Book Review: A Corpse Among the Carolers (Food Blogger, #7) by Debra Sennefelder

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A Corpse Among the Carolers (Food Blogger, #7) by Debra Sennefelder opens with Hope Early preparing for the annual Jingle Bell Stroll. When the person playing Santa Claus is murdered, Hope knows she must find out how and why it happened.   I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) from NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest review. This book was just the one I needed to read to help me get in the mood for Christmas. I know that it sounds weird since it's a cozy mystery where people are murdered, but it was full of holiday activities including caroling, a holiday market, making wreaths, picking out a Christmas tree, and more. The caroling event especially made me think of my childhood when the neighborhood kids along with a few adults would go door to door around the neighborhood to sing Christmas carols. We would have luminaries lit on both sides of the street as well. All of the characters, minus one or two of them, were very likable, and despite me not having r
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Book Review: The Initiation (The Secret Circle, #1) by L.J. Smith

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The Initiation (The Secret Circle, #1) by L.J. Smith tells the story of Cassie Blake on vacation in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and becomes friends with Portia Bainbridge. When Cassie's mother receives a phone call that her mother is in poor health, she makes the decision that Cassie and she will move to New Salem, Massachusetts to take care of her mother. Intimidated by a new school, Cassie is in awe of a group of teenagers who rule the school where even the adults are afraid of this group.

The Secret Circle trilogy was my introduction to the author L.J. Smith. I immediately fell in love with The Initiation and couldn't wait to read the other two books in the series. Since it was originally published in 1992, it was turned into a television show, and I was ecstatic about the news. However, when the first trailer came out, I was disappointed because many of the characters were nixed, and they changed some huge parts of the series that vastly changed the story, including adding a character that never existed and killing off a character off that never died in the books. With all of that being said, I never ended up watching the television series. What is interesting is that the t.v. series ended up spawning additional books in the series that were written by a ghost writer under L.J. Smith's name, and these books apparently go hand in hand with the t.v. show.

Things I love about this book is that it deals with the trial and tribulations of making new friends and starting a new school (on the other side of a continent). It also deals with being different from other students and how others react to you because of those differences. Another thing I loved about The Initiation (The Secret Circle, #1) is that Greek mythology is mentioned. It always makes me want to reread The Odyssey by Homer, which I first read in the eighth grade. I finally did buy a copy of it; I just have to make time to read it!

With as many characters as there were and being a young adult book, I felt like the characters were well developed. They all have good and bad traits. And, the way they were described, I could get a clear picture of what they looked like in my mind. Not all authors can convey this well, but L.J. Smith has a knack for it. I gave The Initiation (The Secret Circle, #1) five out of five stars.

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