Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

 If you are looking for an inspirational novel that will stay with you long after you have finished the book, I would highly recommend Theo of Golden by Allen Levi.   

Summary of the Book

The book begins when Theo arrives in a Georgia town of Golden on the Oxbow River.  It is a small college town and Theo, a 86-year-old Portuguese-born gentleman, soon settles in and get to know the towns people.  He asks lots of questions but tells very little about himself. 

His walks lead him to a coffee shop called the Chalice where he has a conversation with the owner and sits to enjoy his coffee and the 92 pencil portraits that hang on the wall.  Theo discovers that they are all portraits of people of Golden drawn by a local artist Asher Glissen.  Although they are for sale no one has bought any and they made Theo very curious about the people in the pictures.  Each time Theo comes for his coffee he is intrigued by them.

Theo decides that he wants the people in the portraits to have their portrait so one by one he purchases the portraits and arranges to meet the people in the portraits on a bench by the fountain.  There he listens to their stories and gives each one their drawing.  Through these bestowals we meet the interesting people of the town.  The recipients include people of all walks of life.  There is a bartender, retirees, a homeless woman named Ellen, a street musician, a student cellist, a custodian, children and a single father.  One by one Theo makes a difference in the lives of many people.

Underneath it all the book is about quiet generosity and seeing and being seen.  

There is much more to the book and the last third of the book has some revealing twists.  I don't want to spoil the book by giving hints to those revelations.  To some the book may seem to start slow but I didn't see it that way.  I would encourage you to read it to the end.  You will be glad you did.

Books Road to Success

 This book, which is the author's first novel, was first self-published in 2023. It soon became popular through word of mouth and went viral on the internet.  Then in 2025 it was republished by Atria Books and quickly became a #1New York Times best seller. 

 I heard about it from a friend who had read it soon after it came out.

 I found it to be a delightful book that has so much in it that I will read it again and again.

The Book on Amazon

The book can be found on Amazon in hardcover, paperback Kindle, or audible versions.  Here is a link Theo of Golden

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The Friend of the Family by Dean Koontz

 

Unlike his contemporary fiction, Dean Koontz writes this story from a historical viewpoint. The story’s timeframe begins in 1930 and continues through most of the 1930s decade and into the early days of World War II. 

Synopsis of this Novel

The Friend of the FamilyCheck Price

Alida is born with an oddity and her family rejects her, selling her,  as a very small child, to the owner of a traveling carnival. There she is put on display in the sideshow of the “Museum of the Strange”. Her only recourse to ignoring people staring at her all day was to lose herself in books.  

After years with the carnival, the owner, Forest Farnam, sells out and moves his best ‘oddity’, Alida, to the speakeasies circuit. 

Adida has resigned herself to this lonely life of being exploited as she doesn’t know there could be more to life for her. Then she is rescued by two compassionate strangers, Franklin and Loretta Fairchild.

The Fairchild’s are movie makers who do well for themselves due to people needing movies as an escape in this Depression-era time.  They see Alida as a gifted and extremely well-read girl in need of a loving touch and a family. Alida finds the love and family she has always dreamed about, but never thought she would find, with this loving couple and their three very precocious and imaginative children. 

Despite everyone in the family being very generous and accepting, Alida knows she is still a very different kind of girl. She begins having dreams that are unsettling to say the least, and often feel threatening. She fears these vivid dreams are also warnings and she feels that it is the Fairchilds who may need rescuing. 

Alida will do anything to keep her newfound family safe. How she goes about this gives us an ending that is definitely Koontz! 

Synopsis

This is an historical novel that will give you a look at life in 1930s America from a different perspective. It also gives you a story about an unusual girl who discovers her mysterious purpose in life surrounding family, sacrifice and love. 

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*Book Review of “The Friend of the Family” was written by Dean  Koontz

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Restoration Garden

 

I had thoroughly enjoyed the book The Last Secret of Lily Adams by Sara Blaydes, that I went searching for other books she might have written. I came across Restoration Garden and also enjoyed this book.  Sara Blaydes has a writing style that fully emersed me into the storyline of the novel. In this book there is again a secret that has been hidden for years, and the book leads you in a path to the discovery of the secret. The book combines mystery, romance and intrigue both in the present day and in the war-torn Europe of the 1940s.

