Mailbox Monday - May 11, 2015

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share what came in their mailbox. This meme has a permanent home at Mailbox Monday and was created by Marcia at To Be Continued I am linking up to Mailbox Monday. 

This was a big book week for me. I had a little extra money to spend, more reviews came in, books I won received and Mother's Day gifts which equals lots of books. 

Bought

Peach Pies and Alibis  by Ellery Adams

Pecan Pies and Homicides by Ellery Adams

Groom by Design by Christine Johnson

To Fudge or Not to Fudge by Nancy Coco

On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinley

One Foot in the Grape by Carlene O'Neil

Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts
Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist

Won

Flamenco, Flan and Fatalities by Mary McHugh

To be Reviewed

The Marriage Merger by Jennifer Probst

Murder Freshly Baked by Vannetta Chapman

Kittens Can Kill by Clea Simon

The Curiosity Keeper by Sarah E. Ladd
A Stranger's Secret by Laurie Alice Eakes
Mesabi Pioneers  by Russell Hill and Jeffrey Smith
The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy
Return to Food: The Life Changing Anti-Diet by Sherry Strong

Gifts

Charms and Chocolate Chips by Bailey Cates

Some Enchanted Eclair by Bailey Cates

At the Corner of King Street by Mary Ellen Taylor

Peach Pies and Alibis by Ellery Adams - Ella Mae LeFaye's Charmed Pie Shoppe is wildly popular in Havenwood, Georgia - which is not surprising since Ella Mae can lace her baked goods with enchantments. The shop's destined to continue when Ella Mae meets and engaged couple who hire her to handle the dessert buffet at their wedding. 

But Ella Mae has a lot on her plate. She is also searching for the origin of her magical powers - and hoping to determine if the spark of attraction she feels for the handsome Hugh Dylan is authentic or just her new abilities gone awry. 

Then Ella Mae discovers a high-standing member of the community dead, and a wedding guest becomes seriously ill at the event she's catering. Now she'll have to use all her sleuthing skills and culinary talents to prove her pies don't contain a killer ingredient ...

Pecan Pies and Homicides by Ellery Adams - Owning The Charmed Pie Shoppe and serving enchanted treats in the magical town of Havenwood, Georgia, seemed like a little slice of heaven for Ella Mae LeFaye. But now her hopes for both a lasting romance with Hugh Dylan and business success are starting to seem like pie in the sky, and Ella's left wondering. Where has the magic gone?

When an enchanted grove is set ablaze. Ella realizes she has more grave problems. With her magic waning, she's going to have to sleuth from scratch to stop an arsonist who has no respect for sacred ground - or human life. 

The Charmed Pie Shoppe Series

#1 Pies and Prejudice

#2 Peach Pies and Alibis

#3 Pecan Pies and Homicides

#4 Lemon Pies and Little White Lies

The Marriage Merger by Jennifer Probst - Her sisters have found wedded bliss with their wealthy, wonderful dream men. But Julietta Conte's passion is her work, as top executive of the family's corporation, La Dolce Famiglia bakery, and her trendy Milan apartment her sanctuary ...until Sawyer Wells, a masculine masterpiece in a suit, lures her out of hiding with an irresistible offer: an exclusive partnership with his international chain of boutique hotels. Julietta's been burned before - and trusting her brother-in-law's friend, whose powerful gaze alone has her rethinking the best use of a conference room, is the riskiest proposition. But for a once-in-a-career chance to take the bakery global, will she mix stone-cold business with red-hot seduction?

Marriage to a Billionaire Series

#1 The Marriage Bargain

#2 The Marriage Trap

#3 The Marriage Mistake

#4 The Marriage Merger

Charms and Chocolate Chips by Bailey Cates - Between brewing magically spiced treats at Honeybee Bakery and volunteering with a local conservation group, Katie Lightfoot has barely any time to see her firefighter boyfriend, Declan McCarthy, much less delve further into her destiny as a witch. But avoiding her fate won't be as easy as whipping up a new recipe - especially when Katie finds herself once again mixed up in murder. 

