Book Review for Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano, Hannah Morrissey

 

The Holly & Mark Mystery Series #1

Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano, Hannah Morrissey

Published:  October 13, 2026 by Minotaur Books

Genre:  Christmas, Cozy Murder, Romance

 

Taken from Goodreads:  'Tis the season . . . for murder.

When Special Agents Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd report to the idyllic town of Christmas to investigate a very less than idyllic murder, they’re in for more than the average whodunnit.

Welcome to Christmas, a town so cozy and charming it could be the backdrop of a Hallmark movie, where crime is never in season and it’s the holidays all year round. So when a tourist is found stabbed to death by an icicle in the middle of the town nativity scene, the local police are out of their depth—after all, how do you find a criminal in a town where crime doesn't exist?

The stakes are the whole town is relying on Holly and Mark to solve the crime before the annual Jingle Bell Jubilee festival (which naturally the town's entire economic survival relies on), plus, whichever of them cracks the case will receive a promotion to Major Crimes—and there's only one spot.

Holly and Mark are both on thin ice after screwing up on the job. This assignment is their one shot at redemption, if they can put aside their bitter rivalry. And of course, it's not only their jobs on the line, it's their hearts, too—regrets of their holiday party hookup last year haunt them like ghosts of Christmas past, so they both want to wrap up this rom-com gone wrong as quickly as possible. But with just twelve days until the festival, the countdown to catch a killer—without killing each other—is on.

Co-authored by New York Times bestseller Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan series) and USA Today bestseller Hannah Morrissey (Black Harbor series), Home for the Homicides is a sexy, light-hearted romp, with a dash of merriment and murder.

My Thoughts:  A murder in the town of Christmas and they bring in the SBI to solve the crime before the Jingle Bell Jubilee festival. The murder is the reason Mark and Holly go to Christmas but there is so much more to their story.

This book had me laughing, smiling, and enjoying reading. The characters were quirky, fun and relatable. The town of Christmas was over the top but full of small town charm. I love seeing Mark and Holly make their way around town, questioning residents, visiting the shops, trying to figure out who the murderer is and why they killed the visitor to town. There were a few times that I felt Mark and Holly were missing obvious clue, they were SBI agents, how could they miss so many clues.

The narrator has some fun quips. I am not sure I have ever read a book that had a narrator, that was unique and something that did not actually add to the story but made me smile a few times.

Thank you Minotaur Books for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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Available Now!! A Very Good Bad Idea by Emma Chase

 

A Very Good Bad Idea by Emma Chase is now live! New York Times bestselling author Emma Chase is back with this red-hot romantic comedy about two rival real estate developers who inherit the same lucrative property in a small beach town. There’s just one catch: they have to live in it…together. No loopholes. No backing out. No leaving for four months. Damon Burke is intense, handsome and vengefully calculating—he's also certain he'll outlast his competitor. Jade Buchanan is brilliant, ruthless, and absolutely not losing to him. But the house seems to have a mind of its own. With faulty wiring, a leaking roof, drafty windows and the occasional wild-life infestation, it just might be trying to kill them. And the more Damon and Jade try to oust each other from the property, the more it brings them together. Sparks fly, tempers clash—but eventually, all their walls come crumbling down. It's a bad idea to get too close to your enemy. To care about them, need them, want them more than you've ever wanted anything. But when rivalry becomes something more than they ever expected, Damon and Jade discover love can be a very good bad idea. Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited Audiobook Narrated by: Sean Masters & Brooke Bloomingdale Visit Emma Chase’s website for buy links, or search A Very Good Bad Idea by Emma Chase on Amazon and Audible. Don’t forget to add A Very Good Bad Idea by Emma Chase to your Goodreads TBR! Amazon: https://amzn.to/4tIW2O0 Audible: https://bit.ly/4vv8aCw Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4tN6Tqi

Book Review for Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjen

 

Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjen

Published:   October 13, 2026 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Genre:  Mystery Thriller, Horror, Supsense

 

Taken from Goodreads:  After a true crime podcast reopens her cousin’s murder case, a woman must confront her past at a glamorous European castle-turned-hotel where she follows a trail of toxic family secrets and deadly lies.

When they were teenagers, Mia’s beloved cousin was murdered during their stay at an infamous castle in the Austrian Alps. As the only witness, Mia’s testimony put the killer behind bars, but it tore her life apart: the media accused her aunt, a controversial true crime author, of being involved. Now, a decade later, the murderer is appealing his conviction, and a popular true crime podcast starts covering the case, determined to exonerate him, and resurfacing lies about Mia’s family in the process.