Book Summary

The book begins when Julia Esdaile, a landscape architect, is hired to restore a historic garden at Havenworth Manor in England.  She is hired to restore the gardens for Margaret Clarke, the feisty 92-year-old lady of the manor.  Andrew does not know the reason for the restoration, he just knows that it is very important to his godmother, Margaret. Over the last 80+ the garden has fallen into disrepair.  It is now a jumble of weeds and snarls of bramble.

The book goes back between the present day with Julia and the restoration and the 1940's when Margaret and her older half-sister Irene lived at the manor. There is a portion of the story that deals with children that are sent from London to the countryside to avoid the bombings and then there is the story of Irene.  Irene is an aspiring artist from America who is brought to England when her father marries Margaret's mother.  She dreams of being in the world outside of Havenworth, but wartime has made that impossible for the 17-year-old.  She also dreams of the handsome RAF office James.  When she turns 18, she escapes Havenworth and follows her dreams, but she is then forced to make some hard choices, and she vanishes from Margarets world forever.  

The book opens up the gardens as Julia restores them and helps to uncover the secrets that have been hidden all of these years.

I really enjoy reading the book and found it fascinating.

Books on Amazon by Sara Blaydes

You can find these books on Amazon in audio, paperback and on Kindle.

Restoration Garden

The Last Secret of Lily Adams

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Sewing Stories from the Crafting Journey of Wednesday Elf

A Craft Review

Let Me 'Sew you a Stitch' About My Crafting Adventures 

My hobby of choice is fiber crafting and has been since I was a youngster. My crafting journey has led me through the field of fiber arts in many different areas.

As a child I began with embroidery. I also learned the basics of knitting and enough about sewing to sew simple things, but never became an expert. As the years went by, my primary focus became working with yarn, primarily in crochet and needlework.

Sewing - The First Hobby of my Fiber Arts Journey

My wonderful grandmother, who was an expert seamstress and quilter, taught me to sew. She made most of our clothes when we were children, but I never acquired sewing skills even close to hers. I did manage to make quite a few simple dresses and such for myself, and later dozens of outfits for my children when they were very small.

The summer before my daughter started kindergarten, I found a bunch of one yard/one-half yard pieces of fabric on sale (it doesn't take a lot of fabric for a tiny 5-year-old) and she was the 'best-dressed' little girl in school, with about 3 dozen outfits to choose from. Since I ended up with 2 boys and only one girl, it was great fun sewing for her.

Daughter Kimberly Modeling Raggedy Ann Dress

The sewn outfit I was proudest of was a dress with pinafore decorated with a Raggedy Ann applique (shown in this picture of Kimberly when she was 6), as well as a duplicate dress for her 6-year-old cousin as a Christmas gift that year. 

I saved that dress for years, hoping to pass it on to a granddaughter, but I ended up with 5 grandsons instead. :-)

Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,

The days pass quickly when I am sewing.

~Author Unknown

You, Too, Can Learn to Sew

If you don't have a talented grandmother or other relative to teach you to sew, a beginner's guide to the basics of sewing can be a tremendous help. To begin learning the art of sewing, start with the basics.

Sew Everything Workshop: The Complete Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide with 25 Fabulous Original Designs, Including 10 PatternsCheck Price

 

Sew Everything Workshop: The Complete Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide with 25 Fabulous Original Designs, including 10 Patterns.

Written in the language of today's creators, this hold-your-hand beginners sewing guide teaches you everything you need to know from winding a bobbin to sewing a dart to customizing a pattern. Currently in the top 10 in beginner sewing books.

 

First Step to Sewing.... - You Need a Sewing Machine

My sewing machine is a Brother I have had for more than 40 years. This new model has so much more than my old 'basic' sewing machine, and is currently on a terrific sale!

Brother CS7000X Computerized Sewing and Quilting Machine, 70 Built-in Stitches, LCD DisplayCheck Price

 

The Brother CS7000X Computerized Sewing and Quilting Machine comes with 10 sewing feet plus a quilt guide. It includes a wide table for larger projects such as quilts. 

