"Moonlight and Mayhem" by Molly Fitz and Trixie Silvertale

After two unsuccessful attempts to create a business that will keep her bills paid, Sydney and the 3 ghosts living in her house come up with the idea to sell some of the antiques collecting dust in the home. What could possibly go wrong? How about a cursed dagger and a murder for starters?

This was the 3rd book in this series and a great way to end things. I enjoyed reading about not just the main character, but also about the supporting characters. I very much enjoyed reading not just this book, but the previous two in this trilogy. I believe this was meant to be the final book in a short series, but if Ms. Fitz and Ms. Silvertale were to team up and continue to add books to this series, I for one would love to read more about these characters in the future. (In other words, I'm hoping that they will eventually add more books and continue on with it.)

If you're looking for a fun cozy mystery with a paranormal twist, give this book/ series a try. I found it quite entertaining and fun to read. I would, however,  recommend starting with the first book and reading this series in order as the events won't make much sense if you don't, but I know that I've enjoyed reading all three books.

"Moonlight and Magic" by Molly Fitz and Trixie Silvertale

Sydney and the 3 ghosts inhabiting her new home managed to solve the murder of the former mistress of the manor, allowing her soul to finally be at rest. And while that solves one problem, it doesn't solve the issue of her needing to earn an income after having received a bad review from the reviewer who had stayed at her bed and breakfast. (It hadn't been advertised as haunted, so the negative review wasn't really all that surprising, just unfortunate.) 

So they do the only thing that really makes sense after that…. They decide to give haunted Halloween tours. After all, with 3 ghosts in residence, why not make use of the building's haunted reputation? But once again, something goes wrong, leaving Sydney and the others trapped in a repeating loop of the events from the day of the first tours. (Read the book, if you want to know why, I won't spoil that part for you.)

I was amused by this tale, though somewhat disappointed that there was no reference made by the main character to the movie Groundhog Day. (If you’ve ever seen the movie, then you know why.) Still, the events of each day they are forced to repeat and the ways they try to break the cycle and get out of the loop were quite innovative and well worth reading.

If you like paranormal cozy mysteries, or cozy mysteries in general, then I believe you should enjoy this book. Also, if you've enjoyed any of the other books written by either Ms. Fitz or Ms. Silvertale, you probably won't want to skip this fun series. But as this is the second book in the series, I strongly recommend reading book 1 in the series before reading this one.

“The Rancher’s Mail Order Surprise” by Florence Linnington

Sam left home after his mother’s death. Both he and his father were grieving and Sam had taken to drinking his sorrow away. He spent his time in saloons and traveling with a not very nice group of men who committed quite a number of horrible acts before Sam left them behind, stopped drinking, and eventually returned home. Things had changed a great deal while he’d been gone. His father was willing to take him back, but would only accept that Sam was there to stay if he married the bride that his father had sent for. But it’s uncertain who was more surprised by this fact, Sam himself when his bride showed up on their doorstep unannounced, or Clarise, the woman who arrived expecting to find a man wanting to marry her rather than one not even knowing she was coming.

Like Ms. Linnington’s other books, I enjoyed reading this one. Clarise comes across ultimately as a very strong woman who is determined to find herself a home, while at the same time as a woman who is unsure of herself as she has been bullied and teased throughout her life for being too tall. She is willing to stand up for herself when no one else will, even as she tries to hide her hurt feelings, and is determined to find a place for herself so that she won’t be sent away, whether or not Sam is willing to marry her.

I like that Clarise is such a strong character with a bit of a softer side. I also like that we get to see not only Sam’s strength, but his faults. He is not perfect and doesn’t try to pretend to be. But he is determined not to repeat his previous mistakes. This is a strong story with characters that are easily relatable and whose reactions to events are quite understandable.

I think that anyone who enjoys any of Ms. Linnington’s other books or mail order bride novels should enjoy this book. It is a very entertaining story that occasionally had me on the edge of my seat as I read. There were some twists & turns that I hadn’t expected in this book, and I think that they made it all the more entertaining to read.

"Moonlight and Mischief" by Molly Fitz and Trixie Silvertale

Sydney thought she had everything… the perfect job, the perfect guy, and was expecting the perfect marriage proposal later that day. Instead, said boyfriend dumped her, fired her, and gave her two weeks to move out of his apartment or find herself on the street. Given that they were living in New York, that was a pretty much impossible task. But after a long, ever expanding search, she came across an estate for sale that appeared to be entirely in her budget. It wasn't until after she'd bought it with the intent of turning it into a Bed & Breakfast that she learned why such an amazing property was so affordable.  

The manor was haunted by several ghosts who needed her to solve the mystery of an old murder so that they could set the victim's ghost free from a tormented existence stuck between planes of existence. But with it having happened so very long ago, how can Sydney possibly solve it considering that anyone and everyone involved was long dead. And what will happen to her Bed and Breakfast if she can't solve the murder?

I really enjoyed this story. The characters were entertaining as well as often surprising. Sydney is clearly a strong woman determined to make a fresh start of her life rather than someone who is content to wallow in misery when what she was expecting in her life falls apart.

I would recommend giving this book a try. I have read and enjoyed other series of books by each of these authors and very definitely enjoyed this team up between them. I'm very much looking forward to seeing where this series goes from here and would recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed books by either Ms.  Fitz or Ms. Silvertale. Also, anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries with a paranormal twist, especially one involving cats.

"Missing Florence" by Samantha Price

Joy and Isaac  are getting married. Wilma has been trying to convince Joy to allow it to be a double wedding with Wilma and Levi, but Joy wants to have it be her day & not her mother's. But that isn't the only argument happening, for Joy wants her sister Florence to be invited even though Florence has married an outsider. But Wilma is still furious and would rather that her stepdaughter not be there. Life for all of them will be rapidly changing once Wilma & Levi are married. 

This was the 7th book in the Bonnet Sisters series. It was a very quick and pleasant read. While not everything that happens is happy, this series always leaves me with a warm, hopeful feeling.  It leaves me with the impression that no matter how bad things may seem, that all will end well.

I believe that anyone who enjoys Amish romance stories or any of the other books in this series would enjoy this book.