Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...
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Book Review: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #27) by Joanne Fluke

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book review triple chocolate cheesecake murder hannah swenson 27 joanne fluke

With Easter fast approaching, Hannah Swensen is overwhelmed with all the catering orders coming into her bakery and all the dinner parties she's attending. To make matters worse, her sister, Andrea, gets into a fight with Mayor Bascomb, who is found murdered later that night. Will Hannah be able to clear Andrea as the prime suspect in Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #27) by Joanne Fluke?

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #27) by Joanne Fluke is the first book I've read by this particular author. I received the ebook for free from Goodreads.com in exchange for my honest review, and I was excited to give this series a try as I've heard good things about it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought the concept was a great one. Of course, Andrea is going to be the prime suspect in the murder of the mayor since she was last seen fighting with him, but I knew that she wouldn't end up being the murderer. As the book progressed, there were a couple of clues that were dropped that made me suspect one particular character, and I was correct in who it was. There were a couple of other suspects, but I didn't really think that they committed the crime. And, I can't wait to try out some of the recipes within the book!

There are only a couple of complaints that I have. Since I haven't read any of the other books in the series, it was difficult for me to keep up with how people were related to each other. However, I don't think this would have been an issue if I had read the series in order. Another complaint I had was the number of new recipes that Hannah was making and was going to sell them without trying them. How many new types of cookies, cupcakes, pies, and cakes can there really be? And, why wouldn't she try them to make sure they tasted okay before selling them? Something that bothered me, but really isn't a complaint, is the way the conversations were written. They seemed a little repetitive. As a side note, when Hannah made the statement that the hot chocolate from the Keurig was just as good or better than homemade hot chocolate is, I was dumbfounded as I have to disagree with that statement.

I gave Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #27) by Joanne Fluke four out of five stars, and I will give several of her other books in this series a chance. If you enjoyed this particular book, I'd recommend Cream Puff Killer (Lexy Baker, #13) by Leighann Dobbs.

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