Summary

If you love to sew as your craft of choice, come tell me your stories in the comments. I love hearing from fellow crafters. 

Related Sewing Reviews:

• Summertime Stitching Craft Review by Wednesday Elf
• When is the Best Time to Learn Something New - September Sewing Month by Olivia Morris
• Let's Sew Together and Build Lasting Memories by Coletta Teske

*My Sewing Journey Story was written by (c) Wednesday-Elf

**This post was originally published on November 1, 2014 on another site no longer in existence.

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The Sheep Detectives Movie Review

For those who enjoy a cozy mystery, The Sheep Detectives movie is for you!

Our family sat down together to watch The Sheep Detectives and we all loved it.  Even Watson, our Labrador retriever was captivated by the big talking sheep.  

Hugh Jackman is, of course, perfect in the part of the shepherd.  He really does exude a caring personality.  I couldn't help but think how ironic it was that Wolverine (a Norwegian word that means "little wolf") would be a sheep shepherd.  I had to remind myself that a wolverine is really a part of the weasel & ferret family, not the canine wolf family, but the wordplay was mentally just too much fun to ignore. 

I will warn you in advance, there are a few parts that are very sad.  I guess that is to be expected in a murder mystery, but I was still touched by the sense of loss.  The film does an excellent job of portraying the sheep with sensibilities.  We all know there are "pets" that form a special bond with their people.

In addition to Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson is in the movie.  She plays the part of the attorney.  As always, she is exceptional.  There are several other actors in the movie that I liked and will be watching for in the future.  It really is a great cast of characters! 

In the last few years, there haven't been very many movies in the theaters that made me want to get out and go see them.  The Sheep Detectives was one that would have been worth venturing out to see.  However, it wasn't necessary to leave home since the movie is currently being streamed on Amazon Prime.

 

The Sheep Detectives

 The Sheep DetectivesCheck PriceGeorge Hardy is a shepherd that is loved by his flock.  Not only does he feed them, provide them with a safe home, and give them medicine as needed, he has given them all names.  He also reads to them every night, like many of us do for our own children. It is clear he loves his sheep.  

When George is murdered, there are a few people in town who are suspects, but he also has two children (twins) who are named in his will.  Because he gave his children up for adoption when his wife died in childbirth, he doesn't know them and neither does anyone else.  Only the attorney, Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson), has been in contact with them.

The one police officer in town has never investigated a murder and clearly has no idea how to even begin.  That is where the sheep detectives must get involved.  Thanks to the books that George has read to them, they do know a lot about investigating a murder, but first they must get up the courage to venture into town to help.

The interaction between the intelligent, "communicating" sheep and the people in this movie is quite precious.  I doubt I will ever look at sheep the same way again.

__________

I highly recommend this entertaining movie as a family movie.  We had 3 generations of people and a puppy watching.  We all loved it!  

 

More Great Movies Reviewed

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Shattered Mirror by Iris Johansen - Book Review

Author Iris Johansen is a prolific writer of over 100 books. She began with romance novels in the early 1980s and eventually moved to suspense/thriller novels.  Many of her books are standalone thrillers and historical romance novels, which include quite a few short series (two or three books). 

Johansen is best known for her Eve Duncan forensic thriller series which, to date, includes 31 books. The series began in 1998 with The Face of Deception. Her main character, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, reconstructs faces to solve crimes, especially those involving missing children. The book, Shattered Mirror, is Book #23 in the 31-book series, and was published in 2018.

Genre: Murder/Thriller:  Includes romantic suspense with a touch of the paranormal.

Place Setting: The action primarily takes place near Atlanta, Georgia, with side scenes in New York City and New Orleans.

Main Character:  Eve Duncan, Forensic Sculptor

Secondary Characters: All of her family (husband, son, adopted daughter, their Scottish friend who has been featured in several earlier Eve Duncan novels), plus several additional characters, some likable, some not.