When a fellow volunteer for the conservation group is found dead, Katie's mystical senses tell her that there's more to the death than meets the eye. Her suspicions are confirmed when members of her coven are targeted next. Katie will have to embrace her powers quickly ... or she may find herself chewed up and spit out by some serious black magic. 

Some Enchanted Eclair by Bailey Cates - When Hollywood invades Savannah's historic district to film a Revolutionary War movie, magical baker Katie Lightfoot and her witches' coven, the Spellbook Club, take a break from casting spells for casting calls. One of the witches snags a part as an extra, while Katie's firefighter boyfriend, Declan, acts as on-set security. Katie and her aunt Lucy decide to stay out of the action, but after the mvie's "fixer" fires the caterer, the Honeybee Bakery comes to the rescue, working their magice to keep the hungry crew happy. 

But when someone fixes the fixer - permanently-  and a spooky psychic predicts Katie will find the killer, the charming baker and her fellow conjurers step in the sifet through the suspects ... before some else winds up on the cutting room floor ...

A Magical Bakery Mystery Series

#1 Brownies and Broomstick

#2 Bewitched, Bothered and Biscotti

#3 Charms and Chocolate Chips

#4 Some Enchanted Eclair

#5 Magic and Macroons

Groom by Design by Christine Johnson - Dressmaker Ruth Fox gave up her dream of a  husband and children long ago. Her family's floundering dress shop, her ailing father and her two younger sisters require Ruth's full attention. Though the handsome new stranger in town is intriguing, Ruth is certain he wouldn't look twice at a plain spinster of twenty-six.

Sam Rothenburg's connection with the shy young woman next door is immediate, but he knows Ruth will be crushed when she discovers his real purpose in town. Sam is secretly working to open one of his father's large department stores in Pearlman, Michigan, which will surely put Ruth out of business. How much is Sam willing to sacrifice to claim Ruth's heart?

The Dressmaker's Daughters Series

#1 Groom by Design

#2 Suitor by Design

#3 Love by Design

To Fudge or Not to Fudge by Nancy Coco - With summer in bloom and tourists afoot, Allie is out walking her pup. Mal, when the curious canine digs up a bone from under a flowering lilac bush. The one leads to a toe that's missing a body. For the successful confectionaire it's only the first in a series of sour events in the middle of the island' Lilac Fest. When her stint on a cooking reality show swirls up a trail of foul play, Allie will have to outwit a cunning killer if she wants to continue living la dolce vida ...

Candy Coated Mystery Series

#1 All Fudged Up

#2 To Fudge or Not to Fudge

#3 Oh Say Can You Fudge

On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay - Loving a good cup of coffee runs in the family for Briar Creek library director Lindsey Norris. But when her brother, Jack, a consultant for a coffee company, goes missing, her favorite beverage becomes a key clue in a dangerous mystery.

Between preparing the library for the holidays and juggling the affections of ex-boyfriend Captain Mike Sullivan and her new crush, actor Robbie Vine, Lindsey has her hands full. But the mysterious disappearance of her world-traveling brother takes precedence over all. 

Afraid that involving the police could brew trouble for Jack, Lindsey takes matters into her own hands. Btu as her quest for her brother embroils her in a strange case involving South American business dealings and an enigmatic and exotic woman., it'll take the help of both her library book club - the crafternooners 0 and her eager - to - please suitors to keep Jack from ending up in hot water. 

Library Lover's Mystery Series

#1 Books Can Be Deceiving

#2 Due or Die

#3 Book, Line and Sinker

#4 Read it and Weep

#5 On Borrowed Time

One Foot in the Grape by Carlene O'Neil - After losing her job as a photojournalist, Penny Lively is trying to get her life back in focus. Inheriting the family winery from her late aunt may be the fresh start she needs. Thankfully she's got her niece, Hayley, and her handsome winery manager, Connor, to help. But the person in need of more urgent assistance is Antonia Matinelli, the owner of the neighboring winery, who has her own barrelful of problems. Someone's spoiling her wine, and with the upcoming Autumn Festival, she needs Penny's nose for clues to help sniff out the culprit. 

