Wordy on Wednesday with Biblio-Kitty Amber #62 featuring Murder So Sweet ~ Sweet Cove Mystery Series & It's Officially Spring - YEAH RIGHT!!!

Welcome To

With me, Amber ~ The Self-Appointed Biblio-Kitty

Supurr salutations pawesome furriends

*waves paw*

Hello my beautiful biblio furriends, and how are mew on this fine Spring morn?  I'm actually freezing my tail off [almost, well not really - actually I'm on the sofa on my 'kryptonite softness' in front of the wood-burner!]  But it is still supurr cold outside with a rather Baltic wind-chill factor, there are just a few remnants of really stubborn snow left in the hedgerows and fields, so hopefully that will all go in the next day or two.  So much fur SPRING! PFFFFFFFT!

Actual photographic evidence of where I am right now.

Oh before I furget, we set up a FaceBook group yesterday called WHAT THE FLUFF just fur cats, and we did add a few of mew to it as we felt really, really lonely there all on our lonesome with no-purrdy to talk to. But if we made mew mad or peeved mew off by adding mew, purrlease accept our sincerest apologies and do remove yourselves if that's what mew want - we aren't ones fur any type of press-ganging and we would hate to upset any of mew!  

If any of mew would like to join purrlease do, as we'd love all our furriends to join as we think it'll be a great Pawty all week long fur effur and effur! MOL [Smooch will be bringing his Mind-Bender Nip Cocktail too, and mew won't want to miss that fur anything! MOL]

This is what it does...

Just don't read the hang-offur post - oops did I really mention that out-loud? 

On that note, I think it's time to share this weeks book.

This week I'm sharing

Murder So Sweet 

Sweet Cove Mystery Series #2

by

J.A. Whiting

Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:

Angie Roseland has closed her Sweet Dreams Bake Shop for a few months until she can move the shop to its new location. Her sister, Ellie, has just opened a bed and breakfast in Sweet Cove and Angie is helping her run it. Their youngest sister, Courtney, has a part time job at Finch Confectioners where the owner is known around town for being nasty and mean. 

*    *    *

Mew may remember a few weeks ago that I reviewed the furst book in the Sweet Cove Mystery Series and had a few reservations about it because I felt it lacked a 'little' in places but thought that book 2 would definitely be worth a go to see if that 'lack' was filled.  So I decided to review it this week before I completely furgot the plot and neffur went back, as mew know I love a lengthy series to get my claws in to.  And this series has 7 books so far with more on the way = big plus.

So my thoughts on book 2: it's got another kitty in it, which in itself is wurth another half paw on the ratings scale, plus the story continued on from the furst book, so there was no lag in the timeline, another big plus.

I realized that I as was listening to this second installment, that the narrator could be another underlying reason for me not really loving the book, because if mew'll let me explain; there are four sisters in the main plot and sub plots, and in my humble opinion the narrator doesn't do them justice, they all sounded furry, furry similar and purretty much rather 'deadpan' aka zero purrsonality fur what they were trying to convey, I felt that there could have been a lot more expression in their individual voices and tone.  So my advice here would be to read it rather than listen to it, as I feel that it would be much more fun and a more accurate assessment of the narrative, as mew'd be able to see the punctuation and how it should be spoken.

Book 1 did leave me on the fence, but as I'm not one to completely diss something because of that and not go back fur seconds, I am glad I continued.  In closing, I did find that book 2 did drip feed me more info and felt like some of things missing in book 1 were certainly put in place, so it had a feel of more completion and I'll definitely try book 3 at some point in the near future.

Guys try it, but read - don't listen to it.

*   *   *

Audio: 4 hours 31 mins
Paperback: 201 pages

• Publisher: J A Whiting; 1 edition (1 May 2015)

The Amber Biblio Rating System Fur Offurall Enjoyment:

Ratings of:

Murder So Sweet 

Offurall Enjoyment

& a Half Paws

I do hope mew enjoy this book if mew decide to give it a try... 

...and if mew've read it already, what did mew think?

*    *    *

Sadly it's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and don't furget that I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just fur mew.  Also mew do know that  that mew can visit my own purrsonal page? Featuring effury review I've effur done, OMC that's so exciting!

