The Chocolate Garden

    In this blog post, I reviewed Ava Miles’s The Chocolate Garden, the 2nd installment in the Dare River contemporary romance series, this beautiful love story will sweep you off your feet and make you cry tears of joy mixed with sadness.  Tammy Lynn Hollins has a vision for her dreams. She’s newly divorced and a mother of two young kids. But with her mother berating her and her self-esteem, it makes her feel worthless. Her mother didn’t believe her when she told her about the abuse she succumbed to from her previous husband. And she didn’t think a woman like her would be successful as a visionary gardener. When John Parker McGuinness, her brother’s best friend, asks for her to make a chocolate garden for him, she had a perfect vision for it as he was her first client. This started a wonderful building relationship between them as they grew closer together. Things changed, when there was a break-in at her brother’s rental home they stayed at, and concerns about the leak about the monetary payoff for her divorce. To provide a safety net for Rory and Annabelle, they crafted a story about the chocolate garden and temporarily stayed at John Parker’s house when they fell in love. But things changed again, when her mother did an about-face who took her side when she faced her ex, and applauded her efforts on her newfound career as an independent business woman. Though they love each other profoundly, the talk about marriage has caused a rift between them, when she’s not ready to take that step. But maybe JP can maybe show her a new outlook of them as a couple to change things for themselves to have a brighter future.  

This beautiful tear-jerking and heartfelt contemporary romance will pull your heartstrings real taut and move you to pieces. I instantly cared for Tammy and her feelings for John Parker. She had been through a lot as a young Southern woman who wanted to make a name for herself and her family.  John Parker is a handsome and sweet piece of eye candy as well. I liked the same story of her sister, Amelia Ann, and her crushing feelings for Clayton, that builds into the third installment of the series. I loved the idyllic locations of Meade and Dare River County between Mississippi and Tennessee. The scenic settings were mesmerizing and picturesque. 

I rated this book, five out of five stars. If you love beautiful love stories that moves with your heart with non-stop romantic and dramatic action and suspense, The Chocolate Garden will melt your heart like chocolate. This book is recommended for fans of Jill Shalvis, Robyn Carr, Kristan HIggins, and Hallmark movies. 

The Lost

    In this blog post, I reviewed Jeffrey B. Burton’s the Lost, the third installment in the Mace Reid K-9 mystery thriller series, this spine-tingling thriller is twisted and full of suspense on every page. It all started for Mace and Kippy Gimm, when they received a phone call about a kidnapping. Kennneth Druckmann’s daughter Eleanor has gone missing. While Mace and Kippy search for the missing girl with Vira, they later learn that it’s more complicated than that with her father’s sole involvement in this sadistic plot from the beginning when they tracked him down, until his own untimely demise. Temporarily, Eleanor finds out that her former nanny Britt helped keep her safe from the bad guys, though Britt was already into the thick of things. As the search is on to find Britt and Elle, so were the bad guys who had other plans for them to take them to Russia and beyond. In a race against time, Mace, Kippy, and Vira were in hot pursuit of them, and later discovered a shocking twist in the end. 

This compelling mystery thriller will keep you at the edge of your seat with full-throttle suspense on every page. I cared about Mace and his delightful K-9 dog pack with Vira leading the way. He cares about his job and his dogs, especially Sue who was injured from a previous case, and has strong feelings for his partner, Kippy. A possible good love match in the end. The scenic settings from Lake Michigan to Lake Geneva and in Detroit were picturesque for the location. 

I rated this book, four out of five stars, because I love K-9 stories featuring lovable dogs of all breeds to look for missing people or buried remains. If you love heart-pounding mystery thrillers with non-stop suspense and high-octane dramatic action, you’ll love the Lost and other books in the series. This book is recommended for fans of Margaret Mizushima, Nora Roberts’s “the Search”, David Rosenfelt, and Alex Kava.