One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

1876 Wyoming. Life on the frontier was hard and for the Bemis and Webber families very isolated. Maybe that was why one man started an affair with the other man's wife. There was very little warmth anyway in Substance and Nettie Mae's marriage in the first place but when he was killed by Bemis, Nettie Mae felt that she was done wronged by and hated Cora Bemis with a vengeance.

What started out as bitter enmity, had to be put aside when circumstances forced the two families to live together for pure survival. With limited resources of both food and warmth and lack of labour to handle two farms the two eldest children, both teenagers decided to come together to just survive the hard winter ahead.

The story of the two women, trying hard to adjust, Cora being submissive to Nettie Mae as she was the offender. Netti Mae biting back her hatred because of the weakness of her son, knowing that he needs the Bemis family support to survive is a story of tolerance, hard work and just getting on with life, however hard it seems to be.

When a romance builds up between the two teenagers, the entire story is out of the mother's hands and the next step forward is taken in reconciliation and getting to grips with family.

A tough story, very well told.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Lake Union Publishing. 

Where she Went by Kelly Simmons

The nightmare that no parent wants to face. Your teenage, college going daughter goes missing, the Police do not seem to take it seriously and her colleagues are oblivious to the fact that she has been missing from her room and from her classes.

Most mothers hesitate as to whether they are over reacting, it finally dawns that you do not really know what is happening in your daughter's life, you have not been privy to the daily happenings unlike before and that she is now grown up and quite independent of you.

Maggie does not take inactivity lying down. She pursues it on her own despite it being bordering on the illegal. Her daughter is missing and that is all she can think about.

I agree with one reviewer who said this is women's fiction. It is typical of a mother's behaviour, single or married. Your children are your focus and you are there to protect them. Everything else is beside. The story of Maggie and the unravelling of Emma who wants to fit in, who wants to have friends, who wants to be in the in crowd is a typical growing up story.

A good read about two women trying to come to terms with growing up and becoming independent.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Sourcebooks Landmark.

The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron

This was set not in two time lines but in three! my first read where it went into three separate stories.

Victorian England and Elizabeth an impoverished aristocrat is being touted by her mother as a suitable bride for anyone who is worthy of her. He has to be rich of course. Everything else is by the way. That is the original story of where the paintings begin - the paintings of Queen Victoria which so beguiled her consort  that he kept it only for his private viewing. That is the origin of this tale.

We then move on to the harrowing 1934 England. Almost the end of WW II and the arrival of American troops and the solace and uproar they equally brought to rural England. We have Amelia trying to hold it all together looking after orphaned children with very little funds and trying to hold on to her common sense and sanity when the Americans arrive.

We then have the present modern times. Keira is asked to authenticate a painting. During a modernisation of the castle, exciting news in the form of a new painting by Winterhalter has been discovered. Keira is needed in this connection.

All three stories are linked to Parnham Hall and the paintings - the unraveling of the story and the romance of each period was wonderful. They were not the run of the mill romances but very unusual ones - the first starting with revenge, the second with lost hopes and the third with desolation when you realise your idol has feet of clay. The stories ended well, wonderfully well.

Very descriptive of their settings in all three time frames, the characterization was splendid and the story was a page turner. I'll be looking out for this author in the future.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Thomas Nelson FICTION.

The Flower Arranger by J J Ellis

It took me a while to get into the space of this story. Set in Japan, the workings of a young journalist and the police force were at play here. That part of the story telling was just the same as any other. There were places in the mind set of the murderer or pursuer of the young girls who were his victims that was the hard part to fathom.

Two young women, one Swedish one French go missing. The Swedish girl's body is found. No violation, but just a small wound on her neck which indicates the blood drained out of her body systematically. The why of it could only be explained by the attacker himself in alternate chapters and this was the part that was culturally different. He wanted someone to be replicated by the image he had of his mother who used to make up as a geisha in chalk white make up and he was always on the look out for girls who were very pale who could be made to look paler and paler.

When Blain starts her pursuit of the story successfully and publishes her findings, it upsets the Japanese detective put in charge of the case. Foreigners involved make it more delicate and the subject is one that has to be handled with kid gloves. Alternating between Inspector Tanaka and Blain and the attacker the story goes on quietly but forcefully towards an end.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Agora Books. 

The Wayward Wedding by Sarah Richmond

After a very long time I read a book that was light hearted and a happily ever after in the nicest possible way.

Dolly is to be married in a week's time. She did not think the visit to the rector is going to end with her being arrested and ending up in Holloway. Finding the rector bashed on his head ended up her being the arrested, despite that there is no reason whatsoever that she was the attacker - courtesy of covered up evidence on the part of the char woman of the church and the officiousness and stupidity of the detective in charge.

This was a mystery murder (not much mystery actually, just botched up) a nice touch of old fashioned romancing, and ideal for a Sunday afternoon.

All ends well. Dolly does get married and we have a lovely wedding!

Sent to me by Netgalley, for an unbiased review, courtesy of The Wild Rose Press. Inc.

Sassafras by Trish Heald

Champs Noland is in a retirement community and he hates it with a passion. His wife has passed away and he is totally at a loss how to cope with everyday stuff. He wishes she left him notes on how to manage their three children, what to say to people and just how to survive.

Champs has been the provider and nothing else. He has not been able to actually grieve the loss of his wife and just plods on day to day just trying to get through the day the only way he knows how. Returning to his holiday home on the river is the only way he knows how to live, but finding on arrival that the entire place has been gentrified makes him so angry that again he does not know what and how to cope.

When the children start arriving with the intention of disposing their mother's ashes and having some form of closure, apart from trying to get to grips with their father things take on a slightly ludicrous turn with Champs opposing them at every turn and not being able to see the bigger picture of how concerned they all are for him. Faced with a discovery that he only suspected before Champs has to now learn how to live, and love and forget all over again.

A story of family - amidst grieving for a much loved mother, and relationships which have to be first mended before they can move on.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Glasswing Media.

Gallows Court by Martin Edwards

The setting of 1930 in London was good for this story. There have been several violent deaths of eminent people. All by their own hand so far and no suspects involved. The last one does not uncover any shady dealings in the man's history. His character and behaviour seems exemplary so why should he blow his brains out and top it all by accepting guilt for a horrendous murder, especially when his body is found with the decapitated head of the victim by his side.

On the other side we have the enigmatic Rachel Savernake. Daughter of a judge who finally went mad and killed himself, the daughter shows characteristics which do not make her seem normal. She is a brilliant detective though and showed up Scotland Yard by solving the Chorus Girl murder. Being a woman she was not taken seriously and still isnt by certain people, always to their detriment.

We have Jacob a young, keen Fleet Street journalist who becomes the pawn in Rachel's machinations and her vendetta against society who she feels did badly by her. One by one her foes are eliminated, along with the people who helped her put away people.
Very convoluted, very atmospheric I couldn't solve the puzzle till the almost end!

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press.