But Penny's search for answers sours after the body of a staff member is found in a grape crusher. Since Hayley was the last to see him alive, she's the prime suspect in the case. Now Penny must hurry to find the real killer before Hayley withers on the vine ...

Cypress Cove Mystery

#1 One Foot in the Grape

Flamenco, Flan and Fatalities by Mary McHugh - The high-kicking Happy Hoofers - Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise, and Gini -  have been booked to flaunt their fabulous flamenco footwork on a luxury train ride through northern Spain. But when a blowhard talk show host is found deader than four-day-old flan - with Gini as suspect numero uno - the fiesty friends waste no time stepping into their sleuthing shoes to protect one of their own. 

The dynamite dancers will have to step up their game before a clever killer brings the curtain down on one of them ... for good!

Happy Hoofers Mystery

#1 Chorus Lines, Caviar and Corpses

#2 Flamenco, Flan and Fatalities

Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts - Ripley Todd just wantes to live a quiet, peaceful kind of life. Her job as a sheriff's deputy keeps her busy and happy, and she has not trouble finding men when she wants them -- which, lately, isn't all that often. She's perfectly content, except for one thing: She has special powers that both frighten and confuse her - and though she tries hard to hide them, she can't get them under control.

Distraction soon arrives in the handsome form of MacAllister Booke - a researcher who has come to investigate the rumors of witchcraft that haunt Three Sisters Island. Right from the start, he knows there's something extraordinary about Ripley Todd. It's not just her blazing green eyes and her sultry smile. There's something else. Something he can detect, but she'll never admit. Fascinated by her struggle with her amazing abilities, he becomes determined to help her accept who she is - and find the courage to open her heart. 

But before Ripley and Mac can dream of what lies in the future, they must confront the pain in the past. For Three Sisters shelters centuries of secrets - and a legacy of danger that plagues them still. 

The Three Sisters Island Trilogy 

#1 Dance Upon the Air

#2 Heaven and Earth

#3 Face the Fire

Murder Freshly Baked by Vannetta Chapman - The Amish Artisan Village of Middlebury, Indiana, might be the last place you would ever expect to find a murderer. But Amber has been managing the Village for decades and there's nothing she hasn't seen. Or so she thought.

When poetic notes begin appearing around the bakery, warning that some fo the pies have been poisoned, Amber is as confused as she is concerned. Who poisons pies? And more to the point, who leaves poems of warning after they've done it? When Amber decides to help the police track down the sweet-toothed saboteur, she enlists Hannah Troyer for another round of Amish-style detective work. 

Can Amber and Hannah help the police before the Poison Poet strickes? Both women will need to draw on the their faith to preserve the peaceful community they'be built in Middlebury ... and to protect the girls who work in the Amish Artisan Village. 

Amish Village Mystery Series

#1 Murder Simply Brewed

#2 Murder Tightly Knit

#3 Murder Freshly Baked

Kittens Can Kill by Clea Simon - The dead don't keep pets. So when animal behaviorist expert Pru Marlowe gets a call about a kitten, she doesn't expect to find the cuddly creature playing beside the cooling body of prominent Beauville lawyer David Canaday. Heart attack? His three adult daughters angrily blame drug interactions, feline allergies - and each other. And begin to feud over their father, his considerable estate, and that cute ball of fluff. While the cause of death is pending, each sister has an axe to grind - with arguments that escalate when David's partner reads out the will.

