Book Reviews by Ellen, "The Cookie Lady"

HI EVERYONE…IT’S ELLEN!!

It’s been two weeks since the library closed to patrons.  And boy do I miss everyone!!

Since I can no longer visit my children or grandchildren in person, and my husband works at Whole Foods, I find that I, like a lot of you, have plenty of time on my hands.  After all, we can only do so much cleaning!!

I’ve managed to read several books in the last weeks and two of them are by “new to me” authors.  I like books with a crime that isn’t too graphic, has a strong and likable crime solver, whether it’s a lawyer, FBI agent, or police detective, male or female, and a little romance thrown in doesn’t hurt either!  Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a fan of, among others, James Patterson, David Baldacci, Harlan Coben, and Linda Castillo, with a little Janet Evanovich and Elin Hilderbrand on the side. 

People in the library are always asking me to recommend other authors.  Now I have two new authors to add to my list…Melinda Leigh and Lynette Eason.

“Say You’re Sorry”, by Melinda Leigh is the first of six books in the Morgan Dane series.

The crime:  The babysitter is murdered, and the neighbor’s son is accused of the crime.

Crime solver:  Widow and mother of three, Morgan Dane has spent her career working on the side of the prosecution and now decides to defend the accused teenager. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye (who’s had a crush on her for years) for help.

At the end of the book I’m left wondering what direction Morgan Dane’s career will go in.  Has this one case swayed her enough that she will continue to defend clients, or will she return to prosecuting?  How will her relationship with Lance progress…or not?

I rate this book….

out of 10 cookies

 “Oath of Honor” by Lynette Eason is the first of four books in the Blue Justice series.

The crime:  Police officer murdered while investigating a criminal organization, possibly with cops on the payroll.

Crime solver:  Izzy St. John, partner of the murdered police officer and member of a close-knit law-enforcement family.  She and her partner’s brother, longtime friend police detective Ryan work together to solve the case.

I always enjoy when the main character has close family ties and Izzy has that.  I look forward to learning more about the other family members in future books.

I rate this book….

out of 10 cookies

I usually give a book 50 pages and if it hasn’t grabbed me by then, I’m done with it.  Well, these two books grabbed me from the first page.  I for one can’t wait for the library to reopen so I can get my hands on the next one in each of the series.

For your reading or listening pleasure while the library is closed “Oath of Honor” is available on Hoopla in both e-book and audiobook format, and the e-book is available on Libby.  Unfortunately, “Say You’re Sorry” is currently unavailable through either Hoopla or Libby.  You’ll have to wait until the library reopens to read that one!