Cozy Mystery Review: The Coffee Club Mysteries: 6 Whodunits by Darlene Franklin, Cynthia Hickey, Elizabeth Ludwig, Dana Mentink, Candice Prentice, Janice Thompson

Description:

Six Mysteries Are Brewing in Small-Town Kansas

The coffee shop on the corner of First and Main in Oak Grove, Kansas, seems to attract a series of mysterious events. Or perhaps it is the six women who frequent the shop for book club who are the magnets for trouble. . . .
 

Morgan Butler, owner of the Coffee Perk, finds a project worker hanged at her shop.

Evelyn Kliff discovers a church meal organizer dead.

Harper Daggett is being stalked for an antique jade owl she bought.

Baker Jeanine Gransbury’s charity event money goes missing.

Jo Anderson shares hazelnut coffee creamer, sending a man into anaphylaxis shock.

Penny Parson finds a gun in one of her beehives.

Join them as they unravel six unexplained events that have the potential to ruin business and spoil friendships if not handled with care.

My Review:
The Coffee Club Mysteries is a delectable collection of cozy mysteries. I enjoyed each of the six stories. Even though they are all written by different authors, they connect in unique ways. I love that the ladies are tied together as a book club, even though they spend more time solving crimes than discussing books. If you enjoy mysteries, this is the perfect book to cozy up with on a winter day. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing, Inc. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A Little Country Ingenuity

I love rural America.

Growing up, we lived in the country surrounded by farm land. On any given day a tractor might scuttle by the house. So when my husband sent me this photo recently, I had to smile.

Tim shuttles books from library to library in our county. We'd had some snow and ice which made me a bit concerned about his travels. He managed to drive between branches without any problem. At one of the southern-most branches that had more snow, he snapped a picture in the parking lot. An older lady had journeyed across the ice and snow on her tractor, with a heated cab, because she didn't want her books to be overdue.

I've worked in libraries for twenty-four years. Her ingenuity touched my heart. If only we could all muster up the responsibility to be that conscientious.

If you're raising children, teach them to be thoughtful, adventurous, and practical like the woman on the tractor. They'll live a better life for it.

Who's the Coach?

Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

From the bleachers we watched our granddaughter rebound the basketball. As the girls hustled up and down the court, the coach shouted plays. Then she'd call a time-out and advise the girls on what to do, and correct them where they'd made mistakes. She was in the game with them.

I coached volleyball for a few years. Honestly, I didn't have the confidence or experience I needed. But I tried. I loved the girls and the game. As I learned along with them, we grew together as a team. As a coach I took on the role of adviser, instructor, and example. 

In life, Jesus is my coach, mentor, and leader. Jesus had the ultimate experience in living life on earth. He was born and raised to live like his brothers and sisters. He worked with his dad, and walked with the disciples. Jesus experienced sorrow and joy. He loved and lost. Satan tempted him, but he didn't partake in sin. He understood the circumstances men and women live in. That's why we can go to Jesus and talk to him. He understands. He's not some lofty spirit who is out of reach. He's the one who lived on earth and knows how difficult life can be. Jesus wants to grant grace and mercy, if we just ask. Even though he knows our needs, he longs for us to talk to him.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Fiction/Suspense Review: Secrets at Cedar Cabin (A Lavender Tides Novel Book 3) by Colleen Coble

Book Description:

Her mother lied about her identity and her husband wasn’t who she thought he was—can Bailey even trust herself anymore?

Running for her life in the wake of her mother’s murder, Bailey Fleming escapes to the only place she can think of—a remote, dilapidated cabin in Lavender Tides. Intending to finally get to the truth behind the lies of her past, Bailey only finds more questions when bodies are discovered near her cabin hideout along with traces of a dangerous human trafficking ring. In an unlikely partnership with FBI agent Lance Phoenix, Bailey races to understand the mystery surrounding her life and circumstances before the murderer tracks her down. 

Meanwhile, Lance is determined to rescue his sister, Ava, who was abducted after running away from home as a teenager. An unexpected lead brings him to the remote cabin, and he wonders if Bailey—with her suspicious past and strange connections to his sister’s case—is really who she claims to be and if she can somehow lead him to Ava. 

Filled with Colleen Coble's custom blend of suspense and romance, Secrets at Cedar Cabin takes us back to the evocative landscape of Washington's coast where nothing is quite as it seems. 

My Review:
In Secrets at Cedar Cabin, Colleen Coble takes us back to Lavender Tides and several of the characters from the first and second book in the series. I loved seeing some loose ends tied up from the previous stories. But I have to say, Bailey's story is the most dramatic and stirring of the three books. This story has a beautiful thread of hope, but also speaks out against one of the most horrific crimes of our time, human trafficking; making the reader aware of the dangers. The suspense and drama are spot on. The story brings light to the devastation of lies, then shows what can happen when people work together and reach out to God. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson, via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Be the Peace

Seek Peace

You are Loved

1 John 4:10-12
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

I've been reading the book of Genesis. Those people were a mess. After Adam and Eve exited the Garden of Eden, things went downhill from there. Bad behavior got out of hand so God sent the flood. Thank goodness Noah and his family still loved God and could climb on the ark with the animals and start again. Abraham and Sarah tried to hang in there and follow God, but ended up lying to protect themselves. As the population once again increased, sin enticed people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God destroyed them. Later Joseph, who loved God, was sold off by his own brothers and accused of things he didn't do. That's as far as I've read.  

How does God keep his patience with the very people he created? From the beginning, God loved Adam and Eve, he tried to direct them on what they needed to do to continue to live in the beautiful garden. But they couldn't control their desires. They believed their tempter and fell into sin. Yet God still loved them.

God's love is greater than anything we can imagine. He out loves us. How do I know that? Because he sacrificed his own son who took our sin on his heart and died for us. God knew he needed to pave a way for people to find their way back to him. He knew if people wanted a relationship with him, he'd need to make a new path. That path is Jesus. God raised Jesus from the dead to give us hope and grace.

God doesn't give up on us, he LOVES us. All he wants is for us to love him back.