Pru's special sensitivity to animals, which caused her to flee the cacophony of Manhattan for the quiet Berkshires, adds further problems. The local vet is overwhelmed as the animal hospital's money runs out. There's a needy Sheltie and some invasive squirrels, too. But the dead man's kitten, his former partner, and his troublesome family keep drawing "wild-girl" animal psychic Pru back in. Despite the wry observations of her trusty tabby Wallis, now the wrongfully accused kitten's guardian, and the grudging compliance of her cop lover, this may be one time when Pru can't solve the mystery or save the kitten she wants to believe is innocent. A single witness knows the truth about the t brigh spring morning. How far can Pru investiage without risking her own hidden tale?

Pru Marlowe Pet Noir Series

#1 Dogs Don't Lie

#2 Cats Don't Shoot

#3 Parrots Prove Deadly

#4 Panthers play for Keeps

#5 Kittens Can Kill

The Curiosity Keeper by Sarah E. Ladd - Camille Iverness can take care of herself. She's done so since the day her mother abandoned the family and left Camille to run their shabby curiosity shop in Blinkett street. But when a violent betrayal leaves her injured with no place to hide, Camille has no chose but to accept help from the mysterious strange who came to her aid. 

Jonathan Gilchrist never wanted to inherit Ketterning Hall. As a second son, he was content working as a village apothecary. But when his brother's death made him heir just as his father's foolish decisions put the estate at risk, only the sale of a priceless possession - a ruby called the Bevoy - can save the family from ruin. But the gem has disappeared. And all trails lead to Iverness Curiosity Shop -  and the beautiful shop girl who may or may not be the answer to his questions. 

Curious circumstance throws them together, and an intricate dance of need and suspicion leads the couple from the seedy backwaters of London to the elite neighborhoods of the wealthy to the lush, green Surrey countryside - all in the pursuit of a blood-red gem that collectors will sacrifice anything to possess. 

Caught at the intersection of blessings and curses, greed and deceit, two determined souls must unite to protect what they hold dear. But when a passion that shines far brighter than any gem is ignited, each will have to decide how much they are willing to risk for their future, love and happiness. 

Treasures of Surrey Series

#1 The Curiosity Keeper

At the Corner of King Street by Mary Ellen Taylor - Adele "Addie" Morgan grew up in a house filled with pain and loss. Determined to live life on her own terms, Addie moves to the country and finds a job at a vineyard where she discovers stability, happiness, and - best of all - love with the kind owner, Scott. 

But an unexpected call abruptly pulls Addie out of her new and improved life. Her sister has just given birth and Addie's aunt Grace wants her to return home to help the family - even if it means confronting things she's tried so hard to forget. 

When Addie arrives, she quickly realizes that she hasn't truly let go of her former life, at least not completely. After making a surprising connection with her sister's baby - and her sister's ex-husband, Zeb - Addie must choose between her picture - perfect future with Scott and the family roots she though she's left behind for goo.

Alexandria Series 

#1 At the Corner of King Street

#2 The View from Prince Street

Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist - As preparations for the 1893 World's Fair set Chicago and teh nation on fire, Louis Tiffany - heir to the exclusive Fifth Avenue jewelry empire - seizes the opportunity to unveil a state-of-the-art stained-glass mosaic chapel the likes of which the world has never seen. 

But when Louis's dream is threatened by a glassworkers' strike months before the fair opens, he turns to an unforseen source for help: the female students at the New York School of Applied Design. Eager for adventure, the young women pick up their skirts, move to boardinghouses, take up steel cutters, and assume new identities as the "Tiffany Girls".

Tiffany Girl is the heartwarming story of the impetuous Flossie Jayne, a beautiful budding artist who is handpicked by Louis to help complete the Tiffany chapel. Though excited to be n independent New Woman when most of the fair sex stayed home, she quickly finds the world is less welcoming than she anticipated. From a Casanova male to an unconventional married couple and a condescending singing master, she takes on a colorful cast of characters to transform the boardinghouse into a home while racing to complete the Tiffany chapel and make a name for herself in the art world.

