Lyn Reviews Charlotte MacLeod’s The Gladstone Bag

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The Gladstone Bag (Kelling & Bittersohn, #9)The Gladstone Bag by Charlotte MacLeod
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I rarely give 5 stars but Aunt Emma is worth 5 stars. What a character! Indomintable. No nonsense and SMART! Any wrongdoer with an ounce of sense would steer a wide path around her! Of course, the curse of wrongdoers is they always think they are smarter than everyone else! Such arrogance brings its own judgment. And Emma is not the only wonderful character in this book set on a Maine Island. Cousin Theonia comes and a lively bunch of nuts arrive to create as much chaos as they can!
Living as I do in the northwoods amid lakes and Great Lakes, I feel at home in this setting. And am familiar with summer places. Well, Emma volunteers to oversee an aging friend’s summer place and voila–summer is no longer dull. Sarah and Max are not available but consulted. Another lively interesting cozy mystery WITHOUT cats, dogs, baking, recipes, B&B’s, divorced heroines or magic. Wonderful!

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NEED COVER MODEL FEEDBACK–YET AGAIN!

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You know the drill-Here are three images. Which one catches your attention? Which one makes you want to know more? Which one evokes an emotion? Help Please!

#1

#2

#3

A few commenters will be randomly chose to receive a free ebook. So give your choice and add why! I like to know! Thanks in advance–Lyn

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Lyn Reviews Miranda James’ Digging Up the Dirt

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Digging Up the Dirt (Southern Ladies Mystery, #3)Digging Up the Dirt by Miranda James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One more interesting spin-off from Miranda James’ Cat in the Stacks series set in small college town, Athena, Mississippi. The DuCote sisters, the doyens of Athena, once again find themselves in the midst of murder. (They shouldn’t have hung around with Charlie Harris and Diesel, his Maine Coon!’-)

Anyway Hadley Partridge comes back to town 40 years after leaving abruptly. Evidently the intervening years have not dimmed his perception as a Missisippi Casanova.

The garden club ladies are lining up to see if he still has “it.” Then the bodies start stacking up.

Secrets and obsession set the stage for bad, bad, bad.

I usually don’t tattle but the copyeditor on this book evidently couldn’t keep the two brothers Hadley and Hamish straight. Some times Hadley became Hamish which was probably very disconcerting to him since his brother Hamish was dead! Oh, well… We all make mistakes!

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Lyn Asks the April Question

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Bayfield Lighthouse

The Apostle Island Lakeshore

Here’s my April Question—Have you made any plans for what you want to do when the pandemic ends?

I’ve decided that I’m going to compile a list of recommended home town cafes within a 2 hour drive radius. I love little small town cafes. So my husband and I will go to lunch to a different one of these. I want to go to at least two of them in a month through the summer and fall. We’re also going to go to Bayfield to the Apostle Island National Park in Lake Superior. We try to go every year but this year I think we’ll stay overnight and do more than just take one of the boat tours of the islands and lighthouses. It is a beautiful park—watery and striking. ‘-0

My latest book Uncertain Spring is set in Bayfield, though I renamed it Winfield so I could manufacture places and people of my own. ‘-)

Uncertain Spring is on pre-order till March 26th for $2.99. The price goes up soon after that date to $3.99. So if you’ve been reading my Northern Shore Intrigue series, this is book 5. (But if you haven’t, all my series books can be read in any order.) If you remember, last fall I asked the question: Can a Grandmother Be a Heroine in a Romance? 

The response was a RESOUNDING YES! I also wrote it because the people, the 

secondary characters that come as I write stories, want their stories told too. Many of them have unfinished business. And love can come at any age, right?

So I have written Lois’s story of love with suspense.

LYN COTE UNCERTAIN SPRING

Near midnight, a panicked dog barks frantically—not to frighten but to beckon.

Lois has just driven up to her summer home in a March snowstorm, coming north early to be near her adult daughters. Without hesitation she follows as the dog leads her through the thick pine forest. 

Finally she glimpses a young woman lying in the snow, unconscious. Lois taps in 911.

In the morning, the girl has wakened in what the doctor identifies as a state of dis-associative fugue, a form of amnesia. Lois takes in the girl as the local sheriff tries to find clues to her identity.

The nearby vet, a mountain of a man, helps Lois with the girl’s dog. He’s increasingly attracted to this compassionate but oh so refined woman while Lois finds herself drawn to him. Can they take a second chance on love? And why isn’t anyone searching for the girl? Or is someone?

Click here for more info or to purchase.

And what are your plans post-pandemic?–Lyn (A few commenters will receive the offer of a free ebook.)

