The Hope Jar by Wanda Brunstetter

The Hope Jar

(The Prayer Jars #1)

by 

Wanda E. Brunstetter 

A Brand-New 3-Book Series from New York Times Bestselling Author Wanda E. Brunstetter.
What happens when making an elderly Amish couple very happy means going along with a lie that gets bigger by the day?

Michelle Taylor is not who her new family in Lancaster County believes her to be. The Lapps were looking for their long-lost granddaughter when they met Michelle and she assumed the identity of Sara Murray. Once homeless and hopeless, Michelle has come to love her new Amish friends and even considers the idea of romance among them.

Finding an old blue jar in the barn that is filled with slips of paper containing thoughts, quotes, and prayers by an unknown author becomes a boost to Michelle’s budding faith— but also convicting. How can she tell the truth without hurting the ones she has truly come to love?

My Take:  I have loved everything I have read by Wanda Brunstetter and this book is no exception. I really liked all the characters both the Amish ones and the Englishers. There is a major deception that happens and is continued throughout the whole book till the very end when the deceptor comes clean. I eagerly look forward to reading the next book in the series to see what happens with all the characters.

I received a review copy of this book from Amazon Vine and Barbour and was not required to write a positive review. 

The New Neighbors by Simon Lelic

What if your perfect home turned out to be the scene of the perfect crime?

Londoners Jack and Syd moved into the house a year ago. It seemed like their dream home: tons of space, the perfect location, and a friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.

So when they made a grisly discovery in the attic, Jack and Syd chose to ignore it. That was a mistake.

Because someone has just been murdered. Right outside their back door.

And now the police are watching them...

My Take:  I found this to be a very interesting book.  I liked the way each of the two main characters told their side of the story in their own chapters.  Each chapter is labeled for that character.  I will be honest after the first couple of chapters I was a bit bored until about the last 25% but the in between chapters are needed to set up the twist at the end.  I will admit I kinda guessed the ending a few chapters after the murder but it didn't diminish the enjoyability factor.  I would recommend this book if you like twisty turny thrillers.  I would give a small trigger warning for child abuse.  

I received a review copy from Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest opinion.

Color Me Murder by Krista Davis

By day, Florrie Fox manages Color Me Read bookstore in Georgetown, Washington D.C. By night, she creates her own intricately detailed coloring books for adults, filling the pages with objects that catch her eye. There's plenty of inspiration in her new apartment--a beautiful carriage house belonging to Professor John Maxwell, Florrie's boss. He offers the property to Florrie rent-free with one condition--she must move in immediately to prevent his covetous sister and nephew from trying to claim it.

When the professor's nephew, Delbert, arrives, he proves just as sketchy as Florrie feared. But the following morning, Delbert has vanished. It's not until she visits the third floor of the store that Florrie makes a tragic discovery--there's a trap door in the landing, and a dead Delbert inside. The esteemed Professor Maxwell is an obvious suspect, but Florrie is certain this case isn't so black and white. Doodling clues, she begins to consider other colorful characters on the scene, all with a motive for murder. With a killer drawing closer, Florrie will need to think outside the lines . . . before death makes his mark again.

My take:  I really liked this cozy mystery.  So much happened in such a short of time that you had to pay attention.  I didn't know who was the murderer was until it was revealed and I was sad for the reason that was given for the murder.  There was a bit more innuendo than I liked but nothing was happening it was just insinuated.  

I received a review copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Banana Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

A romantic seven-day cruise is the perfect start to bakery owner Hannah Swensen’s marriage. However, with a murder mystery heating up in Lake Eden, Minnesota, it seems the newlywed’s homecoming won’t be as sweet as she anticipated . . . 

After an extravagant honeymoon, Hannah’s eager to settle down in Lake Eden and turn domestic daydreams into reality. But when her mother’s neighbor is discovered murdered in the condo downstairs, reality becomes a nightmarish investigation. Victoria Bascomb, once a renowned stage actress, was active in the theater community during her brief appearance in town . . . and made throngs of enemies along the way. Did a random intruder murder the woman as police claim, or was a deadlier scheme at play? As Hannah peels through countless suspects and some new troubles of her own, solving this crime—and living to tell about it—might prove trickier than mixing up the ultimate banana cream pie . .

My Take:  I have read all of the Hannah Swenson Mysteries and have enjoyed all of them but this one wasn't as enjoyable as the others.  I don't know if it was because I really don't like Hannah's new husband.  He is just a blah character or if it was that the mystery was blah.  I really find it hard to concentrate on the mystery as I didn't feel that invested in the character who was murdered or in the crime itself.  I did figure out the murderer before the reveal.  Seemed as if most of the characters that I have enjoyed in the past were left out of this one.  Did end on a cliffhanger?  Maybe for next book.  I will continue the series.

I received a review copy from Amazon Vine in Exchange For my honest opinion.

The Doomsday Bunker by William W. Johnstone

from Goodreads.com: From the bestselling authors of Black Friday, Tyranny, and Stand Your Ground comes a shattering novel of the last days of civilization and the final battle for humanity . . . 
DON T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY

Six weeks ago, former US Marine Patrick Larkin purchased shares in a massive high-tech, state of the art underground missile silo for his family. It was a decision based on easing his wildest, most unimaginable nuclear fears. But then reality strikes with devastating suddenness, razing cities in a searing flash across the nation, all of it witnessed by terrified Americans on TV and the Internet. No one knows who pulled the trigger. No one knows if the last day on Earth will ever end. But Larkin and his family are the lucky ones or so they think . . . 

Holed up in their fortified sanctuary, with a maximum capacity of three hundred people, the bunker is pushed to its limits and so are the people locked inside. Tensions rise. Panic erupts. Outside, armed marauders surround the bunker and they want in. Larkin has to convince the others they must work together as a team to survive. And they must kill without mercy to stay alive . . . 
MAYBE THE DEAD ARE REALLY THE LUCKY ONES . . . ."

My Take: This was a very interesting read.  It started out with things sounding very much like they are today.  Then the main character hears about this man who is retrofitting an old missile silo for a safe place for people to go if nuclear war occurs.  the cost is very high and not many people can fit in the silo.  He talks his wife and his daughter and her husband into buying shares.  Then the action really kicks up when nuclear war does occur and they have to get to the bunker.  The story continues from there with alot of the good in people and the bad in people display themselves in what transpires in the bunker in the days, weeks, months after the war.  I really enjoyed this book and stayed up late to finish it.  

I received a review copy from Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest opinion.

Everland by Wendy Spinale

From Goodreads.com:  London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders -- the German army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.

Unsure if the virus has spread past England's borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Gwen sets out to save her, she meets a daredevil boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Gwen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook? 

My take;  I found this to be a very entertaining book.  It is a take on Alice in Wonderland and it has quite a few of the characters from that book some with the same name others with different names.  Hook is a German Officer which the children nicknamed Hook using his initials.  He lost and eye instead of his arm because of his mother's cruelty.  Only children are left because when Germany attacked they released a virus that affected the adults and now the children are slowly dying.  It is set in a steampunk London.  I found it very good and enjoyed seeing the things that were the same between the two books.  If you liked Alice in Wonderland you should enjoy this book.

I received a review copy from Amazon Vine program in exchange for my honest review.