Desperate to protect her aunt—and what she knows to be the truth—Mia returns to Austria. The castle is being revamped as a luxury hotel, and Mia gets a job as a nanny for the new owner, hiding in plain sight as she investigates, needing to set the story straight once and for all. But after someone mysteriously disappears on the property and sinister new evidence emerges regarding her cousin’s death, she realizes she might have accused the wrong man...and put her own life in danger.

 

My Thoughts:  A castle in the Austrian Alps has a history of murders.  The creepy, gothic, murder ridden castle is a perfect setting for a book.   Tara Goedjen did a wonderful job taking the reader right into the setting.  I could picture the rooms, the views, the creepiness of the castle.  I also knew that there was no way I would want to stay there.

The multiple POV’s kept me intrigued as to what I would learn next.   I liked the fact that the podcast kept up with the events and was a big part of the story.  The past was interesting; it showed that there was definitely more to the story back then.   The present was full of drama and secrets.  It seemed that everyone has a secret, a tie to the past, and a reason to be worried that they would be next to die.

I really enjoyed the book.  I was entertained and invested.   There was not a huge pull for me to sneak time to read more but when I read the book I did not want to stop.  

Thank you Atria Books for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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Meet thatAuthor (taken from her website):  Tara Goedjen writes atmospheric thrillers. Her forthcoming novel, PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY, set at a glamorous yet eerie hotel, is coming out with Atria this October. 

 Before writing books, Tara worked as a tennis coach (in Europe), as a college lecturer (in Australia), and as a fiction editor for a global publishing house.

 She has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama, and is also the author of two young adult mystery novels: No Beauties or Monsters and The Breathless. Her short fiction has appeared in Agni, BOMB MAGAZINE, New England Review, and Fairy Tale Review, among others.

 Tara loves traveling the world and talking about books. She currently lives with her family in the misty Pacific Northwest, where she can usually be found hiking through a mysterious wood while dreaming up her next novel.

 

 

Book Blitz for After the Fall by Wendy Roberts with a GIVEAWAY

 

After the Fall
Wendy Roberts
Publication date: October 9th 2026
Genres: Adult, Thriller

“This is an excellent read for those who want true psychological crime built around family secrets. Very highly recommended.”
Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite

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Amber clings to the wreckage of a shattered life; a hermit drowning in the ghosts of what used to be.

When someone dumps a mutilated body on her wilderness property, a cryptic clue makes her the prime suspect. To clear her name, she must confront the dark secrets of her tragic past while a shadowy executioner is closing in.

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EXCERPT:

When the blade of death whittled my family of three down to only me, I ran. Grief had scraped me empty, so fourteen months ago I fled to a shack in the northeastern Washington wilderness. I was seeking sanctuary and hoping the pines would mend my shattered soul. Maybe that was too much to expect of the trees. At least they didn’t judge the monument to my failure; a recycling bin overflowing with wine bottles.

The morning light struggled through my grimy windows and poked at my hangover. I took my coffee mug outside and stood on the splintered porch of the small cabin. The air was deceptively still and heavy, carrying the sharp scent of sunbaked pine needles and the silent, shimmering threat of an approaching scorcher of a day. My cabin sat at the dusty elbow of two dirt roads. Between my door and the ditch was half an acre of thigh-high, dewless grass that stood stiff and dry alongside leggy wildflowers and a single tree.

The western hemlock tried for the heavens at nearly two hundred feet, and it was the area under the tree that drew my critical gaze. A woman sat in the tall grass, back against the tree. What was someone doing way the hell out here?

With an eye roll I left the house and stormed toward her.

“Hey!” I shouted.

The strap of her checkered sundress had fallen from one shoulder and as I reached her, I lifted a hand to tap her arm. As my finger got close, a cloud of flies lifted and re-settled into gaping, torn flesh. The wind shifted direction and a thick miasma of putrid decay stung my nostrils. I stumbled backward as my stomach lurched.

Dead!

I couldn’t stop the tremor in my jaw; my teeth clattered together as I whispered broken words, “I-I should check to be sure . . .”

But my voice trailed off because nothing that smelled like that could be anything but gone.

Author Bio:

Wendy Roberts is an armchair sleuth, fan of all things mysterious but a huge chicken at heart. Her mind is often in the secretive, cloak and dagger world of intrigue while her physical presence is usually at home or on the road in her camper van. Wendy resides in Vancouver, Canada where she happily writes about murder and is always at work on her next novel.