Synopsis of Shattered Mirror

Shattered Mirror (Eve Duncan Book 23)Check Price

As the story begins, Eve Duncan receives a beautifully-wrapped package which contains a skull and a two-sided mirror with one side broken. Eve feels compelled to reconstruct this skull and uncover the person’s identity in hopes of learning why the skull was given to her with no explanation, and what purpose the scattered mirror holds. 

As she finishes, she discovers the skull is that of a beautiful woman, but her identity remains unknown.  Shortly thereafter, her adopted daughter arrives from college for a visit, bringing her roommate home with her. Shockingly, the visiting roommate is an exact match to the newly reconstructed skull and it turns out that the roommate is her identical twin. 

Searching for answers, Eve and her family have  to work quickly to discover who is behind the murder of the twin, particularly because more of Eve’s family is now threatened by the killer who is willing to destroy anyone who gets in the way of him reaching a goal that involves avenging the death of his own twin.

The lethal chase involves several locations, beginning at their home near Atlanta, Georgia and ending in New Orleans.

Summary

This explosive and high-stakes thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as Eve, her Atlanta police detective husband, Joe, their Scottish friend, their adopted daughter and the daughter’s roommate, and even Eve & Joe’s 6-year-old son, all have roles to play to prevent the deadly danger the family faces.

For More Iris Johansen Book Reviews, Click Here.

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*Book Review of “Shattered Mirror” is written by Wednesday Elf

From the Eve Duncan Series of books:

Eve Duncan Series by Iris Johansen Complete 24 Book Set [see title legend in description]Check PriceIris Johansen 3 Book Set (Eve Duncan Forensics Thriller Series: Taking Eve, Hunting Eve, Silencing Eve)Check Price11 volumes of Eve Duncan Series setCheck Price

 

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You’re Only Old Once! By Dr. Seuss - A Book Review

The Doctor is in...Dr. Seuss that is! 

Dr. Seuss was one of the best children’s authors of all time, right up there with A.A. Milne (Winnie-The-Pooh) and Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit). Seuss wrote over 60 children’s books and is as equally well known for his final one ( Oh, the Places You'll Go! published in 1990, the year before he died) as he was for his first (The Cat in the Hat). 

And then….. He wrote one for what he called ‘obsolete children’. 

Synopsis of You’re Only Old Once: A Book for Obsolete Children

You're Only Old Once!: A Book for Obsolete ChildrenCheck Price

As Theodor (Ted) Geisal entered his 80s, he began treatment for oral cancer and age-related problems. He soon became tired of a social life that seemingly consisted entirely of doctor’s visits, long waits at the hospital and time spent navigating the entire medical complex! Out of this came the idea for a humorous take on aging and healthcare—something almost everyone of a certain age deals with these days. 

During his waiting times at doctor’s offices, Theodor Seuss Geisel began sketching out a silly character to poke fun at this ‘medical madness’. Then he used his sharp wit and delightfully colorful imagination to describe an elderly patient who is poked, prodded and ogled during his stay at the “Golden Years Clinic on Century Square for Spleen Readjustment and Muffler Repair.” 

 The story is told in the Dr. Seuss style of whimsical, nonsensical poetry with a combination of a "galloping" rhythm (the anapestic tetrameter) and deeper life lessons.

Summary

You’re Only Old Once! was published on Ted Geisal’s 82nd birthday ~ March 2, 1986 ~ and subsequently became a bestseller.

Written during the time he was dealing with his own health issues, Seuss wanted to give a light-hearted look at the necessity of medical checkups and the indignities of aging. Comical and relatable to us Senior Citizens, aging Baby Boomers, and anyone having to deal with medical issues ~ always a stressful subject. 

The book is a treat for readers of all ages and makes the perfect gift for retirement, birthdays, graduations, holidays, and anyone needing a little pick-me-up after a doctor’s visit! 

The book ends on an upbeat note: 

“You are in pretty good shape for the shape you are in," 

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*You're Only Old Once! book review was written by Wednesday Elf

The First and the Last in the Library of Children's Books by Dr. Seuss.....