As challenges mount, her ambitions become threatened from an unexpected quarter: her own heart. What or who will claim victory? Her dreams or the captivating boarder next door?

A Stranger's Secret by Laurie Alice Eakes - Lady Morwenna Trelawny Penvenan indulged in her fair share of dalliances in her youth, but now that she's the widowed mother to the heir of the Penvenan title, she's desperate to polish her reputation. When she's accused of deliberately luring ships to crash on the rocks to steal the cargo, Morwenna begins an investigation to uncover the real culprits and stumbles across an unconscious man lying in teh sea's foam -- a man wearing a medallion with the Trelawny crest around his neck. 

The medallion is a mystery to David Chastain, a boat builder from Somerset. All David knows is that his father was found dead in Cornwall with the medallion in his possession after lying and stealing his family's money. And he knows the widow who rescued him is impossibly beautiful - and likely the siren who caused teh shipwreck in the first place - as well as the hand behind whoever is trying to murder David.

As Morwenna nurses David back to health and tries to learn how he landed on her beach, suspicion and pride keep their growing attraction at bay. But can they join together to save Morwenna's name and estate and David's life? Can they acknowledge the love they are both trying to deny?

Cliffs of Cornwall Novel Series

#1 A Lady's Honor

#2 A Stranger's Secret

Mesabi Pioneers by Russell Hill & Jeffrey Smith - Here is the highly readable account of one of the remarkable achievements of the 19th century: how a remote tree-covered area of northern Minnesota became America's greatest source of iron ore. 

It is 1891. An improbable team of American businessmen and European immigrants hunt for iron ore in a formidable expanse of dense pine forest. Fighting isolation, harsh winters, and mosquito-infested summers, they find it. What follows is an extraordinary tale of both personal and technological achievement. 

Mesabi Pioneers brings the pursuit of iron ore to vivid life, illuminating the men and women mostly forgotten by history, who built an industry, carved towns from trees, and created a rich culture that lasts to this day. 

The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy - Sarah Brown, the vibrant, talented daughter of abolitionist John Brown, finds her life forever altered when she stumbles across her father's work on the Underground Railroad. Although reeling from the shocking news that she won't ever bear children, Sarah realizes that her artistic talents may be able to help save the lives of slaves fleeing north. Taking cues from slave-code quilts, Sarah hides maps within her paintings, becoming one of the Underground Railroad's leading mapmakers. As the country steers toward bloody civil war, Sarah faces difficult sacrifices that could put all she loves in peril.

Over one hundred and fifty years later, Eden Anderson, a modern-day woman struggling to conceive a child, moves to an old house in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., as a last-ditch effort to save her marriage and start a family. There, she discovers a porcelain doll head hidden in the root cellar 0 the remains of an Underground Railroad doll with an extraordinary past of secret messages, danger, and deliverance. Sarah and Eden's connection bridges the past and present, forcing each of them to define courage, family, love and legacy in a new way. 

Ingeniously plotted and magnificently transporting, The Mapmaker's Children highlights the power of community and legacy, illustrating the ways in which history and destiny are interconnected on one enormous, intricate map. 

Return to Food: The Life Changing Anti-Diet by Sherry Strong - Chances are if you are feeling flat, fat and tired, or are experiencing chronic illness, you are not eating real food. If you's love to bounce out of bed feeling fit and fabulous you must first discover what is and isn't real food. Imagine if, by never weighing, measuring and counting calories you could lose weight and keep it off, while eliminating guilt? This book challenges prescriptive approaches to the diet mentality, with a revolutionary philosophical approach based on nature and mirroring the healthiest people on the plant. This approach has seen thousands of people end nutritional confusion and develop a more pleasurable, healthier, and peaceful way of eating. 

Including illustrations; 50 quick, easy and delicious recipes; personal stories of transformation and healing; and a philosophical approach to change your lifestyle, this book will take your view of food and your relationship with it to a whole new level.