The Tail Waggin' Winterfest is the highlight of the season in Slyvan Creek - a small town in the Pocono Mountains famous for being pet-friendly. There's an ice sculpture display, a dogsled race, and an annoying TV producer filming the festivities. Not only is Lauren Savidge annoying, she's controlling and overbearing. Daphne Templeton wants to tell Lauren to jump in a lake. And that's what they're both going to do in the town's first-ever polar bear plunge in Lake Wallapawakee along with eighty or so others who are braving the frigid water to raise money for animals in need. But Lauren is dragged out of the water by a mysterious St. Bernard. Now Daphne and her trusty sidekick, Socrates the basset hound, are going to help Detective Johnathan Black in the murder investigation whether he wants them to or not. This is the third book in the Lucky Paws Petsitting series but it's the first one I've read. I had no problem following along. I felt as though I was ...

Literary agent Peter Katz is intrigued by a partial book submission he has just received. The submission, entitled The Book of Mirrors, tells the story of the author's time as an English student at Princeton during the late 1980's. The author, Richard Flynn, documents his relationship with the protégée of the famous Professor Joseph Wieder. But just before Christmas, Weider was murdered in his home and the case was never solved. Twenty-five years have passed since then and Peter Katz suspects that Richard Flynn is either going to confess to the murder or reveal who it was that did it. But the manuscript ends abruptly and Richard Flynn is in the hospital, dying, and the remaining pages are nowhere to be found. I'm giving this a generous three stars. I liked so many things - a book within a book, memories, the stories we choose to tell others and the ones we keep hidden, the unsolved murder of a popular professor. But all of these things didn't come together as well as I ...

This is the third novel by B.A. Paris. She's one of those authors that I don't even have to read the blurb because I already know it's going to be good no matter what. The first two were really good, but this one is really, really good! My advice is to start this book when you have a few hours to spare because you won't want to put it down! A young British couple are on their way back home after a vacation. Finn leaves the car for a few minutes and when he returns Layla is gone, never to be seen again. That was over a decade ago now. Finn is happy, he's getting married. But then his relationship starts to go awry because of a little Russian Nesting Doll. This book started off good. I was taking my time getting to know Finn before, during and after his relationship with Layla. But there was one part early on that made me think "oh my God" and I couldn't stand not knowing what happened to her. It's like B.A Paris is a race car driver and she threw me...

It's autumn term at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, also known as S.T.A.G.S to the privileged pupils, and Greer MacDonald is struggling to fit in. Making even one friend is looking bleak until she receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed on it - huntin' shootin' fishin'. And it's from Henry de Warlencourt. Henry is the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S and he's inviting her to spend half term weekend at his country manor. She's surprised and flattered. But when she arrives at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, she realizes that the only adults around are the servants and the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting, fishing - aren't only about the wild animals. Greer and the other two misfits Henry has invited along are being hunted. To look at the actual cover, it's gorgeous. Crisp and elegant. When I read the blurb I thought people were being hunted and that was it. People being hunted I'm okay w...

In war-torn London, 1941, fourteen-year-old Ruth Goldberg and her two younger siblings, Gabi and Hannah, survive the bombing of their family home but their parents are believed to be dead, buried under the rubble. They don't know that their father has been taken to the hospital with amnesia. Years later, Ruth stumbles across a newspaper photo of a celebrated pianist who looks exactly like her father. The only way to find out for sure is to write him a letter, and as the pianist's memories surface, his new life begins to fall apart. I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I did like the early days - with the Goldberg's as a whole, and as poor Ruth had to stay with aunt Fenella and uncle Harry while her younger siblings went to stay with aunt Betty. The characters were okay. The concept was interesting. I liked the setting. But I found it long and drawn-out. Once I put the book down I didn't really want to pick it back up. I'm happy it's...