The Cat in the HatCheck PriceOh, the Places You'll Go!Check Price

 

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Review-World Bee Day

 

World Bee Day in an annual day that calls attention to the critical importance of bees in our world.  Did you know that bees are very important to the production of food in the world?  They are among the most effective pollinators which enable fertilization and the production of seeds and fruits.  Approximately 1/3 of all the world's food crops depend on bee pollination.  Without bees many plants would struggle to live and this would lead to diminished food availablily.

World Bee Day

May 20th is an annual observance to raise the awareness of the essential role of bees.  In 2017 the United Nations approved May 20th to be the first annual World Bee Day.  This date was picked to honor Anton Jansa of Slovenia who was a pioneer of beekeeping that was born on May 20, 1734.

The 2026 theme for World Bee Day is "Bee engaged in pollinator-friendly agricultural production."

I found the following YouTube video on World Bee Day.  It was written for children, but it can also be very educational for adults.  It tells about bees and their place in food production.

Fun Facts About Bees

• There is one Queen bee in each hive.  She is the only  one that produces new bees. She may live up to 5 years.  She can lay up to 2600 eggs a day.
• When a queen bee dies the worker bees create a new queen by selecting a young larva and feeding it a special food called "royal jelly" this enables the larva to develop into a fertile queen.
• The rest of the female bees are worker bees.  They all have assigned jobs.  They can live for just 5-6 weeks.
• The male bees are drones.  Their primary function is to mate with the queen bee and pass on their genetics to future generations.

The worker bees have duties assigned them from birth.  Here are a few of the duties I found interesting.

• Scouts- they go out to find where the pollen is most plentiful.  They also search for a place for a new hive.
• Funeral directors- when a bee dies the funeral team takes the dead body out of the hive and disposes of it.
• In order to keep warm in the winter, there are a group of bees that gather and block the entrance to the hive with their bodies.  They beat their wings to send in a warm breeze.  Even when it is below freezing they can maintain the heat in the hive to 90 degrees. 

What you can do to help?

Some of the ways you can help to save the bees include:

1. Planting  native, bee friendly flowers
2. Reducing or eliminating herbicide and insecticide use
3. Leaving patches of bare soil and untidy areas for nesting
4. Providing water sources with stones
5. Supporting local organic farmers

My husband has been learning a lot about bees and last year he encouraged me to plant more bee friendly flowers in my flower bed.

I planted sunflowers, cone flowers, black eyed susans and other bee friendly plants.  Here are some photos of the bees on our plants last year.

More Information on Bees

If you would like to learn more about bees, Amazon has several books available.  Here is a link to one that looks like it would have a lot of information.  https://amzn.to/4eVPt60

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A Senior Woman's Life Story in a Song

I wrote the lyrics to this song, "Looking At My Hands," on March 19th, 2026, but in many ways, the story began decades earlier.

The First Verse Inspired By My True Story of Mom Helping Me Move Into My First Apartment in 1979 - But It Applies to Many Women!

The first verse is not just imagined — it's a memory I've carried with me all my life. 

I was 19 years old in 1979 when I moved to Toronto to go to school, sharing my very first apartment with a friend. 

It was only a few hours from home, but it felt like a whole new world had opened up in front of me. I remember the excitement, the independence, and the quiet realization that life was beginning to unfold in a new and exciting way.

And I will never forget my mother being there with me.

We unpacked boxes together, cleaned (we were cleaning maniacs lol), and set up that apartment piece by piece. There was something so simple about it at the time — just the physical act of lifting things, putting them in place, beginning a new chapter. 

But looking back now, that moment holds so much more meaning. It was the beginning of everything.

That verse, for me, is almost a diary entry. It takes me right back to that young woman standing at the start of her life, not yet knowing all that she would one day carry.

On a side note, I start the song with the words:

"Looking at my hands, remembering what they've lifted, my pens and my dreams, and how those early weights shifted"

These words reference what my soul knew it should be doing, writing, and how those dreams shifted to the practical side of life. 

Thinking back, it was the world we lived in: be practical, think about a career, not your artsy-fartsy dreams. 

Well, it ain't over till it's over! So here's my lyric video :)

The Verses About Youth and Ambition, Marriage and Family

From there, the song moves through the stages so many of us know.

The years of ambition and growth, when life feels fast and full; meeting new people, building a career, stepping into independence with excitement and hope. 