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After the Fall Blitz

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Book Review for Murder on 34th Street by Mariah Fredericks

 

Murder on 34th Street by Mariah Fredericks

Published:  October 6, 2026 by Minotaur Books

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Christmas, Holiday Mystery

 

Taken from Goodreads:  From the author of The Girl in the Green Dress comes a delightful and captivating novel about a fictional murder mystery at the iconic Macy's parade leading up to the holidays in historic New York City.

New York, 1932. Grace Verlander is the secret beating heart of Macy’s. She’s the “assistant to the assistant to the someone who’s in charge”, the go-to person for keeping everything running smoothly behind-the-scenes at the famous, bustling store.

It’s not every day you get a letter from Santa Claus, but three days before the Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, Grace arrives at work to find a note from the store Santa Claus in her someone has sent him a death threat. Shocked, Grace promises to look into it and speaks to the store detective about the parade’s security, confident that they’ve found a solution that will keep everyone safe. But on the day of the parade, despite all their precautions, a dead body is found in the holiday section of the store.

Using her wits and deep knowledge of the ways of the place, Grace is determined to find the killer and seek justice—not just for the dead man, but to save the reputation of this iconic store from ruin.

Steeped in glittering glamor and nostalgic wonder, this is a remarkable, unpredictable mystery set in the evocative world of one of New York’s most memorable institutions.

 

My Thoughts:  Murder on 34th Street is Christmas, historical fiction, and murder mystery all in one. This might be the first time I have read these genres together in one book and I really enjoyed it. I love the Macy’s Day Parade and that was a big part of this book.

There are twists and turns in this book that I never saw coming. Who would want to murder the Macy’s store Santa? The biggest twist… I had an idea that the book would go there but it was so entertaining getting to that point.

Grace works hard to follow the clues. I liked that she questioned many people but went into the questioning assuming they were innocent. She truly believed in the people she worked with and wanted to see the best in them. She is a glass half full person and someone I could relate to.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Book Blitz for Death Hits the High Notes by GG Calpo with a GIVEAWAY

 

Death Hits the High Notes
GG Calpo
(The Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery Series)
Publication date: October 7th 2026
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery, Mystery

Trouble is brewing at Whitman’s Port Choral Society as choir members drop dead and Detective Jonathan Storm raises more questions than answers in his investigation. When Stefan, the choir’s soloist, gets weaker by the day, Meg and her friends take matters into their own hands. And if a murder investigation was not enough to elevate anyone’s blood pressure, Meg finds herself in danger tied to her past that she’s struggling to understand.
Will Meg and her friends stop the killer before Stefan becomes the next victim—and before Meg’s past catches up with her?
Join these golden-age sleuths as they follow the clues, protect their own, and prove that friendship is the strongest weapon against a killer.

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EXCERPT:

There were two new faces I didn’t recognize from last year’s concert. They looked familiar, though I couldn’t place where I had seen them before. The conductor stood in front, his back to us as he summoned the choir’s eyes to him with a few taps of his baton. He took a deep breath, synchronizing the choir’s breathing to his own. Gesturing with his baton, he released the soprano’s voice—rich, powerful, and throbbing with emotion. The beginning strains of the solo filled the auditorium. Holding his right hand at waist level, the conductor flicked his right index finger left, then right, counting the beats.

“That’s Amanda, in case you didn’t know,” Liz told me behind her raised hand.

I nodded and tried to stop my giggles when Liz’s shoulder hit mine.

“Will…you…shut…up?” Barbara widened her eyes more with each word.

Liz waved her hands in surrender, twitched her body deeper into the chair, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. If it weren’t for the trembling of her shoulders, Liz could have fooled us with her pose of deep listening. But we knew her, and all she got from Barbara was another shove. Despite her unfailingly put-together appearance—manicured nails and hair always expertly cut and dyed—Liz hadn’t left her teen years behind. We must have been making a racket because a woman three rows down turned around and glared at us.

Liz and I looked at each other and decided to settle down and listen. I swayed, imagining my soul lifting in prayer, soaring past the lights of the auditorium and ever more upwards into the wide open sky beyond the school building. Then it happened. One minute I was up in the heavens, one with the song; the next minute I was crashing without a parachute.

The glorious voice stopped, leaving echoes of the high note ringing in the auditorium. A harsh cough sounded, jarring and unexpected. The accompanist stopped. The conductor jerked forward while the soprano toppled gracelessly to the floor, face down. Music scores fluttered in the air before landing gently around the stricken woman. A choir member huddled over her while the rest stared in shock.

“She’s not breathing!” The grief-stricken wail rattled my bones.

