This is the hardest time of the year. Getting all the decorations perfectly placed, buying the perfect gifts that will last forever, cooking, baking, cleaning (ugh) and trying to figure out which mysteries I’m going to say were the best of 2022! It’s actually the hardest part of the holidays for me, (other than the cleaning) the rest is just icing on my sugar cookies. Choosing which novels are most memorable isn’t easy. I’ve read a lot of impactful mysteries written by incredible authors, each one a gift of love and hard work. (Don’t forget to put them all on your nice list Santa!) But I must choose which ones will make special stocking stuffers, Happy Hanukkah gifts or just a small token to tell someone they are an extraordinary person who has been a gift in your life. No matter what you celebrate, it is the time to share with others. So here is my gift to you, a list of incredible mysteries I’ve read this year. Some have visited the Cozy Corner this year, some have not, but each when has been an absolute joy to read! Happy Holidays everyone! Susanna Shore has created the perfect duo of…

As I was browsing Amazon searching for alien romance, I stumbled upon the multi-author holiday-themed “Stranded With an Alien” series. It’s amazing! I started out only getting the Ella Maven book, because I’m familiar with her sci-fi romance, but I soon had to binge-read the others in the series as well. My favorite stories in the series are by Ella Maven, Alana Khan, Honey Phillips, and Tana Stone. While each book has some winter, stranded, or Christmas element, each book has a different tone. In BAKI by Ella Maven, Baki is a beautiful blue Drixonian. He has some PTSD from when his people were terrorized and forced from their home territory. To soothe himself, he smokes a locally grown dried plant and lives life as a farmer rather than be the warrior he’s capable of being. While on a crop run, he stumbles upon a human woman who is injured and on the run from a vicious group of aliens. Baki gradually gains Thea’s trust and it’s a short but emotionally powerful love story. I think of TALIZ by Alana Khan as a cross between a Hallmark Christmas movie and a really hot barbarian romance. Taliz is a fanged and…

Seconds. I love them all, especially desserts. Children love to jump off the roller-coaster and run back to get in line for a second turn. Many of us love to return to a well-written mystery for a second read so we can catch the clues we missed the first time. And who hasn’t had better success with a complicated recipe the second time around? (Oh, that’s what they meant by folding in the egg whites!) I write about seconds, as well, and I’m so enamored with the idea that things work out better the second time around that all my story titles begin with the word “Second.” But I love, love, love reading about them. When we name romance tropes, “second chance” love stories almost always make the list, but to me, almost all romance involves a second chance. It comes up each time we must find a way back from that proverbial dark moment when it seems there’s no hope left for the couple. In this column, I’m going to discuss seconds in romance: the blatantly obvious (today’s primary title) and the not-so-obvious. None of the books or authors I mention have requested or paid for my attention; they’re…

Thoughts of Christmas tend to give some people a warm glow and they enjoy baking sweet treats, decorating with a multitude of colors and lights, and get together and watch a few holiday classics like It’s a Wonderful Life or A Charlie Brown Christmas. My favorite holiday film is A Child’s Christmas in Wales. For fun Christmas books, nothing beats Donna Andrews and her “Meg Langslow” cozy mystery series. While all these traditional treats are amazing, let me tell you about some equally amazing Christmas-themed romantic suspense stories by some of my favorite authors. For me, Cynthia Eden is the best when it comes to romantic suspense. Her stories are always engaging, and she has a wonderful way of building suspense just as she builds the bond between her hero and heroine. Her newest book is called KISS ME THIS CHRISTMAS. It’s a standalone novel with tons of familiar romance tropes for readers to enjoy built around a gripping tale of holiday mischief mixed with malevolence. Noelle Lennon has always carried a torch for her brother’s BFF, Brady Breckridge. Brady is a special ops, alpha hottie. Unbeknownst to Noelle, Brady has been infatuated with her for almost as long. Brady…

Thanksgiving time is full of typical traditions here in the United States. Families gather and eat way too much comfort food, and many of the foods are recipes handed down from generation to generation. We watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade before settling into the couches to watch football the rest of the day (or in the case of the children, heading outside to play with their cousins). Publix does an excellent job at capturing the heartwarming aspects of this holiday – food, family, football, and giving thanks. But what about people who don’t fit in the traditional mode, whether it’s a lack of biological family (either by choice or by circumstances) or folks that just don’t fit in with the family expectations? Thankfully, books offer us options for all on Thanksgiving and here are a few that tug at my heart this year. HER NAUGHTY HOLIDAY by Tiffany Reisz features Clover Green, a successful businesswoman with her own company that has just been offered a huge buyout. Unfortunately for her family, that’s not enough as they want her married with children and Clover is decidedly single- and Thanksgiving is approaching. Enter her teenage employee, Ruthie Fields, and her, plot to…

