The trouble I had with this book is that I did it as an audiobook. There were just too many characters, and sometimes the characters were referred to differently depending upon who was speaking about them. Add to that the challenges of the language of 1826 and I was not able to enjoy the book or really follow what was going on.

In what I think of as a "Cozy Mystery", an elderly couple is murdered by their nephew for, predictably, money. There is also a major town celebration, which really has very little to do with the plot. Not going to be a great real for real mystery fans.

I would classify this as a cozy Mystery, although there isn’t much of a mystery here, except to the main character. Still, I enjoyed the book, and I continue to enjoy the “Maid Mystery” series. In this Christmas tale Molly, the maid and central character begins to think that her boyfriend and love of her life Juan Manuel may be cheating on her. But her inability to see situations the way others do makes her the only one surprised when he surprises her with the very best gift.

Let me first say that this was a really good book and I definitely recommend it. BUT I read a lot of read a lot of Stephen King and books like this, and I am good at suspending disbelief so that I can fully enjoy the story. And I don’t want to give anything away, but who, or actually what, the author chose to be the evil overriding force in this story was something I could just not buy into. And once I found that out, it took a little bit of the enjoyment of the book sway from me.

Always nice to visit Dream Harbor, but I felt like I couldn't relax while reading this book. I was constantly braced for a heartbreaking conversation with a child. Overall, it's handled sweetly, but not my cup of tea.

A wonderful book

Not sure what I was expecting from this book and I guess for its time, 1513, it was insightful, but reading it today with statements that say you cannot avoid war and should only postpone it to your own advantage was disturbing. The book is Machiavelli’s perspective on how rulers must conduct themselves in order to be successful. And while I imagine that there are some who would agree even today, reading statements that say people must fear you and some brutality is needed, is disturbing to be reading now.

Adorable nerdy romance. I cannot wait for more from this author.

Absolutely devastating. Great world building, as always with Suzanne Collins. But wow, I didn't think these could get any more heartbreaking.

This was an OK romance book; not too sappy and portrayed the female central character as strong and independent. But there were just too many characters and unnecessary short sub-plots. For example, one of the side characters is losing and then does loose his mother to brain cancer. How can you make this a sub plot? And because the side characters were not well developed it took me a while to remember who everyone was.