Ashleigh's Bookshelf

My Little Green Umbrella by Sandy Little When a little girl finds an umbrella, she never expected it to become her new friend. It is difficult to write a review on a story so short without giving away spoilers. However, my daughter and I read this book together and we both loved it. The story is so heartwarming, it literally brought me to tears. More than once. I absolutely adored this book and look forward to reading more by this author. Ultimately, I would rate this story five quills and place it on my top shelf.

Cyn & the Peanut Butter Cup Pru Warren When a nonagenarian steals an FBI agent's gun in the middle of the grocery store, Cyn and Rhys both wonder if their jobs are on the line. Cyn loves being Maddy's caregiver, but the old woman with short-term memory loss is proving to be more of a challenge than she expected. Rhys has wanted to work for the FBI his entire life, but he keeps screwing up. When Maddy's past comes back to haunt her present, Cyn and Rhys must help her, possibly finding some romance along the way. While I found the spiciness of this romance a littler more intense than what I am used to, I really enjoyed this book. The author does a great job with the voice. I loved that Maddy's chapters were in the present tense while Cyn and Rhys were in the past. I only had two minor issues with the book. The first is the abrupt change in the story around chapter fifteen. We go from a leisurely day of volunteering to a different voice in a dif...

To Ride a Unicorn Vanessa Westgate A delightful step-by-step guide to catching a wild unicorn. Although I selected this book to read with my young children, I found myself enjoying it as well. The narrator provides exciting, fascinating directions to catching a unicorn in a wild, even including how to ride one. The dialogue felt natural and the story was engaging. My only "complaint", if you can even all it that, is when the unicorn is hiding. My children, even my three-year-old, love to find hidden pictures. In several instances, however, the unicorn was in plain sight. My children would have preferred looking for the unicorn instead. Overall, however, I truly enjoyed this story. I would rate this story four and a half quills and place it on my top shelf.

The Amateurs by Sara Shepard One minute, Helena Kelly is celebrating the first snowfall of the year with her younger sister, Aerin. The next minute, she has completely disappeared from their sleepy little Connecticut town. Still searching for answers five years later, Aerin seeks assistance from a cold-case message board. Enter Seneca, a college freshman who has been following the Kelly case religiously from the beginning. When her friend Maddie invites her to spend spring break investigating the case, how can Seneca refuse? But, someone seems determined to keep this case cold. This book was so addictive, I could not put it down. While there are ultimately five sleuths on the case, the book is narrated in turn by four of them. As a result, there is the occasional repetition of information, but I didn't mind it too much because it provided a reminder of some key information. As a mystery enthusiast, I love being able to solve the mystery before the main charac...

Back to School Murder by Leslie Meier It's the first day of school in a peaceful little Maine town. For Lucy Stone, this means a few childless hours to work at the local newspaper and contemplate night classes. However, when she gets reports of a bomb in her children's school, Lucy starts to wonder who put it there. When her prime suspect ends up dead and an innocent man is arrested, Lucy becomes determined to clear his name and discover the truth. This book jumped out of me because Lucy Stone is a mother of four--three girls and a boy, just like me--who lives in a small New England town. I really wanted to like this book and, although it was a little dated, I must say, I did enjoy it. This is an older story, written in an era before 9-11 and the Columbine school shootings. The story opens with a bomb in the elementary school. In case readers find such a scenario disturbing, I will put this spoiler: No one is killed in the explosion and there is only one...

Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon When CIA assassin Fortune Redding's life is endangered, she sets out on her most dangerous undercover mission yet - posing as a beauty-queen librarian in the Louisiana Bayou. But maintaining her cover isn't easy when a human bone is found on her property on her first day. When the Ladies' Society involves her in the investigation, Fortune begins to wonder if she was better off as prey for the hired assassins. I absolutely loved this book. While I liked watching Fortune bumbling in an identity that goes against her very nature, I fell in love with Gertie. I found her hilarious, especially when discussing the local laws. The Banana Pudding War (which, according to Gertie, was worse than the Civil War) had me laughing out loud. In fact, there were several pages where I found myself laughing aloud, a true rarity for me. I did have a few minor issues with the grammar and slips in point of view, but it wasn't enough t...

It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk Josh Funk An original reading of a classic story where the Jack disagrees with the narrator and takes the story into his own hands. I found this story hilarious. In addition to the main character fighting with the narrator, there are cameos by other fairy tale characters, including several hidden ones. Without spoiling the book, I loved the ending. Overall, I truly enjoyed this story and cannot wait to read more in this series. I would rate this story five quills and place it on my top shelf.

Between a Rock and a Deadly Place by Zoey Chase After a very unpleasant divorce, Thea is ready to start over. She left her law practice, packs only her most important possessions into her car, and sets off for the campground she inherited from her grandparents. But, the place is nothing like her memories. Completely run down, it will need a lot of work to get in shape for the summer. When an unexpected death results in cancellations, Thea realizes it's up to her to figure out what happened in order to save her new home. I loved this novella for many reasons. It opens with a map of the campground that is difficult to read on the kindle. However, if you click on the link, you can download a free, color, annotated map that looks so authentic, I was picking out a site for my RV this summer. Since this is a novella, there were a few places where things felt a little rushed, but overall I liked the story. I found the characters very relatable and look forward to r...

Caraval by Stephanie Garber Scarlett has one dream: to attend the magical Caraval - a magical interactive performance. But now that her father has arranged for her marriage to a mysterious count, she has another wish: to get her and her sister safely away from their abusive father. One day, tickets to Caraval mysteriously arrive in the mail and she finally sees a way for all her dreams to come true. However, when Caraval turns out to be far more dangerous than she expected, Scarlett embarks on a journey of self-discovery that makes her reevaluate her dreams. This book was selected for my book club and, having heard mixed reviews, I was skeptical about wanting to read it. However, I was surprised to find myself engaged and eager to read more. From the beginning, I doubted Scarlett's fiancee was going to be the knight in shining armor who saved her and her sister from her abusive father. However, I enjoyed watching Scarlett grow to the point where she realized...