Happy reading or listening

Bestest biblio purrs and kitty kisses

Amber xox

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com

Wordy on Wednesday with Biblio-Kitty Amber #61 featuring Books 3 - 5 Oxford Tea Room Mysteries & Anything Supurr-Soft Is My Own Purrsonal Kryptonite

Welcome To

With me, Amber ~ The Self-Appointed Biblio-Kitty

Supurr salutations pawesome furriends

*waves paw*

Hello, hello, hello!

Many apologies fur missing last week, only the P.A. bought a couple of new supurr-soft teddybear blanky's fur the sofas in the sitting room, and believe me when I tell mew that anything supurr-soft is my own purrsonal kryptonite.

It's true, give me some softness and I'm rendered completely inert, sometimes fur days.  I just can't help it, it's like my mind becomes so focused on the softness that I furget effurything else that's going on... it's just like being in a trance-state-of-total-softness or TSOTS.

I've tried to offurcome this rather debilitating condition but from my research and the testings of many different styles of blanky's throughout my life, it's always the same;  Softness = Complete Inertia Recurring or S=CIr

If any of our fab furriends are in the scientific field I'd love to know why, and am I the only kitty in the wurld that suffers from this condition?

Thank goodness Basil and the rest of The B Team decided to put a poll on the blog on Friday fur mew to vote, as without that I don't think mew would have seen me fur months as my motivation to move was in the severe negative! MOL - OOPS!

When Basil last showed me the results of the poll on Monday, 70% said I'd DEFINITELY make it fur this week*, 22% said PURRHAPS I would make it and 9% said NO WAY -  Parsley and Smooch I know that was mew who voted fur the No Way - we'll be having wurds later!

* Thank mew fur believing in me

So this week, to make up fur my futile failings of last week, I'm sharing the next 3 books in the Oxford Tea Room Mysteries.  

This week I'm sharing

Books 3 - 5 Oxford Tea Room Mysteries

by 

HY Hanna

Here's a little snippet of the book blurbs:

Book 3 Two Down, Bun To Go

A sinister phone call in the middle of the night throws tearoom owner, Gemma Rose, straight into the heart of a new murder mystery - this time with her friend, Seth, arrested as the key suspect! The mysterious killing in the cloisters of an old Oxford college points to a bitter feud within the University - but Gemma finds unexpected clues popping up in her tiny Cotswolds village.

7 hours and 40 minutes

*    *    *

Book 4 Till Death Do Us Tart

When Oxfordshire tearoom owner Gemma Rose enters her little tabby, Muesli, in the cat show at the local village fair, the last thing she expects is to stumble across a murder. And when her meddling mother and the nosy Old Biddies decide to start their own investigation, Gemma has no choice but to join in the sleuthing. She soon finds there's something much more sinister sandwiched between the homemade Victoria sponge cakes and luscious jam tarts!

 8 hours

*    *    *

Book 5 Muffins and Mourning Tea

Cotswolds tearoom owner Gemma Rose is excited to join the May Day celebrations in Oxford...until the beautiful spring morning ends in murder. Now, she's embroiled in a deadly mystery - with four nosy old ladies determined to help in the sleuthing! Before she knows it, Gemma finds herself stalking a Russian "princess" and keeping up with the Old Biddies in Krav Maga class, while still trying to serve delicious cakes and buttery scones at her quaint English tearoom.

7 hours and 46 minutes

*   *   *

As mew know I've really been really enjoying this purrticular series, and I've just finished book 5, as that's the last audio version in the series. There are another 2 books, but as of today's date, neither has been turned into an audio version yet, I'm hopeful that it won't be too long as this series is really, really good.

The books follow straight on from one another, so there's no huge gaps in the time-line, it's just like a constant flow of what happens next, which I do like furry much, as mew feel like mew haven't missed a thing. The characters get more and more interesting, and yes, there is a bit of a love triangle and relationship ups and downs, but that is a sub-plot so neffur offur-shadows the main storyline.

The entire series kind of has a Miss Marple vibe, though a fully modern version, so if mew like Agatha Christie, I believe mew'll really like these too.

And as soon as books 6 & 7 are available in audio format I'll share those too!