This month’s novels demonstrate that it isn’t one’s place in life, but one’s story, that fascinates. From the rich and privileged to maids who serve royalty, from genius to everyday workers, the complex tapestry of their lives draws the reader in, eager to know how each story ends. We begin with the privileged in THE LAST DANCE OF THE DEBUTANTE by Julia Kelly. When it’s announced that 1958 will be the last year high-society debutantes will be presented to the Queen, the events of the Season, during which families will vie to obtain one of those coveted invitations, become even more frenetic.  Kelly wonderfully captures the feel of the era—when the correct designer gown, the best perfume, the perfect accessories, and the right man on your arm meant everything for a girl’s future.  Into this mix, are Leana Hartford, an entitled aristocrat prepared to do anything to be named “Deb of the Year,” ambitious, nouveau-riche Katherine Norman, who dreams of a career, and Lily Nicholls, forced to put on hold the university education she craves and submit to the Season her purse string-controlling grandmother demands. Forming a group called “the Imperfects,” Lily and her friends are pitched into the rounds…

What sends shivers down your spine when reading? Spooky houses, possessed clowns, ghosts, vampires… October is the month when all the things that go bump in the night come to the forefront. Slasher films are the rage nowadays, but I prefer gothic tales that focus on atmosphere and imagination more. I think my love of gothic stories started with THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The eerie setting and the questions surrounding the mystery Sherlock Holmes was there to solve kept me up late reading and it’s still a frequent re-read of mine. Over the years, I’ve discovered two main themes to the gothic tales I love- usually there’s either a spooky house or a paranormal element. One exception is THE RED CARNELIAN by Phyllis Whitney, which always makes my list of best all time stories. The image of the mannequins and the smell of pine- when you can still envision scenes over 35 years after reading a book, you know it’s a fabulous one! Another favorite of mine is REBECCA – the classic tale by Daphne du Maurier. Although there are no actual ghosts – the spirit of Maxim de Winter’s late wife Rebecca permeates…

When I think about what makes an omg-I-loved-it story – for me, it’s usually all about the characters. Specifically, the dialogue and interpersonal relationships. I have been known to flip past lengthy descriptions detailing a story’s setting. I think the one exception is when it comes to tales with thrills and chills. When creating a tale of suspense, everything contributes to the reader’s experience. Part of why I find the Friday the 13th films so engrossing is because of the ominous feeling of having the main characters out in the woods, far from civilization. Where would Jason Voorhees be without his Crystal Lake? Without that classic setting, I just couldn’t get into a Friday the 13th film as much. I’m going to discuss several books that are exponentially enhanced because of the authors’ choice of setting. Honestly, I love just about anything written by Cynthia Eden, so I probably would have enjoyed ICE COLD SAINT no matter what the setting was. But having the female protagonist own a speakeasy-styled magic club is amazeballs and is the cherry on this sundae of superb storytelling. The club is where the hero first meets the heroine – when she’s his prey and he’s…

October, the time of witches, spooks, and people dressed up as something/one else provides a great backdrop to this month’s selections of books about ladies who existed in the shadow of more famous husbands or siblings.  Overlooked?  Underappreciated?  Have a read and decide! We begin with LANDSCAPE OF A MARRIAGE by Gail Ward Olmsted.  When Mary Olmsted’s husband dies, leaving her a young widow with three children, she agrees to a marriage of convenience with her late husband’s brother he had urged her to consider before his death. But Mary wants more than security: she wants to win her new husband’s love and share in his work.  Frederick Law Olmsted dreams of creating a green space in the center of every city.  Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Frederick spends the next forty years designing parks for cities, private estates, and the nation, a loving Mary at his side.  Though remaining in a traditional wife’s role, Mary’s organizational skills and business acumen provide essential, if unsung, support for his career.  Their personal journey, highlighted by the momentous events that shaped the nineteenth century, illumines her husband’s dream of a country filled with public landscapes that embrace a “beating…

Although the Great War lasted four years and included summer and winter campaigns, the image that symbolizes that conflict is one of the soldiers huddled in freezing, mud-filled trenches and civilians in shattered villages, desperately short of food and fuel, sheltering in the basements of bombed-out buildings.  This month’s selections feature stories about intrepid women who tried to help both the soldiers and the civilians caught up in that miserable conflict. We begin with two books that feature a little-known group of women who made an immense contribution to the war effort in the Army Signal Corps.  Jennifer Chiaverini’s SWITCHBOARD SOLDIERS tells the tale of a group of elite women volunteers who answer their country’s call for highly skilled telephone operators to work on the front lines in World War I.  When General Pershing brought Americans to join the fight in June 1917, he immediately recognized the need to establish reliable communication between headquarters and field units.  At the time, most trained telephone operators were women—who were not allowed to join the Army.  As often happens, desperation overrode convention, and the U.S. Signal Corps started recruiting operators fluent in French who were willing to work under dangerous conditions and would…