzlers (that was us) did NOT come in last place! The team who finished first had three people and they finished in about 15 minutes. We are not the same. Lol.

We had two hours to complete a standard 300-piece puzzle. We finished in 57:22. We have been practicing with 500-piece puzzles, so when we realized the one today would only be 300 pieces, we were pretty happy. It was so much fun and we're already planning to participate in the next one in February. That one will most likely be 500 pieces and we'll have three hours to complete it. This was my first time competing in speed puzzling. While I do prefer to take my time with puzzles, we enjoyed this new experience.

IN THE BOOKS

As many of you know, I usually have multiple books going at once. I don't read all of them every week, so from now on, I will only list the ones I made progress with the previous week.

RECENTLY FINISHED

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I finished listening to You Can't Candle the Truth (Glenmyre Whim Mystery 1), written by Sarah E. Burr and narrated by Melissa Green. I loved it just as much as I did the first time I listened to it. The virtual book club, hosted by Sarah herself, was so much fun. Click here to read the review I wrote two years ago.

IN PROGRESS

I'm making good progress with It's Not About the Food, by Mary Perry. I won't finish it by the end of September, but I'm well on track to finishing it before my next appointment with my dietitian. There is a lot of good "food" for thought in this book. :)

I'm about 30% into Murder Under the Marquee (Elmo Simpson Mystery 2), by J.C. Kenney, and not surprisingly, I'm loving it! It's quirky and fun, and has a compelling mystery.

I planned to listen to a different book this past week, but since I already listened to that one once, I decided to choose one I haven't listened to yet. Cold Clay, written by Juneau Black and narrated by Cassandra Campbell, is the second in the Shady Hollow series. I'm loving this one even more than I did the first one. I'm very close to finishing. To read some excerpts from it and to learn more about the book, click here.

UP NEXT

My next audiobook listen will be Secondhand Spirits (Witchcraft Mystery 1), by Juliet Blackwell. This is the October pick for The Cozy Mystery Book Club. It's perfect timing being Halloween month. I love witchy cozies, so I'm looking forward to it.

My next read will be Deck the Halls with Homicide (Killer Chocolate Mystery 3), by Christina Romeril. This is an eARC of a cozy set to release close to the end of October. I enjoyed the first two, so I'm looking forward to this third installment.

ON THE SCREEN

• The Toys that Built America - I'm about halfway through season 3. So much of what was invented and became popular was done by people who weren't even inventors as their full time jobs. They just came up with the ideas and took off with them. Then large companies bought their ideas and products.  I love how this show highlights the original inventors who often get overlooked or forgotten.
• My Summer Prince - This was the last summer movie I watched this year. It's a Hallmark movie from 2016. I thought it was one of the better royal movies. I'd probably watch it again sometime.
• Love at Look Lodge (also called Falling for Look Lodge) - I think this was the only truly fall-themed Hallmark movie I hadn't seen. It's from 2020. The best thing about it was the scenery. It was clearly filmed in the fall. I also loved the indoor fall decor. It wasn't too overdone like it is in some movies. The plot was okay, but the execution was a snoozefest. It aired just months after the pandemic started, but it was filmed the previous fall. Hallmark was probably looking to acquire movies in order to fill the schedule since filming didn't happen for a while that year.
• Murder, She Wrote - I have two more episodes left to watch in season 4, so I'll probably finish it next week. This hasn't been my favorite season, but I'm still enjoying it.

ON THE BLOG

• Sunday Post - 09/20 - Weekly Recap
• Book Review - 09/23 - Edam and Weep (Grilled Cheese Mystery 6), Linda Reilly
• Book Review - 09/25 - Fatal Sign-Off (Book Blogger Mystery 3), by Sarah E. Burr
• Friday Features - 09/26 Bookish response, featured book, featured feline, nature pic 
• Puzzle - 09/27 - Autumn Flowers, Apples, and Vegetables

Have a great week!