And then, as life unfolds, it brings love, relationships, marriage, and children. Each chapter arrives naturally, almost effortlessly at first. Yet, each one brings new layers of responsibility and new forms of "lifting" that we never fully anticipated when we were just starting out.

That's really what this song is about.

It's not just the events themselves, but what comes with them. The unseen weight. 

The emotional and mental strength required to hold it all together. The quiet resilience that builds over time as life becomes more complex.

In the beginning, the lifting is physical — boxes, furniture, the pieces of a new life. But as the years go on, what we carry becomes much deeper than that. It becomes about people, about love, about responsibility, about showing up again and again for the life we've created.

And then something shifts.

The Verse About How The Lifting Will Now Be Experienced by Our Grown Children

We begin to see the next generation stepping into those same roles.

Our children begin to carry their own weights, to build their own lives, to face their own challenges. And in that moment, there's both a sense of understanding and a quiet passing of the torch; a recognition that this is the rhythm of life.

The thread that runs through it all is that simple image: looking at our hands.

All that they've held.
All that they've lifted.
All that they've carried — often without us even realizing the strength it took.

I Gave This Song, These Lyrics, A Positive Ending

And in the end, I wanted this song to land somewhere peaceful and positive. Not in hardship, but in reflection. In that later chapter of life where we can look back — from that young woman in her first apartment in 1979, to the woman we are today — and recognize the fullness of it all.

Not perfectly lived, but fully lived.

And in that reflection, there is a quiet kind of victory.

Not the kind that needs to be announced, but the kind you feel when you realize… You did it. You're still standing. That's a win in my books.

****************

Facebook: Lyrics About Life on Facebook

YouTube:  Follow Me on YouTube - @dragedapoemslyrics

Spotify:    Stream Drageda Lyrics on Spotify

Amazon: Drageda Lyrics on Amazon Music

iTunes:   Drageda Lyrics on iTunes

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Mischief and Manors Book Reviewed

I have recently started reading through the Change of Heart book series by Ashtyn Newbold and I have not been disappointed.  

This entire series is a  very romantic, very entertaining series built around characters with charm and wit.

Book 1 of the series is Mischief and Manors.  The title describes well what a reader should expect.  The mischief element is introduced by the two young brothers in the story.  Manors is also clear in reference to the homes.  Changing the spelling to "manners" would also have been appropriate since having the proper manners in society definitely matters.

Romantics at heart always love books with gentlemen and heroes.  This series is based on women who need a real gentleman and hero in their lives.  All Regency Romance novels are written based on a time period in the past when woman have little or no control over their own lives.  Happiness and romance are secondary to financial security and marriage arrangements may not include the woman's personal considerations.  

 

Synopsis of Mischief and Manors

Annette Downing and her two young brothers are orphans who were taken in my their uncle's widow when their parents died 5 years before the book's beginning.  Ruth Filbee is a cruel, selfish, and viscous woman who didn't want the children, but also didn't want to be criticized publicly for not taking them in.

 Mischief and Manors:
A Regency Romance (Change of Heart Book 1)Check PriceWhen Annette and her brothers were invited to spend the summer at Kellaway Manor, Annette couldn't get away from her aunt and the town of Silton fast enough.  Even though she thought she had found a way out of Aunt Ruth's house by accepting the vicar's marriage proposal, it would not be a love match.  Simply an escape from her aunt's abuse and guardianship.  She hoped to have time away from all of the stress by visiting her parent's friends, the Kellaways.  

Annette had visited the Kellaways in the past with her parents, but her brothers had never been there.  She knew their mischievous antics could cause problems, but she hoped she would be able to instruct them.  She had done the best she could to raise her young brothers, but she knew she needed help.  The need for help was another reason why she was considering the vicar's proposal.

Dr. Owen Kellaway remembered Annette, and she certainly remembered him and his own mischievous ways when he was young.  After all, when she was previously there, he had led her into an "adventure" that ended up with her being hurt.  

