Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery
Winter is upon the Cornish coastal village of Mount Polbearne and though tourist season is over, the Little Beach Street Bakery finds itself still quite busy. The drama of the prior season over, now Polly owns and runs the bakery. When the town decides to have a Christmas celebration, Polly is tasked (gently persuaded) to provide baked goods to sell with the proceeds going to the town and not her business. A secret shared by a close friend and sworn to secrecy threatens her relationship with Buckle. Sounds very soap-operaish and the novel can be that, though more entertaining.
“You want Sierra and the kids to be safe. Ask yourself how that’ll be possible if the country’s invaded and run as a slave colony. Is that the future you want for them? For yourself?†“Wouldn’t be much different than how we’ve let it turn out, would it?†Ruby frowned. “Don’t give me that, Lucas. We both know you aren’t fine with any of this. You’re a good man, and you can’t stand idly by while evil triumphs. It’s one of the reasons I respect you, and why they want you to lead the men. You have honor. That’s a rare quality in this day and age.†“Damn, woman.”
In the latest Saxon Tales novel, King Alfred is nearing death and is concerned about his legacy or at least that his chosen son will succeed him to the throne. Alfred needs Uhtred as his sword to control Wessex and control of the Danes for his son. Uhtred is not so enamored of that notion. Alfred has generally not been generous to Uhtred and it’s time for Uhtred to return the favor, though as usual things don’t always go his way. As his gods would tell him, the three spinners have their own say in his life’s direction.
After the past few missions garnered more visibility than the Taskforce ever wants, there seems to a sustained desire by politicians to reign Pike Logan and his team in. Preparing to join their teammates on a mission in South America they found themselves being the hunted rather than the hunters. These bad guys seem to know far too much about the group, their activities, and where they live. When they get too close to Logan’s family, it gets personal and Pike turns to his darker side.
“Unlike his younger brother Sherlock—tall, dark, impossibly thin, with facial features that reminded one of a bird of prey—Holmes had been told since childhood that he was “a strapping lad.†Tall enough, well muscled, with a pleasing yet noble profile. That last, he supposed, he owed to his mother—if little else. In any case, he and Abie would race the rowers to the finish line, from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge, four miles along a snaking obstacle course. That would make his journey nearly two miles longer than the rowers’. A fair fight, Holmes asserted, is the essence of competition.”
So let me start off by saying that I am NOT a runner. I’m a walker. I walk every day, cold or hot, snowy or sunny…not too crazy about rain though. So why would I spend time reading a book seemingly about running? I’ve no idea. It’s funny how sometimes I read a book and it leads to another book and I think “I’ll try that one.”
Enduring Dead Astronauts (couldn’t call this reading) took me a while. I rarely quit on books, but after 75% of this novel, I just couldn’t push myself further. It has pretty decent ratings on Amazon so I thought that I was, perhaps, missing something…
Author Jenny Lawson “suffers” from a myriad of maladies including depression. Rather than wallow (okay she does that too), she shines light on her life living with disorders. I hesitate to use words like malady and disorders as I don’t know what the correct (or politically correct) terms to use. Lawson would probably make fun of me for faux empathy. She brings a great deal of humor in Furiously Happy, her second book. Reading her explanation of the cover art is enough to make your day. Other than to say that I’ve never read a book like this…and I liked it, there’s nothing really to add. You’ll just have to read it and I recommend that you do. It may be a cliché, but you will laugh and cry, though mostly laugh.
“Jon Summers opened his mouth to scream… And woke up with a jolt. He was shaking, the sheets of his twin bed wet with sweat, his heart tattooing in his eardrums as the recurring dream…the nightmare he knew to be a premonition, faded into the gray light of dawn. He let out his breath and hoped to God that he hadn’t screamed aloud and woken his mother. Fingers twisting in the bed sheets, he slowly let out his breath and knew, deep in his heart, that his dream was a foreshadowing of events to come. They might not play out exactly as he’d envisioned, but they sure as hell were going to play out.”
Harlan Coben is one of my favorite mystery writers and might I say prolific. His recurring character, Myron Bolitar finds himself in a race against time when he is asked by an ex-girlfriend to track down a reluctant donor for very sick child. She drops a bomb on Bolitar to give him the ultimate incentive to help her. The trail twists and turns as the rush to find the person heats up.