Book Reviews 2020: Cozy Mysteries

**All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five-star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.**

I know, it's been a LONG time since I've posted book reviews on here. I said I was going to try and be better about it in 2020, so here we go. So far this year, I've listened to three cozy mystery audiobooks, so I'm putting them all in one post. I'm a big fan of cozy mysteries so you will see more reviews of them in the future. I won't go back and post book reviews from late 2017-2019, but you can check out ALL my book reviews on Goodreads. (Click here to see my past Goodreads reviews.)

Murder at Blackburn Hall by Sara Rosett

Format: Audiobook (Audible)

I am LOVING this series! I enjoyed the first book (Murder at Archly Manor) and I think I might have enjoyed the second one even more. I love the main character, Olive, and am enjoying seeing her character grow from the first book. She seems more sure of herself in this book and is not afraid to do what she has to in order to find a solution to an issue.

I'm interested to see what will happen with Jasper, I feel a hint of something "more" in their relationship. I hope to have more of his character development in the next book!

The author's writing is so good you can actually imagine that you are in England in the 1920s. The description of the setting and clothing makes you feel like you are there. At the end of the audiobook, the author explains how she came up with the story idea and what kind of research went into it. I can't wait to see what Olive's next adventure will be! Spoiler alert: I just started listening to the audiobook for book 3 today.

The Body in the Attic by Judi Lynn

Format: Audiobook (Chirpbooks)

I'm a big fan of cozy mysteries so when I saw this one, I had to check it out. House-flipping. Murder. Family Drama. Mystery. Oh my.

I thought the mystery storyline was well written- it had me guessing until the end. Although I felt the mystery plot was more of a "sub plot". The rest of it isn't bad, it just felt like I was reading a normal fiction novel with a little mystery sprinkled in. I like the characters though- they are well developed and thought out. This is the first book in a series so I hope to see some of the supporting characters have bigger roles in the next one.

I don't mind romance in mystery novels, but I feel this one was a little bit of an overkill and took away from the mystery too much. Even with all of that, I enjoyed it and will check out the next one in the series. This is an easy read for a lazy Saturday afternoon (or in my case, an easy listen).


Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass

Format: Audiobook (Chirpbooks)

Okay, I'll admit, the plot description sounded a little cheesy: With the help of her rescue cat, Eddie, librarian Minnie Hamilton is driving a bookmobile based in resort town of Chilson, Michigan. But she better keep both hands on the wheel, because it's going to be a bumpy ride. 

BUT, this turned out to be a super cute cozy mystery. I was hooked from the moment I started listening to it. The main characters are charming and likeable. Even the minor characters have an endearing element to them.

This is the first book that I've read by the author and I really like her writing style. The plot was well thought out and there were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing until almost the end. This is another book that is a perfect weekend or vacation read. I listened to a good portion of it while out training for a half-marathon. I look forward to checking out Minnie and Eddie's next adventure!

Book Reviews 2017: I'm Watching You

**All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five-star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.**

I'm Watching You by Mary Burton

This was the first book I've read by Mary Burton and I will definitely be checking out her other books. I really enjoyed this novel- I felt the mystery and suspense were well written. I actually lost sleep because I got to the point where I couldn't stop reading and I had to see how it ended. 

I kept changing my mind who I thought the killer would be, which to me is the sign of a good mystery novel. Now, there were some unresolved issues in the plot (minor issues, just me being nit-picky) and I hope that the characters appear in another novel so we can see what happens to them. There were also some minor characters that I hope get their own story in another novel.

The author does a great job with character development and keeping the story interesting- I can't wait to read another one of her novels. 

Book summary:

I finished this book on September 13, so it goes towards my 40 by 40 challenge.

Book Reviews 2017: A Night in With Marilyn Monroe

**All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five-star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.**

A Night in With Marilyn Monroe by Lucy Holliday

I am enjoying this series but I think I liked A Night in With Audrey Hepburn a little bit more than this one. Libby seemed a little too whiny in this novel and it just didn't have the same charm as the first one. Also as much as I like Ollie, even he was annoying me in this book. Come on Ollie, man up!

Regardless, I still like the author's writing style and even though I didn't like this book as much as the first one, the author kept me interested in the story.

We do get to know some of the other characters a little better in this novel, which was nice. And despite their flaws, I do like the characters and can't wait to see what happens in the next book. As a fan of classic movies, I love the concept of this series! 

Book summary:

I finished this book on September 11 so it goes towards my 40 by 40 challenge.

Book Reviews 2017: Hidden Things

** All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five-star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.**

Hidden Things by Andrea Boehshaar

I have no clue how this book ended up on my bookshelf. I don't remember buying it and I can't find a friend who admits that they loaned it to me.  Regardless how it ended up on my bookshelf, I'm glad it did. Evidently this is the second book in a series so I need to go and find book one. 

This was a heart-warming book to read. Yes, parts of it were kind of over the top "Focus on the Family" sugar-coated, but I would rather read that than some stuff printed in other books. It would be a good book for a book club (especially a book club with church members).

I feel the author did a great job with her writing. It kept me interested in the story. The book shows a woman who discovers that just because she's been in church her whole life doesn't mean she has all of life's answers (boy- I can relate to that!) 

It also shows that you have to rely on God even when your heart and mind are telling you something else. I see some other reviews complaining about unanswered questions but there is a book three so hopefully those questions will be answered. I do like how not everything was wrapped up perfectly in a bow at the end- that's not always how life goes. I look forward to the next book.

Book summary:

I finished this book on September 6, so it goes towards my 40 by 40 challenge.

Book Reviews 2017: Thirteen Reasons Why

**All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.** 

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

I read this book back in March and I've been meaning to post a review of it, but I have been lazy. With the majority of my social media feeds talking about the Netflix show based on it, I felt I needed to go ahead and post my review of it.

First of all, YES, I read the book before I watched the Netflix series (because I always try and read the book before I see a movie/show based on it). And yes, I mainly picked up the book because I knew a series had been made about it, and I wanted to read it first. I'm a nerd.

I'm not going to lie- this book sucked me in. I couldn't put it down. I started reading it one Sunday afternoon and spent the rest of the day finishing it.

I've heard (meaning I've read other reviews) people complain about ALL THE DRAMA throughout the book but remember, this is a young adult book. Everything is dramatic to teenagers. What might seem like no big deal to an adult is earth-shattering to a teenager (don't you remember your teenage years?) Most teenagers feel that the world is against them.

If you have watched the series but didn't read the book, there are some pretty big differences. There are characters in the series who are not in the book. There are also plot lines in the series that are not in the book, so if you end up reading the book too, you might be surprised.

I like how the writing style went back and forth between what was going on with Clay and to Hannah speaking on the tape. Suicide (especially teen suicide) is a sensitive subject that no one seems to want to talk about, but I think the author handled it with delicacy and didn't downplay the seriousness of it at all. Even if someone leaves a suicide note (or tapes in this case) that doesn't mean that they explain every reason why they killed themselves. Some of the reasons might seem petty, but to that person, they weren't petty at all. It also stresses throughout the book that suicide is NEVER the answer. I don't feel that it glorifies suicide at all. 

MINOR SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD (but it won't ruin the book for you). 

Since the book is done in first person, we really only saw how Hannah's suicide affected Clay. I would have liked for some of the other characters to have shown or expressed remorse (or at least had reactions to receiving the tapes). 

I liked the writing style and look forward to reading other works from the author.

Book summary:

XOXO!