Puzzle 119 - Autumn Flowers, Apples, and Vegetables

Happy First Weekend of Fall!

I'm participating in a speed puzzling competition today (Saturday)! Wish us lots of luck! There is one other person on my team.

This puzzle took me 3:10 using 35 non-rotating pieces.

How'd you do?

Friday Features 26

Happy Friday!

Today I'm once again participating in six blog hops.  You can click on the host links below to find the blogs of others who are participating in each blog hop. If you're a blogger, feel free to join through the host links.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP, hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Question: Do you ever get strange looks from strangers while browsing the book aisle in department stores? What do you think is going through their minds?

My response:  It's been a long time since I've been in a department store and back when I did go there, I wasn't much of a reader. So I probably didn't even visit the book aisle. If I did, it was for magazines and I don't remember ever getting strange looks.

FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower

FRIDAY 56, hosted by My Head is Full of Books

BOOK BEGINNINGS, hosted by Rose City Reader

Today's excerpts are from the audiobook format of Cold Clay (Shady Hollow Mystery 2), by Juneau Black.

Here is the beginning:

As might be expected from its name, the village of Shady Hollow is nestled deep in the woods, covering a wide valley between two mountains. What might be less expected is the fact that the village residents are all animals, representing many species and temperaments.

And here is an excerpt from 56%:

"Whether it is significant, I can't say, but I didn't see the creature come autumn. It had moved on."

Yes, this is a cozy mystery series where all of the characters are animals, most of which are woodland creatures. I enjoyed the first book in the series, Shady Hollow, when I listened to it a couple years ago, and I am enjoying this one even more. The narration is quite entertaining to listen to.

FELINE FRIDAY, hosted my messymimi's meanderings

Fiona has her eye on you.

NATURE FRIDAY, hosted by Living the LLB Life

Fatal Sign-Off (Book Blogger Mystery 3), by Sarah E. Burr

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I am a huge fan of author Sarah E. Burr. If she writes it, I will read it. So I was very excited to obtain an eARC of her latest installment in the Book Blogger Mysteries, Fatal Sign-Off. It's been a couple of years since the second book, Dearly Deleted, was published. Was it worth the wait for Fatal Sign-Off? Yes, it was!

In this installment, set around Mother's Day, the mystery centers around the murder of a podcaster who made a living trash-talking various businesses. The suspect list is high, as he isn't well-liked in the community. Among the suspects are book blogger Winnie Lark's friends and family, so she is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and figure out what really happened. Intertwined with the mystery is the development of several relationships between Winnie and her family, Winnie's friendship with Detective Rose, and a budding romantic relationship between two characters you may not have seen coming.

The mystery is well-crafted with lots of fun twists and turns. The action starts early in the book and continues at a fast pace until the end. The development of the relationships is seamlessly woven in throughout the story. 

There is a good bit of humor in this installment that provides just the right amount of comic relief. One scene in particular made me laugh out loud. It was a turning point (in a positive way) for me regarding how I feel about one of the characters involved in the scene. The scene added depth to the character in a light-hearted way.

Throughout Fatal Sign-Off, there are a lot of references to other books that readers will want to add to their TBR list. I did at times find the number of references distracting. There was one reference to a newly released cozy mystery towards the end of the book that felt naturally woven into the flow of the story. It might have worked better for me if there were fewer references throughout the book, but that were woven more into the flow of the story like this one was. However, I do understand that being a book blogger, this is the way Winnie thinks. It is natural for her to reference books she has read and reviewed. It just needed to be tweaked a bit, for my taste.

This is just a minor detail, though. Overall, this is another wonderful installment in a great series. With another solid mystery and strong character development, I will definitely continue reading the Book Blogger Mysteries as they are released. Since there is such strong character development, I do recommend reading them in order, beginning with Over My Dead Blog. If you enjoy bookish cozy mysteries with quirky characters, you don't want to sleep on this series.

Thank you to Booksprout for providing me with an eARC of this book.