Colors of Truth by Tamera Alexander

Colors of Truth is the second in the Carnton series. While the McGavock family were actually people some of the people in this story were fictional characters. I'm not sure if Catriona O'Toole is based loosely on a real person. I know that the heroine in the first in the series is based on a real person. The bloody Civil War has ended and the South is picking up the pieces.
Catriona O'Toole and her younger sister Nora have come from Ireland in search of Ryan, her twin brother. She hopes to find him in Franklin, Tennessee. Catriona and her sister have suffered great losses in Ireland and hope life will be better once they find Ryan. That Nora was a handful. She added some spark to the novel with her antics. When they arrive in town they are met with people who consider them dirty Irish.

John and Carrie McGavock along with their surviving two children live at Carnton house. I loved the history part of this story where the McGavocks decided to dedicate a section of their plantation to reinter the bodies of the fallen Confederates into a final resting place.

Wade Cunningham comes to Franklin. He has secrets that he is keeping. At first I really didn't like his personality but he grew on me.

One thing I did not like about this novel is that it made it sound like slavery was the only issue that the war was about. Slavery was only one part. One of the reasons the South went to war was over states rights.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Marshmallow Malice by Amanda Flower

Another fun cozy mystery by Amanda Flower. Again Bailey finds a dead body and again it is at the church but this time on the church steps. Aiden always wants her to keep out of police business but she just can't help herself. She and her best friend Cass who is visiting from New York City set out to find out who did it.

In this book Juliet, Aiden's mother finally marries the preacher.  Juliet always manages to crack me up with her pet pig that she treats like her baby. Nevermind that everyone in the town thinks she is crazy for giving a pig that much attention. She simply does not care.  Bailey is left to babysit Juliet's pig while she is on her honeymoon.

I had no idea who was responsible for the murder. It kept me guessing until the end.  I like it when a mystery author keeps me guessing. With some mysteries I am able to figure it out but not with this one.

Marshmallow Malice is due to be released on May 26. Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

Botched Butterscotch by Amanda Flower.

Of all the cozy writer out there Amanda Flowers is one of my favorites. She has a knack for adding in humor in her books. Botched Butterscotch is in the Candy Shop Mystery series but it's a novella but that does not mean it is not enjoyable. Bailey doesn't find a body like she has in the previous books but some money raised for a charity goes missing and the person running the charity asks Bailey for her help. You see Bailey has gotten the reputation in the village for solving crimes and she does just fine solving the crime.

Botched Butterscotch is due to be released on May 1, 2020 by Kinsington Books.

Stay With Me by Becky Wade

Stay with Me is the first full length novel of A Misty Romance series. This books features Sam Turner and Genevieve Woodward. There was a prequel novel in which we meet Sam's best friend Eli but reading the prequel in not necessary to read Stay With Me. This book features three storylines. Genevieve was part of a group of church youth who survived a tragic event in South America. In this book there are short blips of each of the characters which I assume will be the basis for future books. Genevieve's older sister Natasha was also one of the miracle five. Genevieve is hiding a secret from her family, a secret that Sam quickly finds out when she accidentally crashes his guest house and takes a nap. Sam is not sure he can deal with her since it reminds him of something painful that happened to him in the past. You will quickly find out her secret that she is dealing with in the first few pages of reading this book. Genevieve's parents are also keeping a secret so Genevieve and her secret set out to find out what it is. This was my favorite part of the story since my favorite gene is suspense/mystery.

The reason I am not giving this novel five stars is because Genevieve annoyed me in much of the book. I just didn't like her personality but in the end I liked her better because she was able to be honest with everyone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy. Watch for May 5 for publication of this novel.

Dead End by Nancy Mehl

When I saw this book was available on Netgalley I jumped at the chance to read it. Nancy Mehl's books always keeps me in suspense and this series has been exceptionally good. Kaley Quinn has a lot of baggage to deal with. Who wouldn't if you had a serial killer as a father. In the latest case a body is discovered in a shallow grave. The way she was murdered lines exactly with Ed Oliphant's method of operation. A few other bodies were discovered that were done by the same person but a few older that were definitely the work of Ed Oliphant. What they are dealing with is a copycat killer but how in the world did the newest killer learn about Ed Oliphant's methods. These were details that were not revealed in the press so he must be getting the scoop directly from Ed Oliphant who is in prison. Kaley and Noah go on a quest to find answers.

There are some reviewers who said they guess who the copycat killer was but I thought it was someone else and I was wrong. Sometimes I guess but this time I did not. In this book Kaley was able to achieve healing. Here friendship with Noah developed into something more but was not the main focus in this book. I look forward to any new series this author will write and I'm sure she has more in the works.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bethany Publishers for providing me an ebook of this book to read and review. Dead End is due to be released on March 31, 2020

Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter

Carolina Breeze is the second in the Bluebell Inn series by Denise Hunter. The series follows three siblings who take over the family inn after their parents tragically died. They have their challenges running the inn mainly the lack of funds. Levi Bennett takes the burden of the finances not even telling his siblings the problems they are having with the finances. This causes him mental stress.
The female heroine is this story is Mia Emerson, an up and coming actress who comes to the inn as an escape from scandal. All of what happened is untrue but the media is quite ruthless in painting the scarlet letter on her. The week at Bluebell Inn was supposed to be her honeymoon but her finance broke off the engagement earlier.

I like both the characters of Levi and Mia. Levi was not quick to believe the lies about Mia. He went out of his way to protect and in the process fell in love with her. His only shortfall was taking the burden of the inn on himself. I loved Mia. She was a Hollywood star but she was down to earth and did not put on airs. No wonder Levi fell in love with her. She was a such a sweet loving person.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next book in the series which I presume will focus on the youngest Bennett sibling.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Carolina Breeze is due to be released on April 19, 2020.

Rock that Quilt Block

Rock that Quilt Block by Linda J. Hahn & Deborah G. Stanley is a wonderful collection of quilts building off one patter which is the Country Crown Block. I love to collect quilt books that catch my eye and this one does with the beautiful photographs of the quilts. Clear and concise instructions are very important in a quilt book and this one fits the bill.

Thanks to Netgalley and Fox Chapel Publishing for allowing me to review this book.  Expected publication date is April 7, 2020.