Fall has officially arrived.   With TV offering new seasons of shows we love and new programs they hope we’ll check out, it’s hard to find time to read all the books that are waiting for us.

Three books published this summer are notable if you like a good light reading experience that makes you smile and dream:

LAWYER FOR THE DOG by Lee Robinson (St. Martin’s Press) is Heartwarmingly Hilarious!  “Every case is a story” and this lawyer’s got quite the story!  With the help of Sherman, a miniature schnauzer who has been assigned to Sally’s temporary custody during a custody battle between her divorcing owners by Sally’s ex-husband and judge Joe, Sally’s life begins to open up to new people and places as she heals emotionally from old lost loves, including that of her childhood dog, Brownie.

I loved this book and gave it a 5/5.

CANCANS, CROISSANTS AND CASKETS by Mary McHughes is book 3 in the Happy Hoofers Mystery series (Kensington Books).  Fashion tips, French recipes, and a tour of Paris blend well with 5 ladies n a dance troupe known as the Happy Hoofers.  Feel the energy of chorus dancers, the thrill of a beautiful historic city and the bond between the Hoofers as Janice, Tina, Gini, Mary Louise and Pat arrived in Paris on Bastille Day to perform for a week on a dinner cruise boat on the Seine. The wages may be modest but the sights and scenes or Paris make up for it.   This book focuses on Janice.

I gave this book a 5/5.  Characters are human with flaws and hopes.

CANDY CORN MURDER By Leslie Meier is book 22 in the Lucy Stone Mystery series.  Tinker’s Cove Maine is hosting its first Giant Pumpkin Fest and Lucy Stone’s family has joined in all the fun, until her husband, Bill, is charged with the murder of his pumpkin catapult building buddy Ev.  Lucy’s family has expanded to include her 4 yr old grandson, Patrick, and modern child rearing isn’t what it was back when her kids were preschoolers!    A good cozy mystery with middle aged characters in a town you’d like to visit and stay awhile in.

I gave this a 5/5 for the coziness of the story.

I am thankful for the opportunity through Net Galley to hook up with Publishers and receive advance copies of many books for free in exchange for a review on Net Galley.  I’ve even had a couple of reviews used by the publisher when they release the books for purchase!   Sharing books on this blog is hopefully encouraging you to get hold of a copy (libraries are great sources for free books both print and e formats) and read for fun.

This may be a Rose Kaplan Mystery but in my opinion her best friend Ida Berkowitz, who tells us the story, is the star of the show.

The characters at the Julius & Rebecca Home for Jewish Seniors may be 70+ but they are a community who seem to have murders as a source of excitement now that Mrs. K is considered the go to person for help in solving crime.

When Vera Gold dies on Yom Kippur no-one is overly concerned, she was sick, nor overly saddened, she was a pain in the tuchis!

Ida finds herself dressed in borrowed leathers climbing onto the back of Moishe’s Harley Davidson.  A situation only she can find herself in by listening to the advice of her BFF Rose Kaplan!  See it takes more than solving a murder to make life interesting!

Now, if I could talk to Ida I’d answer her question about Paul – he never married so it wasn’t an issue.

If you enjoy a story told with Jewish sentence structure and learning new words, this is the book for you.  Welcome to the world created by Mark Reutlinger.  It is a blast.

While you are waiting for the Nov 17, 2015 release of this book,  read book one in the series: Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death.

  my badge from Net Galley.   One of them at least.

Well, it’s Sept 7 and I’m still struggling to figure out how to set up this blog and make it user friendly.

I’ve done a lot of reading this past 5 weeks and I would like to have been able to share it with you – if I could have figured out how to get my wanna-be followers to be able to follow me too.

Thanks for hanging in and keep checking out this blog.   Maybe we can connect soon and have some interesting discussions and I can tell you about some interesting books and book publishers.

Brenda