Book Reviews in Brief: The Final Vow and A Million Little Things

Title: The Final Vow by Amanda Flower
Source: NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I highly recommend this series to fans of the cozy mystery, especially if you are a history buff. I love that Kelsey and her son live right on the grounds of the Living History Museum that she runs ~ although, with the amount of dead bodies that seem to turn up regularly, I might have second thoughts about living there. Kelsey's natural nosiness and desire to keep the museum open, and therefore keep her job and home, lead her to getting involved with the mysteries that plague the museum. This time, a wedding planner is pushed out of the steeple window, right before the wedding! Kelsey is determined to solve the mystery and keep the wedding on track, as the bride is a bridezilla, well-connected, and did I mention marrying Kelsey's ex-husband? Things are a little rocky in the romance department for Kelsey this book as well ~ and the ending had me on the edge of my seat! This was a great read that I hope you like as well as I did, and a great book for history buffs and cozy readers.

Title and Author: A Million Little Things by Susan Mallery
Source:  NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was my first foray into the Mischief Bay series, and one I greatly enjoyed. There were a wealth of different characters, with unique situations and voices, their own sets of issues. I immediately connected with the character Jen, an overprotective, worried, helicopter mom, as those adjectives could sometimes be used to describe me as well! I am not as extreme as she is, but I think that her over-the-top behavior and worry was used illustratively, and effectively. I have a special needs child, and it is easy to let that consume you, especially when it is your first child. Mothers can get crazy! However, Pam, who is Jen's mother, is a different sort of crazy mom - and one I didn't care for. Judgmental, controlling, and just plain mean at times, which was a total 180 based on how we are introduced to her, as a business woman whose entire career is based on giving other women a helping hand. Her treatment of Zoe is deplorable, especially for a woman who is supposed to be lifting other women up. Which brings us to Zoe. Zoe is sort of adrift, having bought a house and quit her teaching job in preparation for a future that never materialized. She gets a huge surprise midway through the book, and that is when things get really going. This book is a good look, if slightly exaggerated, of three women at three very different points in their lives.