Rachelle J. Christensen

Romance, Suspense, Mystery Author

Book Review: Rocky Road by Josi S. Kilpack

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Book Thoughts by Rachelle:

Rocky Road is one more delicious read you won’t want to pass up! Sadie refuses to investigate the disappearance of a doctor in this book, but suddenly finds herself thrust into the investigation.

I liked how she has new opportunities to investigate with law enforcement and how Kilpack keeps you guessing throughout. The characters are well-drawn and Kilpack does a great job of making you love, hate, or be totally confused by each character.

This is the 10th book in the series, and if you love reading a great culinary mystery series, definitely check this one out!

Here’s more about the book:

Dr. Trenton Hendricks was last seen Friday, April 8, when he set out alone on a backpacking trip. Hendricks’s Jeep Grand Cherokee was located Tuesday at the Chuckwalla Trailhead, but after six days and thousands of man-hours, the official search has been called off. He is presumed to be deceased.

It was supposed to be a girls’ weekend in scenic St. George, Utah, that would included shopping, trying out the local cuisine, and participating in a breast cancer fund-raiser. The fact that one of the organizers of the fund-raising event, a local doctor, had disappeared two months before was not supposed to be Sadie’s problem.

When Sadie learns that her friend Caro and Caro’s cousin, Tess, have started a grassroots investigation into Dr. Hendrick’s disappearance, Sadie graciously refuses to be a part of it. With her wedding to plan and her most recent case still fresh in her mind, Sadie is determined to leave this case to the police—until she meets the ex-wife of the missing man.

How could she not ask a few questions … that lead to more questions … that lead to a small town and even more questions? When the local police ask her to be their eyes and ears, Sadie can’t help but jump in with both feet. Before she knows it, she is on the rocky road of another investigation, following a convoluted trail of good intentions, hidden motivations, and philanthropy turned big business.

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Book Review: The Candy Cane Caper by Josi S. Kilpack

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Book Thoughts by Rachelle

I was so excited to have the chance to read a brand new adventure in the world of Sadie Hoffmiller Cunningham! I read all 12 of the previous culinary mysteries by Josi Kilpack and definitely didn’t want to miss this newest addition, The Candy Cane Caper.

I enjoyed picking up the story a few years after Sadie’s marriage in a new town with new friends. See if you can spot all the fun Christmas names and references used throughout the book! I love the detail that Kilpack uses to describe the antique ornaments as well as each of the suspects who may have nabbed them. Sadie keeps on the hunt, uncovering all kinds of interesting secrets and more clues as she tries to track down the criminal.

I enjoyed reading this book for the mystery and adventure, as well as the many stories within each of the main characters that Sadie interacts with. There are several delicious recipes (one at the end of each chapter) that had my mouth watering. All in all, this was a fun read and left me hoping for more Sadie in the future.

Here’s more about the book:

This Christmas, Sadie Hoffmiller Cunningham is making a list and checking it twice. For the first time since she and Pete married five years ago, their combined families are gathering for the holidays in Fort Collins, Colorado, for a party that would make Santa and Mrs. Claus proud.

She just has to bake the famous Cunningham Candy Cane Cake, make sure the looming snowstorm doesn’t derail everyone’s travel plans, and oh, yes, solve one teensy-tiny mystery before the big day.

At ninety-four and nearly blind, Mary, Sadie’s friend and neighbor, knows this will be her last Christmas. When Sadie learns that someone has stolen antique Christmas ornaments from Mary’s tree, she vows to find the thief, no matter what. The ornaments had been appraised at more than $40,000, but they were worth even more to Mary, who had intended to bequeath them to her great-granddaughter, Joy, as a final gift.

With Pete in Arizona wrapping up a case of his own, it’s up to Sadie to question the residents of Nicholas House, where Mary lives, and deduce who had the means and the motive to steal heirloom ornaments during what should be the most wonderful time of the year.

When stories of other thefts surface, Sadie feels like she’s creating a “naughty” list that could rival Santa’s. Identifying the thief, recovering the ornaments, and restoring them to Mary’s tree in time will take a Christmas miracle—and maybe a few extra-special cookies.

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Book Review: Finding Sheba by H.B. Moore

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Book Thoughts by Rachelle

Finding Sheba has the perfect mix of all of my favorite plot points. In this novel you’ll experience thriller aspects, murder, suspense, and high-speed chases. There’s also some great romantic tension and plenty of historical underpinnings which, as usual, are right on the money. H.B. Moore’s incredible grip on the middle-east, both past and present, is fascinating. The characters move through this story and into the daylight as Moore develops realistic feelings, emotions, and tensions throughout the novel.

I give Finding Sheba 5 stars–it’s impressive, fast-paced, and a perfect respite from everyday life!

Here’s more about the book:

For centuries, historians have speculated that the Queen of Sheba is nothing more than a seductive legend; but when undercover agent Omar Zagouri finds a tomb in a tunnel beneath Jerusalem, he unearths cryptic clues that may lead to the queen’s final resting place.

This discovery, if authentic, could throw into question the governmental claim to the Holy Land—and prove the Bible false. Wealthy collectors, ruthless archaeologists, and officials from Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel, and Yemen scramble to find and lay claim to the secret site.