*    *    *

• Publisher:  H.Y. Hanna
• 
• The Amber Biblio Rating System Fur Offurall Enjoyment:

Ratings of:

Books 3 - 5

Offurall Enjoyment

I do hope mew enjoy these books if mew decide to give them a try... 

...and if mew've read them already, which is your fav book thus far?

*    *    *

Sadly it's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and don't furget that I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just fur mew.

Happy reading or listening

Bestest biblio purrs and kitty kisses

Amber xox

graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com

Wordy on Wednesday with Biblio-Kitty Amber #60 featuring Tea with Milk and Murder (Oxford Tearoom Mysteries ~ Book 2) & An Unwelcome Intervention and I've Got SABA

Welcome To

With me, Amber ~ The Self-Appointed Biblio-Kitty

Supurr salutations pawesome furriends

*waves paw*

Oh my supurr furriends, how are mew all, did mew miss me last week while I was sunning my on the exotic isle of Fiji?

I had a totally brilliant time until I got home and was promplty ambushed with an intervention.

Appurrently I have SABA...

"It's SEVERE ACUTE BOOK ADDICTION Amber!" Basil replied.

Well tell me something I don't know!!! MOL  But seriously what library cat doesn't have a penchant fur a book or two, or a few hundred?  It's purrfectly normal.

Then I was subjected to an hour and a half of stern talking regarding my spending habits and that I now owe Parsley £350.02p fur the heating bill in the library, plus £4.22p fur chocolate chip cookies fur the library mice and a further £57.88p fur books.  Ok Ok Ok I admit it... I have no income stream, I'm a cat fur Pete's sake [whoeffur the heck Pete is???] so why would I have an income stream? And yes I do take it fur granted that all my wishes will be granted as and when I want... almost...

Retreating to my library, I thought long and hard about what effuryone said, and realized that as an aging, senior pussy the tips aren't that great at the lap dancing club, and those cheapskate, pervert badgers are the wurst tippers effur!  Though I do enjoy the wurk and socializing plus it gets me out of the house, so I got my thinking cap on and did a bit of research looking fur ways to increase my monetary flow.

I quickly read The Secret, and tried to mentally WILL myself some wealth, with some hard-core meditation and visualization techniques connecting to the universal flow of abundance... *snorts loudly* aftur 5 FULL minutes of acute concentration there was no humongous pile of riches and wealth before me, that didn't wurk!

So I went and got a pile of Basil's secret primo, extra-strong catnip stash to imbibe, to raise my consciousness to previously unreached levels of connection to the cosmic flow of mega riches.

And then I tried going out into nature to get fully grounded, thus raising my consciousness even higher...

I was furry disappointed as aftur a further 3 mins and 48.2 seconds of intensely fierce and rather potent concentration nothing had happened again... AND I was sure that was the fastest, easiest way to mega abundance in less than 9 minutes.

WRONG!

So I went back to google, expanding my search criteria and soon realized that I was doing myself an epically epic disservice by not being part of the Amazon Affiliates Program, so guess what?

 I joined up immediately and from now on all the book links I share will be linked to it, so if mew do decide to purrchase anything I review I'll get a rather modest commission.

FREEDOM IS FINALLY MINE!

At last I can be an independent cat and won't effur have to ask beg fur a paw out, and right now I'm feeling like a really empowered and a thoroughly modern 21st century kitty! MOL

Now I think it's time to share this weeks book.

This week I'm sharing 

Tea with Milk and Murder 

(Oxford Tearoom Mysteries ~ Book 2)

by 

HY Hanna

Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:

While at an Oxford cocktail party, tearoom owner Gemma Rose overhears a sinister conversation minutes before a University student is fatally poisoned. Could there be a connection? And could her best friend Cassie's new boyfriend have anything to do with the murder?

*    *    *

Mew may remember I reviewed book 1 of this series a while ago and really enjoyed it, so before I jetted off to Fiji I decided to get as many of the series as I could in the audio version, so I had something to binge listen to while I was away.

Book 2 is fab, I originally gave book 1 a four paw rating but as I started to listen to book 2 and the story flowed, I felt the author had really got in her stride with the characters.