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Lyn Reviews Miranda James’ Cat Me if You Can

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Cat Me If You Can (Cat in the Stacks Mystery #13)Cat Me If You Can by Miranda James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another mystery with Diesel, the Maine Coon, and Charlie Harris, the Mississippi archivist. This time we leave the familiar Mississippi town and the Athena college campus and go to the Carolinas. It’s a mystery lovers convention set up by the DuCote sisters. So the usual “suspects” are there, some secondary characters who we’ve met before and some new ones. Once again I wasn’t able to guess the right culprit in the murders. The most interesting pop-up character was a maid who claimed to be suffering sleep apnea. Guests would find her collapsed in their rooms–hmmmmm….

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Lyn Reviews Lori Oestreich’s Darling, All My Love

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Darling, All My LoveDarling, All My Love by Lori Oestreich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A lovely debut novel by Lori Oestreich. I know Lori but this is my honest review of her book. In this 1930’s historical, she takes on the differences that separate people and lets love overcome the obstacles. What was really special to me was that the story is based on her grandparents’ real love story. Elegant prose and vivid descriptions. I look forward to her next novel!–Lyn

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Lyn Asks the March Question

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My new series, “New Neighbor Lane” has a lot of pets in it, starting with a basset hound, Bummer, and two golden tabbies, Twinkie and Peanut Butter.

THE MARCH QUESTION: What was the name of your first pet? Tell us about how you came to have it and anything else you’d like to share!

My first pet was a gray, white and black striped domestic shorthair that my mother found for me. I don’t remember how she found him. I named Puddy Tat. You know why don’t you? Tweety Bird always said, “I t’ought I saw a puddy tat.” Remember Sylvester the Cat? My Puddy Tat was a great comfort to me as I went through grade school. And he was the cat who always climbed our Christmas tree. That was when people had glass ball ornaments! After the third time, my mom put a cup hook in the wall behind the Christmas tree and tied the tree to the wall. Problem solved. She loved animals and said trying to get a cat not to climb a tree–Impossible!

So please share your first pet story with me. (Some commenters will be offered a free ebook.)

And here’s a blast from the past-I only watched the first one. They go on and on!

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Lyn Asks the February Question-First Love?

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youth-640094_1280

Image by Amanda McConnell from Pixabay

My February Question is--What was your first love, I mean the “really” first one. I’m recalling my third grade crush at Glen Flora School. Oh, my, Benji had the cutest curly blond hair. And I knew he liked me because he would stand in line behind or in front of me. And he’d look at me and then fall straight the floor—not faint, just fall like a tree.

Oh, Mrs. Johnson didn’t like this! But I was so impressed. Fortunately Glen Flora was an older school and had wooden floors or Benji might have gotten a concussion all for love of me. ‘-) So please tell about that first crush. We could all use a smile, right?–Lyn (I randomly offer a free ebook to a few commenters.)

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Not Another Cover Model or Models?

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Yes, I need help. For the first time I’m thinking of using a couple on a cover. This new series “New Neighbors Lane” revolves around a life-altering event for a family. Each story shows the characters helping Habitat for Humanity build their first house that they’ll own! The first book is titled “Amy’s Forever Love” and features a young single mom with twin girls. Add in the hero’s basset hound and two cute golden tabby kittens and you have a story I hope you’ll enjoy! It’s a winter in Wisconsin story so here are three couples I’ve chosen.

AGAIN WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR IS A COUPLE THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO KNOW THEIR STORY, FACES AND A POSE THAT DRAWS YOU IN!

#1

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#3

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I’m always interested in why you choose 1,2, or 3. Again I’ll be gifting at least one commenter with a free ebook. So help me out and tell me what you REALLY think!–Lyn

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A Recipe That Made My Husband Nearly Dance with Joy! (And the January Question)

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I know that chocolate chip cookies aren’t Christmasy–like gingerbread, spritz etc. Tell that to my husband!

A friend (author Roxanne Rustand) gave me this recipe, but then another friend served us vanilla-flavored chocolate chip cookies (made by adding a box of vanilla pudding mix) and that gave me an idea.

I added more vanilla to the original recipe and when he tasted it, my husband nearly danced aorund the kitchen. And then I decided to toast the pecans before adding them in. Toasting nuts brings out their natural oils and FLAVOR. Then my husband did dance around the kitchen! (kidding–he was too busy chomping!)

So if your husband is like mine and wants chocolate chips cookies for Christmas, this one’s for you!

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 sticks butter, softened, no substitutions

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

two eggs 

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt 

3 tablespoons vanilla (Yes, THREE—you won’t believe how this increases FLAVOR!)

2 cups milk chocolate chips 

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups pecan halves or pecan pieces (toasted in the oven first-this also amps up the flavor)

Preheat oven to 365°. Cream butter and sugars, then add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Add to dry ingredients and mix. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes till lightly browned. (Don’t over-bake.) If you like them crisper, smash them somewhat flat and bake at 375° for 15 minutes.

Now for the January Question: What’s January like in your neck of the woods? Happy there or not? (Aren’t you glad I didn’t ask you about new year’s resolutions, such as exercise, calories, etc?:-) Or do you have any funny Januray stories? Please share a few commenters will be randomly chose for a free ebook. Happy SWEET Christmas!–Lyn

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