Barbara jumped up from her chair, her eyes fixed on Stefan, who stood frozen in his place, his eyes fixed on Amanda.

Amanda…who wasn’t moving.

I whipped my phone out of my bag and dialed nine-one-one. How long would help take to get here? Stefan moved to where Amanda was, kneeling to touch her on her shoulder. What was Stefan waiting for? Why was he not giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? A few other choir members crept nearer but then backed away when Stefan waved them off. Start CPR, I wanted to shout, but couldn’t because the 911 operator had picked up my call.

Then the door to the auditorium opened, and in walked Edna, former third-grade teacher of Post Elementary School and the last of our group. One look at the stage and the woman laid out on the floor had Edna gasping, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Oh no, not another murder?”

Author Bio:

GG Calpo is a retired lawyer and accountant who traded contracts and numbers for the far more enjoyable chaos of fictional crime. Now she writes cozy whodunits featuring warm-hearted golden-aged sleuths who’ve seen it all, heard it all and will investigate a murder with zero hesitation. She loves stories where the stakes are personal, family and friendships are paramount, with characters who refuse to follow the outline and endings that pull the rug out. When not plotting twisty crimes—on paper only, of course—she spends her time reading, crocheting blankets and sweaters for her five grandchildren, watching mystery TV shows and taking long walks in her neighborhood. She lives in Central New Jersey with her husband and two corgis, Whiskey and Nugget.

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Death Hits the High Notes Blitz

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Book Blitz for Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead by H.J. Ramsay with a GIVEAWAY

 

Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead
H.J. Ramsay
Publication date: October 6th 2026
Genres: New Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance

CeCe Campbell wakes on the asphalt of a mall parking lot with two missing years and a body that no longer feels like her own. Infected with the Kill Virus on her 18th birthday, she’s among the first to be cured.

Rehabilitation teaches CeCe how to walk, how to speak, how to exist in a world rebuilding itself, but it cannot return what she lost. Her mother is dead. Her brother is missing. And the last memory before the dark is a bite she cannot escape.

When CeCe unexpectedly meets Derrick—the boy who infected her—she’s torn between anger and a strange, undeniable connection. Derrick doesn’t remember what he did. CeCe does, and the truth of that moment is something he’ll never get. Not when he already took everything from her.

But if there’s to be life after the cure, CeCe will have to unwind the past, face what happened the night that bound them together, and decide if love and forgiveness can heal wounds deeper than the ones left by the undead.

Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead is a haunting post-apocalyptic love story about guilt, survival, and choosing connection in a world where nothing can be undone.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

CeCe opens her mouth to ask for a ride, but by the time she gets the words out, Savannah is already jumping into the van. Her aunt pulls away from the curb.

Derrick looks toward the van and then at CeCe. He smiles. It’s probably meant to be charming, but she finds nothing about him appealing.

He steps toward her.

Why did she insist on walking home? If her dad was here, she’d already be in his car. Now she has to find a way around Derrick. Or maybe she doesn’t. She could wait him out. He’ll have to leave eventually.

CeCe turns back to the school. Just as she’s about to reach for the door, it swings open and Olivia slithers out. They’re so close that CeCe can see every strand of Olivia’s bangs—and something underneath. A scar? Does that mean Olivia isn’t a Survivor? She’ll have to think about that later. Not now.

Olivia inches to the side. The moment she’s out of the way, CeCe lunges for the handle, but it shuts before she can grab it. She yanks. It doesn’t budge. The damn thing’s on auto-lock.

CeCe presses her forehead against the locked door. Did Olivia do that on purpose? Knowing it would leave her trapped out here? She senses Olivia’s stare crawling over her—and Derrick’s.

She can’t deal with this. Can’t deal with them. Her hand clamps around the latch, unable to move. She just wants to go home.

“Hi again,” she hears Derrick say from behind her.

She groans. “Are you going to be here every day?”

“Ah, she speaks. I wasn’t sure if, you know, there was something wrong with your voice.”

“I speak,” she snaps as she turns, half expecting to see Olivia standing beside him, but she’s already down the stairs, heading toward the same rumbling truck. At least that’s one problem solved.

Author Bio:

HJ Ramsay holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is an award-winning author. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Gold Man Review, a West Coast literary journal, and has a background in Psychology and Criminal Justice with dual bachelor’s degrees. Passionate about storytelling that explores the human experience, she crafts narratives that blend emotion, imagination, and depth. When she’s not writing or editing, she enjoys diving into the worlds of speculative fiction and literary fiction alike.