Muesli the cute tabby cat is also present, as mew know how much it bugs me when there's supposedly a kitty in the storyline and then the kitty hardly appears throughout.

As mew know I won't spoilerize anything fur mew, as I feel it's impawtant fur effuryone to make their own minds up about things, but I will say this; I really, really enjoyed this and am currently just finishing book 4*, so if that doesn't tell mew something, then I don't know what will! MOL

[*I didn't have as much free time as I thought, but what happened in Fiji, stays in Fiji.]

Here's the entire series so far:

OXFORD TEAROOM MYSTERIES:

All-Butter ShortDead (Prequel)
A Scone To Die For (Book 1)
Tea with Milk and Murder (Book 2)
Two Down, Bun To Go (Book 3)
Till Death Do Us Tart (Book 4)
Muffins and Mourning Tea (Book 5)
Four Puddings and a Funeral (Book 6)
Another One Bites the Crust (Book 7)

*   *   *

Audio Version:  7 hours 10 minutes

Paperback: 326 pages

• 
  
• Publisher: H.Y. Hanna (22 Jan. 2016)

• 

The Amber Biblio Rating System Fur Offurall Enjoyment:

Ratings of:

Tea with Milk and Murder

Offurall Enjoyment

I do hope mew enjoy this book if mew decide to give it a try... 

...and if mew've read it already, what did mew think?

*    *    *

Sadly it's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and don't furget that I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just fur mew.

Happy reading or listening

Bestest biblio purrs and kitty kisses

Amber xox

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com

Wordy on Wednesday with Biblio-Kitty Amber #59 featuring The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop and Amber's in Fiji!

Welcome To

With me, Amber ~ The Self-Appointed Biblio-Kitty

Supurr salutations pawesome furriends

*waves paw*

Oh wow, have mew heard that I'm in Fiji with The Crotchety Cougars?  Like it's so exciting: myself, Kali, Phoebe, Binga, Sarabi, Ali, Madi, Binky, Sasha and Buddy are here right now having a total pawty in a most genteel way of course, because we all rather dignified - MOL nah just kidding we're making spring break look like a kittens tea pawty!!! 

Sorry can't stay long as we're off on that boat in a few minutes once I finished my drink! MOL

*   *   *

Basil here, just sneakily hijacking Amber's post on the QT.  

We have had to postpone the intervention because she's jetted off to Fiji without a care in the wurld and left us to manage her post this week! 

She'd better be back fur next week... tut... tut... tut...

*    *    *

 I think it's time to share this weeks book.

This week I'm sharing...

The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop

Sweet Cove Mystery Series #1

by

J.A. Whiting

Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:

Angie Roseland runs the Sweet Dreams Bake Shop in the seacoast town of Sweet Cove, Massachusetts. The building's new owners are not renewing the bake shop's lease, and Angie is running out of time to find a new location. 

*   *   *

This is the furst novel in the Sweet Cove Mystery Series and though it started off rather purromisingly, I did feel that is was furry formulaic, as though written hastily to jump on the kitty cozy mystery bandwagon.

While not my favourite book to date, it was not bad and I will in the future try book 2; which I'm hoping expands on the hints in book one regarding that Angie has powers, though only skirts the issue, plus after looking at the cover of book 2 a second kitty is clearly present.

I just felt it was rushed, and the author would have been better to have written a longer book with a little more background info, but I suppose it's all slowly revealed - drip-fed - throughout the series.  While in some instances this kind of writing wurks but fur this novel I don't think it does. 

All in all, give it a go and let's hope the rest of the series doesn't feel like it's lacking and leaving mew with too many unanswered questions aftur mew've read the final wurd.

*    *    *

• Audio: 4 hours and 32 minutes
• Paperback: 202 pages

The Amber Biblio Rating System Fur Offurall Enjoyment:

Ratings of:

The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop

Offurall Enjoyment

I do hope mew enjoy this book if mew decide to give it a try... 

...and if mew've read it already, let me know what mew thought.

*    *    *

Sadly it's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'm in Fiji!!

Don't furget that I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just fur mew.

Happy reading or listening

Bestest biblio purrs and kitty kisses

Amber xox

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com