Dr. Richard Lyon of Brown University, the world’s leading expert on the queen, is found murdered in his office, setting off a chain of deadly events. Omar desperately works to piece together the puzzle to locate the queen’s burial ground, fearing another assassination will take place. He teams up with one of Lyon’s protégées as well as with his ex-girlfriend, agent Mia Golding, in order to unravel the truth about the queen, expose a murderer, and reveal a timeless story of love, revenge, and sacrifice.

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Book Review: Fortune Cookie by Josi S. Kilpack

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Book Thoughts by Rachelle:

This series is so much fun and each mystery is full of twists, turns, and surprises. Josi Kilpack continues to delight and indulge mystery readers with her latest culinary mystery, Fortune Cookie. In this book, Sadie travels to San Francisco and embarks on a dark and sinister hunt for the truth about her older sister Wendy. Suspicions are high, the mystery is spine-tingling, and the depth of emotions that Sadie must go through makes this novel a fast-paced read.

Here’s more about the book:

Sadie Hoffmiller has always liked things to be just so. A place for everything and everything in its place. Order over chaos. And of all things Sadie should be able to control, her own wedding is at the top of the list.

With the big day just three weeks away, Sadie is busily adding the perfect final touches to her wedding plans. But the arrival of a mysterious letter that bears a San Francisco postmark and no return address could change everything. The only person Sadie knows in San Francisco is her older sister, Wendy, whom she hasn’t seen or heard from since their mother’s funeral nearly fifteen years ago. Sadie has faced off with murderers and crooks in recent years, yet the potential of her sister reentering her life is both overwhelming and frightening. But, as Sadie soon discovers, the letter is just the beginning. Wendy’s world turns out to be a place of unanswered questions, twisted truths, and more than one motive for murder.

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Book Review: Run by JoLyn Brown

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Book Thoughts by Rachelle:

JoLyn Brown captures the angst of teenagers well in this young adult book, Run. Morgan is a sixteen-year-old girl who has just discovered a love of running. She has a lot of issues with her over-bearing mother and absentee father. When Morgan is left with her six boy cousins for the summer, it seems like it couldn’t be worse, but it ends up changing her life.
The story weaves in an element of mystery and lots of questions which keeps the reader turning pages to find out how Morgan will deal with the answers to her questions. I found that Morgan cries a lot over everything which is semi-typical of emotional teenage girls but got a bit tiresome for my personal preference. Brown does a great job of setting up realistic scenes of various ages of kids interacting together. Terrific job on making the reader feel Morgan’s need to run in an emotional and physical sense.
This novel’s main character is religious and I appreciated the references to her working out her own faith through prayer and thought. For her debut novel, Brown has made an excellent first run.

Here’s more about the book:

When Supermom joins Dad on his latest project, sixteen-year-old Morgan is left with her aunt. Instead of dating the cute boy from her high school track team, Morgan will spend the summer in a small town near Kanab, Utah, five hours from home and all of her friends. Her plan is to keep a sane distance between herself and her aunt’s six boys. What Morgan doesn’t expect is being attracted to the neighbor kid who hangs out with her cousins. How can she like two guys at the same time?

Just when her life couldn’t get more messed up, Morgan stumbles across an abandoned house and learns she lived there when she was small. The house and its secrets haunt her—it turns out she’s been dreaming about the place for years. All she wants is to hold onto what she loves. But as the summer passes, she wonders if she’s going to lose everything.

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Break by [Brown, JoLyn]   

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Book Review: Searching for Irene by Marlene Bateman

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Book Thoughts by Rachelle

I enjoyed this good, clean mystery set in the 1920s. It was interesting to see a different time period. I loved the setting of the modern-day castle! Bateman did an excellent job of dropping numerous bread crumbs, continually leading the reader off the trail of the killer. The main character, Anna, has quite the secret and stumbles upon several clues in her search for Irene. At times, Anna was a bit frustrating with her indecision and flip-flopping back and forth on who she could trust or fall for romantically. Bateman created a page-turner where I wanted to reach in and tell Anna what to do! I enjoyed the many facets of the mystery and would recommend Searching for Irene to anyone needing to get their mystery fix.

Here’s more about the book:

What happened to Irene?

When Anna Coughlin, a modern 1920’s woman, travels to the secluded hills of Virginia to work for wealthy Lawrence Richardson, she discovers that the previous secretary, Irene, mysteriously disappeared a few weeks before. Upon arriving at the castle-like mansion to begin working, Anna finds that Lawrence’s handsome, but antagonistic son, Tyler, wants nothing more than to have her gone. And he isn’t the only one—

After Anna sets out to find the truth behind Irene’s disappearance, a series of frightening incidents ensnare her in a maze of intrigue. Anna is helped—and often hindered—by the temperamental Tyler Richardson, who—despite her best intentions—begins to steal her heart.

But even as Anna begins to uncover dark secrets in a troubled household, she must continue to hide a significant one of her own. When her life is threatened, Anna is left to wonder if she’ll be able to unravel the mystery before she disappears as mysteriously as the unfortunate Irene—

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