Owen was immediately drawn to Annette and her dedication to her little brothers.  The more he learned about their lives, the more he wanted to help them, but Annette wasn't interested in a relationship with Owen.  However, she did realize he could help her instruct and properly teach her brothers to be gentlemen.  She finally agreed to a proper friendship.  She had no desire to be taken in by his charm or flirtation, but she thought she was safe to have him as a much needed friend.

____________

It is pretty evident early on that Annette and Owen's friendship will develop into a love relationship.  However, Annette's aunt had accepted the vicar's proposal for Annette and she has threatened to send her brothers to an orphanage.  No matter who Annette marries, her aunt is still her brother's guardian and has total control over them.

As with any "Cinderella" story, you really want to see the wicked guardian's plans thwarted.  

 

        

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Books by Ashtyn Newbold Previously Reviewed on ReviewThisReviews.com

• The Last Eligible Bachelor 
• The Ace of Hearts 
• The Captain's Confidant  
• With Love, Louisa
• Lord Blackwell's Promise
  

   

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Mischief and Manors (Change of Heart Series) Reviewed by:

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The Cat in the Stacks Cozy Mystery Series Reviewed

 Starring volunteer librarian Charlie Harris and his rescue Maine Coon cat, Diesel. 

We first meet Charlie and Diesel in Book I - Murder Past Due, the 2010 debut of this charming and delightful series.

To date, author Miranda James has written 17 books in the series, with Something Whiskered having been published in 2025.

Series Synopses

Charlie Harris is recently retired from his position as a Library Director in Houston. Widowed, and with his two children grown and pursuing their own careers, Charlie decides to move back to his hometown, a small town near the coast in Mississippi where he has inherited a house from a great-aunt. 

The house is large, so Charlie rents out a couple of the rooms to boarders. His aunt’s housekeeper has run the house for years and stays on part time to tend to Charlie and his boarders, cleaning and cooking. Since Charlie adores her fine Southern cooking, this works out fine with him. 

To keep busy, Charlie volunteers a couple days a week at the local public library and also works one day a week as custodian of the rare books collection at the local college. 

One day, as Charlie parks at the library for one of his volunteer days, and anxious to get inside as it is pouring rain, he  spots movement under a nearby bush. Investigating, he discovers a very large, and rather wet, Maine Coon cat. He picks up the cat and takes him inside to dry him off.

As time goes by, Charlies tries to find out where the cat belongs, while taking care of him at his home. Unable to locate an owner, he ends up keeping the cat. Since the cat has a very deep and rumbling purr, Charlie names him Diesel. He decides he sounds just like a diesel engine. :) 

Then a murder happens and Charlie Harris and Diesel end up playing detective to solve the crime. 

Diesel goes everywhere with Charlie, including the library where he is a favorite with the children. He even walks on a lease when doing so would keep him safer. 

In subsequent books, Charlie and Diesel become involved in more unsolved murders.  The dynamic duo of genial librarian Charlies Harris and his smart and clever cat, Diesel, earn  the reputation of becoming quite good detectives. 

*You can find the entire collection available here on Amazon. 

Author Miranda  James

Miranda James is a pen name for Dean James, a former medical librarian of two decades. His professional background includes extensive published research on library science, medical history, and the mystery genre. In addition to the Cat in the Stacks series, he is the author of three other series of books. James lives in Texas. 

Summary

If you enjoy cozy mysteries and also like stories that include animals, you will be pleased with this Cat in the Stacks series. As time goes on, Charlie’s two kids move back to Charlie's small Mississippi town (the son, a lawyer, from Houston and the daughter, a striving actress, from California) and become a part of subsequent stories. As does the housekeeper’s daughter, who is a senior detective on the town’s police force and keeps bumping into Charlie when he somehow keeps finding bodies. 

Each story leads into the next, so reading them in sequence is recommended. The Cat in the Stacks series is a darling and light-hearted series of cozy mysteries. 

*Book Review of the “Cat in the Stack” series of cozy mysteries is written by Wednesday Elf

There's a cat in the stacks...

...and he makes the purr-fect partner for a librarian-turned-sleuth.

Murder Past Due (Cat in the Stacks Mystery Book 1)Check PriceSomething Whiskered: Cat in the Stacks Mystery, Book 17Check Price

 

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