Books read June 30

Hidden Riches by Felicia Mason
Wanted to read this book for the cover has a quilt on it and the story line sounded like it'd make a good read and it does.
Starts out with the funeral of a sister. the brother and sisters and their spouses all come to attend the funeral and the reading of the will tells them to find the treasure by looking at her legacy quilt.
Problem is one gave it away to a junkman. They get it back and scurry to find out what the blocks really mean. So funny at times, so sad. Family has to all come together to figure it out...so many secrets and twists to the plot.
Like how it reads and especially the quilt journals as they mean a lot. Other works by the author are excerpted at the end.
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review

Mistletoe Memories, 4 authors Christmas anthology
Schooley's Mountain, NJ has a resort with miracle healing water that many flock to during the summer months.
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Tis the Season by Carla Olson Gade
NJ 1920's Annaliese is the doctor's daughter and a tree branch falls just in her path on her way to bring clothes for the less fortunate. She tumbles out of the carriage and carpenter Stephen Yot rescues her. There is a sprig of mistletoe and he kisses her after making sure she's ok.
A boy runs through the field as he saw the doctor's carriage. They all go to Rory's uncle while Stephen finds the doctor to help. Love the mystery of the magnetized mine and how Rory is saved from his real father. Like how that all came about and mention of Bonaparte in the storyline. References to religion as he is from Holland and is of German descent.
hadn't realized I had read other works by the author-a quilt series she is part of.
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Mercy Mild by Gina Welborn
Eziekiel is the deputy and he's in charge of bringing the orphans to Schooley Mountain where 4 of them have already been adopted. Nobody planned on the 5th child, Polly.
He elected Mrs. Plum to take care of her temporarily while he tried to track down other relatives of Polly to see if they wanted her.
Mrs. Plum has never had children and feels out of place with her, she's very nervous and is not used to having another in the house. Zeke lives next door with his mother and stops in from time to time til they are used to one another.
Love the glass house and all it stands for. Marianne confesses her love for Zeke and then he leaves to find guardians for Polly. She throws herself into decorating and shopping and Polly is only too happy to help. The mishap with the tree is the last straw til the town meets at the war memorial...
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Midnight Clear by Lisa Karon Richardson
Olympia Paris is doing everything she can to save the orphanage from going to auction the day after Christmas. She waitresses and tends to the children and it's never enough.
Teddy has returned from when he was a boy growing up at the orphanage and he has plans. He hadn't realized how it'd effect Olympia and the kids. Can a Christmas miracle happen to save the place so they will have a place to live.
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Comfort and Joy by Jennifer AlLee
Modern days and Joy has just been notified of Sam's passing away and he gave the house to his nephew. She's a bit put out as she doesn't know where the residents will live...
Evan Lancaster had told her she and the clients had to be out of the house in 30 days time. It's Christmas and she prays for a miracle. The people that live in the house are out of the foster care system and are learning how to do things with her help, by themselves.
Can a photograph of the original house save them all?

4 Ingredient Cookbook: 150 Quick & Easy Timesaving Recipes
Recipes from many categories that are easy to make and no cleanup.
No nutritional information but there are some pictures.  Recipes come with good instructions that are easy to follow and most of them ask for already prepared items, like crescent rolls or English muffins, rather than making them fresh.
Great ideas for when you need a quick dish. Other works by the author are highlighted at the end.

Orangey the Goldfish: Side Story No. 1
Colorful children's book about a boy who is promised a pet. They go into a pet shop and he wants one of everything....
He finally decides on just one orange goldfish and the fish thinks he will like his new home...
Other books about Orangey are highlighted at the end.

Orangey the Goldfish, Book 1
Colorful children's book about a bright orange goldfish. Little boy, Billy has promised to take care of his new goldfish. The fish is so happy to be in a new home.
He didn't like the bag at all after being bought from the store.
Too funny when the boy tastes the fish food to make sure it's gonna be good for the fish!
Other books about Orangey are highlighted at the end.

Under a Summer Sky by Nan Rossiter
Have read other books by the author and love that they take me to Cape Cod where things are yet undiscovered there for me.
With the beginning there is a page worth of the characters-there's a bunch of them but don't let that fool you. It's easy to keep track of who is who. Love the secrets that come out, not only of the family relationships but the adventures into known jaunts around the cape.
Book is broken up into parts where the first one is how Noah and Laney met in the early years. Next part is about Micah's wedding where they will hold it on Noah/Laney's beach front along with their 5 boys and animals. Noah is a minister and the book is religious in helping us understand why things are what they are.
Such an easy going read. Love the tradition of reading of the poems, so cool! Life and death go on as another summer comes, Laney is done teaching and all the boys are home-2 from college. They all go their separate ways during the day, home for dinner at night...
What I really like about this book is that every generation is going through life events and they are brought forward. So you have aged adults going through chemo, mid adults going through raising kids of all ages, young ones just finding love for the first time and a family wedding.
Other obstacles face them and are dealt with, as they are everyday issues that can mean life or death to some. Some family recipes are included.
 I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review

Why be happy when you could be normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Accrington, England and the story begins just before she is adopted by the Winterson. The story follows the life of the girl and the struggles throughout the years.
When she turns 16 she leaves, she is a lesbian and the family is very religious. Each have their own routines and it's quite plain and boring. No car so they walk everywhere, usually miles per day.
Lots of quoting from the Bible and from literary works.  Troubled times as she doesn't fit in and manages to find her mother and they do meet. Lots of questions and lots of answers to those.

A Catered Fourth of July by Isis Crawford
In this mystery we find the sisters Bernie and Libby at it again. Catering a 4th of July reenactment of the holiday with muskets as props.
After the incident they find clues and question many others to find out who really did the killing.
Besides the reenactment group, there are a group of Wiccan's danced as fairies doing a circle ceremony, there is a pig involved as well. Hilarious at times as they round up the clues and suspects.
Recipes at the end round off this mystery. Can't wait to read more from this author.
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review

 The Alchemist's Daughter by Mary Lawrence
Wanted to read this book to find out exactly what her career is all about. Starts out near the city of London 1549's and Bianca is a person who mixes herbs and spices and creates concuctions to help cure people and to rid others of pests-rats. Loved hearing how and why she mixed things, She learned a lot from her parents when it came to the mixing.
Her best friend shows up one day as she's mixing things and is complaining about pains in her stomach. Their friend John is also there-he's a journeyman to become a silversmith. Jocylyn ends up dying but not before she tells of her suitor.
At the service they are able to figoue out who she was referring to. Probleem is she died at Bianca's and the cops think she is to blame. She avoids being arrested but is tailing another as the clues pile up pointing in the direction of a high power person.
She also is running low on time to figure out what posions killed her friend-she tries some on herself and lucky John and Meddlyt is there to help her. Devastation as she is dragged to jail and with her friends they are able to continue her clues and find new leads.
Rats feasting on piles of bodies sent shivers through me but I really enjoyed the story, plot and characters. Seems this is a series of Bianca's days but this read as a stand alone book. Look forward to reading more.
 I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review