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Book Review for Mistletoe All the Way by Lauren Blakely

 

Evergreen Falls #3

Mistletoe All the Way by Lauren Blakely

Published:  October 6, 2026 by Atria Books

Genre:  Holiday Romance, Christmas

 

Taken from Goodreads:  From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely, a small-town spicy, holiday romance about a guarded cowboy veterinarian and a Christmas-loving optimist who team up for a town holiday pageant.

Dr. Noah Lennox has three Christmas rules—avoid his hometown, avoid being mistaken for his internet-famous twin, and definitely avoid his smug cousin, Stephen. But when his beloved grandfather announces he’s retiring and leaving the family’s beloved sleigh-ride horse farm to either Noah or Stephen, Noah finds himself snowed in back home in Evergreen Falls and determined to fight for the place that means everything to him. The problem is, the town doesn’t exactly welcome its resident Scrooge with open arms.

Eloise Langston, a sunny Tourism Bureau hopeful, needs a win to land her dream job—and health insurance. Her Hail Mary plan? Turn Noah into Mr. Christmas to help the town’s Mr. Holiday Pageant draw record crowds. Transforming a camera-shy cowboy vet into a small-town sweetheart isn’t exactly in her job description—but neither is falling for him.

As sleigh bells ring and sparks fly, Noah and Eloise find themselves tangled in twinkle lights, fake pageants, and one very real attraction. But with the farm’s future at stake, Stephen's scheming, and Eloise’s own career on the line, there’s a blizzard of reasons to put their growing feelings on ice. Then again, if you can’t fight for love at the most wonderful time of the year, you don’t deserve the kiss waiting under the mistletoe.

My Thoughts:  Lauren Blakely wrote a cozy Christmas romance set in a small town full of Christmas spirit. I love the town’s residents and how they spread their cheer without holding back. The Mr. Holiday contest involved the entire town but featured just a few men, who were all wanting the title for different reasons.

Noah entered to prove to his grandfather that he is the right person to leave the family business to. Little did he know how much the contest would change his outlook and improve his life. With Eloise’s help he has a real shot at winning and getting the family business.

Mistletoe All the Way is a grumpy/sunshine Christmas romance. There is a mystery to solve, some twists and turns that surprised me…especially the ending. I enjoyed this book, even reading it while the temperatures were in the 80’s in my town. There is never a wrong time to read a Christmas book.

Thank you to the author for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Release Blitz for Off the Post by Sierra Hill

 Off the Post by Sierra Hill is now live!

Her sunshine is a game winning shot against this grumpy goalie.

What fans don’t know about Vikings’ goalie Soren ‘the Wolf’ Wolfenspiel is that he hides behind the mask of grumpy loner to protect himself from the pain of emotional connection.

That way, he won’t get hurt again.

But then he meets his teammate’s sister, Ali St. Francis. 

Ali’s move to Vancouver to work for her brother’s foundation is her new lease on life. She wants to bury herself in her new job and forget about the mistakes of her past.

When she recruits her brother’s teammates to raise money using their celebrity status, she finds herself engaging the reluctant and enigmatic goalie to participate.

It doesn’t take long for Ali’s sunshine in a bottle to melt the icy veneer of the goalie. 

But will their casual (and secret) fling threaten to turn into something more and snare this lone wolf in his very own net?

  Download today!

Amazon US: https://bit.ly/4wsacV9   

Apple Books: https://bit.ly/4c4eqKa  

Nook: https://bit.ly/3RTBMeO  

Kobo: https://bit.ly/4x5xvnB   

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Cover Reveal for Captain Meets Captain by Lottie McLaren

 

Captain Meets Captain
Lottie McLaren
Publication date: November 16th 2026
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance, Sports

Synopsis:

Atlas

Did I mean to rant on TV about the inconvenience of sharing the ice with San Jose’s brand-new women’s hockey team?

No, of course not. I’m not an idiot, whatever my second-grade teacher might have written in my quarterly progress reports.

But I probably should have noticed my teammates’ frantic arm movements. And I definitely shouldn’t have blurted out that I’m actually supportive of women’s hockey because I’m dating Diana Marsh, the captain of the San Jose Pumas.

Because the fact is… we’re not dating. Even if maybe we sort of did, uh, sleep together. Before I ghosted her.

But now our teams’ billionaire owner is eager for our ‘romance’ to be public, and since my face is all over his health app, I can’t say no to him.

Besides, the Pumas will get publicity, and my reputation as captain of the San Jose Jackals will be salvaged.

Hopefully.

Once I explain the fake dating plan to Diana.

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